Top Greek alpinist Antonios Sykaris, who has climbed the tallest mountains on earth, died in the mountain range of Dhaulagiri, Nepal on Tuesday.
Sykaris was the only Greek alpinist and the first and only Greek who has climbed five mountain tops over 8.000m in height. He has conquered Everest at 8.848m, Kangchenjunga at 8.586m, Manaslu at 8.163m, Lhotse at 8.516m, and Annapurna at 8.091m.
Greek alpinist died while descending mountain top
According to the Himalayan Times, Sykaris died while descending from the summit point of Dhaulagiri. The paper says he fell ill just below the summit point at the height of 7,400m.
The Greek alpinist along with his guide – Dawa Sherpa- scaled the 8,167m mountain on Monday. Dawa, who had been helping his fellow climber to descend the mountain for hours, is also awaiting a rescue team, the paper says.
Dhaulagiri is the seventh highest mountain in the world
Dhaulagiri is the seventh highest mountain in the world at 8,167m (26,795 ft) above sea level, and the highest mountain within the borders of a single country (Nepal).
It was first climbed on May 13, 1960 by a Swiss-Austrian-Nepali expedition. The Kali Gandaki River, flows between the two in the Kaligandaki Gorge, said to be the world’s deepest.
Most ascents have followed the northeast ridge route of the first ascent, but climbs have been made from most directions. As of 2007, there had been 358 successful ascents and 58 fatalities, which is a summit with a fatality rate of 16.2 percent.
Between 1950 and 2006, 2.88 percent of 2,016 expedition members and staff going above base camp on Dhaulagiri died.
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