Mount Everest has one of the deadliest seasons – 09/06/2023 – World

With record traffic of climbers, the current climbing season on Mount Everest is already considered one of the deadliest in history. Nepal tour guides point to the arrival of inexperienced travelers, the occurrence of extreme weather conditions and the relaxation of security measures as factors that have caused the number of deaths to rise.

In 2023, 17 people died or are missing. Ten victims are foreigners, the worst number ever recorded. The other seven are Nepalese women who worked as guides on the mountain or as employees of tourism companies.

“This season overall has been pretty bad,” says Mingma Gyalje, who works for Imagine Nepal Trek and Expedition and organizes Everest expeditions. He says that the extreme temperature has been the main reason for the tragedies, but adds that many of the deaths could have been avoided if the safety measures were respected.

The last seasons registered high numbers of deaths, but many of them occurred in single and large events, unlike what has happened this year. In 2014, for example, 16 Nepalese guides died in an avalanche that closed access to the summit. The worst balance was recorded in 2015, when at least 18 people died in an earthquake that claimed nearly 9,000 victims in the country.

Experts denounce that many climbers arrive in Nepal without adequate preparation to climb Everest, the highest mountain in the world, whose summit is 8,848 meters above sea level. The Nepalese government issued a record 478 permits to foreigners this season. In total, about 600 people reached the top of the mountain, and officials have been advocating for measures to limit the flow.

Experienced guides report that they had never been so cold on the mountain, with temperatures well below the averages of recent years. “It must be hotter now, around minus 28º C”, ironizes Mingma Gyalje. “This year we registered up to negative 40º C”, she adds.

Scientists claim that the increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather phenomena is related to global warming, caused by human activity. In addition to the high number of deaths, rescuers have been recording more frequently cases of frostbite and pulmonary edema caused by altitude, which occurs when fluid accumulates in the lungs.

Mingma Gyalje says that with the extreme cold and strong winds, climbers’ fingers or toes have been freezing frequently. “The Field 4 [do Everest] it was not sufficiently prepared and not all the supplies arrived there. But the customers were impatient, and the climb began.”

He says that this year alone, three acquaintances died after being hit by a block of ice that broke loose in the Khumbu region.

The rapid growth of climbing tourism in Nepal has led to fierce competition between companies, raising concerns that companies will cut security budgets to lower prices in order to attract more customers.

In an attempt to reduce the number of deaths, the Nepalese government determined in 2019 that those who want to climb Everest must first climb at least one Nepalese peak above 6,500 meters to then obtain permission. Specialists, however, say that the measure has been insufficient.

Lukas Furtenbach, from the Austrian company Furtenbach Adventures, endorses the argument that most deaths could have been avoided if safety standards were respected and climbers were more experienced. “All these accidents have a similar pattern. Oxygen logistics and safety regulations are the main issues this season,” he says.

Mountain guide Gelje Sherpa, 30, forced his client to give up reaching the summit to save a Malaysian climber in the so-called death zone, above 8,000 meters. He had to carry it to camp four, a journey that took six hours.

“It’s been a physically and emotionally draining year for Sherpas,” says Dawa Steven, who organizes expeditions at Asian Trekking. “Some left, many were injured. Those who remain on the mountain are overwhelmed. Everyone is exhausted.”