Mount Everest: 11 Climbers Dead in 16 Days (What Happens to the Bodies?)

Jonathan Westaway

Politics, Asia

Not an easy question.

Climbing Mount Everest has long been a metaphor for extreme achievement – something that is both hard and hazardous. And, over the years, the bodies of those seasoned Sherpas who perished in accidents or climbers who succumbed to the cold and altitude have testified to just how dangerous it is to attempt to climb to the 8,848-metre summit.

But recent overcrowding has led to a spate of “blue sky” deaths on the mountain. Snaking queues of climbers above 8,000 metres in the oxygen-depleted death zone have been forcing people to spend dangerously long at altitude.

The adventure filmmaker Elia Saikaly described his recent experience on Everest, where at least 11 people died descending from the summit this season:

I cannot believe what I saw up there. Death. Carnage. Chaos. Lineups. Dead bodies on the route and in tents at Camp Four. People who I tried to turn back who ended up dying. People being dragged down. Walking over bodies. Everything you read in the sensational headlines all played out on our summit night.

What, if anything, can be done to ensure that these and past human remains on Everest are treated with dignity and respect – in ways that reflect the wishes of the deceased and their families? And how can we prevent a new wave of deaths during the next summit season?