Highland Park native dies on Mount Makalu, leaves inspirational legacy

Highland Park native and Northwestern University graduate Alexander Pancoe, 39, died Sunday while climbing Mount Makalu in Nepal. Pancoe was a dedicated mountain climber and brain tumor survivor. 

Pancoe died of cardiac arrest while resting at Camp II on Mt. Makalu, according to Iswari Paudel, managing director at Himalayan Guides, talking with The Himalayan Times. At 27,838 feet, Mt. Makalu is the world’s fifth-highest mountain, located in the Mahalangur Himalayas.

The U.S. Embassy Kathmandu in Nepal confirmed the death, with no further comment out of respect for Pancoe’s family and loved ones.

According to Nina Laski Pancoe, Alexander’s wife, he was also battling leukemia throughout his climbing career but had been approved by doctors to continue.

Pancoe was a prolific mountain climber and the founder of Peaks of Mind, a website where he documented his expeditions. In 2019, Pancoe became the 16th American to complete the Explorers’ Grand Slam, a challenge to reach the North and South Poles and all the tallest mountains on each of the seven continents.

In 2019, CBS News Chicago followed Pancoe on his quest to summit Mount Everest and complete the Grand Slam. His climb was dedicated to Serena Lewis, a teenager who had survived a brain tumor through treatment at Lurie Children’s Hospital.

Pancoe shares a special bond with Lewis. He was also treated for a brain tumor at Lurie Children’s in 2005. He has since dedicated his climbs to several current or former patients at Lurie Children’s. According to his website, he has raised nearly $500,000 through his expeditions. 

“If I can climb my Everest, they can climb their metaphorical Everest,” Pancoe told CBS Chicago in 2018.

Pancoe leaves behind his wife and their two children, Zephyr and Venice. The family lives in Lake Forest.

“You lived each day to the fullest making an impact on the world around you,” Nina wrote in a note to Alexander on Instagram. “You are the kindest, sweetest, most passionate person I have ever met. I am beyond lost without my Alex. … You died doing something you loved in a place that you loved.”

With climbing, Pancoe’s greatest loves were his children. 

Nina Pancoe told The Record that he proudly taught Zephyr to ski on a recent trip, something he looked forward to doing with his family. She said that he loved trying new things and bringing his family along for the adventure, and dreamed of watching his kids grow up.

“There are pictures of him all around the house. His memory is here with us,” she said.

According to The Himalayan Times, efforts have begun to return Pancoe to the United States. Nina Pancoe plans to hold a celebration of life during the summer, but no date has been set at this time.

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