Sherpas recover body of Malaysian climber from Mt Ama Dablam (Updated)

PETALING JAYA: A Malaysian climber who scaled the peak of Mount Everest last year was found dead near camp II on Mt Ama Dablam, which is at 6,812m above sea level in the Everest region.
Bodhraj Bhandari, the managing director of Snowy Horizon Treks, said a team of Sherpa rescuers recovered the body of Raman Nair Hachoodan, 41, who went missing at 6,300m on May 15.
"His body was recovered from a gorge at around 5,300m above sea level," said Bhandari.
The climber was said to have fallen some 1,000m down from the high camp after he along with two other climbers were returning to the lower camps, the Himalayan Times reported.
They had abandoned their summit bid due to bad weather.
Raman's father arrived in Kathmandu today to receive his body.
Earlier efforts to conduct a search from ground and air were foiled by bad weather.
It was reported that Raman, who is from Shah Alam, managed to reach the peak of Mount Everest on May 20 last year under extremely difficult circumstances.
His close friend K. Nagarajoo said Raman's death was a big loss to the hiking community over here.
"He was a very dedicated person when it came to hiking. He loved nature very much. He said nature is religion," he said.
The hiking community also took to social media to express their condolences.
"A hero that will stay in my heart forever. Our Malaysian first solo climber to Everest and our first solo south peak Everest climber who reached the summit on 20 May 2017.
"He taught me to embrace nature in a different way and he made me do hiking in the most fun and nature loving way. I was looking forward for my journey to base camp Mount Everest with him. His legacy remains, his passion remains. Raman has always said it's not how much you know about mountaineering, it's the moment that matters," S. Geeva said via a Facebook post.