American Dies in His 2nd Attempt to Scale Everest

Roland Yearwood had survived 2015 avalanche there
By Gina Carey,  Newser Staff
Posted May 21, 2017 3:06 PM CDT
American Dies in His 2nd Attempt to Scale Everest
Everest Base camp, Nepal.   (AP Photo/Tashi Sherpa, File)

Sunday marked a deadly day on Mount Everest and an especially tragic one for an American who had weathered danger there before. Alabama doctor Roland Yearwood was one of three to die in separate incidents on the mountain, the Washington Post reports. Yearwood, whose cause of death has not been released, previously survived the 2015 avalanche that took 19 lives on Everest following an earthquake. Reuters quotes a trekking company sponsor who says the 50-year-old died at around 27,500 feet; the sponsor was unaware whether Yearwood had already summitted or was still ascending. AL.com reports the married father of two worked at Georgiana Medical Center, and flags a hospital website bio that noted Yearwood was trying to scale the tallest mountain on each of the seven continents.

A Slovak and an Australian climber also died, and an Indian climber is missing after conquering the mountain on Saturday. Ravi Kumar reportedly became so exhausted on his descent that he needed to lie down. Also ill, the climber's guide descended for aid and successfully got to Camp 4, but Kumar has not been located. The Post says about 60 people managed to get to the top on Sunday but quotes guide Tendi Sherpa as saying the day saw a flurry of helicopter evacuations; bad weather and high winds have left climbers with "some little keyholes" during which to get to the top, he says. It's not the only grim news from Everest: A climber has confirmed the 2015 avalanche also claimed the Hillary Step, a famously challenging, nearly vertical part of the trek near the summit. (More Mount Everest stories.)

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