'Google Adventurer' killed on Mt Everest

He was a Google engineer and an avid climber who sought to take the company’s Street View project to the world’s tallest mountains.

On Saturday, Dan Fredinburg was at a base camp on Mount Everest when a powerful earthquake in Nepal set off an avalanche. Fredinburg was killed, Google said in a statement posted on its website.

“Sadly, we lost one of our own in this tragedy,” the statement said. “Dan Fredinburg, a longtime member of the Privacy organisation in Mountain View, was in Nepal with three other Googlers, hiking Mount Everest. The other three Googlers with him are safe, and we are working to get them home quickly.”

Shortly before, an Instagram post on Fredinburg’s account went up: “This is Dan’s little sister Megan,” the message began. “I regret to inform all who loved him that during the avalanche on Everest early this morning our Dan suffered from a major head injury and didn’t make it.”

According to his LinkedIn page, Fredinburg had worked at Google since 2007, where he described himself as ‘Google Adventurer’. He worked on Google’s privacy team, recently helping to advise on high-profile projects, including the self-driving car and Project Loon, an attempt to use stratospheric balloons to deliver high-speed Internet to rural areas and the developing world.

Fredinburg had led a number of expeditions to the Everest area, taking images for Google’s Street View project. 

“Now, you can explore some of the most famous mountains on Earth, including Aconcagua (South America), Kilimanjaro (Africa), Mount Elbrus (Europe) and Everest Base Camp (Asia) on Google Maps,” he wrote in a blog post in 2013.

On March 30, Fredinburg’s Twitter and Instagram accounts showed a picture of an orange water bottle with a carabiner dangling from it in a room full of climbing gear. It read: “2015 Everest Expedition fully underway. Gear is ready. I am ready. Now, spending some time thinking about how this year’s climb can be as impactful as possible!”

He went on to document Kathmandu and Lukla, Nepal. “The most dangerous airport in the world (due to lack of sufficient runway),” he wrote of Lukla, accompanying a cockpit photo of a short runway surrounded by buildings.On April 6, Fredinburg posted: “First views of Everest in the distance got us screaming and dancing like idiots.”

On April 10, he visited Lama Geshe, a local religious leader, “to get blessed for our journey.” His last Instagram post, on Friday, said: “Day 22: Ice training with@micbattelli means frequent stops for morning cappuccino, regardless of danger.”