Filipino climber dies in attempt to scale Mt. Everest

A 45-year-old Filipino was reported to have died in his attempt to ascend Mount Everest in Nepal. Authorities have yet to identify the cause of his death.

A report from The Himalayan Times on Thursday identified the fatality as Philipp "PJ" Santiago II, who was recorded as the first death of a foreign climber in this year’s climbing season by Nepal's Department of Tourism.

According to Bodhraj Bhandari, Managing Director at Snowy Horizon Treks, Santiago perished after arriving at Camp 4 while preparing for the push to the summit of the world’s highest mountain on May 14. The camp is established at an elevation of 26,000 feet. The peak of Mt. Everest is 29,031 ft.

The Times said Santiago was part of the Mountaineering Association of Krishnanagar- Snowy Everest Expedition 2025.

“Philipp who reached Camp IV late in the night died… The cause of his death is still unknown,” said Bhandari. 

Bhandari added that “efforts were underway to bring (Santiago’s) body to the base camp."

Earlier, two Sherpa support staff, who became ill at the Everest base camp, were evacuated but later died while receiving treated at a hospital, the Times reported.

In his report in "Saksi", Raffy Tima said five Filipinos have previously summited Mt. Everest. A feat Santiago tried to emulate after 18 years as the sixth Pinoy to reach the top of the famed mountain.

An engineer by profession, Santiago described the attempt as "a climb of a lifetime."

"Ever since I was a child, I always had this urge of wanting to see the edge and come back to tell my story about it," Santiago said in a video posted on Facebook.

Aside from his personal motives, Santiago said he was climbing to promote his other advocacies. These included Clean Water Philippines and the fight against children's cancer.

Part of his lengthy preparation included running a full marathon wearing a fully-laden mountaineering backpack weighing 15 kilos, ice and snow climb training, a couple of trips to the Everest base camp in Nepal and a climb to a smaller mountain in 2023.

Last April, Santiago flew to Nepal with his cousin and a member of his support staff, Karl Santiago, to make the attempt on Everest. He was part of a group composed of climbers from different countries.

Just a week ago, the group figured in an avalanche. Despite being rendered unconscious for a brief time and injuries to his face, the team doctor cleared Santiago to join the push for the summit after a rest period of six days.

He was last seen alive at Camp 4 where he was preparing for the final assault on the summit.

Based on the Himalayan Database, 340 climbers have died since 1921 to September 2024. Santiago is the first non-local to die in 2025.

His remains have yet to be brought down from the mountain and the exact cause of his death has yet to be determined. 

In "State of the Nation", the location of Camp 4 is located in what is known as the "Death Zone", where the 7,950-meter elevation has so little oxygen that climbers require supplemental, bottled oxygen. Adding to the dangers are the freezing temperature and the extreme weather. 

Due to overcrowding and the deaths of several climbers, the Nepalese government recently announced it will only issue permits to climb Mt. Everest to persons who have climbed mountains of more than 7,000 meters in Nepal, a policy many mountaineers have opposed. —RF, GMA Integrated News