Corpses of Everest

[balli]

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[baseline bum]

That 1 in 4 stat is wrong. Until 10-15 years ago there was about one death for every four who successfully summited, but even that has come way down as the quality of mountaineering gear has improved. Still, just the ice falls (the first section after base camp) would scare me off attempting it, not even factoring in the oxygen levels once you get up to the last camp and beyond. Especially considering that a successful trek will cross the ice falls probably 6-8 times.

[SpursNextRomanEmpire]

Yeah its pretty shocking that they leave the bodies on the mountain.

Good Everest book to read is 'Into Thin Air'

although everyone probably already knows that

[CubanMustGo]

From Wikipedia:

By the end of the 2008 climbing season, there had been 4,102 ascents to the summit by about 2,700 individuals.[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Everest#cite_note-8000ers-4) Climbers are a significant source of tourist (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourist) revenue for Nepal, whose government also requires all prospective climbers to obtain an expensive permit, costing up to US $ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_dollar) 25,000 per person.[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Everest#cite_note-5) By the end of 2009 Everest had claimed 216 lives,[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Everest#cite_note-8000ers-4) including eight who perished during a 1996 storm high on the mountain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1996_Everest_disaster). Conditions are so difficult in the death zone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_zone) (altitudes higher than 8,000 m/26,246 ft) that most corpses have been left where they fell. Some of them are visible from standard climbing routes.[7] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Everest#cite_note-6)

[jeebus]

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_J9ifBwxryUw/TLCNLq9SP3I/AAAAAAAAEQ4/2gpsRWYIPV8/s1600/Mt-Everest-body-of-Mallory.jpg


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mallory

[greyforest]

apparently this one is the deadliest
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annapurna
103 summits, 56 deaths

and K2 is second deadliest
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K2
302 summits, 77 deaths

[koriwhat]

crazy shit

[Viva Las Espuelas]

Corpsi?

[BlairForceDejuan]

That's wild

[Viva Las Espuelas]

Pretty chilling, too.

[ChuckD]

Yeah its pretty shocking that they leave the bodies on the mountain.
Only slightly. No one goes up there uninformed, and it would be terribly dangerous for others to go up there just for a recovery mission as opposed to some sort of rescue of a live person.

[CosmicCowboy]

It's not like they can just fly a helicopter up there and pick them up. Everybody knows the score. Climbing there is a dangerous bitch in the best of conditions. No sense wasting more lives trying to recover dead bodies.

[SpursNextRomanEmpire]

Only slightly. No one goes up there uninformed, and it would be terribly dangerous for others to go up there just for a recovery mission as opposed to some sort of rescue of a live person.

True, but there are all sorts of recovery missions by climbers to retrieve empty oxygen canisters from camp 3.

I think leaving the bodies is just sort of a tradition, adds to the mystique.

[baseline bum]

True, but there are all sorts of recovery missions by climbers to retrieve empty oxygen canisters from camp 3.

I think leaving the bodies is just sort of a tradition, adds to the mystique.

I never knew about that. Everest is notorious for the huge amount of litter. Then again, don't most climbers who die have it happen above camp 4? e.g., the death zone, where no known being (other than possibly microbes) can live for more that a few hours? Above camp 4 you're just fighting like hell not to die yourself.

[baseline bum]

It's not like they can just fly a helicopter up there and pick them up. Everybody knows the score. Climbing there is a dangerous bitch in the best of conditions. No sense wasting more lives trying to recover dead bodies.

I think even getting a helicopter up to base camp around 18,000 feet is somewhat dangerous.

[coyotes_geek]

True, but there are all sorts of recovery missions by climbers to retrieve empty oxygen canisters from camp 3.

I think leaving the bodies is just sort of a tradition, adds to the mystique.

Read some article on Everest litter a while back. Can't remember if it's a requirement or some kind of financial incentive, but the Nepalese govt is pushing expeditions to bring down discarded empties to try and clean up the mountain.

[David Bowie]

I was obsessed with Everest and its tragedies in high school after reading Into Thin Air.

[baseline bum]

I don't know that I'd call any of those death tragedies. Anyone who attempts to scale an 8500+ meter mountain knows there is a reasonable chance he never comes back from it, and that it's totally unrealistic to depend on anyone other than one's self in those conditions.

[CavsSuperFan]

So there is a hiker that has been left up there since 1924? Can’t they drag the bodies down in a ski patrol type basket or something?

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:7Xk0OTtCyZoqmM:http://blogs.gartner.com/carol_rozwell/files/2010/10/confused-dog.jpg

[baseline bum]

So there is a hiker that has been left up there since 1924? Can’t they drag the bodies down in a ski patrol type basket or something?

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:7Xk0OTtCyZoqmM:http://blogs.gartner.com/carol_rozwell/files/2010/10/confused-dog.jpg

Who are "they"? People that are fighting for their lives just to get down to high camp? That's basically everyone who gets that high.

[baseline bum]

Walking itself is incredibly tiring at that altitude. Now you mix in a descent where your legs are pumping battery acid from the climb up, your knees are dead having to stabilize you on the steep hike down, not to mention the times when you have to rope up and rappel down a section that isn't hikeable. You're barely getting enough air from your oxygen tank to survive. Now you're going to drag a 200 pound hunk of meat too? You're going to move that thing every time it gets stuck on a rock? You're going to have something that big above you that could slide down and wipe you out at any time? You're going to carry that body down every step you cut in the ice on the way up? No chance; you'd die. No person in the world has the energy to do that.

[baseline bum]

I forgot to mention that you're also basically drunk at the time; the altitude has incredibly negative effects on your awareness and decision-making.

[ChuckD]

So there is a hiker that has been left up there since 1924? Can’t they drag the bodies down in a ski patrol type basket or something?

http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:7Xk0OTtCyZoqmM:http://blogs.gartner.com/carol_rozwell/files/2010/10/confused-dog.jpg

A group of people, just trying to summit through the death zone, BECOME those bodies. Do you really think anyone in their right minds would risk their own death to risk higher levels of exertion at that altitude to bring back bodies of those who knew the risks? The Death Zone is called that for reasons visible in this thread. Dead is dead, and if you don't want your body mummifying on Everest, don't attempt it.

[ChuckD]

I forgot to mention that you're also basically drunk at the time; the altitude has incredibly negative effects on your awareness and decision-making.

Yeah, half of those people were probably physically fine, but they were so altitude sick that they take of their masks, and either slowly suffocate or hallucinate and walk off a cliff.

[CavsSuperFan]

I am wondering why they, “the various countries where these hikers are from” can’t have a helicopter drop off some stuff to wrap up the remains of the hikers & then roll it down the hill….Its not like the guy who has been up there since 1924 will complain about the rough ride down…

[baseline bum]

I am wondering why they, “the various countries where these hikers are from” can’t have a helicopter drop off some stuff to wrap up the remains of the hikers & then roll it down the hill….Its not like the guy who has been up there since 1924 will complain about the rough ride down…

Now that's just trolling. :lol

[Slomo]

Helicopters don't fly that high.

[ChuckD]

I am wondering why they, “the various countries where these hikers are from” can’t have a helicopter drop off some stuff to wrap up the remains of the hikers & then roll it down the hill….Its not like the guy who has been up there since 1924 will complain about the rough ride down…

As someone pointed out in this thread, helicopters don't function well at altitude. You'd be risking more lives for the already dead.

[baseline bum]

Helicopters don't fly that high.

Maybe they could use Harriers.

[ChuckD]

Maybe they could use Harriers.

For what? To BLOW the bodies off the mountain?

[coyotes_geek]

All you need are two climbers. The first guy lifts the second one off his feet, then the second guy lifts him, and eventually they're at the top of mount everest.

[balli]

I'm sure people who die on Everest are probably okay with their remains staying there; as opposed to being shipped back to a crowded graveyard in Kentucky or some such awful place.

[SpursNextRomanEmpire]

Yeah I'm pretty sure its a cash incentive for the bottles that climbers bring down...

And I forgot that there was a camp 4, thats where most of them (canisters) are, near the south col.

[greyforest]

I am wondering why they, “the various countries where these hikers are from” can’t have a helicopter drop off some stuff to wrap up the remains of the hikers & then roll it down the hill….Its not like the guy who has been up there since 1924 will complain about the rough ride down…

why not just ride the corpses down like a sled, like on the simpsons?

[MaNuMaNiAc]

They leave the dead bodies there because it is practically impossible to carry a dead body down, specially considering that body is probably frozen solid.

There is no point, other than sentimentalism and that isn't worth risking more lives over.

If they didn't bring Mallory down when they found him back in 99, they sure as hell ain't bringing down the others.

by the way,

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_J9ifBwxryUw/TLCNFgniadI/AAAAAAAAEPk/AP-iejSQhHA/s1600/everest4wr.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_J9ifBwxryUw/TLCNMSEfCnI/AAAAAAAAERI/ttfk9bqMqDM/s1600/tumblr_ksku6bNvBH1qz88eno1_500.jpg

these are Scott Fischer's remains. Those that read into thin air might remember his name being mentioned. One of the guides of that expedition.

[jeebus]

They leave the dead bodies there because it is practically impossible to carry a dead body down, specially considering that body is probably frozen solid.

There is no point, other than sentimentalism and that isn't worth risking more lives over.

If they didn't bring Mallory down when they found him back in 99, they sure as hell ain't bringing down the others.

Plus you gotta remember the air is so thin up there, it's a struggle in of itself just to move around, let alone carry a huge icicle down. And it's fairly obvious no one will screw around with the remains - it's not Somalia.

[CavsSuperFan]

They can drag down a frozen woolly mammoth but they can not drag down a hiker who has not eaten since 1924?

[BlairForceDejuan]

That's what happens when you try to take on Medusa.

[The Gemini Method]

I'm not sure that there isn't attempts to remove bodies from Everest. They've removed a few in May 2010 or so it says on some news releases. I guess, though, it all depends on where you end up 'situ'.

[baseline bum]

I'm not sure that there isn't attempts to remove bodies from Everest. They've removed a few in May 2010 or so it says on some news releases. I guess, though, it all depends on where you end up 'situ'.

Were they removed from above the death zone? That would be shocking to me, though I have heard a lot of (most?) the bodies below either the 2nd or 3rd camp are usually recovered. Even then, I can't imagine carrying a body across the enormous crevasses of the ice falls.

[The Gemini Method]

Were they removed from above the death zone? That would be shocking to me, though I have heard a lot of (most?) the bodies below either the 2nd or 3rd camp are usually recovered. Even then, I can't imagine carrying a body across the enormous crevasses of the ice falls.

This is true...can't find any info on where it was he died...

[Marklar MM]

A lot of the time, the families of those who died want their bodies to stay were they fell.

[coyotes_geek]

A lot of the time, the families of those who died want their bodies to stay were they fell.

I'm sure the extensive cost of funding an expedition to hire someone to go retrieve their loved one has something to do with that.

[baseline bum]

I'm sure the extensive cost of funding an expedition to hire someone to go retrieve their loved one has something to do with that.

Yeah, a typical Everest trip is enormously expensive. Not only do you pay through the nose for the permit from Nepal (I think you need one for anything beyond Everest base camp), but you have to hire porters to carry 1.5+ months of supplies to base camp and then do the ~8-10 day hike to get there. Then you stay in base camp two weeks to acclimate and to setup your next camp and take supplies to it in dayhikes, returning to sleep at base camp. Then do the same from camp 2 to camp 3 (though maybe a day or two acclimation / waiting out storms) and then the same from camp 3 to 4. Then after you return to base camp, another 8-10 days to hike back to civilization.

[CavsSuperFan]

Busy Weekend at Everest...3 dead 2 missing...

http://news.yahoo.com/3-dead-2-missing-crowded-weekend-everest-125738337.html

[Cyrano]

How long before the Jackass crew go there and have Steve-o perform the "triple dog dare" from "A Christmas Story"?

[Heath Ledger]

Might as well be playing Russian roulette

[JudynTX]

they leave the dead bodies there because it is practically impossible to carry a dead body down, specially considering that body is probably frozen solid.

There is no point, other than sentimentalism and that isn't worth risking more lives over.

If they didn't bring mallory down when they found him back in 99, they sure as hell ain't bringing down the others.

By the way,

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j9ifbwxryuw/tlcnfgniadi/aaaaaaaaepk/ap-iejsqhha/s1600/everest4wr.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j9ifbwxryuw/tlcnmsefcni/aaaaaaaaeri/ttfk9bqmqdm/s1600/tumblr_ksku6bnvbh1qz88eno1_500.jpg

these are scott fischer's remains. Those that read into thin air might remember his name being mentioned. One of the guides of that expedition.

wtf

[baseline bum]

Might as well be playing Russian roulette

I think it's something like one death for every 20 successful summits now. And only 1 out of 3 who try are able to summit. I think most people who die do it on the descent, so the death rate is probably something like 1 out of every 60 climbers.

[Venti Quattro]

Can you imagine the feeling of climbing up there and then passing through those frozen skeleton? Yikes.

[jeebus]

UFr1KdY6aiw

Video of some 90s fellers finding a scro lost since the 20s.

[baseline bum]

God, this is what it looked like last weekend.

http://media.outsideonline.com/images/Everest_line.jpg

That's great; a line of maybe a hundred people in the Death Zone in the fucking day when storms can happen in a second. I hope those people are all descending.

[ChumpDumper]

Holy shit, how could anyone not think people were going to die that day?
http://media.outsideonline.com/images/Everest_line.jpg
This way to the Darwin Awards ceremony. Step right up!

[CubanMustGo]

Everyone is too busy making money off the idiots who want to mark an Everest summit off their bucket list to worry about anything so dull as safety.

[CavsSuperFan]

Friend of mine who does a lot of hiking & mountain bike riding says that on the way down it is like one of those bike races where people crash into each other & nobody even looks back to see if they can help someone who has fallen & is injured…