Kanchha Sherpa, the only surviving member of the mountaineering expedition team that first conquered Mount Everest, died early Thursday, according to the Nepal Mountaineering Association.
The association’s president, Phur Gelje Sherpa, confirmed that Kanchha died at age 92 at his home in Kathmandu.
“He passed away peacefully at his residence,” Phur Gelje Sherpa said, adding that he had been unwell for some time. “A chapter of mountaineering history has vanished with him.”
Last rites will be held on Monday, he said.
Kanchha Sherpa was among the 35 members of the team that put New Zealander Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay atop the 8,849-metre (29,032-foot) peak on May 29, 1953.
A mountain guide for most of his life, he was one of three Sherpas to reach the final camp before the summit, with Hillary and Tenzing.
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