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Four more deaths on traffic-jammed Everest
KATHMANDU, May 24, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A traffic jam of climbers in the
Everest “death zone” was blamed for two of four new deaths reported Friday,
heightening concerns that the drive for profits is trumping safety on the
world’s highest peak.
Nepal has issued a record 381 permits costing $11,000 each for the current
spring climbing season, bringing in much-needed money for the impoverished
Himalayan country.
But a small window of suitable weather before the short season ends has in
recent days triggered bottlenecks of hundreds of climbers wanting to achieve
for many — although perhaps not for purists — the ultimate in
mountaineering.
The four latest deaths reported on Friday, taking the toll from a deadly
week on the overcrowded peak to eight, include two Indians and a Nepali on
the Nepal side and an Austrian on the way down on the northern Tibetan side,
officials and expedition organisers said.
Ang Tsering Sherpa, former president of the Nepal Mountaineering
Association, said that the weather window to summit this season was narrow,
meaning that many teams had to wait to go up.
“Spending a long time above the death zone increases the risk of frostbite,
altitude sickness and even death,” he said.
Kalpana Das, 52, reached the summit but died on Thursday afternoon while
descending, as a huge number of climbers queued near the top. The other
Indian, Nihal Bagwan, 27, also died on his way back from the summit.
“He was stuck in the traffic for more than 12 hours and was exhausted.
Sherpa guides carried him down to Camp 4 but he breathed his last there,”
said Keshav Paudel of Peak Promotion.
A 33-year-old Nepali guide died at the base camp on Friday after he was
rescued from Camp 3 for falling sick.
Wednesday claimed the lives of an American and another Indian.
Donald Lynn Cash, 55, collapsed at the summit as he was taking photographs,
while Anjali Kulkarni, also 55, died while descending after reaching the top.
Kulkarni’s expedition organiser, Arun Treks, said heavy traffic at the
summit had delayed her descent and caused the tragedy.
“She had to wait for a long time to reach the summit and descend,” said
Thupden Sherpa. “She couldn’t move down on her own and died as Sherpa guides
brought her down.”
Pasang Tenje Sherpa, of Pioneer Adventure, told AFP that Cash collapsed on
the summit and died close to Hillary Step as guides were bringing him back.
Last week, an Indian climber died and an Irish mountaineer went missing
after he slipped and fell close to the summit and is presumed dead.
The Irish professor was in the same team as Saray Khumalo, 47, who this
week became the first black African woman to climb Everest and who is hoping
to conquer the highest summits on each of the seven continents.
– Big business –
Mountaineering in Nepal has become a lucrative business since Edmund
Hillary and Tenzing Norgay made the first ascent of Everest in 1953.
Most Everest hopefuls are escorted by a Nepali guide, meaning more than 750
climbers were expected to tread the same path to the top in the current
season.
At least 140 others have been granted permits to scale Everest from the
northern flank in Tibet, according to expedition operators. This could take
the total past last year’s record of 807 people reaching the summit.
“About 550 climbers have summited the world tallest mountain by Thursday
according to the data provided by expedition organizers to us,” said Mira
Acharya, spokeswoman for Nepal’s Tourism Department
Many Himalayan mountains — including Everest — are at peak climbing
season, with the window of good weather between late April and the end of
May.
Eight other climbers have died on other 8,000-metre Himalayan peaks this
season, while two are missing.
In 2015, 18 people were killed at the Everest base camp because of an
avalanche triggered by a quake.
– Winning widows –
In happier news, two Sherpa widows, Furdiki Sherpa and Nima Doma Sherpa
reached the summit of Everest on Thursday, their team coordinator confirmed.
The two want to force a rethink about the role of widows in their
conservative community, after their husbands died on the world’s highest
mountain.
“We want to climb Everest with a message for widows and single women. We
are not less than anyone, we are capable of achieving anything,” Nima Doma
said in an interview with AFP ahead of the expedition.
French climber Elisabeth Revol, who was dramatically rescued last year from
Pakistan’s Mount Nanga Parbat, summited Lhotse Friday morning, a day after
reaching the top of Everest.
BSS/AFP/RY/1743 hrs