Alex Pancoe died doing what he loved, according to his wife. The 39-year-old passed away while climbing Mount Makalu. Located in Nepal, the peak is the fifth highest in the world. On May 4, 2025, the day he died, Pancoe was in good spirits, according to his mountaineering group. But during the evening, Pancoe became unresponsive. Despite extensive resuscitation efforts, he died.
Now, the Nepal tourism department is working to bring his body down from the mountain. His wife is honoring him as a man who lived his life to the fullest, despite his health challenges.
Pancoe survived a brain tumor in his younger years, Reuters reports. And during the climb, he was battling chronic myeloid leukemia. He attempted to climb Makalu in an effort to raise money for the pediatric blood cancer program at Lurie’s Children’s Hospital in Chicago, Pancoe’s expedition leader, Garrett Madison, said. Madison said Pancoe had already raised $1 million to fund clinical trials.
Madison Mountaineering shared the news of Pancoe’s death with the climbing community. “Alex was sharing a tent with our expedition leader and guide, Terray Sylvester,” it wrote in a statement shared to Facebook, “The two had just finished dinner and were settling into their sleeping bags, chatting casually, when Alex suddenly became unresponsive,” the statement continued. “Despite hours of resuscitation efforts by Terray and our team of climbers and Sherpa at Camp 2, they were unable to revive him.”
Iswari Paudel, a managing director at the Himalayan Guides, who organized the expedition, told the Independent Pancoe may have died of a cardiac arrest. His official cause of death won’t be confirmed until an autopsy has been conducted.
The group remembers Pancoe as an enthusiastic climber who was a dedicated father to two young boys. “He had been thoroughly enjoying the expedition,” the statement reads. “Above all, Alex was a devoted father who spoke often and lovingly about his children — they were the center of his world.”
Pancoe’s love for his family was also echoed by his wife, Nina. She memorialized Pancoe on her Instagram feed, painting a more in-depth picture of his character.
“Through your own battles of having a brain tumor and leukemia you never let that stop you,” Nina wrote. “You lived each day to the fullest making an impact on the world around you,” she wrote. “You died doing something you loved in a place that you loved. People always asked me how could you let him climb and my response was because it was his passion and something that he absolutely loved. Your legacy will live on forever and will continue to make sure everyone knows how special you were.”
