British father who was climbing Mount Everest in memory of his late daughter as killer snowstorm hit tells of moment weather ‘got pretty hairy’

A British father who climbed Mount Everest in memory of his late daughter has spoken of how the weather became ‘pretty harsh, pretty fast’ as the heavy snowstorm hit this weekend.

Rob Mason, who embarked on a perilous journey to raise money for a charity in memory of his daughter Kezia, said his group was “very lucky” to survive an unexpected snowstorm on the last day of their walk.

Over the weekend, hikers battled brutal weather conditions on the Tibetan side of the mountain after a storm left their campsites buried in heavy snow, forcing terrified climbers to dig themselves out; At least one person was thought to have died.

Mr Mason, from Jersey, said part of the path he was walking on was washed away by a landslide and described his experience as ‘serious’.

“It rained and it looked like we had 10 inches of rain in 12-14 hours, which is not normal for this time of year,” he told BBC Radio Jersey.

‘It was quite difficult for us, but we were on the last day of the walk.

‘Unfortunately, those on the first, second and third day of their march were going up as we were going down; ‘Some of the stories told when we returned to Lukla, the starting and finishing point of the base camp trek, were quite sad.’

A march was organized to raise money Kezia’s FundA charity that raises funds to support the mental health of young people in Jersey.

Mr Mason, from Jersey, said part of the path he was walking on was washed away by a landslide and described the experience as “sobering”.

It was established in memory of Mr Mason’s 14-year-old daughter, who committed suicide in 2022.

The father said one of the saddest moments for him was finding the recovered body of a person caught in a snowstorm while hiking while his team was waiting to leave Lukla, Nepal.

The snowstorm arrived on Friday and intensified into Saturday during China’s ‘Golden Week’ holiday, when thousands of people travel to the Himalayas for sightseeing and hiking.

It is reported that people’s tents collapsed and some climbers suffered hypothermia due to freezing temperatures.

A massive rescue operation began on the eastern slope of Tibet’s Mount Everest early Sunday.

Mr Mason’s group of seven friends reached Everest base camp and left a green heart on one of the prayer flags at the site in his memory.

The walk was full of emotion but a success as the group raised nearly £20,000.

For confidential support call Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details