McDonnell was born in Kilcornan, County Limerick. A decade before his K2 success, he had moved to Anchorage, Alaska. He hoped not only to work there but also to develop his skills as a mountaineer. McDonnell was well known in Anchorage's Irish community. Among his interests was playing the bodhrán in a band. He was described as a "philosopher" and a "great storyteller". McDonnell summited Mount Everest with Mick Murphy in 2003. He was unsuccessful during an earlier attempt on K2 in 2006 when he was hit by a rock and airlifted to hospital. Irish President, Mary McAleese was among the dignitaries to pay tribute to him following his successful Everest climb in 2003 and in 2008 following his death. McDonnell's group had been on a mammoth expedition for eight weeks, surviving in sub-zero temperatures. In an online despatch, he said that after the team set 31 July as their date for the summit bid, spirits were high. "Let luck and good fortune prevail, fingers crossed," he wrote. However, following the avalanche, a serac fell, cutting all the fixed lines on his and his fellow members of the Dutch-led Norit K2 Expedition's path. It was said by the surviving members of McDonnell's team that he refused to descend because he was helping the others that were injured. Expedition leader Wilco van Rooijen, a 40-year-old Dutch climber who was airlifted to a military hospital in Pakistan after surviving the accident, said that poor preparations had contributed to the disaster. He suggested that advance climbers laid ropes in the wrong places on the mountain, hampering the climb of several teams of mountaineers and ultimately contributing to deaths of three of the climbers on his team. "Everything was going well to camp four, and on summit attempt, everything went wrong," said van Rooijen from his hospital bed in the Northern Pakistani town of Skardu. "The biggest mistake we made was that we tried to make agreements. Everybody had his own responsibility and then some people did not do what they promised. With such stupid things, lives are endangered." He singled out another team for only bringing half the length of rope they were supposed to. Ger McDonnell's satellite phone was given to Pemba on the summit and he brought it along with McDonnell's camera back to base camp. Mr McDonnell's partner, brother JJ and sister Denise flew to Islamabad in search of answers. Whilst McDonnell's body was not recovered, a memorial service was held in Kilcornan on 17 August 2008. McDonnell's mother, brother, partner, van Rooijen and Pat Falvey later appeared on The Late Late Show on 3 October 2008. In 2009, a memorial fund was set up in his honour to provide first-aid training and safe climbing technique for high-altitude porters. In 2012, Damien O'Brien, wrote a book about McDonnell, "The Time Has Come: Ger McDonnell – His Life & Death on K2", published by The Collins Press. The book was launched in McDonnell's hometown of Kilcornan, County Limerick, on Friday 30 March with most of the town in attendance. Mike Barry, the first Irish person to walk to the South Pole, officially launched the book while others in attendance included Clare O'Leary, Wilco van Rooijen, Cas van de Gevel and Maarten van Eck.
