The last four days near the world’s tallest peak have been extraordinarily deadly, as perhaps six climbers have now reportedly succumbed on the perilous mountain – with two more found Monday.
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An Indian climber who reached the summit of Nepal’s Mount Everest blamed recent deaths on a lack of oxygen and “proper planning” from the agencies facilitating the expeditions.
But while hundreds have died trying to reach the top of Everest due to avalanches, altitude sickness, exposure and other dangers, the use of bottled oxygen and better equipment had helped reduce the number of deaths each year.
Among the dead are Dutch climber Eric Arnold, 35; Austrian climber Maria Strydom, 34, and Indian climber Subhash Paul, 43.
Five people have died so far during this Himalayan climbing season, which saw about 400 mountaineers summit the world’s highest peak, officials have said. But there was little time left for the search, with bad weather and monsoon rains expected to pick up at the end of May.
Two other climbers who had been with Mr Paul – Paresh Nath and Goutam Ghosh – have also been reported missing in the “death zone” near the summit.
Strydom said she felt well-prepared for her attempt to climb Everest, and that depending on whether she reached the summit, her mind would likely turn to her next adventure.
“There is this exponential growth in organisations offering guiding services on Everest and because there are so few internationally qualified guides in Nepal, it means the companies are engaging less and less in skilled workers”, said veteran climber Andrew Lock, the first Australian to lead a commercial expedition up Everest.
But a climber who made his way down after a successful climb, Begian Jelle Vegt, said: “There are some problems with, let’s say, people who are not that experienced slowing things down”.
A Dutchman died on Friday and an Australian woman hours later, after suffering from altitude sickness on Everest. The 25-year-old had been working to fix a route about 150 meters near the summit when he fell, according to Mingma Sherpa, the Nepal rescue team leader who was at the Everest Base Camp.
Since the first officially recorded ascent, successfully completed by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary in 1953, more than 200 people have died on Mount Everest. According to reports, the 44-year-old man also suffered from altitude sickness prior to his death.
She gave an interview with the school in March detailing her ambition to climb the highest seven summits on each of the continents.
“The last two disasters on Everest were caused by nature, but not this one”, Ang Tshering told AP.
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Previous year at least 19 climbers were killed in the avalanche triggered by the quake.
