Guide Pemba Dorjee at a base camp on the way to Mount Everest
According to Business Insider on May 13, seeing bodies along the way to climb Mount Everest is no longer strange, and the unfortunate victims have to stay here because bringing them down is too dangerous and expensive.
"I couldn't believe what I saw there. Death, carnage, chaos, people lining up, dead bodies on the side of the road," said Everest filmmaker Elia Saikaly.
In the spring of 2019 alone, seven people died while climbing Mount Everest. In 2015, an avalanche there killed at least 19 people. Two people died while climbing Mount Everest last spring.
Four people have died so far in the 2023 Everest climbing season, which was expected to be the busiest year yet. Last month, three Nepalese guides died while trying to rope others up. On May 2, an American died on the way up the mountain.
Nepal has issued a record 463 permits to climb Mount Everest. Together with guides, this will bring the total number of people who want to conquer the 8,849-meter peak to around 900 this year.
Retrieving bodies is difficult. It can cost up to $70,000 and sometimes results in death. In 1984, two Nepalese died trying to retrieve the body of a climber. As a result, bodies are often left on the mountain.
The line of people climbing Mount Everest in 2021
Everest climber Alan Arnette said bringing the body down was expensive and risky, as well as extremely dangerous for guides.
“What they have to do is approach the body, then they usually put it on a sled but usually it's just a piece of cloth. They tie a rope to it, then they do a controlled slide of the body,” said Arnette.
Arnette said he did not want his body to slide like that, so he signed a "disposal of remains" form before climbing Everest, which required his body to be laid to rest on the mountain in case he died during the trip.
'Incompetence' causes deaths on Mount Everest
Some climbers say the increase in deaths is partly due to overcrowding, which could be prevented. Others complain about the dangers of congestion in the “death zone” above 8,000m, where the air is thin and many climbers must wear oxygen masks.
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