Kanchha (Ang Phurba “Kancha”) Sherpa, the last living member of the 1953 British expedition that put Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on the summit of Mount Everest, has died aged 92, Nepali mountaineering officials and international news agencies reported. He passed away at his home in the Kathmandu area, the Nepal Mountaineering Association said.
Kanchha was born in the Khumbu region in 1933 and was just 19 when he joined the historic 1953 expedition as a high-altitude porter. Although he did not reach the summit himself, he was among the Sherpa team who carried loads and supported the final summit push, and later celebrated the expedition’s success with Hillary and Tenzing. Over decades he became one of the last living direct links to that moment in mountaineering history.
Phur Gelje Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, said in a statement the community was “deeply saddened” and called Kanchha a “historic and legendary figure,” adding that “his absence leaves an irreplaceable loss.” Family members told reporters he had been unwell for some time but had otherwise enjoyed a long life.
In interviews across the years Kanchha reflected on how much life around Everest had changed since 1953 — from primitive climbing gear and long treks into the mountains to the modern boom in commercial expeditions. He spoke often about the environmental pressures and overcrowding on the mountain and supported efforts to protect Sherpa communities and Everest’s fragile environment.
Kanchha retired from high-altitude work in the 1970s and went on to help run a lodge in Namche Bazaar; he is survived by his wife, six children and several grandchildren, news reports said. Funeral rites and memorial arrangements were being prepared by the family and local authorities. Tributes from mountaineering groups and Nepali officials marked the end of a living chapter in the story of Everest’s first ascent.
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