Sometimes Interesting

Mount Everest has claimed the lives of over 216 known mountain climbers in recorded history.  The area above 26,000 feet is called “the Death Zone”, where breathing fresh oxygen from canisters is necessary for all but the most experienced climbers.  The atmospheric pressure is about a third of that at sea level, so there is about one third the amount of oxygen to breathe.  The air is so thin, recovery of bodies is impossible.  As such, many victims lay where they took their last breath.

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“PLEASE don’t leave me,” the dying woman cried.  Two climbers heard the screams of Francys Arsentiev, an American woman who had fallen after succumbing to snow blindness and found herself separated from her husband.  They were in the “death zone,” low on oxygen, and the woman was on the side of a steep cliff; carrying her was not an option.  The trip just to get down to her would be a risk for their own lives.  The two climbers, Ian Woodall and Cathy O’Dowd, climbed down to her and did what they could to keep her company, but it was too late.  They administered oxygen and tried to tend to Fran, but there was nothing they could do. Ian and Cathy returned down to base camp to ask for help and report their findings.

Eight years later the two climbers would return (above), and in an attempt to give Francys a proper burial, they would place an American flag on her along with a note from her family. At the time of her death, no one knew what had happened to her husband Sergei; all that was found was his pick axe and rope nearby. On the date of her death, other climbers had last seen Sergei far ahead of Francys on the descent after the two had accidentally become separated. Sergei later had backtracked up toward the summit, despite knowing he did not have enough Oxygen to last.  His own exposure levels to the climate on Mount Everest were nearing the maximum recommendation, and he was already beginning to suffer from frostbite. Still, Sergei would not leave his wife behind.

It was later discovered that Sergei had made his way back and located Francys, and descended toward the cliff she lay on as she screamed for help. Sadly, he fell to his death trying to reach his dying wife.

(below left: Francys memorial. Below center & right: Francys Arsentiev before her death)

(Click thumbnails to enlarge)

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Possibly the most famous body on Everest is that of “Green Boots,” an Indian climber named Tsewang Paljor. Paljor was a Constable with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police who took his last breath on the 10th of May during the famous 1996 Mount Everest Disaster. Paljor was part of a three-man group that was attempting to be the first Indian team to ascend Mt. Everest from the Northeastern route. The weather that season was worse than other years and 1996 proved to be one of the deadliest seasons for Mount Everest climbers. When the storm rolled in, visibility went to zero and the temperature dropped considerably.  Separated from the climbers in his group and suffering from the cold, Paljor found a small cave and huddled inside for protection from the elements.  Little did he know that would be his resting place for the next 15 years. (below)

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One of the more storied climbers that met his fate on Everest was George Mallory, a famous English Mountaineer.  In 1924, Mallory fell to his death during a storm while attempting to be the first to reach the summit of Everest. His body was discovered in 1999 during the Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition. Decades earlier, Chinese climbers had reported seeing a “European body” laying face down on a shelf off the main trail. Given the description and the date of the find, experts had always assumed it was the body of Andrew Irvine.  Irvine was another famous English Mountaineer who had attempted the ascent of Everest with Mallory and perished in the same storm.

During a 1933 Everest expedition, climbers found Andrew Irvine’s axe and rope.  Because of this, it was widely believe to be Irvine’s body discovered by the Chinese. When the body was found during the 1999 search expedition, it was discovered to be that of George Mallory, not Irvine.  Mallory was found face down in a bunch of shale with his arms spread out and up.  His skin was in remarkably good condition but was tanned from 75 years of sun exposure.  After examining the body, experts hypothesized that Mallory’s rope had failed as he was found with a short severed rope tied around his waist.  He was also found with a golf ball-sized hole in his forehead, indicating he might have suffered blunt force trauma from striking a sharp rock.  Andrew Irvine has never been found.

Video of the Mallory Body Find on Everest:

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The morbidity of seeing hundreds of bodies along one’s ascent up Mount Everest is only trumped by the fascination of the levels of preservation of many of the bodies.  The temperatures are ideal for long-term preservation, and perhaps some of these corpses will serve as studies for generations thousands of years from now.

Or maybe not?

The Nepalese consider Mount Everest sacred, and do not want it to become a graveyard.  Many parents of those who have perished have asked for the bodies to be left as they were when they died, but this is against Nepalese law.  As soon as a body can be reached for retrieval, it is and then is brought down for identification and burial. Those too high for retrieval will have stone tombs (called cairns) constructed around the corpses to shield them from the elements and the view of other climbers.  A few corpses located on shallow ledges were rolled off to be buried in the snow below, away from the trail.

(Click thumbnails to enlarge)

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A more recent story is that of David Sharp.  David was an English mountaineer who, in 2005, ascended Everest in a group but attempted the final climb by himself.  At one point he stopped in a small cave and eventually froze to the point he could not move.  As he lay near death below the summit, he was passed by over 40 other climbers both on their way up and their way down.  Sharp had stopped to rest and protect himself from the elements in the same cave Green Boots had used.  Since David was not moving, the 40 climbers that passed by had either not seen him or assumed he was Green Boots.  A group of sherpas in a later expedition on the way up to the summit noticed Sharp just off the trail, alive and moaning. When the sherpas reached David, he was not coherent, and badly frostbitten, but he was able to say his name and which party he was with. After giving him some oxygen, the sherpas attempted to help him climb down – but he could not stand under his own power. Realizing Sharp was not going to be able to move, the sherpas pulled David into the sunlight hoping the sun exposure would warm him up.  By the time the sherpas returned to camp to report their find, David was dead. The last party to see Sharp alive was the documentary crew filming the ascent of double-amputee Mark Inglis.  Since they were filming, they had cameras rolling when they approached David and the footage was used in the documentary.

“Dying for Everest” – a short documentary outlining the David Sharp case including video of Sharp next to Green Boots:

Below: David Sharp’s memorial, David Sharp, and Green Boots’ Cave where David Sharp was found

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Some died peacefully in their sleep, while others (who fell and/or became injured) were left to die slowly of hypothermia.  Until recently, the statistics were nearly one in four climbers dies attempting to reach the summit.  Advancements in technology and experience have led to a better survival rate of climbers.  Currently about 1,000 climbers a year attempt to reach the summit, and on average 15-20 perish. Expeditions are the primary source of income for Nepal, and licenses to ascend start at around $25,000.  If you have lesser experience and want to ascend with an experienced group, several companies will lead you to the top with a team of sherpas for prices starting around $40,000 per person.

Quick video of a discovered body:  

Satellite & Map: here

* May the climbers who have perished on Mount Everest rest in peace. *