An American mountaineer who was climbing to raise funds for a children’s cancer charity has died on a Himalayan peak while preparing for his summit attempt.
Alexander Pancoe, 39, from Illinois, suffered a suspected cardiac arrest late Sunday night at Camp II on Mt Makalu in Nepal, the world’s fifth-highest mountain.
The highly experienced climber, who was a brain tumor survivor, had just completed an acclimatization rotation to Camp III.
‘Alex felt uncomfortable while he returned from the camp three of the 8,485-metre mountain completing his acclimatization rotation,’ Iswari Paudel of Himalayan Guides confirmed to the Himalayan Times.
Expedition officials told the Independent that Pancoe was preparing to rest for the night when he suddenly felt unwell.
His teammates attempted to revive him for over an hour, yet he tragically remained unresponsive.
The father of two young children was on the challenging climb to raise $27,838 (the height of Mt Makalu in feet) for Lurie Children’s pediatric blood cancer program in his hometown of Chicago.
Pancoe had also been fighting chronic myeloid leukemia at the time of his death.
He was the founder of Peaks of Mind, a non profit that combines climbing to ‘raise awareness and make a difference.’
American mountaineer Alexander Pancoe, 39, who was climbing to raise funds for a children’s cancer charity has died on a Himalayan peak while preparing for his summit attempt
The father of two young children was on the challenging climb to raise $27,838 (the height of Mt Makalu in feet) for Lurie Children’s pediatric blood cancer program in his hometown of Chicago
He was the founder of Peaks of Mind, a non profit that combines climbing to ‘raise awareness and make a difference’
‘In 2005, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor and successfully operated on at Lurie Children’s Hospital. 20 years later I have had no complications,’ he explained on the Peaks of Mind’s website.
‘In 2016, I went on a life-changing adventure to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. In the years following, I fell in love with adventure, overcoming fear, and pushing my physical and mental limits.’
The experienced climber had already achieved major feats before his final expedition – while raising funds for sick kids along the way.
‘I got this crazy idea in my head (the crazy is something the surgery didn’t change) to pursue the Explorer’s Grand Slam – a challenge that involves climbing the 7 summits and skiing to both the North and South Pole.’
‘While pursuing this dream, I raised awareness, shared other patients’ journeys, and raise funds for pediatric brain tumor research at Lurie Children’s – giving back to the amazing institution that saved his life years prior.’
He had previous close calls. During a 2023 climb of Ama Dablam in the Himalayas Pancoe was when he first noticed serious health problems.
‘It was a wild few years filled with adventure, a near fatal climbing injury that required a blackhawk helicopter rescue, and lots of climbing! In 2019, upon summiting Everest and Denali, I became just the 15th American and one of 75 people in the world to complete the Grand Slam, raising almost $500,000 in the process for Lurie Children’s.’
‘In 2023. while climbing Ama Dablam, a challenging climb in the Himalayan range, I became extremely hypoxic and struggled with the altitude. Several months later I was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia and learned my body had been unable to make the red bloods cells necessary to acclimate at altitude.’
Pancoe was preparing to rest for the night when he suddenly felt unwell
His teammates attempted to revive him for over an hour, ye he tragically remained unresponsive
He suffered a suspected cardiac arrest late Sunday night at Camp II on Mt Makalu in Nepal, the world’s fifth-highest mountain
But despite the devastating diagnosis, Pancoe was determined to continue his mission.
‘CML is a lifelong cancer and after almost two years of receiving treatment to manage it – I am going to be attempting to climb Makalu, the 5th highest mountain the world and raise $27,838 (the height if Makalu in feet) for Lurie Children’s pediatric blood cancer program.
‘It’s going to be a huge challenge for me – climbing at altitude is plenty hard without a chronic ailment – but I look forward to rising to the challenge.’
