An Irish climber who was part of the first and successful Everest expedition in 1993 has died in a mountaineering accident in New Zealand.
Richard O’Neill-Dean (70), originally from Stackallen, Co Meath, fell during a solo descent from the 2,875-metre summit of Mount D’Archiac in New Zealand’s Southern Alps. After the alarm was raised last Sunday, his body was located and flown to Christchurch for a postmortem. He is survived by his wife, Frida, daughters Esmé and Julie and young grandchildren.
The mountaineer and psychotherapist had many achievements to his credit, including playing a key role in supporting Dawson Stelfox’s ascent of Mount Everest from Tibet on May 27th, 1993. Mr Stelfox, Belfast architect and Ireland’s first Everest summiteer, has described him as a pioneering mountaineer who recorded first ascents of mountains in Patagonia and the Himalayas, and new rock climbs in Ireland.
“In more recent years, he recorded adventurous ski-mountaineering traverses the length of the rugged New Zealand Alps – his home since 1987,” Mr Stelfox said.
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" On the first Irish Everest expedition in 1993, Richard was the first of the team above 8,000 metres, carrying up a heavy load of vital food and equipment in harsh conditions,” he recalled.
“Richard was recovering from this effort at base camp as [deputy leader] Frank Nugent and I made our summit attempt,”Mr Stelfox said.
“Talking to Richard on the radio mid morning [May 27th, 1993] I realised he was watching our every move through a telescope, and his calm, considered and confident words gave great reassurance – a watchful eye looking over us,” he said.
“He understood both mountains and people and the interaction between them,” Mr Stelfox said.
“He was always calm, considered and wise, with deep reserves of strength and experience to be called on when needed most,” he said.
Fellow climber and close friend Dermot Somers, also on the 1993 Everest expedition, said Mr O’ Neill-Dean’s many achievements included rock climbing first ascents in Ireland and alpine routes in Europe and New Zealand.
“As a ski mountaineer, he participated in important new challenges in remote areas of the New Zealand Alps,” Mr Somers said.
Mr O’Neill-Dean initially worked as a hill sheep farmer and outdoor adventure instructor before training in psychotherapy.
He began climbing as a teenager, and after what he described as his “usual apprenticeship in the European Alps”, he said.
In a biographical note, he said he was “very lucky” to climb a few previously unrecorded peaks in the Indian Himalayas and Patagonia.
The ascent in Patagonia which he completed with Richard Shackleton of Lucan, Co Dublin, has since become the most popular route in the Parque Nacional del Paine in Patagonia.
After emigrating to New Zealand with his wife, Frida, in 1987, he developed a new winter ski mountaineering traverse of the Southern Alps from east to west.
A memorial service for his life is due to take place in New Zealand next week.
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