Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: KANCHA Sherpa, the last living member of the historic 1953 Everest expedition led by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, passed away at his residence in Kathmandu at the age of 92.
According to his family, Ang Phurba ‘Kancha’ Sherpa breathed his last around 2 a.m. last week. He had spent his final days in his ancestral home in Namche Bazaar, often referred to as the gateway to Everest.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Kancha Sherpa, the last surviving member of the first successful summit of Mount Everest in 1953. His loss leaves an irreplaceable void in Nepal’s mountaineering history,” said Phur Gyalje Sherpa, President of the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA).
Born in 1932 in Namche, Kancha Sherpa began his mountaineering journey at the age of 19 after leaving home for Darjeeling in search of work. There, he met Tenzing Norgay. With Tenzing’s encouragement, Kancha joined Hillary’s 1953 Everest team as one of 103 Sherpas, earning five rupees a day..
