Kanchha Sherpa, the last surviving member of the 1953 Mount Everest expedition, died early on 16 October 2025 at his home in Kapan, Kathmandu, aged 92, according to the Nepal Mountaineering Association. He was part of the 35-member British-led team that placed Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on the summit on 29 May 1953; contemporaneous accounts note Kanchha was among the Sherpas reaching the final high camp that enabled the summit push. Local media and officials confirmed the death and location, underscoring his status as the final living link to that first successful ascent of the 8,849-meter peak.
Sherpa, born in 1933 in Namche Bazaar, began expedition work as a teenager and later spoke about overcrowding and environmental pressures on Everest, urging greater respect for the mountain revered by Sherpas as Qomolangma. His passing marks the end of a formative era in Himalayan mountaineering history; statements from Nepal mountaineering authorities and regional outlets framed it as the closure of a unique eyewitness line to 1953. Reports indicate he is survived by a large family, with final rites in Kathmandu expected to follow local customs.
