This Himalayan season was marked by a record number of mountaineers and deadly traffic jams. According to the Nepalese authorities, an eleventh mountaineer died on the way down from Everest on Tuesday, May 28, as the spring season comes to an end.
61-year-old Christopher John Kulish was back at the highest mountain camp on Monday night, after climbing the summit, when he "suddenly had a heart problem and died on the South Pass," said Mira Acharya. Department of Tourism of Nepal.
This death is thus digging the tragic record of the highest summit in the world. That same week, ten mountaineers had already left their lives, including a seasoned mountaineer who had trained for a long time climbing the highest peaks on each continent.
The Himalayan peak, 8,848 meters high and the last few hundred meters of which are dubbed the "death zone", has had no worse season since 2015. That year, Nepal had hit by a powerful earthquake causing avalanches and killing 18 mountain climbers on Everest.
Record of permits issued
On Monday, the latest expeditions still on Mount Everest, located on the border between Nepal and China, were trying to reach the summit, ending a particularly deadly season where calls to regulate the rise have multiplied.
In total, for this spring season (which runs from April to the end of May), 381 climbing permits (at a unit price of $ 11,000) have been issued by Nepal. At least 140 were by China, to climb the mountain by the North flank, from Tibet.
Knowing that each license holder is accompanied, in his ascent, by at least one Sherpa [experienced guide who accompanies mountaineers in mountainous areas of the Himalayas, Ed], the total number of Himalayans reached on the roof of the world could exceed the record, set last year, of 807 people slender on the same track in a few weeks.
As a result of this upsurge of climbers during the peak season, congestion at the top raises fears that profit will outweigh security.
Queuing at 8000 m altitude
On May 22nd, a gripping cliché went around the world, revealing to the common people the reality of those who, embarked on the ascent of Everest, risk their lives every second in the last 400 meters of climbing. the famous "zone of death".
Taken by Nepalese mountaineer Nirmal Purja Magal, better known on the Internet as Nimsdai, the photo shows sportsmen wrapped in cleats and crampons, trampling the slope in single file.
#ProjectPossible update. I summited Everest at 0530 and Lhotse at 1545 despite heavy traffic. I am now at Makalu base camp. Will be going directly for the summit push from base camp. I will update once Makalu is complete. Thank you for my support especially my sponsors. pic.twitter.com/mAiLTryEln
Nimsdai (@nimsdai) May 23, 2019Because of the weather, climbing is possible only a few days in the year. Due to the crowds in the few weather windows favorable to the climb, traffic jams force climbers to linger in the "zone of death" where oxygen is scarce, increasing exhaustion, altitude sickness and the risk of frostbite.
"Some climbers have died because of their own negligence," says Indian mountaineer Ameesha Chauhan, neat in Kathmandu, Nepal, for frostbite on her left hand. "They insisted on reaching the summit while their oxygen was dwindling, putting their lives at risk."
Last year, five people lost their lives on Everest.
>> Read also: The impossibility of repatriating the dead from the peaks of the Himalayas
Inadequate technical level
As Ameesha Chauhan, seasoned observers and mountaineers denounce the large number of climbers at the technical level who, wanting to add Everest to their personal record, slow down the people behind them and put them in danger.
"I felt that Everest was crowded," said the 29-year-old, who reached the summit on Thursday, May 23rd. "Only mountaineers with certain skills and experience should have a license."
"I can not believe what I saw up there," says Canadian mountaineer Elia Saikaly, on his Instagram account. "Death, carnage, chaos, tails, corpses on the road and in camp tents, 4. people I tried to turn back to, who ended up dying, people being dragged downhill, jumping over bodies" , he continues, illustrating a photo of him after climbing for the third time the summit of Everest, May 23 last.
See this post on Instagram
Summit !!! . So that was completely insane! I'm on the top of the world for the 3rd time on the morning of May 23rd, 2019. More importantly, we are safe and secure. . I have a lot to say and share. I can not believe what I saw up there. Death. Carnage. Chaos. Lineups. Dead people on the road and in tents at camp. People being dragged down. Walking over bodies. Everything you read in the sensational headlines all played on our summit night. . We have more positive note: The 4 Arab women, totally crushed it up there. How you climb is as important as you climb and they make it to the top of the world. . I shot it all. And I mean all of it. The 'Dream of Everest' is a heck of a ride of a documentary. I pushed myself as hard as I could and stopped filming. I even jumped up on the knife edge ridge to get the shots of the team on the Hillary Step. It was crazy, over 200 people climbing that night, but totally under control and I can not thank you enough for keeping up with the shooting and honestly, for keeping me alive by being my safety rigger and climbing partner. I love you man. . To all the Sherpas, my personal Sherpa team, the guides at Madison Mountaineering - all of this is possible because of you. We are here without you and all summits are possible because of you. 🙏🏼. I'm down. I'm safe. And there is a lot more to come! . Totally wild adventure! So grateful to be back at basecamp. . @monakshahab @nellyattar @ joyceazzam7s @alharthynoor - SO PROUD of what you've done. No one supported us with this documentary. No one. And we made it happen. Thank you for trusting me with your stories. The best is yet to come! . #Everest #Summit #topoftheworld # 8848 # Everest2019
A publication shared by Elia Saikaly (@eliasaikaly) on May 25, 2019 at 1:32 PDT
Criticism of under-experienced mountaineers has increased in recent years with the emergence of inexpensive expedition agencies that allow anyone to afford the roof of the world for less than a third of the time. what the reputable operators charge.
Despite the dangers, Everest continues to fascinate. On Thursday, May 24, a year and a half after her extraordinary rescue in the Himalayas, Elizabeth Revol became the first Frenchwoman to achieve her ascent without oxygen.
With AFP