Because it's too dangerous to retrieve the dead bodies that litter the slopes of Mount Everest, most climbers remain right where they fell while trying to summit Earth's tallest peak.
PRAKASH MATHEMA / Stringer / Getty ImagesThere are some 200 dead bodies on Mount Everest, serving as grim warnings for other climbers to this day.
Mount Everest holds the impressive title of tallest mountain in the world, but many people don’t know about its other, more gruesome title: the world’s largest open-air graveyard.
Since 1953, when Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay scaled the summit for the first time, more than 4,000 people have followed in their footsteps, braving the harsh climate and dangerous terrain for a few moments of glory. Some of them, however, never left the mountain, leaving hundreds of dead bodies on Mount Everest.
How Many Dead Bodies Are On Mount Everest?
The top portion of the mountain, roughly everything above 26,000 feet, is known as the “death zone.”
There, the oxygen levels are only at a third of what they are at sea level, and the barometric pressure causes weight to feel ten times heavier. The combination of the two makes climbers feel sluggish, disoriented and fatigued and can cause extreme distress on organs. For this reason, climbers don’t usually last more than 48 hours in this area.
The climbers that do are usually left with lingering effects. The ones that aren’t so lucky and die on Mount Everest are left right where they fell.
To date, it’s estimated that some 300 people have died climbing Earth’s tallest mountain and that there are approximately 200 dead bodies on Mount Everest to this day.
These are the stories behind just some of the bodies on Mount Everest that have accumulated over the years.
The Tragic Tale Behind One Of The Most Infamous Mount Everest Bodies
Standard protocol on Mount Everest is just to leave the dead right where they died, and so these Mount Everest bodies remain there to spend eternity on its slopes, serving as both a warning to other climbers as well as gruesome mile markers.
One of the most famous Mount Everest bodies, known as “Green Boots” was passed by almost every climber to reach the death zone. The identity of Green Boots is highly contested, but it is most widely believed that it is Tsewang Paljor, an Indian climber who died in 1996.
Before the body’s recent removal, Green Boots’ body rested near a cave that all climbers must pass on their way to the peak. The body became a grim landmark used to gauge how close one is to the summit. He is famous for his green boots, and because, according to one seasoned adventurer “about 80% of people also take a rest at the shelter where Green Boots is, and it’s hard to miss the person lying there.”
Wikimedia CommonsThe corpse of Tsewang Paljor, also known as “Green Boots”, is one of the most infamous dead bodies on Everest.
David Sharp And His Harrowing Death On Everest
In 2006 another climber joined Green Boots in his cave and became one of the most infamous Mount Everest bodies in history.
David Sharp was attempting to summit Everest on his own, a feat which even the most advanced climbers would warn against. He had stopped to rest in Green Boots’ cave, as so many had done before him. Over the course of several hours, he froze to death, his body stuck in a huddled position, just feet from one of the most well-known Mount Everest bodies.
Unlike Green Boots, however, who had likely gone unnoticed during his death due to the small amount of people hiking at that time, at least 40 people passed by Sharp that day. Not one of them stopped.
YouTubeDavid Sharp preparing for the fateful climb that would ultimately turn him into one of the most famous dead bodies on Mount Everest.
Sharpe’s death sparked a moral debate about the culture of Everest climbers. Though many had passed by Sharp as he lay dying, and their eyewitness accounts claim he was visibly alive and in distress, no one offered their help.
Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to ever summit the mountain, alongside Tenzing Norgay, criticized the climbers who had passed by Sharp and attributed it to the mind-numbing desire to reach the top.
“If you have someone who is in great need and you are still strong and energetic, then you have a duty, really, to give all you can to get the man down and getting to the summit becomes very secondary,” he told the New Zealand Herald, after news of Sharp’s death broke.
“I think the whole attitude towards climbing Mt Everest has become rather horrifying,” he added. “The people just want to get to the top. They don’t give a damn for anybody else who may be in distress and it doesn’t impress me at all that they leave someone lying under a rock to die.”
The media termed this phenomenon “summit fever,” and it’s happened more times than most people realize.
How George Mallory Became The First Dead Body On Mount Everest
In 1999, the oldest known body to ever fall on Mount Everest was found.
George Mallory’s body was found 75 years after his 1924 death after an unusually warm spring. Mallory had attempted to be the first person to climb Everest, though he had disappeared before anyone found out if he had achieved his goal.
Dave Hahn/Getty ImagesThe corpse of George Mallory, the first body on Mount Everest to ever fall on its treacherous slopes.
His body was found in 1999, his upper torso, half of his legs, and his left arm almost perfectly preserved. He was dressed in a tweed suit and surrounded by primitive climbing equipment and heavy oxygen bottles. A rope injury around his waist led those who found him to believe he had been roped to another climber when he fell from the side of a cliff.
It is still unknown whether Mallory made it to the top, though of course the title of “the first man to climb Everest” has been attributed elsewhere. Though he may not have made it, rumors of Mallory’s climb had swirled for years.
He was a famous mountaineer at the time and when asked why he wanted to climb the then-unconquered mountain, he famously replied: “Because it’s there.”
The Sad Demise Of Hannelore Schmatz In Everest’s Death Zone
One of the most horrifying sights on Mount Everest is the body of Hannelore Schmatz. In 1979, Schmatz became not only the first German citizen to perish on the mountain but also the first woman.
Schmatz had actually reached her goal of summiting the mountain, before ultimately succumbing to exhaustion on the way down. Despite her Sherpa’s warning, she set up camp within the death zone.
She managed to survive a snowstorm hitting overnight, and made it almost the rest of the way down to camp before a lack of oxygen and frostbite resulted in her giving into exhaustion. She was only 330 feet from base camp.
YouTubeAs the first woman to die on Earth’s tallest mountain, Hannelore Schmatz’s corpse became one of the most famous dead bodies on Mount Everest.
Her body remains on the mountain, extremely well preserved due to the consistently below zero temperatures. She remained in plain view of the mountain’s Southern Route, leaning against a long deteriorated backpack with her eyes open and her hair blowing in the wind until the 70-80 MPH winds either blew a covering of snow over her or pushed her off the mountain. Her final resting place is unknown.
It’s due to the same things that kill these climbers that recovery of their bodies can’t take place.
When someone dies on Everest, especially in the death zone, it is almost impossible to retrieve the body. The weather conditions, the terrain, and the lack of oxygen makes it difficult to get to the bodies. Even if they can be found, they are usually stuck to the ground, frozen in place.
In fact, two rescuers died while trying to recover Schmatz’s body and countless others have perished while trying to reach the rest.
Despite the risks, and the bodies they will encounter, thousands of people flock to Everest every year to attempt this impressive feat. And while it isn’t even known for sure how many bodies are on Mount Everest today, these corpses have done nothing to dissuade other climbers. And some of those brave mountaineers are sadly destined to join the bodies on Mount Everest themselves.
Enjoy this article on the dead bodies on Mount Everest? Next, read the incredible Everest survival story of Beck Weathers. Then, learn about the demises of Francys Arsentiev, Mount Everest’s “Sleeping Beauty,” and the doomed snowboarder Marco Siffredi.
