American Climber Dies on Everest

An American climber died on Mount Everest on Monday, and the Himalayan Times identifies him as 69-year-old Jonathan Sugarman, a doctor based in Seattle. Sugarman's death was not the result of a fall, though details were scant. "He was feeling unwell and passed away at Camp II," Pasang Tshering Sherpa of Beyul Adventure tells AFP. Beyul Adventure partners with International Mountain Guides, based in the US, which confirmed the death in a statement with "deep sorrow." Last year, Sugarman made it to Camp III before abandoning his climb.

Sugarman is the first foreign death on the mountain in this year's spring climbing season and the fourth overall. Three ethnic Sherpas were killed in an avalanche previously. Sugarman has worked as a clinical professor in the departments of family medicine and epidemiology at the University of Washington, per the Himalayan Times. Bad weather has so far prevented the retrieval of his body, and the US Embassy in Kathmandu is coordinating with local officials. (More Mount Everest stories.)