Sungdare Sherpa
Sungdare Sherpa (Nepali: सुन्दरे शेर्पा) was a Nepalese Sherpa guide for climbers of Mount Everest, who summited Everest on five different climbs.
![](../I/m/Everest-fromKalarPatar.jpg)
Summit with Hannelore Schmatz
Sungdare was with Hannelore Schmatz when she died on a 1979 expedition.[1] He remained with her after she died, and as a result, lost most of his fingers and toes to frostbite.[2]
Despite losing his digits, Sungdare summitted Mount Everest four more times after the 1979 expedition.[3]
Death
Sungdare drowned in a river below his village, Pangboche, in 1989.[4]
Elizabeth Hawley stated that he was suffering from alcoholism, and that his death was a suicide.[5] He was survived by his widow, Bhingfuti.[4]
As quoted in an article in Backpacker magazine talking about Mount Everest:[6]
The Summit is always different. Sometimes it is one side and sometimes the other. It changes every time.
— Sungdare Sherpa, 1986[6]
Everest summitings
See also
References
- In the Shadow of Denali: Life and Death on Alaska's Mt. McKinley - Google Books. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
- "The Alpine Club" (PDF). Alpine-club.org.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-09. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
- Tigers of the Snow and Other Virtual Sherpas: An Ethnography of Himalayan ... - Vincanne Adams - Google Books. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
- Keeper of the Mountains: The Elizabeth Hawley Story - Bernadette McDonald - Google Books. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2013-10-17.
- The Backpacker - May 1986 (Google Books link)
- Everest 80s to 85