The body of Dutch climber Eric Arnold, who died last week near South Col during a Mount Everest expedition, is carried to Teaching hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, Thursday, May 26, 2016.
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According to Washington Post, one climber, an Australian finance lecturer from Monash University, died on Saturday from altitude sickness after reaching Mount Everest’s peak.
This year around 400 climbers, including more than 150 foreigners, have realised their Everest ambitions, although a further three died in the attempt.
As the brief spring climbing season drew to a close, Nepal’s famed sherpa guides – who rely on Everest for their livelihoods – said it brought fresh hope to the beleaguered mountaineering industry after fatal disasters effectively closed the peak for two consecutive years.
A CBS report states that more than 30 climbers who attempted to top the summit recently have developed frostbite, or became ill from altitude-sickness. But there was little time left for the search, with bad weather and monsoon rains expected to pick up at the end of May.
Mr Coster on Monday afternoon Australian time detailed what happened during the summit attempt which also claimed the life of Dutch climber Eric Arnold.
Phurba Sherpa fell to his death on 19 May while fixing a route about 150 metres near the summit, reported CNN-News18.
While her family flew out to bring her body back, the expedition manager said bringing her body down was not a certainty because of the difficulty involved in doing so. But experts say the lure of reaching the highest point on Earth is increasingly attracting less experienced climbers served by agencies hungry for business.
Nepal and the Everest climbing community had been anxious for a successful season this year.
Rescue teams said there have been recurring calls of climbers suffering from altitude sickness, frostbite, falls and injuries.
However, on Monday evening – after the statement was released – Dr Strydom’s family said they still had not heard from either Arnold Coster Expeditions or the other company involved, Seven Summit Treks.
Since Everest was first conquered by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953, more than 4,000 climbers have reached the 29,035-foot-high peak.
The lecturer who had worked at Monash University prior to her death, is reported to have chose to turned back from her attempt to reach the summit of the mountain and had been assisted down to the South Col by her husband.
Favourable weather conditions have allowed hundreds of climbers to reach the summit this year.
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Nearly 400 people have reached the summit since May 11, bringing the total number of climbers to reach the top since 1953 to more than 4,000. They were last seen near the Everest summit. But more than 250 people have died in the attempt.
