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Google engineer and regular mountain climber, Dan Fredinburg has passed away after an earthquake in Nepal set off an avalanche on Mount Everest where Fredinburg was camping. Fredinburg desired to include Everest and other mountains in Google’s Street View project.
Four Google employees were hiking the world’s tallest peak when the incident occurred. The other three hikers survived and are safe, but Fredinburg suffered serious head injuries due to the avalanche and passed away.
Google released a statement on their website confirming the news.
“Sadly, we lost one of our own in this tragedy. Dan Fredinburg, a longtime member of the Privacy organization in Mountain View, was in Nepal with three other Googlers, hiking Mount Everest. He has passed away. The other three Googlers with him are safe, and we are working to get them home quickly.”
Fredinburg had been working with Google since 1997, attempting to connect rural and developing areas in the world with high-speed internet. He gave his valuable advice on multiple projects including the self-driving car apart from working on the company’s privacy team.
The 33-year-old was a passionate mountain climber and had led quite a few expeditions to famous mountains all over the world for Google’s Street View project.
He wrote on his blog in 2013, “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 continued, “While there's nothing quite like standing on the mountain. With Google Maps you can instantly transport yourself to the top of these peaks and enjoy the sights without all of the avalanches, rock slides, crevasses and dangers from altitude and weather that mountaineers face.”
Fredinburg kept his followers on Twitter and Instagram updated on his journey scaling the world’s tallest mountain.
His sister posted the following on his Instagram account after his death:
