Two people pose for a selfie in a mountainous village setting. The person on the left, wearing a green puffy jacket and reflective blue ski goggles on their cap, looks calmly at the camera. The person on the right, in a bright blue jacket with reflective goggles pushed up on their cap, has their arm around the other and is grinning widely. Behind them is a stone and timber guesthouse with a green roof, concrete steps, and a rocky hillside with sparse trees.

Simone Moro Suffers Heart Attack Near Mera Peak

Anano Atabegashvili | December 14, 2025
News
Two people pose for a selfie in a mountainous village setting. The person on the left, wearing a green puffy jacket and reflective blue ski goggles on their cap, looks calmly at the camera. The person on the right, in a bright blue jacket with reflective goggles pushed up on their cap, has their arm around the other and is grinning widely. Behind them is a stone and timber guesthouse with a green roof, concrete steps, and a rocky hillside with sparse trees.

Nima Rinji Sherpa and Simone Moro in Lukla. Photo: Simone Moro

Italian alpinist Simone Moro was airlifted to a hospital in Kathmandu today after suffering a heart attack while in the village of Khare, in Nepal’s Khumbu Valley.

Moro, 58, was acclimatizing in the Mera Peak area in preparation for an alpine-style winter ascent of Manaslu together with Nima Rinji Sherpa of Nepal and Oswald Rodrigo Pereira of Poland. Moro and Nima Rinji arrived in Khare on Sunday, December 7, planning to climb Mera Peak (6,476m) at least twice and potentially spend nights on the summit as part of their acclimatization strategy.

According to The Tourism Times, Moro and Nima Rinji left Mera Peak’s high camp (around 5,800m) on October 10 and reached the summit in 2 hours and 20 minutes. Moro reportedly felt sick after returning to Khare, prompting an emergency evacuation.

Hospital officials stated that Moro underwent coronary artery bypass graft surgery and is currently receiving treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU) at HAMS Hospital in Kathmandu. Doctors described his condition as stable.

Medical staff expect Moro to recover, and he is likely to make an official statement after being discharged. Moro is not only a professional climber but also a rescue helicopter pilot, operating in Nepal during the Spring season.

Mera Peak, while technically straightforward, is Nepal’s highest trekking peak. Moro had explained that its altitude closely matches Manaslu’s Camp 3, making it ideal for pre-winter acclimatization ahead of a planned push beginning December 21, the start of astronomical winter.

Pereira joined the expedition at the last minute. He arrived in Khare as Moro and Nima Rinji summited Mera Peak and climbed the mountain solo the following day. Pereira completed a rapid ascent from Khare (4,880m) to the summit, covering 1,600 vertical meters in 6 hours and 15 minutes, just three days after leaving Poland.

Moro is the only climber in history to have completed four first winter ascents of 8,000m peaks:

  • Shisha Pangma (2005)
  • Makalu (2009)
  • Gasherbrum II (2011)
  • Nanga Parbat (2016)

He has attempted winter Manaslu six times, with conditions repeatedly preventing a true alpine-style ascent from base to summit.

Last year, Nima Rinji Sherpa, then 19, became the youngest person to summit all 14 eight-thousanders. This expedition was intended to be his first major alpine-style climb on one of the highest peaks.

At this stage, it remains unclear whether Nima Rinji Sherpa and Oswald Pereira will continue the winter Manaslu expedition as originally planned.