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SALT LAKE CITY — A Utahn has died while climbing Mount Everest, according to reports from the region.
Sandy resident Don Cash, 55, died while descending from the summit of the mountain Wednesday, according to The Himalayan Times, an English-language newspaper in Nepal.
The newspaper reports that Cash died just below the Hillary Step, a narrow rock face near the summit. He was part of a 15-member expedition that was led by a Chinese mountaineer, the report states.
Further details about Cash's death were not immediately available.
Multiple people who knew Cash posted on social media about him after learning of his death Wednesday morning.
"I always thought of him as invincible," one person wrote on Facebook. "I'm certain he had a smile on his face as he passed, knowing he reached the unreachable, conquered the unconquerable."
Another person wrote on Twitter: "Don's the one who inspired us to love Utah. He was such an incredible person."
Including Cash, there have been 12 deaths on mountain peaks higher than 8,000 meters (about 26,000 feet) so far during this spring climbing season, according to The Himalayan Times.
