Sherpa Survives Six Days Alone on Everest Without Food or Water

A 52-year-old Sherpa guide has defied the odds, surviving nearly a week alone on Mount Everest with no food or water after being left behind by his expedition team. The man, named Dawa, was working for Himalayan Traverse when he accompanied a Polish climber to the summit on May 29. The Polish tourist suffered frostbite and joined other climbers heading to Camp 2, finishing the trek on May 31. But Dawa remained stranded on the rocky formation known as the Yellow Band and could not rejoin the group.

Remarkably, the organizing company did not send any rescue teams to search for the missing guide. On June 3, another organization dispatched a helicopter, but the crew failed to spot him. All the while, suffering from hunger, thirst, and extreme cold, Dawa crawled on his hands and knees to cross the treacherous Khumbu Icefall. He later told rescuers he waved at the helicopter, but it flew past.

On June 4, a team from the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC) was collecting trash on the mountain when they spotted a man crawling. Dawa was airlifted to a hospital in Kathmandu, suffering from frostbite and barely able to speak. “The way Dawa managed to cross the deep crevasses of the icefall is both horrifying and astonishing,” said SPCC rescuer Durga Rai.

The spring 2026 season on Everest set a record with 494 climbers attempting the summit. Permit fees brought Nepal more than six million euros. Five people did not survive. In a separate incident, a 26-year-old tourist with injured limbs survived five days alone in a U.S. forest after getting lost during a river trip.