In a small house in Kathmandu, a young boy named Yugen waits for his father. He does not fully understand yet why so many people have been coming to the house, or why his mother, Bhim Kumari, has been crying quietly in the next room.

His father always came home. He came home after Everest, after K2, after every long expedition that took him away for weeks. This time, the family is waiting for him to come home in a different way. Tomorrow, his body will land at Tribhuvan International Airport, three weeks after he left for a mountain in Pakistan called Broad Peak.

The man they are waiting for is

known to the mountaineering world simply as Yukta.

Who Was Yukta

Yukta was born on December 24, 1988 (Poush 9, 2045 B.S.) in Laprak, Ward No. 4 of Dharche Rural Municipality in Gorkha district — a village that has produced more mountaineers than almost anywhere else in Nepal. He grew up with the Himalayas around him every day of his childhood, though as a boy he did not dream of climbing them. He dreamed of joining the British Army.

That dream did not survive Nepal’s armed conflict. Instead, as a young man, Yukta went to Manang to find work and took a job at a hotel. It was there, among trekking guides passing through, that something shifted in him. Watching them, talking with them, he found a new direction. He moved to Kathmandu with a simple goal: to become a mountain guide.

Those who knew him describe a man who was courageous, dependable, determined, and honest — someone who, once he set his sights on a goal, never looked back.

How He Started and Rose

Yukta’s path into the mountains did not begin at the summit. It began at the bottom, carrying loads.

“He began working as a porter in 2009,” recalled his colleague Tul Singh Gurung, who is also from Laprak and now serves as president of the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association. “Gradually, he became a kitchen helper for camping expeditions.”

From there, Yukta climbed the ranks the hard way — from porter, to kitchen helper, to assistant guide, to trekking guide, and finally to professional climbing guide. Each step took years of work in some of the harshest conditions on earth.

He summited Everest for the first time in 2011. It was the beginning of a remarkable run. He returned to the summit in 2017, 2018, and 2019, then twice in 2022, and again in 2024. In his final year alone, he stood on top of Everest three more times: on May 19, 2025, on October 15, 2025, and on May 20, 2026 — his tenth and last Everest summit.

Ten summits of Everest made Yukta the record holder for the highest number of Everest ascents among members of the Gurung community. After his tenth summit, he also became the non-Sherpa climber with the highest number of Everest summits in the world.

His ambitions reached beyond Everest. He went on to climb twelve of the world’s fourteen mountains above 8,000 meters — “he had climbed all but two of them,” Tul Singh said. Among his most remarkable feats was climbing K2 in Pakistan in just 24 hours, a pace that stunned even experienced mountaineers. This year, in a single season, he climbed three separate 8,000-meter peaks.

Just months before his death, Yukta had finally earned the certification he had worked toward for years: International Mountain Guide status through the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association, following the demanding IFMGA examination process. “He had just qualified as an International Mountain Guide through the association, and now we have received this heartbreaking news,” Tul Singh said.

Yukta was also a member of Nirmal Purja’s Elite Exped expedition team, and he had taken part in Jim Morrison and Jimmy Chin’s Everest North Face ski project. Beyond his own climbs, he was widely respected for joining numerous high-altitude rescue missions to bring stranded climbers down safely — putting himself back on the mountain not for a summit, but to save someone else’s life.

Beyond the Summits Guide, Mentor, and Community Man

Guiding became a natural extension of Yukta’s climbing life. He led clients to the summits of Everest, Ama Dablam, and peaks in China, earning a reputation as someone who could lead and inspire others through the most difficult expeditions.

He also carried responsibility off the mountain. He served as Treasurer of the Gandaki Alpine Club and as Vice President of the Nepal Mountaineering Association’s Gandaki Province chapter.

In 2015, when a devastating earthquake struck Nepal, Yukta took part in disaster relief efforts, helping his homeland when it needed him most. He also gave back to his own community, contributing to education and healthcare initiatives in his village and serving as a member of the Manang school development committee to help improve education there.

Family

At home, Yukta was a husband and a father. His wife, Bhim Kumari, and their son, Yugen, are now left to wait for his return in the hardest way possible. His father, Dhan Prasad Gurung, and his parents — who were living in Nawalpur rushed to Kathmandu the moment they heard the news.

“This is an extremely tragic incident,” his father said. “Not only Laprak, but the entire country has lost a courageous, dependable, determined, and honest young man.”

What Happened

Yukta had originally planned to climb Shishapangma in Tibet, but permission for that expedition was not granted. Instead, three weeks ago, he traveled to Pakistan to attempt Broad Peak (8,047 meters). He would not return from that expedition.

At just 37 years old, Yukta lost his life in the very mountains that had shaped his entire life — the mountains he was raised among, and the mountains he devoted himself to until the end.

How He Is Remembered

News of Yukta’s death has left Laprak — a village already known across Nepal for the mountaineers it has produced — in deep mourning. Family, friends, and colleagues describe an extraordinarily inspiring young man who never looked back once he set his sights on a goal, and who, at such a young age, had already achieved records that few in the world will ever match.

“We believed he would continue bringing great pride to Laprak and to Nepal,” one relative said, “but this tragedy struck instead.”

Yukta’s body is expected to arrive at Tribhuvan International Airport tomorrow, August 6, 2026, at around 4:30 p.m. Nepal time, as per the wishes of the Nepal Mountaineering Association. Family, colleagues, and the mountaineering community will gather to receive him — to pay their final respects and offer their condolences to the bereaved family he leaves behind.

Family members, friends, fellow climbers, and members of Nepal’s mountaineering community are expected to gather at the airport to receive him and pay their final respects. His return marks the end of a journey that has left the nation and the global climbing community in mourning.

With hearts weighed down by grief, we wish we could have welcomed Yukta home with smiles, celebrations, and stories of another successful expedition. Instead, we gather to welcome him back in silence, with tears and profound respect.

As he returns to the mountains he loved through the embrace of his homeland, we bid him a final farewell. May his courage, humility, and passion for the high Himalayas continue to inspire generations of climbers.

Our deepest condolences go out to his family, loved ones, friends, and everyone touched by his remarkable life. May they find strength and comfort during this heartbreaking time, and may Yukta rest in eternal peace.