During the Climbing Season, 11 People Died on Mount Everest in 10 Days
Mira Acharya, an official from Nepal’s Department of Tourism, said that climber Christopher John Kulish, 61, had reached the 8,850-meter summit via the Southeast Ridge route in the morning but suddenly died on the descent near the South Col.
The cause of death for the lawyer from Colorado, USA, remains unclear, but most fatalities on Everest this year are believed to be due to exhaustion and fatigue, worsened by the bottleneck on the single-file route up and down the mountain. The climbing season will end in late May.
Shocking Photo: A Body on the Route to the Summit
A photo taken on May 22 shows a long line of climbers snaking up the 8,850-meter peak. Before Christopher’s death, a Canadian filmmaker described stepping over a dead body to reach the summit.
Elia Saikaly, from Ottawa, said he tried to warn other climbers on the route over the world’s highest peak, and many later died.
Saikaly’s photo shows a long line of climbers waiting to ascend, with a body still hanging on the rope nearby. It is unclear whose remains are shown.
11 Deaths in 9 Days
Ten people died in just nine days after dangerous weather forced climbers to wait in long lines, facing the risk of exhaustion and running out of oxygen.
The Nepal route, also known as the South Col route, was discovered in 1953. Approximately 5,000 people have climbed Everest to date, and about 300 have died on the mountain’s slopes.
Two climbers have also been confirmed dead on the Tibetan side of Everest during this climbing season.
Statistics this season show that 38 climbers were permitted to climb Everest from the Nepal side, and about 130 others may have come from the north side in Tibet.
Warning from a British Victim
A British victim had warned about overcrowding at the summit in his final social media post. Robin Haynes Fisher died from sudden death syndrome caused by low pressure and thin air at approximately 8,600 meters while descending from the summit on Saturday, May 25.
Fisher wrote in an Instagram post on May 13: “I’m hoping to avoid the crowds on summit day, and it looks like some teams are also waiting until the 21st.”
During the climbing season starting May 20, many people were stuck in queues to the summit, above the mountain’s highest camp at 8,000 meters.
Most people can only spend a few minutes at the summit without supplemental oxygen, and the area where climbers queue is known as the “death zone.”
Expert Opinions
Climbing guide Adrian Ballinger told CNN that difficult weather conditions this season led to overcrowding because summit attempts were limited, and problems were worsened by some climbing teams lacking experience.
Ballinger commented: “These deaths are entirely preventable. They made poor judgments in a difficult climbing season with extreme weather.”
In 2018, high-altitude medical expert Sundeep Dhillon explained to CNN that perhaps the greatest danger is when climbers view the summit as the endpoint of their journey. Dhillon estimated that “the risk of death on the descent is 1 in 10.”
Dhillon said: “People tend to overestimate their own abilities while underestimating the pressures that extreme altitude creates. They forget they are in the death zone.”
Primary Sources:
Nepal Department of Tourism – Announcement on Everest fatalities
CNN – Interviews with climbing guide Adrian Ballinger and expert Sundeep Dhillon
Elia Saikaly – Social media post on Everest overcrowding
Robin Haynes Fisher – Final Instagram post