Climate change is having a significant impact on Mount Everest. Melting glaciers and ice are uncovering bodies of climbers lost on the mountain over the years. This is due to thinning snowpack and ice, which were previously burying these unfortunate climbers.
The melting ice on Mount Everest is revealing a grim sight: the bodies of climbers who perished while attempting to reach the summit. As climate change thins the snow and ice, these bodies, once hidden, are now becoming visible.
This year, a brave team climbed the mountain not to reach the top, but to bring down the remains of those who didn’t make it. They recovered five bodies, including one that was just skeletal remains. This effort is part of Nepal’s campaign to clean up Everest and nearby peaks Lhotse and Nuptse.
The task is incredibly difficult and dangerous. Rescuers spent hours chipping away the ice with axes, sometimes using boiling water to free the bodies. Aditya Karki, a major in Nepal’s army who led the team, explained that global warming is making the bodies and trash more visible as the snow cover thins.
More than 300 people have died on Everest since the 1920s, with eight deaths this season alone. Some bodies remain hidden by snow or deep crevasses, while others, still in their colorful climbing gear, have become landmarks on the route to the summit.
Seeing dead bodies on the way up can have a negative psychological effect on climbers. Many of these bodies are in the “death zone,” where thin air and low oxygen levels make it very dangerous. Rescue missions to retrieve bodies are risky and costly, requiring up to eight rescuers for each body.
One body took 11 hours to free, using hot water and axes to loosen it from the ice. Tshiring Jangbu Sherpa, who led the retrieval expedition, said it was extremely difficult to both free and transport the bodies down the mountain.
The retrieval of corpses is controversial due to the high costs and risks involved. However, Karki believes it is necessary to prevent the mountains from turning into graveyards. Bodies are often wrapped and dragged down on sleds, a process that is physically demanding at high altitudes.
Mount Death Bodies
Two of the retrieved bodies have been preliminarily identified, with further tests pending for final confirmation. The unidentified bodies are in Kathmandu and may be cremated eventually.
Despite these efforts, Mount Everest still holds many secrets, including the body of George Mallory, found in 1999, and his climbing partner Andrew Irvine, who remains missing along with their camera, which could hold historic evidence.
The clean-up campaign, with a budget of over $600,000, also involves bringing down about 12 tons of garbage, including tents, climbing equipment, gas canisters, and even human waste. Sherpa emphasized the need to give back to the mountains by cleaning them up.
Today’s expeditions are encouraged to remove their waste, but historic trash remains. Karki questioned who would take responsibility for removing the old waste left on the mountain.
