An Australian climber namely Maria Strydom’s body has been brought by a rescue helicopter from the world’s tallest mountain, Mount Everest to the Nepali capital of Kathmandu on Friday, a week after she died on the world’s tallest mountain.
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On Thursday, rescuers brought down the body of 36-year-old Dutchman Eric Ary Arnold, who died May 20 while on descent from the summit. Another Indian climber who has been missing for over a week is also presumed dead.
His wife Marisa Strydom fell ill with altitude sickness in an area close to the summit called the “death zone”.
“Altitude sickness” refers to the group of potential dangers faced by high altitudes, and is also known as “mountain sickness”. But, it was too late and she then unexpectedly collapsed and could not be re-energized.
Strydom, 34, could not climb any higher and a rescue attempt to reach her failed, according to Tashi Sherpa.
‘A week ago he was climbing up a mountain on a dream adventure with his wife and now he is taking her body back to Australia and it’s very bad, ‘ Mr Pennells said.
Gropel said he was determined to bring his wife’s body home. Since 2014, expeditions had been halted due to the death of sixteen Sherpas in an avalanche near the Everest base camp. To reach the summit on the north side of the mountain, climbers sometimes have to step over frozen legs believed to be his, which are capped by the green footwear that has earned the body the nickname “Green Boots”. His brother’s body was recovered, but his nephew has never been found.
“We are waiting to receive his body”, said his brother, Pranab Paul, in Kathmandu.
But he added: “We believe that one’s safety should be the priority when trying to bring down a body”.
The body of George Mallory, the great English climber who disappeared on Everest in 1924, was not found until 1999.
“It’s expensive and it’s risky, and it’s incredibly unsafe for the Sherpas”, to whom the task generally falls, Fort Collins, Colo., mountaineer Alan Arnette told CBC.
As a symbol of appreciation for the Sherpas efforts, President of Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) Ang Tshering Sherpa said that the nine heroes would be awarded a cash prize of Rs. 50,000 each, along with certificates signed by the Prime Minister himself.
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“2017 is shaping up to be a record year”, says Arnette.
