Missing Mount Everest climber’s GoFundMe cops massive backlash

As the GoFundMe for a missing Mount Everest climber nears the goal of $300k, the partner behind the fundraiser has copped a wave of backlash.

The partner of missing Mount Everest climber Dan Paterson is trying to raise funds for his recovery. But there’s been significant backlash.

The girlfriend of a British climber and gym owner who is feared dead at the top of Mount Everest has received backlash after reaching $250,00 on GoFundMe.

Daniel Paul Paterson, 40, and his 23-year-old local guide Pas Tenji have not been seen or heard from since they reached the summit almost a week ago, authorities in Nepal have said.

According to reports, the pair were part of a team of 15 with adventure company, 8K Expeditions. It is feared that after reaching the summit, heavy blows of wind caused ice from the top of the mountain to collapse and fall over them.

British climber Dan Paterson, 40, and his guide (not pictured) have been reported missing on Mount Everest when a massive ice fall hit their expedition are feared dead

According to reports from witnesses on the mountain, a cornice broke off and washed down a few climbers including Mr Paterson and his guide towards the Tibet side.

In a desperate bid to aid the search for Mr Paterson, a distraught Rebecca Woodhead started a GoFundMe page to fund further search and rescue missions for the “beloved son, brother, partner and friend”.

Ms Woodhead’s goal was to raise a staggering £150,000 ($A290,000) through GoFundMe, of which she is just £20,000 ($A38,000) short.

Mr Paterson’s partner said she had been advised by Global Rescue, a world-renowned organisation specialising in search and rescue operations in extreme environments, that similar operations cost close to $A300,000. The funds raised would be put towards helicopter flights and aerial searches, specialised search teams and equipment, communication and co-ordination efforts as well as logistical support and supplies.

Ms Woodhead is desperately raising funds to find her partner, Dan Paterson, who has been missing for almost a week on Mount Everest.

Ms Woodhead is hoping to raise almost $300,000.

But as Ms Woodhead nears the staggering financial goal to recover her partner, there’s growing backlash around the nature of the mission — and how doing so is only putting more people in harms way.

“Can’t and shouldn’t risk others lives to retrieve a body … he knew the risks,” one person posted.

“Can I ask why most people who are lost or die on Everest are left there due to the high levels of risk to the prospective rescuers but we are raising money to risk more lives?!” another added.

“If you climb Everest you do so knowing full well the risks to your life. I don’t think it’s appropriate to raise funds to endanger the lives of others.”

“I lost my father in an avalanche in Svalbard, I know how devastating it is to loose someone you love,” another wrote on Instagram.

“But my family and I would never want’d (sic) people to risk their own lives just to find his body.”

The fundraiser has copped backlash on social media.

Another commented: “Let’s climb up a mountain that’s took so many lives and then be shocked when they go missing and beg for funding to find him.”

“Ridiculous … so much better causes to donate too.”

Others, however, were a little more sympathetic towards Ms Woodhead’s fundraising efforts.

“Just donated, my heart goes to you and family,” one posted.

“I can’t begin to imagine what you’re all going through. Keeping you in our thoughts and prayers,” another added.

“I really hope you can raise enough money to bring Daniel and Pas Tenji home to their families,” a third commented.

Officials said any immediate search to find Mr Paterson and sherpa Mr Tenji would not be possible due to the location of the fall.

Mr Paterson, 40, had been actively posting on social media before and during the climb of Mount Everest.

The backlash comes as officials in Nepal said an immediate search to find both Mr Paterson and his sherpa, Mr Tenji, would not be possible.

On Sunday local time, Nepali officials said it was not possible to search for the pair currently because both fell on their way down from “a very high altitude” on the Chinese side of the mountain which will require further co-ordination to form a search party, reports The Independent.

“It is not possible to search for the missing climbers right now because the British (mountaineer) and his Sherpa fell from the bottom of Hillary step which is at about 8,800 meters (26,964 feet) and toward the Kangshung Face in Tibet,” said Khim Lal Gautam, an official at Everest’s base camp who monitors climbers.

“It is going to be difficult to search for them because they have fallen on the Tibet side which needs co-ordination,” Gautam said, adding the region of their fall often reaches temperatures as low as -36C.

The area where Mr Paterson fell can reach temperatures as low as -36.

Throughout the climb of Everest — the world’s highest mountain — Mr Paterson posted frequent updates of photos and videos of his arrival to the Himalayas in Nepal in April and his subsequent ascent this month.

His posts included visuals of what it was like to live at Base Camp and the conditions endured to tackle the summit, as well as a final emotional post about why he wanted to reach the top — to help raise money for the family of a gym member who had recently died from cancer.

“I don’t get scared much in life, but the thing that scares me most is not achieving this, but I’m trying not to think about it,” the post read.

Mr Paterson climbed to the top of the world’s highest mountain before tragedy struck.

One of the last posts Mr Paterson made alongside his climbing sherpa.

“All I care about is getting to the top of that mountain. It’s a good journey despite reaching the summit or not, but for me that’s not an option [to fail].”

In the days following Mr Paterson’s disappearance in an area commonly known as the ‘Death Zone’, Ms Woodhead made a heartfelt post on her own personal Instagram page, saying the past week had been “unbearable”.

“Every day is harder,” she wrote on Saturday.

“Today has been even more unbearable. I don’t have enough hands to reply to messages. But I have a big enough heart to accept your kindness.”