This Sunday, May 4, the famous American mountaineer Alexander Pancoe died while he was in Nepal, in full ascent of Mount Makalu, in the Himalayas.
A perilous challenge. This Sunday, May 4, 2025 a famous American mountaineer died on the heights of Mont Makalu. Alexander Pancoe was 39 years old and tried to climb the fifth highest peak in the world located in the Himalayan chain, as reported The Parisian informed by the organizers of this expedition. The sportsman was already in full ascent when he made his last breath at Camp 2 being at 6,600m above sea level.
Death of Alexander Pancoe: the first tracks on the causes of his death in full ascent
The death of Alexander Pancoe was therefore noted on one of the rest areas on the road leading to Mont Makalu. “He did not feel well when he went down from an acclimatization stay at Camp 3“told AFP Iswari Paudel member of this mission managed by the company Himalayan Guides Nepal. And estimate with the British media The Independent : “Alex is probably died of a cardiac arrest. The cause of death can only be confirmed after an autopsy, but we suspect that it is a cardiac arrest “. A track that seems logical taking into account the requirements required by this route. The French reference site Expeditions Unlimited also recalls that “The main difficulty is between camp 2 (6,600 m) and camp 3 (7,500 m) with a long spur in mixed terrain, without any possibility of establishing an intermediate camp, requires excellent physical condition and the ability to remind. A large -scale summit, reserved for experienced mountaineers “.
Death of Alexander Pancoe: sick, the mountaineer had a symbolic objective for research
The skills of Alexander Pancoe are not to be proven, the thirty -something having climbed the highest peaks of all continents. However, the health problems suffered by the American may have disabled him during this ascent. Diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia in 2023 following a difficult first ascent in the Himalayas chain, Alexander Pancoe learned in the process that his “Body was unable to produce the red blood cells necessary for acclimatization to altitude”, Can we read on its Peaks of Mind website. Driven by the taste for risk, it thus had the ambition to raise funds in favor of medical research for pediatric blood cancer thanks to this new attempt which cost him his life … He was married to Nina Laski Pancoe and had just welcomed his second child born last September.
