Climbing Everest is always a dangerous adventure, but at the end of what is one of the deadliest seasons, local pros blame extreme weather conditions, safety breaches, impatience and the inexperience of some foreign climbers.
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As high-mountain rescuers pack up their gear and the sea of camps at the foot of Everest recedes, Nepalese experts say some of the 17 deaths this year could have been avoided.
“This season was very poor overall,” said Mingma Gyalje Sherpa of the organization Imagine Nepal Trek and Expedition, “mainly due to the extremely cold weather… but there was also negligence.”
On average, five climbers die every year on the steep and frozen slopes of the world’s highest mountain, which is 8,849 meters high.
With twelve dead and five missing, one of the most catastrophic records will be set on Everest this year.
Ten of them were foreigners, the highest number ever recorded, and seven were Nepalese.
The mountaineering industry in the Himalayas is based on the experience of the Sherpas, an ethnic group of Nepalese mountaineers who pay a heavy price to accompany hundreds of mountaineers every year.
In 2014, 16 Nepalese leaders were swept away in a post-season avalanche.
In April 2015, another lava flow triggered by a powerful earthquake that killed a total of nearly 9,000 people in the country killed at least 18 climbers.
“minus 40°C”
According to the Ministry of Tourism, the Nepalese authorities have issued a record 478 climbing permits to foreign climbers and 600 climbers whose Nepalese guides reached the summit.
Some believe that foreigners are often ill-prepared for the great physical and psychological test of climbing Everest.
Others believe that the number of climbers on the mountain where traffic becomes too heavy should be reduced or stricter safety rules should be put in place.
And almost everyone agrees that the mountain has never known such cold temperatures at this time of year.
“It was supposed to be hot, around -28°C, but this year it was even -40°C,” says Mingma Gyalje Sherpa.
When climate change leads to extreme temperature swings, scientists recommend not jumping to conclusions about specific events without prior studies.
This season, the Mingma Gyalje Sherpa team, consisting of Dawa Tseri, Pemba Tenzing and Lakpa Rita Sherpa, was tasked with leading the way to the summit of Everest.
They didn’t come back. The trio were crossing the dangerous Khumbu Icefall to deliver supplies to Camp 1 when a block of ice broke off and buried them.
As the season progressed, deaths and missing persons piled up at altitude.
According to Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, many Nepalese guides and porters suffered from frostbite due to the freezing temperatures and high winds earlier in the season.
“It means that camp 4 was not sufficiently prepared and all the equipment failed (…), but before the impatience of the customers, the ascent began,” he explains.
“Some casualties could have been avoided if all the material had been sent out,” he said.
oxygen and safety
The rapid expansion of the mountaineering industry has created fierce competition among expedition organizations and raised concerns that some are neglecting safety standards.
The majority of the deaths could have been avoided “with binding safety standards”, agrees Lukas Furtenbach, head of the Austrian agency Furtenbach Adventures.
“These accidents all have a similar context,” he continues. In addition, the theft of oxygen cylinders “in several teams, including ours, shows one of the main problems of the season (…) oxygen logistics and safety standards,” he regrets.
Many foreigners eventually gave up the climb, despite the fact that the permit cost $11,000 more and the expedition at least $30,000 more.
“Confidence is shaken,” says Dawa Steven Sherpa of Asian Trekking, “when people get sick, others are rescued, bodies fall, even the most physically prepared climber is amazed.”
While accompanying a Chinese climber, Nepalese mountain guide Gelje Sherpa decided to give up the summit of Everest to save a distressed Malaysian who was found at more than 8,000 meters in the “death zone” where oxygen is becoming scarce.
“It’s been a tough year for the Sherpas mentally and physically,” adds Dawa Steven Sherpa, “some left, many were injured, those who stayed on the mountain were overworked.” Everyone was exhausted.”