Waterford climber Adam Sweeney is resting at Camp 4 on Mount Everest after making the difficult decision to turn back during an overnight summit attempt.

The Dunmore East RNLI crew member, alongside teammates Éanna McGowan and Padraig O’Hora, had been aiming to become the first all-Irish team to summit Mount Everest in more than 20 years.

At just 22 years old, Adam is also attempting to become the youngest Irish person ever to reach the summit.

Expedition leader Jason Black says Team Ireland turned around at 8,450 metres, just below the Balcony, after encountering extremely dangerous conditions overnight.

Heavy snow had buried fixed ropes along the route, while breaking trail at that altitude proved exhausting and painfully slow. Despite being within 400 metres in altitude of the summit, the team began to get dangerously cold before making the decision to descend safely.

Jason Black says all members of Team Ireland are safe and now resting at Camp 4. Additional oxygen and food are being sent to support their recovery while conditions are assessed ahead of any possible second summit attempt.

He says communications overnight were difficult, but the most important thing is that everyone returned safely.

“The expedition leader also praised the climbers for making what he called the ‘absolutely correct decision’ under extreme pressure, saying success on Everest is not always measured by reaching the summit.”

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