A Russian climber named Pavel Kostrikin has died at Camp I of Mount Everest, a Nepali official said.
It is the first reported death of a foreigner on the world's highest peak in the current climbing season that began in March.
Mr Kostrikin, 55, died at the camp, which is located at an altitude of around 5,360 metres during a rotation on the 8,848-metre mountain yesterday, said Bhishma Kumar Bhattarai, an official of Nepal's Department of Tourism.
"The Russian climber fell sick at Camp II and died after being brought to the Camp I," Mr Bhattarai told Reuters without giving further details.
Camp II on the normal southeast ridge route on Everest is located at a height of around 6,400 metres.
Hiking officials said the body of Mr Kostrikin would be brought to Kathmandu when the current cloudy weather conditions improve.
Mount Everest has been climbed 10,657 times since it was first scaled in 1953, from both the Nepali and Tibetan sides of the mountain, with many people climbing multiple times. To date, 311 people have died, according to The Himalayan Database.
A Nepali sherpa scaled Mount Everest for a record 26th time this weekend, beating his own previous record set last year.
Kami Rita Sherpa, 52, scaled the mountain yesterday along the traditional southeast ridge route leading ten other Sherpa climbers.
"Kami Rita has broken his own record and established a new world record in climbing," said Taranath Adhikari, director general of the Department of Tourism in capital Kathmandu.
Kami Rita's wife, who gave her name as Jangmu, said she was happy over the achievement of her husband.
The climbing route used by Kami Rita was pioneered by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepal's sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953 and remains the most popular.
Meanwhile, an Indian climber died during a summit push at Nepal's Mount Kanchenjunga, the world's third-highest mountain, a hiking official said yesterday.
Last month, a Greek climber and a Nepali sherpa guide died on other peaks.
Mountain climbing is the main tourism activity in Nepal and a key source of income, as well as employment.
The country has eight of the world's 14 highest mountains.
More than 900 foreign mountaineers have received permits to climb 26 Himalayan peaks in Nepal, including 316 permits for Mount Everest, during the current season ending in May.
