A top Slovak mountaineer died while descending from the summit of Langtang Lirung, Nepal, culminating at 7,234 meters above sea level, after a historic ascent on its east face, the Slovak climbers’ association announced on Sunday.

Ondrej Huserka, a member of the Slovak national mountaineering team who has climbed in the Alps, Patagonia, the Pamir Mountains and the Himalayas, fell into a crevasse on Thursday.

His Czech climbing partner, Marek Holecek, said the duo had just completed the first-ever ascent of Langtang Lirung Peak via the east face.

The Slovak climbers’ association SHS James called for rescue action on Facebook, but then said Sunday that the helicopter was unable to take off due to bad weather.

Holecek confirmed the death in a moving post on Facebook.

He said Huserka “struck an inclined surface after falling eight meters, then continued in a maze into the depths of the glacier.”

Holecek added that he spent hours trying to save Huserka but failed because the Slovak was stuck upside down and apparently paralyzed.

“I rappeled down to him and stayed with him for four hours until his light disappeared. There is nothing more to add,” Holecek said.

SHS James said that weather conditions in Nepal would prevent relief operations in the coming days.

“Following a phone call with Marek Holecek and his status published yesterday, and given the weather conditions in Langtang Lirung, family and friends will have to face the fact that Ondrej is no longer with us” , adds the press release.

The Slovak daily SME described Huserka, 34, as “one of the best Slovak mountaineers” and SHS James called him a world-class climber who was a “humble and great friend.”

ExplorersWeb, citing the Himalayan database, reported that as of July 2023, 51 teams had attempted to summit Langtang Lirung, but only 14 had succeeded, while 16 climbers had died. In 2009, famous Slovenian mountaineer Tomaz Humar was found dead on the mountain, according to the BBC. reported.

Huserka’s death occurred about a month later five Russian climbers died after apparently slipping and falling on the world’s seventh highest peak in Nepal.

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