Asian Trekking said rescuers discovered Tomaz Humar´s body during an aerial search of the 7,234-metre Langtang Lirung peak early Saturday. He had not made contact since Tuesday, when he radioed to say he had been injured.
"He had clearly fallen during the climb and broken his spine and leg," said Asian Trekking´s Dawa Sherpa, who coordinated the rescue effort. "He was climbing alone, with no guides or porters."
Humar, who was aged 40, shot to fame in the climbing world in 1999 with a solo ascent of the massive south face of Dhaulagiri, the world´s seventh-highest mountain.
The vertical mixed rock and ice route was the equivalent of scaling eight Empire State buildings stacked on top of each other, and widely seen as near-suicidal.
It made him a national celebrity, and also established him as among the world´s greatest extreme mountaineers.
His other extreme ascents included a new route -- again solo and in the "fast and light" alpine climbing style -- on the imposing south face of Annapurna, the world´s 10th highest peak.
His 2005 attempt to solo the Rupal face of Nanga Parbat, the world´s ninth-highest peak, in Pakistan, ended in high drama with a helicopter rescue at 5,900 meters.
The ill-fated attempt on the colossal south face of Langtang Lirung would have established another extreme solo, alpine-style route.
His body has been flown to the German embassy in Kathmandu, where his family were waiting, Sherpa said.
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