On May 18, 1999, he became the first Portuguese person to climb Mount Everest (8848m) by its north face route, again without using supplementary oxygen. During the descent his partner Pascal Debrouwer from Belgium, fell to his death. Due to the harsh weather, João Garcia suffered from severe frostbite in his fingers and face, leading him to spend some time in a hospital in Zaragoza, Spain, where he had a part of his fingers amputated.