American climber dies trying to scale Mount Everest

An American man climbing Mount Everest became one of the season’s first casualties when he died Wednesday night.

Puwei Liu, identified only as a U.S. national, had reached the climbing feature named the Hillary Step, between South Col and the summit, but had to turn back due to snow blindness and exhaustion, according to Chhang Dawa of the expedition organizer, Seven Summit Treks, in Nepal.

Sherpas helped Liu back to South Col, but were unable to save him.

A Swiss climber, 41-year-old Abdul Waraich, also died after reaching the peak.

“We sent two additional Sherpas with oxygen and food,” Dawa wrote. “Unfortunately, the Sherpas couldn’t save him.”

Both Nepal and China canceled the climbing seasons on their sides of Mount Everest in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. China has reopened its half only to Chinese climbers this year.