A top Slovak climber died on a descent of Nepal’s 7,234-metre Langtang Lirung peak after a historic ascent of its east face, Slovakia’s mountaineering association said on Sunday.

Ondrej Huserka, a member of the Slovakian national mountaineering team, who had climbed the Alps, Patagonia, Pamir Mountains and the Himalayas, fell into a crevasse on Thursday.

His Czech climbing partner, Marek Holecek, said the two had just completed the first ascent of Langtang Lirung Peak on the east side.

Slovak climbers’ association SHS James called for rescue actions on Facebook, but then said Sunday that the helicopter could not take off due to bad weather.

Holecek confirmed the death in a touching facebook post.

He said Huserka “hit an inclined surface after falling eight meters, then continued down a labyrinth into the depths of the glacier.”

Holecek added that he spent hours trying to save Huserka but was unsuccessful as the Slovakian was pinned upside down and apparently paralyzed.

“I rappelled down to him and stayed with him for four hours until his light went out. Nothing more to add,” Holecek said.

said SHS James that Nepal’s weather will hamper rescue efforts in the coming days.

“Following a phone call with Marek Holecek and his status published yesterday and given the weather conditions below Langtang Lirung, family and friends will have to deal with the fact that Ondrej is no longer with us,” he added.

Slovak daily SME described Huserka, 34, as “one of the best Slovak climbers” and SHS James called him a world-class climber who was a “humble and great friend”.

ExplorersWeb, citing the Himalaya database, reported that in July 2023, 51 teams attempted to reach the summit of Langtang Lirung, but only 14 succeeded, while 16 climbers died. In 2009, the famous Slovenian climber Tomaz Humar was found dead on the mountain, BBC reported.

Huserka’s death comes about a month later five Russian climbers died after apparently slipping and falling on the world’s seventh highest peak in Nepal.

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