Dying to Get to the Top: Awful Ways to Die on Mount Everest
Summitting Mount Everest: a dream for many, and a death sentence to some
Standing at 29,129 feet ( 8,849 meters or about 5.5 miles) above sea level, Mount Everest is easily the tallest mountain on Earth.
With a title like that, it’s no surprise that so many will do anything for the chance to reach the summit. Anything, including putting themselves in extreme danger.
With temperatures as low as -76° F (-60° C), winds up to 177 mph (285 km/h), and cliffs and crevasses hundreds of feet high, it is unsurprising that Everest holds the record for the mountain with the highest number of deaths.
Since Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first reached the summit in 1953, thousands more have followed suit and attempted to reach the top of the world. However, more than 300 have died. With a death rate of about 5% of all who attempted to climb, and an average of 5 deaths a year, attempting this climb is no small feat.
Most Common Ways to Die on Mount Everest
For those brave enough to risk their lives to climb Mount Everest, there are plenty of ways they can meet their demise, though several are more common than others. Death would certainly be lonely and unpleasant in one of the most extreme and remote places on Earth.
Hypothermia
Obviously, Mount Everest is cold, but it’s difficult to comprehend just how cold. Temperatures at the summit never get above freezing, even in the summer. Even for the well prepared, a small mistake can spell death.
Symptoms of hypothermia include:
- Shivering
- Lack of coordination
- Very low energy
- Confusion
- Weak pulse
- Shallow breathing
- Loss of consciousness
A deadly combination in this unforgiving environment.
Avalanche
Avalanches are, unfortunately, an all too common occurrence on a mountain like Everest. The vast amounts of snow and ice can shift easily and send everything down the mountain.
Avalanche survivors describe the experience as being hit by a truck, then tumbled in a washing machine while unable to move. Once the snow settles, the consistency becomes similar to concrete.
The snow packs into the body’s openings, and the immense weight keeps the chest from expanding to breathe. Most die from suffocation as they are trapped in their frozen coffin, deprived of air.
For those able to breathe, it’s extremely difficult to dig out of the snow alone. It’s just a matter of time until victims succumb to hypothermia or the significant blunt force trauma they received from being hurled down a mountain.
Altitude Sickness
Humans were not designed to live in extreme altitudes.
At higher altitudes, there is simply not enough oxygen to survive on for long periods of time. The body needs enough oxygen to function during daily activities, but under extreme stress, like climbing a mountain, even more oxygen is needed.
In the death zone, above 26,000 feet (7,924 meters), the oxygen is drastically lower, and the body begins dying of hypoxia (low oxygen levels in the body). It is critical for climbers to get in and out of the death zone as soon as possible. Climbers usually carry supplemental oxygen but supplies only last so long.
Early May is when most try to summit, and even then, there are only a few days where conditions are good enough to try. Weather can change quickly, and not wanting to miss their chance, most climbers will try on the first good day.
In recent years, more permits have been issued, and with an increase of climbers on the mountain, the already frantic dash through the death zone has seen traffic jams. Climbers can wait hours in line in the death zone, unable to get up or down as quickly as needed. Hoping their oxygen tanks last long enough, many are susceptible to altitude sickness right before the summit.
Those with altitude sickness can look forward to symptoms ranging from mild to severe.
Mild Symptoms:
- Mild headache
- Fatigue
Severe Symptoms:
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Poor coordination
- Shortness of breath
- Severe headache
- Difficulty walking
Left untreated (treatment consists of getting to a lower altitude), climbers are susceptible to develop High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE) or High Altitude Cerebral Edemas (HACE), both of which can be fatal.
HAPE — Excess fluid on lungs — Symptoms:
- Extreme weakness
- Cough
- Tightness of chest
- Feeling of suffocation
HACE — Excess fluid on brain — Symptoms:
- Brain swelling
- Confusion
- Poor coordination
- Possibly violent behavior
- Coma
- Death
With any of these symptoms, its very easy for a climber to make a mistake and fall to their deaths or be left behind to await hypothermia.
Falling
On Everest, with such a small margin of error, even small falls can be deadly. Seemingly minor injuries at sea level can impede your ability to get down the mountain in a timely manner and can result in deaths from other causes like hypothermia or altitude sickness if still in the death zone.
However, on a mountain as tall as Everest, there are plenty of opportunities to fall a distance that would kill you instantly.
It’s not uncommon to find aluminum ladders laid flat across cracks in the ice to be used as a bridge. These crevasses can be massive and hundreds of feet deep.
In 2012, an experienced Sherpa fell 150 feet, about the height of a 15-story building, into an ice crevasse while crossing a ladder. It’s no surprise that many climbers say these are the most dangerous parts of the climb.
Bodies Left Behind
Morbidly, for the majority of those who die while climbing Everest, their bodies will be left on the mountain. It’s estimated that 200 bodies remain, many within plain sight of other climbers.
This isn’t done to be callous or cruel; removing them is simply not practical.
Depending on where the body is, it may not be logistically possible to get to. If a climber fell into a crevasse or off a cliff, other climbers may not even be able to reach them if they wanted to.
If the body is even accessible, it’s still no small task to collect it. Climbing Everest is a deadly feat for an individual looking after only themselves. Attempting this while carrying the weight of another body could be disastrous.
If the body is accessible and the recovery team is experienced and capable, it can still cost over $40,000 to hire a team and gather supplies to retrieve a body. For many, that may be the most impossible barrier of all.
On occasion, the Nepalese government will send teams to remove bodies to ensure the paths aren’t blocked by the deceased.
Some bodies have become famous as they are regularly passed by climbers on their way up, even being used as guideposts for navigation purposes. More importantly, they can also serve as grim warnings to climbers, reminding them of just how high risk their quest to the top of the world really is.
Resources
- Altitude sickness: Symptoms, diagnosis, treatment & prevention. Cleveland Clinic. (n.d.). Retrieved December 23, 2022, from https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15111-altitude-sickness
- Firth, P. G., Zheng, H., Windsor, J. S., Sutherland, A. I., Imray, C. H., Moore, G. W. K., Semple, J. L., Roach, R. C., & Salisbury, R. A. (2008, December 11). Mortality on Mount Everest, 1921–2006: Descriptive study. The BMJ. Retrieved December 23, 2022, from https://www.bmj.com/content/337/bmj.a2654.long
- Gogorza, Ó., & Catalán, N. (2022, June 10). Climbing Everest: How the body breaks down at high altitude. EL PAÍS English Edition. Retrieved December 20, 2022, from https://english.elpais.com/sports/2022-06-10/breakdown-on-everest-the-human-body.html
- Hatch, R. (2014, July 30). Mount Everest Base Camp Weather & Climate. HimalayanWonders.Com. Retrieved December 27, 2022, from https://www.himalayanwonders.com/blog/mount-everest-base-camp-weather-climate.html#:~:text=The%20weather%20and%20climate%20of,force%20winds%20and%20wind%20chill.
- How Many Dead Bodies Are On Mount Everest? Climber News. (2022, November 7). Retrieved December 20, 2022, from https://www.climbernews.com/how-many-dead-bodies-are-on-mount-everest/
- Hutchinson, A. (2022, May 12). Why Do Climbers Really Die on Everest? Outside Online. Retrieved December 20, 2022, from https://www.outsideonline.com/health/training-performance/why-do-climbers-die-on-everest/
- Mayer, C. (2022, May 31). Climbing Mount Everest May Not Be as Deadly as It Once Was. Newsweek. Retrieved December 20, 2022, from https://www.newsweek.com/mount-everest-deaths-new-rules-1711652
- Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2022, March 5). Hypothermia. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved December 27, 2022, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hypothermia/symptoms-causes/syc-20352682
- Schultz, K., Gettleman, J., Mashal, M., & Sharma, B. (2019, May 26). ‘It Was Like a Zoo’: Death on an Unruly, Overcrowded Everest. The New York Times. Retrieved December 23, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/26/world/asia/mount-everest-deaths.html
- Sharma, M., Bhatia, G., & Scarr, S. (2019, December 18). Dangerous Heights. Reuters. Retrieved December 20, 2022, from https://www.reuters.com/graphics/NEPAL-EVEREST/0100B4S22JR/index.html
- Than, K. (2012, April 22). Everest Guide dies after a 15-story fall into Ice Chasm. National Geographic. Retrieved December 27, 2022, from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/120422-everest-death-sherpa-falls-first-science-world?loggedin=true&rnd=1672172887420
- Williams, A. (2019, July 10). How to survive if you get caught in an avalanche. AccuWeather. Retrieved December 23, 2022, from https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/how-to-survive-if-you-get-caught-in-an-avalanche/336248#:~:text=Most%20avalanche%20victims%20die%20from,a%20coffin%20of%20concretelike%20snow.
Originally published at https://hungryforlore.com on December 29, 2022.
