After Reaching Summit, Climber Falls 5K Feet

A successful summit on one of Nepal's most striking peaks was followed by a deadly fall the next morning. German climber Wolfgang Waschiczek, 57, died Monday after plunging nearly 5,000 feet from high up on Ama Dablam, a 6,812-meter (22,349-foot) mountain in the Khumbu region, trekking operator Real Himalaya tells AFP. Waschiczek had reached the summit Sunday and was preparing to depart Camp 3 after a period of rest when his guide left their tent to return some borrowed gear, per the Himalayan Times. The climber was gone when the guide returned less than five minutes later, the Independent reports.

Another guide later spotted Waschiczek's body near Camp 2, some 1,600 meters below Camp 3. It was recovered by helicopter, then flown to Kathmandu for an autopsy before it will be released to his family. It is the first death on Ama Dablam this year, amid a busy season with more than 300 climbers attempting the peak. It comes days after the bodies of two Japanese climbers were recovered from Mount Gangapurna in northwest Nepal; they're believed to have fallen some 3,000 feet after being caught in a slab avalanche, per the Independent.