KATHMANDU, JUNE 01

Body of German climber Luis Stitzinger has been airlifted to Kathmandu from Mt Kanchenjunga, expedition organiser said.

'Luis's body, which was found at 8,400m, has been airlifted to Kathmandu from Camp I of Mt Kanchenjunga this afternoon,' Mingma Sherpa, chairman at Seven Summit Treks, said.

Luis went out of contact from around 8,500m after he scaled the world's third highest peak without using supplemental oxygen on May 25.

'Luis's body has been kept at TU Teaching Hospital for postmortem,' Sherpa said.

A team of five Sherpa climbers from SST involved in a search and rescue mission found Luis at around 8,400m on May 30.

Luis along with other climbers stood atop the mountain on May 25.

The officially certified mountain and ski guide Luis was born in Füssem in 1968 and has roamed the mountains since childhood. He has been one of Germany's most active mountaineers for many years. He has successfully climbed many mountains without bottled oxygen. Luis reportedly had a plan to ski down the mountain this season, sources added.

Luis skied down Gasherbrum II at 8,035m, Nanga Parbat at 8,125m, Broad Peak at 8,051m, K2 at 8,611m, Manaslu at 8,163m, Shisha Pangma at 8,027m and the north face of Pik Lenin at 7,134m among others.