Brit mountaineer Kinloch dies after reaching Everest

LONDON - British mountaineer Peter Kinlooch died of frostbite and exhaustion in deteriorating weather hours after he achieved his life’s ambition of reaching the summit of Everest.

According to The Times, Kinloch, 28, appeared elated, taking photographs when he reached the 8,848m (29,029ft) summit, but was struck by blindness as he descended, losing co-ordination, slipping and stumbling.

Three sherpas spent 12 hours administering drugs and oxygen in an attempt to coax him down the mountain but at 2 a.m. they finally had to leave him at 8,600m as the weather closed in.ellow climbers on the expedition, run by Summit Climb, described the death of Kinloch, an IT specialist with Merseyside Police, as shockingly and unexpectedly tragic.

His body remains on the mountain, which has become the permanent resting place for many climbers over the decades. It is unclear whether the Tibetan authorities plan to recover it.

The climber, whose motto was “dream to achieve”, embarked on the Seven Summits Challenge in 2005 when he scaled Kilimanjaro. He joined the Summit Climb Everest Tibet Expedition to gain his fifth summit and to raise awareness and money for the charity OCD Action.

Before he left for Kathmandu to tackle the mountain via the North Col route, he said: “I am really looking forward to breaking out the axe and getting the crampons icy once again.” (ANI)