500 Permits and 18 Deaths in 2023: The Deadliest Climbing Season in 70 Years on Everest – “Summit Fever” Turns the World’s Highest Peak into a “High-Altitude Amusement Park”
The 2023 spring climbing season on Mount Everest will be remembered as the deadliest in the mountain’s 70-year history of successful ascents. With a record 478 permits issued by Nepal, and 18 confirmed fatalities, the season exposed the lethal consequences of overcrowding, commercialization, and the relentless pursuit of the summit at any cost.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene on the mountain: long queues of climbers in the “Death Zone” above 8,000 meters, exhausted mountaineers begging for helicopter evacuations from Camp II, and five climbers whose bodies were never recovered. The mountain that once challenged only the world’s most elite adventurers has been transformed into what experienced mountaineers now call a “high-altitude theme park”.
This documentary examines the tragic events of the 2023 Everest season — the record-breaking permits, the deadly bottlenecks in the Death Zone, the systemic failures that led to preventable deaths, and the uncomfortable question of whether Everest has become a victim of its own success.
1. The Numbers That Tell the Story
The statistics from 2023 are staggering. Nepal’s Department of Tourism issued a record 478 climbing permits for the spring season — surpassing the previous high of 409 set in 2021. Each permit costs approximately $11,000, generating over $5 million in revenue for Nepal. For every permit holder, there is typically at least one Sherpa guide, meaning roughly 1,200 people were on the mountain during the season.
The total number of successful summits reached 656, with climbers from 10 different countries — including the United States, China, India, and Malaysia — reaching the top. Yet the season also claimed 18 lives, making it the deadliest since records began in 1922.
Three Sherpas were killed on April 12 in a serac fall on the Khumbu Icefall while fixing ropes for the climbing season. All other deaths were attributed to altitude-related illnesses and cold exposure. The official death toll of 18 excludes the five climbers who remain missing, presumed dead.
2. The “Death Zone”: Where Bodies Begin to Shut Down
The “Death Zone” — the area above 8,000 meters where oxygen pressure drops to only one-third of sea level — is where the human body literally begins to consume itself to survive. At this altitude, the brain is progressively disabled by oxygen deprivation, and every movement requires a Herculean effort.
In 2023, experts raised alarms about the potential for deadly traffic jams in the Death Zone. Garrett Madison of Madison Mountaineering warned that “potential traffic jams on the climbing route, especially if the weather windows are few and far between,” could lead to “climbers running out of oxygen and facing exhaustion/exposure in the ‘death zone'”.
The greatest risk of delays occurs at the Hillary Step, a steep 12-meter rock face located just 180 meters below the summit — deep within the Death Zone. For climbers waiting in line at such extreme altitude, even a short delay can be fatal.
Overcrowding on Everest became so severe that images of climbers queuing on the mountain went viral on social media. One TikTok video showing a “traffic jam” on Everest accumulated 2.5 million views, with commenters comparing the experience to “a week at Disney” and calling Everest “a rope park for rich people”.
3. Why Did So Many Die? The Perfect Storm of 2023
The 2023 death toll was the result of a perfect storm of factors: record numbers of climbers, narrowing weather windows, inexperienced mountaineers, and profit-driven commercial operators.
Record Permits and Inexperienced Climbers
The Nepal government issued more permits than ever before, despite warnings that the mountain’s infrastructure could not safely accommodate such numbers. Many of the climbers lacked the experience necessary for such an extreme undertaking.
British climber Kenton Cool, who has summited Everest 17 times — more than anyone born outside Nepal — criticized Nepalese companies for taking on unprepared climbers. “When I arrived on the scene in 2004, most climbers had a deep climbing résumé,” he said. “Now there are droves of people who have not climbed a mountain before. This is one of the reasons why we are having multiple deaths”.
Weather and Climate Change
Yuba Raj Khatiwada, director of Nepal’s tourism department, blamed the high death toll on unusually variable weather. He said that climate change was having a “big impact in the mountains,” creating conditions that were “not favorable” for safe climbing.
Commercialization and Cost-Cutting
Some operators were accused of cutting corners to maximize profits. Cool reported hearing of a case where an operator did not bring enough oxygen cylinders for all of their clients. “If you’ve got 10 clients and you’ve only got oxygen for five of them, what do you do then? Is there going to be oxygen theft? That’s not a well-regulated industry,” he said.
The proliferation of low-cost Nepalese guiding companies was also cited as a factor. These companies sometimes charge significantly less than Western operators but may provide less support, fewer oxygen bottles, and less experienced guides.
4. The Human Cost: 18 Lives Lost
The 18 climbers who died in 2023 represent a cross-section of humanity, from different countries, backgrounds, and levels of experience:
April 12: Dawa Chhiri Sherpa, Lakpa Rita Sherpa, and Pemba Tenzing Sherpa — all Nepali — killed in a serac fall on the Khumbu Icefall
May 1: Jonathan Reuel Sugarman (USA)
May 16: Phurba Sherpa (Nepal)
May 17: Victor Brinza (Moldova)
May 18: Xue-Bin Chen (China), Suzanne Leopoldina Jesus (India)
May 19: Awang Askandar Ampuan Yaacub (Malaysia), Shrinivas Sainis Dattatraya (Singapore), Muhammad Hawari Hashim (Malaysia), Jason Bernard Kennison (Australia)
May 23: Ang Kami Sherpa (Nepal)
May 24: Swapnil Adinath Garad (India), Petrus Albertyn Swart (Canada)
May 25: Ranjit Kumar Shah (Nepal), Lhakpa Nuru Sherpa (Nepal), Szilard Suhajda (Hungary)
Most of these deaths occurred during the descent — a tragic pattern that has long been documented by wilderness medicine specialists. Climbers reach the summit exhausted, their oxygen supplies depleted, only to face hours of dangerous downward climbing in freezing temperatures and dwindling daylight.
5. The “Summit Fever” Phenomenon: Why Do They Keep Climbing?
Despite the dangers, the number of climbers continues to rise. The term “summit fever” describes the obsessive drive to reach the top at all costs — a phenomenon that has become increasingly common as Everest has become commercialized.
Some climbers are more interested in getting the prized photo at the peak than in the journey itself. As one analysis noted, many are motivated not by the desire to achieve a mountaineering milestone but by the need for social media validation. This shift in motivation has fueled a dangerous race to the summit, where stopping to help others can mean sacrificing one’s own chance to stand on top of the world.
The 2023 season saw a tragic example of this: one video showed climbers stepping over a dying man on their way to the summit — a stark reminder that in the Death Zone, self-preservation often takes priority over everything else.
6. Nepal’s Role: Economic Necessity vs. Safety
Nepal’s government faces a difficult dilemma. The Everest climbing industry generates over $300 million annually for Nepal’s economy, supporting entire communities in the Khumbu region. The government’s decision to issue a record number of permits in 2023 was driven in part by economic necessity.
However, critics argue that Nepal’s reliance on Everest revenue has come at the cost of safety. The government has been accused of allowing anyone who can pay the $11,000 permit fee to attempt the climb, regardless of their experience level.
Khatiwada defended the government’s approach, stating that a team of doctors and government officials would be stationed at Everest Base Camp for the first time to manage climbing activities throughout the season. He also said the government was considering introducing a requirement for climbers to scale at least one 6,000-meter peak in Nepal before attempting Everest.
Yet critics argue these measures are insufficient. As one analysis concluded, Nepal’s permit system “prioritizes government revenue over climber safety,” creating a “deadly lottery where timing and luck matter more than skill and preparation”.
7. The Legacy of 2023: Lessons for the Future
The 2023 season was a wake-up call for the mountaineering community. The deaths of 18 climbers — the highest number ever recorded in a single season — cannot be dismissed as mere accidents. They were the result of systemic failures: overcrowding, inexperience, inadequate regulation, and the relentless pursuit of profit.
As Lukas Furtenbach of Furtenbach Adventures noted, “Proper oxygen logistics are super important if there are many people climbing at the same time. I am convinced that with minimum safety, equipment and logistic standards for all operators, we could avoid many of the deaths that happen today on Everest”.
The question remains: will the lessons of 2023 be heeded? Or will the lure of the summit — and the millions of dollars it generates — continue to outweigh the value of human life?
Primary Sources:
Outside Magazine — 2025 Everest Season Preview (includes 2023 statistics)
TASS — Record-high number of climbers perished on Everest during 2023 season (The Himalayan Database)
EL PAÍS English — Mount Everest’s deadliest spring (2023)
U.S. News & World Report — ‘Death Zone’ Queues Feared on Everest as Nepal Grants Record Climbing Permits (Reuters)
Business Insider — Nepal has granted a record number of permits to climb Everest despite potential for traffic jams in the ‘death zone’
News.com.au — ‘Insane’ videos and pictures of crowds on Mt Everest shock
Gripped Magazine — More Climbers Died on Mount Everest This Year Than Ever Before
South China Morning Post — Record-holding Everest climber blames Nepalese companies for shocking rise in deaths
The Himalayan Database — Everest mortality records