Spanish mountaineer, 84, injured just short of being oldest to scale world's 14 highest peaks
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Spanish climber Carlos Soria was making a push for the summit of Nepal's Mt Dhaulagiri when the incident occurred.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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KATHMANDU/MADRID - An 84-year-old Spanish mountaineer injured his leg on Wednesday as he tried to reach the summit of Nepal’s Dhaulagiri, one of the two “8,000ers” he had left to climb to claim the title of the oldest climber to conquer the world’s 14-highest mountains.
A Sherpa fell on Mr Carlos Soria, injuring his tibia, a message posted on his behalf on his Twitter and Facebook accounts said.
The climber, who was on his 15th attempt on Mt Dhaulagiri, was preparing to make a push for the summit when the incident occurred, the Himalayan Times newspaper said.
“He fell when he was climbing towards the summit… and suffered leg injuries,” Mr Thaneswar Guragai, general manager of the Seven Summit Treks company, which is providing local support to Mr Soria, told Reuters.
The incident took place at an altitude of 7,600m.
Sherpa guides were bringing him down to base camp, for him to be evacuated to Kathmandu by helicopter, Mr Guragai added.
Mr Soria has successfully climbed 12 of the world’s 8,000m peaks and had the Dhaulagiri and Tibet’s Shishapangma left to become the oldest climber to reach the summits of the planet’s 14-highest peaks.
Before the latest attempt on Dhaulagiri, he had said of his goal to climb all 14 peaks that it might be his last chance to achieve it.
“I know I can go up, and I want to go up. Maybe it’s the last chance I’ll have… maybe it’s enough, but we’re going to try really hard and then God will tell,” he told Desnivel website before the trip.
He had dedicated his challenge to elderly victims of the Covid-19 pandemic. REUTERS
