TRIBUTES HAVE been paid to the Irish mountaineer who lost his life on Mount Everest over the weekend.
John Delaney (41), a father of three from Kilcock, Co Kildare, originally from Laois, is understood to have collapsed within 50 metres of the summit, and efforts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.
He is the first Irishman to die on the world’s highest peak (8,848m). His wife Orla had given birth to their third child, a daughter named Hope, last Wednesday.
It was his second trip to Everest, and he was with a Russian commercial expedition.
Had he made it to the summit, he would have been the 19th Irish person to do so since it was first reached by Belfast architect Dawson Stelfox in 1993.
His brother-in-law Liam Hurley described him as a “generous, loving guy – the family came first for him.” He had died without knowing that his first daughter had been born, Mr Hurley said, and he appealed for privacy.
It is unlikely that Mr Delaney’s body can be recovered, due to the altitude, and a memorial service is planned for him in his home of Ballinakill, Co Laois on Friday, where his mother lives. He is also survived by a brother, Christopher, and sister, Geraldine.
Mr Delaney, who was managing director of an online market prediction company, had left for the Himalayas in April with Alexander Abramov’s Seven Summits Club.
He was among a team of 18, including one US and six Russian climbers, eight Sherpas and several guides, including Irish guide Noel Hanna (44).
They made their summit bid from a height of 8,300 metres on the northeast ridge last Friday evening, but it was only yesterday that the Department of Foreign Affairs was able to confirm that he had died as his team was out of communications contact.
Adventurer Pat Falvey, who has successfully climbed Everest from both Nepal and Tibet, said he understood that Mr Delaney collapsed close to the Third Step on the route.
He expressed his sympathies to Mr Delaney’s wife and family, including his two young sons, Casper and Alexander, aged three and two.
“John trained with us here, and he climbed with us on Aconcagua (6,962m) in Argentina,” Mr Falvey said.
“He was doing something he loved doing, and he was so close and yet so far,” Mr Falvey said.
Mountaineering Ireland chief executive Karl Boyle also expressed sincere sympathies to Mr Delaney’s wife and family.
“As mountaineers we are all aware of the risks inherent in extreme activities, and at altitude,” Mr Boyle said. “It’s very sad to know that he isn’t coming back.”
Frank Nugent, deputy leader of the 1993 Irish Everest expedition, said his thoughts were with Mr Delaney’s family. Mr Nugent was within 250 metres of the summit of Everest when he was forced to turn back due to oxygen difficulties.
“Details are still unclear, but altitude is very harsh on the physiology,” Mr Nugent said.
“On commercial expeditions, people might not know each other so well and there could be language difficulties also.”
Last weekend, Mark Quinn (26) from Limerick reached the top of Everest with a separate commercial expedition in aid of the Shane Geoghegan Trust.
