David Lama’s Parents on His Final Resting Place

Five years ago today, Austrian climber David Lama, one of the most impressive all-round climbers from his generation, died in an accident on Howse Peak with his partners Hansjörg Auer and Jess Roskelley. The experienced trio were swept down the east face in an avalanche during their descent after reaching the summit, read more about what happened here.

Lama’s father, Rinzi Lama, was a Nepalese mountain guide, and his mother, Claudia Lama, was from Austria. Lama rose to fame in the climbing world when he became the youngest person to compete at the world cup at 15 and the first to win both a lead and the bouldering world cup in his first season. In 2012, Lama made the first free ascent of the Compressor Route of Cerro Torre with Peter Ortner – read more about it here. In 2018, Lama made the first ascent of the 6,907-metre-high Lunag Ri in Nepal on his third attempt – more here.

In spring 2022, led by Lama’s parents, a group of 10 people set off for Nepal, including Ortner, his long-time coach Reinhold Scherer and girlfriend Hadley Hammer. The aim of the trip was to set up a last resting-place for some of Lama’s ashes at the summit of the 5,800-metre Fox Peak, which Lama had climbed several times to acclimatise.

“We watched through binoculars from base camp as David’s friends built a chorten, a kind of Nepalese shrine, on the summit of Fox Peak and left some of his ashes there,” said Claudia Lama, summarising her impressions of the trip. Rinzi Lama, who grew up near Fox Peak, added, “We deliberately chose the northernmost part of the Solu Khumbu on the border to Tibet because it is far away from the crowded tracks and that’s why David liked it so much. It’s good to know that part of David will forever be in such a special place in the middle of the Nepalese mountains.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by David Lama (@davidlama_official)

David Lama Memorial