An American who set out to raise money for kids' cancer treatment while climbing the world's fifth-highest mountain has become the second person to die during Nepal's 2025 climbing season. Alexander Pancoe, 39, died Sunday evening in his sleeping bag at Mount Makalu's second-highest camp, at around 21,000 feet of elevation, after returning from an acclimatization trip to Camp 3, some 24,600 feet above sea level, USA Today reports. Madison Mountaineering, the company that organized the expedition, said the climber "passed away unexpectedly" while sharing a tent with expedition leader Terray Sylvester.
"The two had just finished dinner and were settling into their sleeping bags, chatting casually, when Alex suddenly became unresponsive," the company said. "Despite hours of resuscitation efforts by Terray and our team of climbers and Sherpa at Camp 2, they were unable to revive him." The company suggested the death had come as a shock, noting Pancoe "had been in high spirits, full of energy, and was considered one of the strongest members of the team." He'd previously completed the Explorer's Grand Slam, meaning he climbed the highest peaks on all seven continents and skied to both the North and South Poles, per Reuters.
Pancoe was climbing Makalu to raise money for the pediatric blood cancer program at Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago. "He had already raised $1 million to help fund clinical trials and other programs there," per CBS News. On Instagram, his wife, Nina, wrote of the moment she learned of trouble in a satellite phone call from the mountain. "At first I thought you broke a bone, but to hear those words that your heart stopped and CPR was not working my heart shattered into a million pieces," she wrote. She added that Pancoe had battled a brain tumor and leukemia, but "you never let that stop you" and "you died doing something you loved in a place that you loved." He leaves behind two children of his own. (More mountain climbing stories.)