Mount Everest has around 200 dead bodies ~ NSFW

[Dog]

Mt. Everest has around 200 dead bodies on the mountain. It is nearly impossible for recovery of a body off the mountain. Most of the bodies are in the same exact position they were when they died. Perfectly preserved in time because of the cold. Along the route up to the summit climbers will pass all these bodies. There are bodies over 50 years old that look like they were placed there yesterday.

 

The "death zone" is 26,000 feet. Air is so thin that there is no margin for error. Immediate frostbite will happen. Lack of oxygen leaves climber bewildered and weak. Cost for one to go on a trip is £15,000.

 

 

Several bodies are given names. This one is "green boots". Many of the bodies are now landmarks along the way up. "green Boots" has been there since 1996.

 

 

 

 

 

“PLEASE don’t leave me,” the dying woman cried.

There was an American flag placed on this woman years later and a note from her family. Two people found the woman alone and barely alive but could do nothing to help her. They thought about that moment everyday and saved up all their money for 8 years to make a return trip and give her a proper "burial".

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's one of George Mallory where he has lain since falling to his death in 1924

 

 

 

Bodies lay exactly where the climber last took a "rest". Most of the time they take a rest and dont wake up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wish you all a great day.

 

Dog

Edited 11 October, 2010 by Dog

[saintjay77]

Blimey

[buctootim]

The Mallory one is quite poignant. Being the first to climb everest, and wearing a wooly jumper and cotton coat without oxygen was a major major achievement. For the rest, if you die up there whilst wearing modern gear and using oxygen in a pointless quest to be number 2,000 and something to the top - tough.

[BadgerBadger]

'Into Thin Air' is a gripping book to read about how things can go very wrong up Everest.

 

Reinhold Messner, now he's the man when it comes to Everest, solo summit and without oxygen - tough cookie indeed.

[Hatch]

If I was a family member I would do all I could to recover a body of a loved one.

[Sheaf Saint]

My girlfriend and I recently went to watch a documentary called The Wildest Dream, all about George Mallory's expeditions in the 1920s and the attempts of the american climber who found his body (only relatively recently) to re-create his journey using similar clothing and equipment. I recommend anybody interested in mountaineering watch it. Very moving and highlights exactly what a massive undertaking it was in 1927.

[Hamilton Saint]

'Into Thin Air' is a gripping book to read about how things can go very wrong up Everest.

 

Reinhold Messner, now he's the man when it comes to Everest, solo summit and without oxygen - tough cookie indeed.

 

Agreed. That is a great read.

[Marsdinho]

"The Climb" by Anatoli Boukreev is another good book to read. Gives a different perspective on the 1996 events.

 

Boukreev got a lot of stick in "Into Thin Air" and felt he needed to get his side of the story out there.

[Hamilton Saint]

"The Climb" by Anatoli Boukreev is another good book to read. Gives a different perspective on the 1996 events.

 

Boukreev got a lot of stick in "Into Thin Air" and felt he needed to get his side of the story out there.

 

Yes, I read that one, too. It gives a good, alternative view of those events. Also worth a read is Beck Weathers' Left for Dead who almost died on that horrendous day.

[Saint in Paradise]

Here in NZ you can pull the legs of the All Blacks supporters but you never say Mallory got to the top of Everest

before Sir Edmund Hillary. NZers take that very very seriously.

[aintforever]

The last thought of everyone of them must have been "what was the ****ing point".

[Whitey Grandad]

The last thought of everyone of them must have been "what was the ****ing point".

 

Summit fever gets some of them. There was one guy who got to the summit late in the day and telephoned his wife from there. He was too late to get back down. This is interesting about K2: http://www.mensjournal.com/k2 Apparently it's worse than Everest. As of October 2008 "3,679 climbers have summited Everest, while 210 have died. For all the righteous critiques of Everest and its commercial cattle drive, that mountain is actually getting safer. Only two climbers were lost in the 2008 season. The odds on K2 are much worse: Just 299 people have reached the top, and 77 have perished".

[Dog]

Couldn't these people be removed by helicopter? It must embarrass the serious ramblers when walking past all these corpses.

[Robsk II]

Perfectly preserved in time because of the cold.

 

That being the case, this guy was seriously underweight.

[Robsk II]

 

Did this dude die because he really needed to knock one out at 26000 feet?

[badgerx16]

The story of the 'flag lady' :

 

http://louxis.livejournal.com/4112.html

 

Somewhere up there is the undiscovered body of her husband

[Hamilton Saint]

Couldn't these people be removed by helicopter? It must embarrass the serious ramblers when walking past all these corpses.

 

The air is too thin.

[badgerx16]

Efforts are being made to remove at least some of them :

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/19/mount-everest-death-zone-clean

 

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10639893

Edited 11 October, 2010 by badgerx16

[dune]

You'd never go hungry in a blizzard.

[Sheaf Saint]

Here in NZ you can pull the legs of the All Blacks supporters but you never say Mallory got to the top of Everest

before Sir Edmund Hillary. NZers take that very very seriously.

 

I guess we'll never know. He was last seen on the ridge having climbed the second step, but from where his body was found it would seem to suggest that he fell from a point further back down, so it is unclear if he had made it to the summit and was on his way back, or if he had turned around, for whatever reason, before reaching the top.

 

Either way though, Hillary only followed on from where Mallory left off, as it was he who found what is now the accepted route up the mountain. So regardless of whether or not Mallory made it to the summit, he is the one who should take the most credit for 'blazing the trail'.

[Marsdinho]

The last thought of everyone of them must have been "what was the ****ing point".

 

Mallory is famously quoted as having replied to the question "Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?" with the retort: "Because it's there", which has been called "the most famous three words in mountaineering".

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mallory[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mallory#cite_note-0][/url]

[Verbal]

Mallory is famously quoted as having replied to the question "Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?" with the retort: "Because it's there", which has been called "the most famous three words in mountaineering".

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mallory[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mallory#cite_note-0][/url]

 

And then quoted by JFK in one of his greatest ever speeches.

[Dog]

 

Apparently he died after waiting around for Puncheon to cross the ball.

[mightysaints]

Only those of us that go skiing and climbing can appritiate the pull of the mountains. Give me a beach or the mountain i take the mountain anytime. If you have never been to the Alps try it. Took the kids to the Alps around Chamonix one Summer, it was one of the best Summer hols we ever had. Did anyone see the recent BBC documentry on the North Face of th Eiger.

[Lighthouse]

Only those of us that go skiing and climbing can appritiate the pull of the mountains. Give me a beach or the mountain i take the mountain anytime. If you have never been to the Alps try it. Took the kids to the Alps around Chamonix one Summer, it was one of the best Summer hols we ever had. Did anyone see the recent BBC documentry on the North Face of th Eiger.

 

Not one for mountain climbing as I've not got much head for heights, but I absolutely love skiing. If I could go and live in a small hut in the Alp with a nice log fire every winter I would. Skiing is brilliant. Flying effortlessly down the side of a mountain as fast as you like, with the sun shining and the wind on your face. Sorry if I sound a bit ghey, but I like skiing almost as much as Jaffa Cakes.

[buctootim]

I but from where his body was found it would seem to suggest that he fell from a point further back down

 

Are you suggesting he fell up hill?

[Sheaf Saint]

Are you suggesting he fell up hill?

 

The suggestion is that he fell from a point further back down from where he was last sighted by the support team at the camp.

[buctootim]

The suggestion is that he fell from a point further back down from where he was last sighted by the support team at the camp.

 

Ah. Anyway, as you said - regardless of whether he made it to the actual summit or not I rank his achievement as the greatest on Everest, with Hillary second and the rest largely irrelevant.

[Ohio Saint]

I think the issue of the photograph(s) that Mallory said he would leave on the summit is an important one. They never found them on his body did they?

[Macey_J2]

Thanks for the OP, an interesting thread!

[tpbury]

Only those of us that go skiing and climbing can appritiate the pull of the mountains. Give me a beach or the mountain i take the mountain anytime. If you have never been to the Alps try it. Took the kids to the Alps around Chamonix one Summer, it was one of the best Summer hols we ever had. Did anyone see the recent BBC documentry on the North Face of th Eiger.

 

How come you can spell Chamonix and not appreciate? ;-)

[alpine_saint]

And then quoted by JFK in one of his greatest ever speeches.

 

And by Captain Kirk in Star Trek V...

[Sheaf Saint]

I think the issue of the photograph(s) that Mallory said he would leave on the summit is an important one. They never found them on his body did they?

 

This is true. However, none of the people who have made it to the summit have ever reported seeing the photographs up there. Of course they would be buried under lots of snow and ice by now and due to the time it takes to get up and down, climbers never stay at the summit for more than a few minutes either, so it is very possible he did make it and left them.

 

Edmund Hillary has, quite disingenuously in my opinion, stated that if it is somehow proved that Mallory did make it to the summit, the record books should not be changed as successfully summitting any mountain should involve returning alive. I guess he has a point, but that would not detract from the fact that Mallory would be the first person to stand at the very top of the world.

[Joensuu]

This is true. However, none of the people who have made it to the summit have ever reported seeing the photographs up there. Of course they would be buried under lots of snow and ice by now and due to the time it takes to get up and down, climbers never stay at the summit for more than a few minutes either, so it is very possible he did make it and left them.

 

Edmund Hillary has, quite disingenuously in my opinion, stated that if it is somehow proved that Mallory did make it to the summit, the record books should not be changed as successfully summitting any mountain should involve returning alive. I guess he has a point, but that would not detract from the fact that Mallory would be the first person to stand at the very top of the world.

 

Photos would have disintegrated in 25 years, or blown away, or as you say, frozen in ice and now hidden.

 

Since Hillary is no longer with us, I can't see anyone arguing for the record books to be reversed if proof is found backing up Mallory & Irvine's attempt. Funds are being raised right now to finance a trip to investigate a body-shaped feature found on photos. If it's Mallory, than his camera could hold all the answers.

[Pancake]

Photos would have disintegrated in 25 years, or blown away, or as you say, frozen in ice and now hidden.

 

Since Hillary is no longer with us, I can't see anyone arguing for the record books to be reversed if proof is found backing up Mallory & Irvine's attempt. Funds are being raised right now to finance a trip to investigate a body-shaped feature found on photos. If it's Mallory, than his camera could hold all the answers.

 

I assume you mean Irvine, as Mallory's body was found in '99.

[Joensuu]

I assume you mean Irvine, as Mallory's body was found in '99.

 

Ay... I sure do.

 

Cheers Pancake.

[Whitey Grandad]

The air is too thin.

 

There's some debate about this:

 

http://www.spadout.com/wiki/index.php/Didier_Delsalle_lands_Helicopter_on_Everest

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_maximum_altitude_that_a_helicopter_can_achieve

[buctootim]

There's some debate about this:

 

http://www.spadout.com/wiki/index.php/Didier_Delsalle_lands_Helicopter_on_Everest

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_maximum_altitude_that_a_helicopter_can_achieve

 

Not really if you read it. Hes saying its questionable whether its worth risking a whole crew to save one climber. Why would you risk a live crew to save a dead man?

 

"If one day a rescue operation is requested at these altitudes, people will have to take all these factors into consideration to decide if it is worthy to send a crew to rescue one climber, all the risks shall be evaluated because it will stay a very tough mission even with a powerful helicopter. The Nature forces you may find there can overpower every helicopter capability! "

[Whitey Grandad]

Not really if you read it. Hes saying its questionable whether its worth risking a whole crew to save one climber. Why would you risk a live crew to save a dead man?

 

"If one day a rescue operation is requested at these altitudes, people will have to take all these factors into consideration to decide if it is worthy to send a crew to rescue one climber, all the risks shall be evaluated because it will stay a very tough mission even with a powerful helicopter. The Nature forces you may find there can overpower every helicopter capability! "

 

Sorry, I meant that the debate was about whether he had actually landed on the summit. I liked the comment about using diesel engines!