Mt. Everest 2019 climbing season - death toll reached 10 so far!!

Over crowded Mt. Everest. news.com.au

Every year hundreds of climbers from different countries  come to Nepal  during the spring climbing season to scale Mount Everest and other Himalayan peaks. This year, like earlier years, saw prospective climbers in large number all anxious to achieve their life-long goal and get their name on the list of Everest summitters.  The feat of Nepalese Sherpa climber Kami Rita, who broke his own record in quick succession became a topic of serious discussion among the armature and professional mountaineers. Kami Rita stood atop Mt. Everest for record 24th time and this happened  in about a week after breaking his record for the most successful ascents of the world's highest peak. No body expected that the Sherpa would break his own world record in quick succession. Also widely discussed was the  recent death toll on Everest and the availability of short weather windows this year  at high altitude essential for successful ascent.

Long wait for many teams on May 22,2019 to reach the summit,[AFP]aljazeera.com

New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay  in 1953 were the first to stand on the tallest oxygen-starved peak in the world. The  snow trail leading to the summit  set by these pioneers is still  most popular one  and since their great adventure, nearly 5,000 climbers have scaled the peak. 

That this climbing season the Mt. Everest  death toll reached 10 is a sad news.  British climber  Robin Haynes Fisher, 44  was the last one to die recently died at 8,700 metres after returning from the summit on Mount Everest. He suddenly collapsed after descending 150 metres below the summit. This tragedy occurred in a jiff.   Earlier 56-year-old Irishman Kevin Hynes died in his tent at 7,000 metres after turning back before reaching the summit. On the same day, Nepalese guide Dhurba Bista, 33, also died at the base camp after being airlifted from a higher camp following illness,

During the descent from the summit  tragedy struck earlier  week  that resulted in the death of three Indians - two women and one man. The list goes on and includes climbers from the US and Austria.The main reason is over crowing and the teams had to wait for long hours at higher altitude. This means the climbers have to take care of frost bite and altitude sickness. There were only short weather windows and everyone was trying to climb  as quickly as possible before the weather would turn hostile. Obviously, the safest snow trail is clogged with countless teams waiting for their turn to make it to  the top when the weather window is in favor of safe ascent and descent.  Yet another bad effect of over crowding on the tallest peak  is many intemperate  climbers become edgy  and use foul language against the guides- Sherpas who do all the ground work for them and for their safety.  Last year, the death toll  on Everest was just 5 climbers.

 https://www.news.com.au/travel/anger-boils-over-in-the-highest-traffic-jam-in-the-world/news-story/341f725b81e4fe3f4ac4727a5b
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/mount-everest-death-toll-reaches-10-climbing-season-190525105901439.html