Everest claims first victim of 2010

KATHMANDU - With over 200 climbers hoping to summit Mt Everest this year, the world’s highest peak has claimed its first victim this season with the disappearance of a Hungarian mountaineer in an avalanche.

Laszlo Varkonyi is now presumed to be dead after he was swept away by an avalanche April 26. A search operation had to be called off after two and a half days due to adverse weather conditions and unstable ice.

The 54-year-old Varkonyi was attempting to climb the 8,848m peak from Tibet as part of the Dreher 24 Everest Expedition that also included fellow Hungarian climber David Klein.

Both were descending from the North Col (7,000 m) to the Advanced Base Camp (6,400 m) when an avalanche swept them down.

Though Klein was rescued, Varkonyi, on whom the ice fell directly, went missing.

What makes the Hungarian climber’s death especially poignant was that he was besotted with Mt Everest.

One of Hungary’s top climbers, he had tried to conquer Mt Everest seven times earlier but was unsuccessful each time.

The first onslaught was made in 1996 when he reached up to 7,800m. Since then, he had tried again in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2007 and 2008.

The highest he had gone up was in 2002 when he climbed up to 8,750m.

With his death, the Everest toll climbs up to 217.