Buzz
May is considered the ideal month for the many climbers striving to reach the peak of Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world. Unfortunately, every year during the climbing season, there are fatalities as individuals pursue the summit. The last year without any fatalities dates back to 1977. This year has been no different, with eight climbers losing their lives. This article highlights some of the lesser-known fatalities and the remarkable, often tragic, stories of those who attempted to conquer Mount Everest.
10. Shailendra Kumar Upadhyay
The desire to be the first to achieve something on Mount Everest is undeniable. The most significant of these milestones was reached in 1953 by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, who became the first to stand atop the summit. Since then, every attempt has been ‘second.’ However, that hasn’t stopped countless others from chasing ‘Everest firsts,’ whether it be the first to paraglide, ski down, or even the first blind person to summit the mountain. Another way to achieve ‘Everest fame’ is by becoming the oldest or youngest climber to reach the top, with people frequently breaking those records, only for someone else to surpass them later.
In 2011, former Nepalese foreign minister, Shailendra Kumar Upadhyay, embarked on a mission to become the oldest person to summit Mount Everest at the age of 82. Unfortunately, he reached as far as Camp I before falling ill. As he descended to Base Camp for medical attention, he tragically collapsed and passed away. His body was airlifted to Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital. He was attempting to break the record previously held by a 76-year-old Nepalese climber.
In 2013, just a few days ago, Japanese climber Yuichiro Miura, at 80 years old, surpassed the previous record and became the oldest person to stand atop Mount Everest. Not only has Miura claimed this prestigious title, but he had already summited Everest twice before. More remarkable than his age, however, is the fact that Miura has undergone four heart surgeries and, in 2009, suffered a broken pelvis while skiing.
9. Blair Griffiths
Even those with a basic understanding of Everest’s climbing history are aware of the many dangers climbers face—oxygen depletion, falls, extreme cold, and unpredictable storms. What is less known is the perilous terrain that climbers must navigate on their way to the summit. The Khumbu Icefall, located at the head of the Khumbu Glacier just above Base Camp, presents one of the most treacherous parts of the South Col route. All climbers aiming for the summit via this route must cross the Khumbu Icefall after departing Base Camp.
The glacier is constantly shifting at a rapid pace, causing crevasses to suddenly open, swallowing climbers without warning. However, the greatest threat comes from the seracs – massive, house-sized blocks of ice, teetering on the edge and ready to collapse at any moment. When a serac falls, climbers have no chance to escape in time. The impact is often fatal, and many times the bodies are never recovered. The glacier itself moves down the mountain face at a rate of 3-4 feet per year, sometimes depositing bodies back at Base Camp years later as it shifts.
One such unfortunate victim of this perilous environment was Canadian Blair Griffiths. Griffiths, a cameraman for the Canadian Broadcasting Company, was documenting the Canadian Mount Everest Expedition in 1982. While securing one of the many ladders used by climbers to cross crevasses, the glacier shifted unexpectedly. A six-story serac crashed down, trapping Griffiths between two giant ice blocks. Despite several attempts, his climbing partners were only able to recover his body, which was later cremated on the mountain.
8. Maurice Wilson
Many are familiar with the tragic British Expedition of 1924, which set out to be the first to summit Mount Everest. During this expedition, climbing icons George Mallory and Andrew Irvine disappeared, leading to their presumed deaths. Mallory’s body was discovered in 1999, and it seems he died from a fall. The fate of Irvine remains a mystery, as no trace of him has ever been found. It’s still uncertain whether the two were the first to summit Everest, perishing on their descent, or whether they died in the attempt to reach the summit.
Less well-known is the story of another Englishman, Maurice Wilson, who, a decade later, attempted a solo ascent of Everest in what could be described as either an eccentric or mad (perhaps both) act. Where large British climbing expeditions had previously failed, Wilson believed he could achieve it alone.
Wilson, who believed that fasting and faith in God could solve the world’s problems, set out to climb Everest to promote his beliefs. Having been injured in WWI, Wilson endured 35 days of prayer and fasting to overcome his suffering. He was convinced that his faith could help him succeed where Mallory had not. His plan was to fly a plane close to the summit, crash it, and then walk the rest of the way (eccentric, yes, but it was a plan). Lacking any flying skills and no knowledge of mountaineering, Wilson set about teaching himself both. He bought a second-hand Gipsy Moth plane, which he named “Ever Wrest,” and flew off toward Asia. His mountaineering skills were as poor as his flying ability. In 1933, he crashed his plane, was grounded by the British Air Ministry, ignored the ban, and took off again.
Somehow, within two weeks, Wilson reached India. He spent the winter near Tibet, where he coincidentally met three Sherpas who had worked on previous British Everest expeditions. They agreed to join him, and together they slipped into Tibet. Wilson made his first attempt but was driven back by bad weather and his own inexperience. After a period of rest, he tried again, this time with two Sherpas as guides. He reached an altitude of 22,700 feet, where he encountered a 40-foot ice wall. Defeated once more, Wilson and the Sherpas turned back. The Sherpas pleaded with him to descend, but he refused. In a final act of British stubbornness that would have made Robert Falcon Scott proud, Wilson made one last attempt. This too failed. He died days later in his tent, much like Scott.
7. Shriya Shah-Klorfine
Recovering bodies from the Death Zone on Everest is a perilous task, but it has been done. One example is the retrieval of Canadian climber Shriya Shah-Klorfine’s body. Born in Nepal, Shah-Klorfine had long dreamed of climbing Everest. On May 19, 2012, she tragically died while descending the mountain. Three other climbers perished that same day. The risk of death and leaving a body behind on Everest is well-known among climbers. Some guide services even have clients sign agreements choosing whether to remain on the mountain should they die, or have an attempt made to recover their body, which can cost upwards of $30,000.
Ms. Shriya Shah-Klorfine died just below the summit, at an altitude over 8,000 meters (nearly 27,000 feet), which made recovering her body an immense challenge. First, a team of 6-8 Sherpas had to climb the mountain to reach her. This alone was dangerous. The real risk began after. The only way to bring her body down was to place it in a sled, which the Sherpas would then carefully lower down the mountain on a steep, icy slope, with inclines of up to 60 degrees. The team also had to lift her body by hand to navigate crevasses. The descent would take an entire day. This dangerous task carried the constant risk of a slip, which could send everyone plummeting to their deaths. The goal was to lower her body to Camp II at 6,500 meters, the highest point reachable by helicopter. On May 29, 2012, Ms. Shriya Shah-Klorfine’s body was safely recovered.
6. Marco Siffredi
Marco Siffredi’s goal was straightforward – to become the first person to snowboard down Mount Everest. In May 2001, at the age of 22, he summited Everest with the plan to descend via the Hornbein Couloir. Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough snow that spring for the descent, so Siffredi switched to his backup plan and snowboarded down the North Col Route. During his descent, one of the bindings on his snowboard broke, but with the help of a Sherpa, it was repaired. He went on to snowboard all the way down to Advanced Base Camp, completing the first continuous snowboard descent of Everest. The journey took him four hours.
Marco Siffredi’s true ambition has long eluded him. After a year, he returns to Everest, but this time, he forgets the lucky cross he always wears around his neck. Marco arrives in August, hoping that the snow will be deep enough to attempt a descent down the ‘true face’ of Everest, the Hornbein Couloir. Known for being the steepest and most continuous descent from the summit, the Couloir presents a major challenge. This year, there is more than enough snow, but Marco must wait for avalanches to subside. As he and his team establish their base camp and higher camps, they encounter waist-deep snow. Along the way, Marco’s radio breaks down. A replacement radio is on its way up to him, to assist in communication with Sherpas and the team below during the snowboard descent. With a good weather forecast, Marco decides to seize the moment and summit without the radio.
At 2:00 PM, Marco and his Sherpas reach the summit after 12 hours of grueling ascent through chest-deep snow. Marco tells his Sherpa that he’s ‘tired,’ and though his Sherpa is thrilled at the summit, he doesn’t have to descend 3,000 feet by snowboard at 45-55 degree angles. The time is now 3:00 PM, and his Sherpas urge him to wait, but Marco has come too far to let his dream slip away. He reassures his Sherpa with a ‘see you tomorrow’ and begins his descent down the Hornbein Couloir. The Sherpas watch him veer left away from their descent route to ride the Couloir. Later, they think they spot a figure sliding down the North Col face, but no one else is on Everest at this time of year. Who could it be? The Sherpas begin their own descent down the Couloir.
Marco should have been at the bottom in no time, as it would take him only two hours to snowboard the route. But when the Sherpas reach the North Col, where they believed they saw a figure, there are no snowboard tracks. It seems Marco has fallen to his death. With no radio to reach him, Marco has disappeared. A search party later finds his snowboard tracks, ending 1,500 feet down the Hornbein Couloir from where he started. However, his body is still nowhere to be found.
5. Tomas Olsson
Climbing Mount Everest alone is an incredible feat, but for some extreme sports enthusiasts, it’s not enough. In 2006, Swedish skier Tomas Olsson and his partner Tormod Granheim decided to push the boundaries even further by attempting the first-ever ski descent of the North Col (North Face) Route. This is one of the most challenging routes to the summit, and they planned to ski down from Everest’s peak through this daunting path.
On May 16, 2006, after a long day of climbing, Tomas and Tormod reached the summit. Exhausted, they questioned whether they had the energy to ski down. Despite their fatigue, they pressed on, skiing down the North Face via the Norton Couloir, which boasts steep angles of up to 60 degrees and a daunting 3,000-meter vertical drop. However, as they began their descent, disaster struck. After skiing only about 1,500 feet, Olsson’s ski broke. They tried to patch it up with tape, but their troubles only grew when they encountered a 150-foot rock cliff on the couloir. This obstacle was impossible to navigate even with functioning equipment, so they decided to rappel down.
The pair set a snow anchor in place, though they couldn’t find solid rock for a better grip. Olsson went first, still wearing his skis while rappelling down the cliff. Tragically, the snow anchor failed, and Olsson plunged 2,500 meters to his death. Granheim, left to continue the journey alone, descended both by skiing and climbing. He survived and made it down the mountain safely. Several days later, Olsson’s body was discovered by Sherpas at 22,000 feet.
4. Hannelore Schmatz
The South East Ridge Route to the summit of Mount Everest was once referred to as “The Rainbow Valley” by climbers due to the numerous bodies scattered along the path, all adorned in colorful climbing gear. It was nearly impossible to reach the summit on this route without encountering the remains of many climbers. Over the years, some bodies have been moved, with ropes cut or pushed over the edge, while snow and ice have covered others. However, even today, several bodies remain visible along the South Ridge Route.
One particularly haunting example was German climber Hannelore Schmatz. In 1979, she tragically died on her descent after summiting, becoming the first woman to perish on Everest’s upper slopes. Exhausted and stranded at 8,300 meters (27,200 feet) just below the summit, she and another climber decided to bivouac as darkness fell. Despite warnings from the Sherpas to descend, the two lay down to rest and never arose. American climber Ray Gennet’s body vanished and was never found, but for years, Schmatz’s frozen remains were visible to climbers. She sat leaning against her pack, her eyes wide open and long hair blowing in the wind. One climber who passed her body on the way to the summit recalled the eerie experience: “It’s not far now. I cannot escape the sinister guard. Approximately 100 meters above Camp IV, she sits, leaning against her pack, as if taking a short break. A woman with her eyes wide open and her hair waving in each gust of wind... it feels as if she follows me with her eyes as I pass by. Her presence reminds me that we are here on the conditions of the mountain.”
Five years after Schmatz’s death, two climbers attempted to retrieve her body. Yogendra Bahadur Thapa and Sherpa Ang Dorje tragically became entangled in their ropes and fell to their deaths in the process. Eventually, the relentless wind blew Schmatz’s body over the edge of the mountain.
3. Namgyal Sherpa
One of the heartbreaking realities of Mount Everest is that climbing it has become such a fixation for thousands of adventurers that the mountain is now filled with discarded remnants from numerous expeditions over the years. These remnants include abandoned oxygen cylinders, piles of trash, and even human bodies. By the early 2000s, the issue of garbage had reached critical levels, prompting expeditions dedicated to cleaning the mountain, removing debris, and recovering bodies. However, it wasn't until 2010 that the 'Extreme Everest Expedition', organized and led by renowned mountaineer Namgyal Sherpa, successfully removed both trash and bodies from Everest's higher, harder-to-reach altitudes. This historic cleanup mission was carried out entirely by Sherpas.
The expedition’s mission was clear: to clear the slopes of Everest above 8,000 meters. The team managed to remove a staggering 2,000 kg (4,000 pounds) of waste, including two bodies. However, not all remains were recovered; the body of Rob Hall, a leader of the 1996 Everest disaster expedition, was left behind at his widow's request. Hall's body remains on the mountain to this day, in accordance with her wishes.
Namgyal Sherpa was a living legend among the Sherpa community, as well as with the climbers and clients he guided on Everest. Starting from humble beginnings as a porter, he worked his way up to become a cook and eventually founded his own company, leading Sherpa teams on some of the most significant Everest expeditions. Namgyal summited Everest an extraordinary ten times. Unfortunately, his tenth ascent would be his final one. On May 16, 2013, while at 8,000 meters, he suddenly collapsed after complaining of illness and pointing to his chest. He passed away shortly thereafter.
2. Francys Arsentiev
On May 22, 1998, climber Francys Arsentiev achieved a remarkable feat, becoming the first American woman to summit Mount Everest without the aid of bottled oxygen. However, she never had the chance to celebrate this achievement. Along with her husband and climbing partner, Sergei Arsentiev, she attempted the summit on May 20 and May 21 but was forced to turn back both times. On their third attempt, on May 22, they succeeded. But after spending nearly three days in the 'Death Zone' above 8,000 meters, their bodies were exhausted. The couple summited late in the day, forcing them to spend another night above 8,000 meters. The next morning, while descending, they became separated. Sergei managed to reach camp but found Francys missing. Determined, he went back up to search for her, bringing oxygen and medicine with him.
Later that morning, an Uzbek team came across Francys Arsentiev, frozen and struggling to survive. They tried to assist her, bringing her down as far as they could before they too became too exhausted to continue. On their way down, they saw Sergei on his way back up. That was the last time anyone would see Sergei alive.
The following morning, climbers Ian Woodall and Cathy O'Dowd found Francys Arsentiev at the location where the Uzbek team had left her. Miraculously, she was still alive, though barely. Sergei had left behind his ice axe and rope, but there was no sign of him. Despite their best efforts, Woodall, O'Dowd, and their party were unable to save her, and she passed away that morning. For a firsthand account of what transpired, read this article by O'Dowd.
Woodall and O'Dowd made the selfless decision to forgo their own summit attempt to stay with Francys, offering what care they could. However, they ultimately had to leave her behind when she passed. Her body became a haunting landmark for climbers making their way to the summit in the years that followed, a grim reminder of the mountain’s dangers. Sergei’s body was discovered a year later further down the mountain, having apparently fallen to his death while attempting to rescue his wife.
For nearly a decade, Ian Woodall was haunted by the memory of Francys' death. In 2007, he returned to Everest with the aim of retrieving her body and giving her a proper burial. Though he was unable to free the body of 'Green Boots' during this journey, called 'The Tao of Everest,' Woodall did manage to find Francys Arsentiev's remains. After performing a brief ritual, he moved her body to a lower part of the mountain where it would no longer be visible to climbers on their way to the summit of Mount Everest.
1. Tsewang Paljor
Among the most infamous bodies climbers encounter on the Northeast ridge route to the summit of Mount Everest is a figure known as 'Green Boots.' This body, thought to be that of Indian climber Tsewang Paljor, is distinguished by the green mountaineering boots still worn by the deceased. The body lies on its side inside a small cave at an altitude of 27,890 feet (8,500 meters), a grim reminder of the struggle for survival. It’s believed that 'Green Boots' crawled into this cave in a final attempt to escape the harsh conditions.
In 1996, the same year as the tragic events recounted in the book 'Into Thin Air,' a six-member team from India was attempting to summit Everest via the Northeast route. Just below the summit, they were caught in the blizzard that claimed the lives of several climbers, including those in the Rob Hall and Scott Fisher parties who were on the popular Southeast route. While three members of the Indian team turned back, Tsewang Paljor and two others pressed on for the summit. They reportedly reached the top, though there remains some doubt about this claim, and radio communication ceased thereafter.
A Japanese team, also aiming for the summit, may have passed the three Indian climbers, though the extreme conditions made it unclear. When the Japanese climbers learned from one of the Indian climbers who had turned back that their teammates were missing, they offered to help search. However, the storm was so fierce that the search could not begin until the next day. It’s widely believed that the body known as 'Green Boots' belongs to one of these missing Indian climbers, due to the distinctive green boots he was wearing at the time.
In 2006, British mountaineer David Sharp crawled into the infamous 'Green Boots cave'. Several climbers, mistaking him for the already deceased 'Green Boots,' passed him by. It wasn’t until later that Sharp was given aid, but by then, it was too late—he had already passed away.
In 2007, British climber Ian Woodall, who had been on Everest in 1996 and had been haunted by the memory of the tragedy ever since, made an attempt to reach the cave and offer 'Green Boots' a proper burial. Unfortunately, bad weather thwarted his efforts to free the body from the ice, and though he intended to return once he raised funds, his attempt ended in failure.
+ John Delaney
Mount Everest is shrouded in numerous mysteries surrounding the climbers who have died in their quest to reach its peak. Did Mallory and Irvine actually summit Everest and perish on their descent, effectively beating Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay by nearly 30 years? What truly transpired during the tragic 1996 Everest disaster, which became infamous through the bestselling book 'Into Thin Air'?
The fate of Irish businessman John Delaney is not shrouded in mystery—he tragically passed away on May 21, 2011, at the age of 42, just 50 meters shy of reaching his lifelong dream of summiting Mount Everest. His death, a common cause on Everest, was due to altitude sickness. During his climb, his wife gave birth to a daughter, whom he would never meet.
What remains mysterious about Delaney, however, isn’t his death, but the events that followed. Delaney was the CEO and founder of the popular online trading platform, Intrade. The website gained significant attention during the 2012 US Presidential election, where users bet on whether Mitt Romney would defeat Barack Obama, and later on who the next Pope would be.
But in 2013, Intrade shut down, and it was revealed that in the final two years of his life, Delaney’s personal account had received unauthorized transfers totaling $2,600,000 from the company. A 2013 audit confirmed the absence of proper documentation for these funds, but the true story of how Delaney came to possess the money remains unresolved. Unraveling potential financial fraud has proven to be as elusive as climbing Everest itself.
