A celebrated climber from Northern Ireland passed away in Nepal after scaling one of the most perilous mountains in the world.
On Monday (17 April), Noel Hanna, aged 56, perished while descending from the 8,091-meter peak of Annapurna, as confirmed by Seven Summit Treks, a Nepal-based commercial adventure company.
Thaneswar Guragai, the general manager of the organization, stated that Hanna was transported down the mountain and airlifted to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal.
Noel Hanna, a well-known climber from Northern Ireland, has died in Nepal after successfully climbing the treacherous Annapurna mountain.
The 56-year-old mountaineer passed away on Monday while descending from the mountain’s 8,091m summit. While his cause of death has not been officially confirmed, it is believed that Hanna died at base camp after completing his descent from the summit.
Hanna and his wife Lynne, who is also a climber, climbed Everest together in 2016, and he had reached the summit of Everest ten times and the highest point on all seven continents.
In addition, in 2006, he made history by being one of the first people to ascend the Burke Khang peak on the Nepal-Tibet border with three Sherpas, and then cycling from the base camp of Everest to the Bay of Bengal in eastern India.
Annapurna is notorious for its treacherous terrain, with a summit-to-death rate of 27.2% up to 2018, according to mountainiq.com. Tributes have been pouring in for Hanna from various adventure and hiking companies, with many acknowledging his immense contribution to mountaineering.
Paul Frew, the Democratic Unionist Party Member of the Legislative Assembly for Antrim, expressed his condolences on Twitter for Noel Hanna, the Northern Irish climber who had become the first Irish climber to summit Annapurna, following his death.
Frew also highlighted that Hanna was a legendary climber who had successfully climbed K2, Manaslu, and Everest ten times.
Many of Hanna’s Instagram followers also shared their condolences on his last post, which was uploaded on March 10th, expressing their sadness and shock over his passing and praising him for his adventurous spirit.