Irish Everest mountaineer dies in New Zealand Southern Alps

AN IRISH CLIMBER who was part of the first and successful Everest expedition in 1993 has died in a mountaineering accident in New Zealand.

Richard O’Neill-Dean, originally from Stackallen Co Meath, fell during a solo descent from the 2,875-metre-high summit of Mount D’Archiac in New Zealand’s Southern Alps.

After the alarm was raised last Sunday, his body was located and was flown to Christchurch for a post-mortem.

He is survived by his wife, Frida, daughters Esmé and Julie and young grandchildren.

Richard initially worked as a hill sheep farmer and outdoor adventure instructor before training in psychotherapy. He began climbing as a teenager after what he described as an “unusual apprenticeship” in the Alps.

In a biographical note, he said he was “very lucky” to climb a few previously unrecorded peaks in the Indian Himalaya and Patagonia.

The ascent in Patagonia which he completed with Richard Shackleton of Lucan, Co Dublin, has since become the most popular route in the Parque Nacional del Paine in Patagonia.

After emigrating to New Zealand with his wife, Frida, in 1987, he developed a new winter ski-mountaineering traverse of the Southern Alps from east to west. A memorial service for his life is due to take place in New Zealand next week.

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The mountaineer and psychotherapist had many achievements to his credit, including playing a key role in supporting Dawson Stelfox’s ascent of Mount Everest from Tibet on 27 May 1993.

Stelfox, Belfast architect and Ireland’s first Everest summiteer, has described him as a pioneering mountaineer who recorded first ascents of mountains in Patagonia and the Himalaya, and new rock climbs in Ireland.

“In more recent years, he recorded adventurous ski-mountaineering traverses the length of the rugged New Zealand Alps – his home since 1987,” Stelfox said.

“On the first Irish Everest Expedition in 1993, Richard was the first of the team above 8000 metres, carrying up a heavy load of vital food and equipment in harsh conditions,” he recalled.

“Richard was recovering from this effort at base camp as [deputy leader] Frank Nugent and I made our summit attempt.

“Talking to Richard on the radio mid morning I realised he was watching our every move through a telescope, and his calm, considered and confident words gave great re-assurance – a watchful eye looking over us.

“He understood both mountains and people and the interaction between them,” Stelfox said. “He was always calm, considered and wise, with deep reserves of strength and experience to be called on when needed most.”

Fellow climber and close friend Dermot Somers, also on the 1993 Everest expedition, said Richard’s many achievements included rock-climbing first ascents in Ireland and alpine routes in Europe and New Zealand.

“As a ski-mountaineer, he participated in important new challenges in remote areas of the New Zealand Alps,” Somers said.

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