Everest’s human traffic jam claims four lives
More climbers succumb to exhaustion after waiting to reach peak, as a total of seven die in a single week
AT LEAST four more climbers have died on the overcrowded slopes of Mount Everest after a run of clear weather saw mountaineers stuck for hours in a high-altitude human traffic jam. The latest deaths followed two other fatalities on Wednesday, which were blamed on the tailbacks to reach the 29,030ft (8,848-metre) peak. A Nepali guide is also believed to have died.
One of the four was identified as Kevin Hynes, a 56-year-old Irish climber who died in his tent at 23,000ft in the early hours yesterday, after turning back before reaching the summit.
Local media identified the other three new victims as two Indians and an Austrian: Kalpana Das, a 49-year-old from Odisha; Nihal Ashpak Bagwan, a 27-year-old from Pune, and Ernst Landgraf all died descending the world’s tallest mountain. “Bagwan died of de- hydration, exhaustion and tiredness after being caught in the jam of climbers,” said Keshab Paudel, of the Peak Promotion hiking agency that handled the climber’s logistics.
The deaths bring the toll of dead or missing this week to seven. Two died on Wednesday, as between 200 and 300 climbers queued to reach the summit. Recovery operations are believed to be under way.
This year is likely to be a busy one for people reaching the summit. The Himalayan nation has issued a record 381 permits, costing $11,000 (£8,700) each, for this year’s spring climbing season, sparking fears of bottlenecks en route to the summit if poor weather cuts down the number of climbing days. With each climber normally accompanied by at least one Sherpa guide, the mountain is likely to see more than 750 climbers treading the path to the top. At least 140 others have been granted permits to climb from the northern side in Tibet, meaning the total number to reach the summit could pass last year’s record of 807.
Alan Arnette, who writes about Everest, said the short spring climbing season only normally allowed seven to 12 good-weather days to reach the summit. He said so far in 2019, there had only been two good-weather breaks, consisting of a total of five days. With so few opportunities and so many permits, he said it was “simply impossible to squeeze that many people through the notorious bottlenecks on both sides”.
Hiking officials say between five and 10 climbers die on Mount Everest in an average climbing year. Since the start of March, a total of 15 climbers have died or are missing on different Himalayan peaks in Nepal.
The mountain’s popularity has also led to complaints it is turning into a dump, as the slopes become ridden with discarded oxygen bottles and rubbish.