Singapore: Australian Chin-Tark Chan should have celebrated his 50th birthday having just conquered one of Nepal’s great mountains. He died on it instead, amid worsening weather, bureaucratic snags and disputes about rescue tactics.

“Chinny”, from Perth, who was well known in the mountaineering community, had been with a small group of adventurers and sherpas on a multi-week ascent up Nepal’s Himlung Himal, a 7126-metre summit near the border with Tibet.

But with about 300 metres to go, the Australian showed signs of extreme high-altitude sickness. He was vomiting blood, and more was coming from his nose, and was in and out of consciousness. He died 700 metres lower on October 29 two days later, when rescue efforts failed.

For different reasons, both the trekking company behind the c

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