Buzz
Everest. Just utter the name, and it evokes a flood of images and stories from this colossal mountain's relatively brief yet captivating and often controversial history. From the triumphant first ascent by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay to the tragic fate of many who have tried to conquer the world's highest peak, the saga of 'Chomolungma' is one full of mystery and fascination.
Not only has this 8,848-meter (29,029 ft) giant drawn some of the most fearless, passionate, and daring adventurers in history (and possibly the odd ghost or Yeti), but it has also been the site of some of the most perplexing, unexplainable, and eerie events in mountaineering. Below, we delve into ten of the most baffling and mysterious incidents that have occurred on the world’s tallest peak, ever since the first European expeditions brought the mountain into the global limelight in the early 20th century.
10. The Man Who Attempted to Scale Everest in High Heels
Over the years, Everest has drawn a variety of fanatics, eccentrics, and unforgettable characters, but none have been as outlandish as Englishman Maurice Wilson. In 1933, Wilson devised an extraordinary plan to fly into Everest's northern slopes, crash-landing his plane, and then attempt a solo ascent to the summit. He trained in Britain by hiking and learning to pilot a Gypsy Moth aircraft before spending the winter in Darjeeling, preparing for his climb through fasting and praying, believing this would be enough to get him to the top.
When Wilson realized the folly of his plan, he abandoned the idea of flying and set off on foot across the Rongbuk Glacier on May 22, 1934. However, he was soon blocked by an ice wall and, perhaps, by his complete lack of any climbing experience or equipment. His final diary entry was recorded on May 30, and his body was found the following year, reportedly dressed—in an odd twist—in women’s lingerie. While the story was never fully confirmed, in 1960 a Chinese team discovered a woman’s high-heeled shoe near where Wilson perished. It was later revealed that Wilson had been a cross-dresser, having worked at a women’s clothing store in New Zealand before becoming obsessed with Everest, a mania that ultimately led to his tragic end.
9. The Yeti
Many of the earliest sightings of the Yeti have been recorded in the Everest region, with local Nepali and Tibetan folklore describing a bipedal, furry, nocturnal creature inhabiting the area. In more recent years, various 'sightings,' footprints, and even DNA evidence have lent support to the tales told by the region’s storytellers. Notable examples include the enormous footprints found at 6,000 meters (20,000 ft) by Eric Shipton’s 1951 Everest expedition and the 'Yeti scalp' housed in the monastery of Khumjung on Everest’s southern side.
Perhaps even more convincing are the discoveries made by Joshua Gates and his Destination Truth team in 2009. Hair samples collected by Gates from a series of footprints measuring 33 centimeters (13 inches) long and 25 centimeters (10 inches) wide were analyzed by a forensic expert, who found that the sample contained a previously unknown DNA sequence.
8. The First Ascent 1: Mallory And Irvine?
When Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay achieved the first successful ascent of Everest in 1953, their accomplishment was met with some skepticism. Back in 1924, two Englishmen—Everest enthusiast George Mallory (featured above) and his climbing partner Sandy Irvine—were seen through a telescope just 200 to 300 meters (650–1,000 ft) from the summit. Tragically, they never returned, sparking nearly a century of speculation about whether they were the first to reach the peak of the world.
In 1999, when Conrad Anker’s expedition finally located Mallory’s body, it revealed no new clues. Most notably, they were unable to find his camera, which they had hoped would settle the debate once and for all. However, for those who believe Mallory and Irvine were the first to summit Everest, the most compelling evidence lies in something else missing from Mallory's belongings. Mallory had told his wife, Ruth, and his climbing team that upon reaching the summit, he would place a picture of her there, keeping it in his inner pocket throughout the journey. When his body was found, the picture was gone.
7. The First Ascent 2: The Russians?
In 1952, prior to Hillary and Tenzing’s renowned ascent, a Russian expedition allegedly attempted to scale Everest via the northern route in Tibet. At the time, reports suggested that this group of ambitious climbers had plans to place statues of Lenin and Stalin on the summit. The expedition established a final camp at approximately 8,000 meters (26,200 ft) to prepare for their summit attempt, but they mysteriously vanished without leaving a trace.
Adding confusion to the situation, the Russians have consistently denied that the 1952 expedition ever occurred, despite a report from Yevgeniy Gippenreiter in the Alpine Journal later that year, which described the 35-person team preparing for an attempt on the Northeast Ridge route. Furthermore, on April 21, 1952, the Sydney Morning Herald speculated about the team's prospects on the mountain. Despite various attempts, no evidence of the team's members or leaders has ever been discovered.
6. The Ghosts Of Everest
Sherpa Pemba Dorje, who holds a record for the fastest ascent of Everest (eight hours, ten minutes) on May 21, 2004, is also famous for an eerie experience that occurred three days later, on May 24. While nearing the summit from the South Col, Dorje encountered a group of climbers’ frozen bodies in the snow. To his astonishment, he reported being surrounded by what seemed like supernatural entities. According to him:
When I stopped at a pile of rocks, I saw some spirits in the form of black shadows approaching me, reaching out with their hands, begging for food. I believe they were the spirits of many mountaineers who perished during or after their attempts to summit Everest. The bodies of many of those who died remain on the mountain, and one climber who fell to his death is still hanging from a rope.
Many Sherpas are convinced that the spirits of Everest will not find peace or leave the mountain until the bodies of the deceased climbers are properly laid to rest. With so many corpses trapped in the 'Death Zone' above 8,000 meters (26,200 ft), and more continuing to join the grim collection every year, it seems unlikely that the mountain will ever be free of ghosts anytime soon.
5. The Third Person
In September 1975, British climbers Dougal Haston and Doug Scott found themselves trapped in the Death Zone after reaching Everest's summit too late in the day. Forced to spend the night in a snow hole, they huddled together, uncertain of their survival until dawn. Their oxygen ran out, and with no food and their butane heater running low, their situation grew desperate. Then, the unexplainable occurred.
Both climbers claimed to have felt the presence of another being within their snow cave. This mysterious presence not only provided vital warmth but also offered guidance and suggestions to help them survive. A number of other Everest climbers, including Peter Hillary, Lincoln Hall, and Reinhold Messner, have described similar experiences of being aided by an unknown force during their times of peril on the mountain.
4. Frank Smythe: Apparitions, Aliens, Or The Supernatural?
In 1933, during his first attempt to reach the summit of Everest, English climber Frank Smythe found himself alone at an altitude of 8,565 meters (28,100 ft) on Everest's North Ridge when he witnessed:
. . . two peculiar objects floating in the sky . . . They resembled kite balloons, yet one had what seemed to be stubby, underdeveloped wings, while the other featured a protrusion that looked like a beak. They hovered still, yet seemed to pulse, their rhythm significantly slower than my own heartbeat . . .
Prior to this, Smythe reported being visited by some unknown force as he ascended the mountain, feeling a strong presence beside him as he climbed. He even took a piece of Kendal mint cake from his pocket to share with this unseen companion, convinced that the invisible, intangible being was entirely real. Quite eerie.
3. The 2017 ‘Deaths’ That Never Were
On May 22, 2017, word spread to Everest Base Camp that four bodies had been discovered in a tent at Camp Four (7,950 meters [26,082 ft]). The climbers were initially thought to have succumbed to altitude sickness, and they were found by a team sent up to recover the body of a Slovakian climber who had died three days earlier. However, confusion arose when it was revealed that no climbing agencies on the mountain had any climbers unaccounted for, leaving everyone puzzled as to the identities of the four climbers.
As news outlets around the world reported on the tragedy, the Nepalese tourism ministry stepped forward, revealing that they initially believed the bodies to be those of climbers from one of the previous year’s expeditions. However, matters grew even more perplexing when it was discovered that none of these past expeditions had reported any missing climbers. The case remains unsolved, adding to the long list of mysteries that have haunted the world’s highest and most enigmatic mountain.
2. Ueli Steck
In April 2017, Swiss climber Ueli Steck, known as 'The Swiss Machine,' tragically died while preparing to tackle the summits of Everest (via its notorious West Ridge) and Lhotse in a single attempt—a feat never before achieved. Steck was regarded as the Michael Jordan, Lionel Messi, Babe Ruth, or Usain Bolt of mountaineering, and thus, his ambitious endeavor was not considered overly reckless by those who recognized his exceptional skill and capacity for the extraordinary. Steck had set speed records on the north face of the Eiger and Annapurna’s south face, and was a two-time recipient of the Piolet d’Or—mountaineering’s equivalent of a Nobel Prize—for his first ascent of Tengkampoche and his solo speed ascent of Annapurna.
Steck wasn’t just known for his speed; he was one of the most skilled mountaineers of his time, renowned for his technical prowess, elegance, and ease on even the most daunting routes. So how did such an accomplished climber meet his end in such an unexpected way? Steck fell in the Western Cwm, a route he had previously climbed, and which forms part of the standard 'tourist' route to the summit of Everest. While it is typically a challenging and technical climb, for a climber of Steck’s caliber, it should have been a mere formality—essentially a 'training exercise' for his upcoming Everest-Lhotse ascent, as his climbing partner Tenji Sherpa later confirmed.
The disbelief with which Steck’s death was met in the global mountaineering community speaks volumes about both his unparalleled skill and the enduring mystery surrounding Everest. Did he lose his footing? Did the ice or snow give way? Was altitude sickness the cause? The true circumstances behind the fall that led to his tragic demise, a plunge of over 300 meters (1,000 ft), will forever remain unknown. As with many of his previous climbs, Steck was alone at the time of the accident, since his partners couldn’t keep pace with him. The closest witnesses to his fall were over 1.6 kilometers (1 mi) away.
1. Who Was Really First: Hillary Or Tenzing?
If Mallory, Irvine, or even the Russians never made it to the top before perishing, the question of who actually reached the summit first remains up for debate. After their historic ascent, Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay agreed to never disclose who took the final step first, hoping to prevent any anti-imperialist backlash from Nepal and India by avoiding any suggestion that a Westerner had beaten one of their own to the world’s highest peak.
However, a poster in Kathmandu shortly after Hillary and Tenzing’s ascent made it quite clear who the Nepalis believed reached the summit first, depicting Hillary struggling up a rope some distance behind Tenzing. Later, two of Tenzing’s sons would reveal that their father had privately told them it was he, not Hillary, who reached the summit first, despite both climbers maintaining publicly that they had reached the top simultaneously, in accordance with their agreement.
Seventeen years after Tenzing’s passing, Hillary seemed to settle the question once and for all in a 2003 interview with Scotland on Sunday when he stated:
We set off at 6.30am, at the break of dawn, with me in the lead and Tenzing following closely on a tight rope. We never discussed who would reach the summit first. To me, it didn’t matter, as the whole expedition was a team effort. But I suspect Tenzing, ever the respectful one, deferred to what he saw as the Sahib. So, I reached the summit first, with him only about 10 feet behind.
Hillary’s statement was further supported by a memo later discovered in the Royal Geographical Society archives, where he recounted the climb shortly after their descent: “I stepped on top of Everest … I quickly brought up Tensing [sic] beside me.”
Tenzing never had the opportunity to dispute Hillary’s account, but many still believe it was the Nepali climber, not the New Zealander, who was the first to stand atop the world’s highest peak.
