A Malaysian climber narrowly survived after a Nepali sherpa guide hauled him down from below the summit of Mount Everest in a “very rare” high-altitude rescue, a government official said on Wednesday.

Gelje Sherpa, 30, was guiding a Chinese client to the Everest summit on May 18 when he saw the Malaysian climber clinging to a rope and shivering from extreme cold in the area called the “death zone”, where temperatures can dip to -30° Celsius or lower.

Gelje hauled the climber 600 metres down from the Balcony area to the South Col, over a period of about six hours, where Nima Tahi Sherpa, another guide, joined the rescue.

“We wrapped the climber in a sleeping mat, dragged him on the snow or carried him in turns on our backs to camp III,” Gelje said. A helicopter using a long line then lifted him from the 7,162-metre-high Camp III down to base camp.

“It is almost impossible to rescue climbers at that altitude,” Department of Tourism official Bigyan Koirala said. “It is a very rare operation,” Gelje said he convinced his client to give up his summit bid and descend, saying it was important for him to rescue the climber.

“Saving one life is more important than praying at the monastery,” said Gelje, a devout Buddhist.

Tashi Lakhpa Sherpa of the Seven Summit Treks company, which provided logistics to the Malaysian climber, declined to name him, citing his client’s privacy. The climber was put on a flight to Malaysia last week.

Nepal issued a record 478 permits for Everest during this year’s March to May climbing season.