Top mountaineer dies on Nepal peak after making historic ascent; climbing partner says he fell into

A top Slovak mountaineer died on a descent of the 7,234-meter Langtang Lirung peak in Nepal after an historic ascent up its east face, Slovakia’s climbers association said on Sunday.

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

His Czech climbing partner Marek Holecek said that the pair had just completed the first-ever ascent of the Langtang Lirung peak via the east face.

The Slovak climbers association SHS James called for rescue action on Facebook but then said on Sunday that the helicopter could not take off because of bad weather.

Holecek confirmed the death in an emotional post on Facebook.

He said Huserka had “hit an angled surface after an eight-meter drop, then continued down a labyrinth into the depths of the glacier.”

Holecek added that he had spent hours trying to rescue Huserka but failed as the Slovak was trapped head down and apparently paralyzed.

“I rappelled down to him and stayed with him for four hours until his light faded. There’s nothing more to add,” Holecek said.

SHS James said that the weather in Nepal would prevent rescue action in the days to come.

“Following a phone call with Marek Holecek and his status published yesterday, and given the weather conditions under Langtang Lirung, the family and friends will have to cope with the fact that Ondrej is not with us any more,” it added.

The Slovak daily SME described the 34-year-old Huserka 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 tried to reach the summit of Langtang Lirung, but only 14 had succeeded, while 16 climbers died. In 2009, famed Slovenian mountaineer Tomaz Humar was found dead on the mountain, the BBC reported.

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