Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Kanchha Sherpa, the last surviving member of the 1953 British Everest Expedition, passed away in Kathmandu on Thursday. He was 92.
Born in 1933, Kanchha was just 19 and a novice porter with no prior climbing experience when he joined the historic team of 35 Sherpas and Western mountaineers in 1953 to attempt Mt Everest. It became the first successful expedition on Everest and made Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Edmund Hillary heroes overnight.
Over the arduous two-week trek to Base Camp, he hauled essential supplies—food, tents and oxygen gear—through treacherous Himalayan terrain. Sherpa had told different media outlets that he reached up to 27,000 ft of Mt Everet carrying loads of oxygen cylinders for members of the expedition.
He continued to work in the mountaineering field until 1973, when he hung up his boots at the age of 40. Although he was part of different expeditions to Mt Everest, he did not get the opportunity to climb past 27,000 ft since he was just a porter.
His life and experience in mountaineering have been documented in the book ‘Tough and Cheerful: The Life and Times of Kanchha Sherpa, Last Living Member from the First Ascent of Mount Everest’ by Pattie Moon.
Kanchha is survived by his wife, four sons, two daughters and grandchildren.
