Statue honoring the woman Pasang Lhamu Sherpa, the first Nepali woman to summit but did not make it down alive

List of Mount Everest death statistics is a list of statistics about death on Mount Everest.

Youngest people to die on Mount Everest

Examples of known cases[1][2][3]

Named corpses

The corpse known as Green Boots in its eponymous Everest cave

Medical and scientific professionals who died on Everest

See also Dr. Beck Weathers, a medical doctor who is famous for narrowly surviving the 1996 Everest Disaster.[12]

Died on descent after summiting

Memorial of Dimitar Ilievski, who died descending from the mountain.

Examples of those who, after summiting, died on the descent down or soon after (not counting other climbs, on the same expedition but does not have to be their first summit)

examples only

Deadliest events at Everest

The history of mountaineering expeditions on Mount Everest has evolved since the first official mountaineering expedition trekked up its slopes in 1921.[citation needed] In subsequent decades up to the 1960s, many expeditions were funded by major organizations like the Joint Himalayan Committee and launched in a "siege" style with large climbing parties; although the 1935 and 1938 expeditions were small and low-cost as preferred by Eric Shipton and Bill Tilman.[citation needed]

These early campaigns helped overcome the relatively remote nature and uncharted territory of Everest.[citation needed] These journeys also paved the way for the "lightweight"-style small expeditions that followed.[citation needed] A prime example is the successful 1978 ascent by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler, the first without bottled oxygen, and followed by a 1980 solo ascent (also without bottled oxygen) by Messner.[citation needed]

The 80s and 90s saw the emergence and rise in the commercialization of the ascent to Everest's summit.[citation needed] These commercial expeditions range from logistics only (i.e. a permit and some basic base camp supplies) to expensive, professionally guided expeditions promising even laypeople an increased chance of successfully reaching the summit.[citation needed] The increased access now afforded to scaling the world's tallest mountain, while leading to more people successfully reaching the summit than ever before, has also seen a concomitant and exponential rise in casualties.[citation needed] There can be delays of two hours or more in the queue to reach the top (in the Death Zone), with a photo taken on May 22, 2019, showing a queue of about 220 climbers headed there. [24] [25]

Died Date Notes / Ref
18–22 2015 2015 Mount Everest avalanches[26]
16 2014 2014 Mount Everest avalanche[27]
8–12 1996 1996 Mount Everest disaster
6 1974 1974 French Mount Everest expedition avalanche[28]
6 1970 1970 Mount Everest disaster

Another very deadly event was in 1995, when 42 died near Everest in a large avalanche.[29][30]

Deaths by nationality

*with at least two deaths[citation needed]

Nationality Count
 Australia 8
 Austria 3
 Bangladesh 1
 Belgium 1
 Brazil 1
 Bulgaria 3
 Canada 6
 Chile 1
 China 12
 Czechoslovakia/ Czech Republic 7
 Denmark 2
 France 6
 Germany 7
 Hungary 3
 India 24
 Ireland 3
 Italy 3
 Japan 19
 Moldova 1
 Malaysia 2
   Nepal 124
 Netherlands 1
 New Zealand 3
 North Macedonia 1
 Poland 7
 Russia 8
 South Korea 11
 Spain 4
  Switzerland 3
 Singapore 1
 Slovakia 1
 Slovenia 1
 Sweden 1
 Taiwan 2
 United Kingdom 17
 United States 21
 Ukraine 1
 Yugoslavia/ Yugoslavia 2
Other/Unknown 2

Cause of death

Cause[citation needed] Count[citation needed]
Avalanche 68
Fall 67
Exposure 27
Altitude sickness 21
Cardiac arrest 11
Exhaustion and/or exposure 8
Exhaustion 7
Serac 6
Cerebral edema 8
Stroke 2
Frostbite 1
Other 15
Unknown cause 52

Astronaut fatality

Henize had been in space (see STS-51-F space mission) and co-authored many science papers.

One of the people claimed by Everest mountaineering was the U.S. astronaut Karl Gordon Henize. He was on a mission to study radiation but came down with a fatal case of HAPE in October 1993 and died at north base camp.[14] At the time he was the oldest astronaut to have flown in space and also had a doctorate in astronomy.[14] He died on October 5, 1993, and was buried on Mount Everest.[31]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Everest K2 News ExplorersWeb - Everest: List of Avalanche Victims". Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  2. ^ a b c Human Edge Tech, Explorersweb Inc. "Adventure Consultants Everest 2015 - Dispatches - By CONTACT5.0". Retrieved 6 May 2015.
  3. ^ a b c Ortner, Sherry B. (2020). Life and Death on Mt. Everest: Sherpas and Himalayan Mountaineering. Princeton University Press. pp. 49–51. ISBN 9780691211770 – via Project MUSE.
  4. ^ a b "Adventure Consultants Everest 2015 Expedition Dispatches". Adventure Consultants. adventureconsultants.com. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  5. ^ "Three sherpas killed". Calgary Herald. Calgary, Alberta, Canada. 1982-09-01. p. 1. Retrieved 2022-12-16 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Young Sherpa plunges to his death on Everest". Business Standard India. 8 May 2013.
  7. ^ Bell, George (1986-10-12). "Everest Team Finds Artifacts of '22 Expedition". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  8. ^ Douglas, Ed (2001-11-10). "Death on Everest". The Guardian. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  9. ^ Smith, Sarah (2002-09-27). "Everest Snowboarder Vanishes On Second Try". National Geographic News. Archived from the original on 2002-11-10. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  10. ^ "Helga's Everest nightmare - In English - Abenteuer Sport - DW.COM". blogs.dw.com. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  11. ^ a b Rachel Nuwer (9 October 2015). "BBC - Future - Death in the clouds: The problem with Everest's 200+ bodies". bbc.com. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  12. ^ "New life for Dallas doctor came from near-death on Everest | Dallas Morning News". Archived from the original on 2015-09-18.
  13. ^ Woolf, Jo (2022-04-29). "Alexander Kellas: 'the most modest man that ever travelled the Himalayas'". Royal Scottish Geographical Society. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
  14. ^ a b c "Karl G. Henize, NASA Scientist, Dies at 66 Climbing Mount Everest". The New York Times. 10 October 1993.
  15. ^ "Mécs László - Hegymászó".
  16. ^ Leahy, Michael (November 28, 2004). "The Dark Side of the Mountain". The Washington Post. p. W12.
  17. ^ "Mt. Everest 2005: Scottish climber Rob Milne dies on Everest details".
  18. ^ "Climbing's Little Helper". 14 March 2013.
  19. ^ "Charles MacAdams Obituary (2016) - Calgary, AB - The Vancouver Sun". Legacy.com.
  20. ^ Marszal, Andrew (25 May 2016). "Mount Everest climbers: Death toll rises to five". The Telegraph.
  21. ^ "Body of Indian climber spotted on Everest as weekend's death toll rises to 4". Washington Post. Retrieved 2017-05-23.
  22. ^ "Seattle mountaineer who died on Everest was retired doctor who 'sincerely cared for people'". 20 May 2023.
  23. ^ "Woman dies after ascending Everest | CJOnline.com". cjonline.com. Archived from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  24. ^ "Mount Everest is so crowded this year there is a risk of traffic jams". Stuff (Fairfax). 5 May 2019.
  25. ^ "Two climbers die waiting in queue to reach Mount Everest's summit". Stuff (Fairfax). 24 May 2019.
  26. ^ "Avalanche triggered by quake kills 18 on Mount Everest". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 April 2015.
  27. ^ Krakauer, Jon (21 April 2014). "Death and Anger on Everest". The New Yorker. Retrieved 22 April 2014. Of the twenty-five men hit by the falling ice, sixteen were killed, all of them Nepalis working for guided climbing teams.
  28. ^ "The West Ridge Direct". everesthistory.com. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  29. ^ "12 guides killed in worst ever Mt Everest accident | The Brunei Times". bt.com.bn. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  30. ^ "FACTBOX - World's deadliest mountaineering disasters 2008". reuters.com. 3 August 2008. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  31. ^ "Obituary: Karl Henize". Independent.co.uk. 22 October 2011.
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