Two rival mountaineers killed during final climb of world record attempt
12 October 2023, 14:23
Two climbers who were competing for the title of the first American woman to scale all 14 of the world’s 8,000 metre-high mountains have died on the same peak.
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Anna Gutu and Gina Marie Rzucidlo were both separately climbing Mount Shishapangma in Tibet when they lost their lives.
They were both on their final summit on their bids to complete the feat.
They died in separate locations when avalanches hit the mountain at the weekend.
Ms Gutu died alongside her guide Mingmar Sherpa.
Fellow American climber Ms Rzucidlo and her guide Tenjen Sherpa, were declared missing on the same day.
“We’re all devastated. We fluctuate between feeling numb and just crying,” Ms Rzucidlo’s sister, Christy Lavalle told a local news site.
“This is something she had been working on for a few years now. It’s heartbreaking because she was so, so close.”
Another mountaineer, Ute Ibrahimi, from Kosovo, turned back after a first avalanche struck because of fears for her own safety.
“After some time, I saw the other avalanche, the big huge one, that came from the summit,” she wrote in a post on Facebook.
“The Chinese authorities have declared my sister Gina and her Sherpa Tenjen Lama as deceased,” the Rzucidlo family posted online.
Tributes from friends, admirers and fellow mountaineers have been posted on Ms Gutu’s Instagram.
One person wrote: "We lost the most beautiful light today. The world will never be as bright without you. You are forever frozen in time as our beautiful mountain angel. I love you very much."
She was described as an “inspiration” and a “brave and strong woman”.
“I will remember you as an incredibly inspiring, brave and strong woman,” another said.
