Wang Lama Humla, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
17 climbers have died on Mount Everest in 2023 alone. 17 Sherpas, climbers, and essentially tourists have passed away in incidents related to serac collapses, illness, and falls. At what point do we consider this unacceptable? Is summiting the highest peak really worth your life, let alone the life of those who pull you up there?
Everest is certainly becoming more and more of a controversial climb over the years, with images of garbage at the different camps, dead bodies, and climbers who’ve refuse to pay, let alone thank, the people who save their lives spreading across the internet. YouTuber Chase Mountains points out one of the less talked about aspect of climbing Everest, the literal cost of human life.
I’ll let him do the explaining, but, if three climbers died while setting the ropes on Mount Everest for these tourists, why shouldn’t we consider the death of those individuals a literal cost of climbing?
“Everest has slowly been losing respect in the climbing world since the 1980s but in 2023 in public opinion on Everest is plummeting – but most don’t know how deep the corruption, greed and selfishness goes… here’s an insight into the reality of the high altitude climbing scene in 2023.“
Just to throw out some statistics, 310 individuals have died on Everest to date. An estimated 600 people summited Everest this year, so for every 100 people who summited Everest, a little less than three people died. Of those estimated 600, around 250 were clients, and since seven Nepalese people have died on the mountain this year, every 100 clients to summit has lead to around three deaths of locals. I can’t imagine a world where that’s considered worth it.
Related: Climber Rescued After Falling Into Crevasse On Everest
Image Credit: Chase Mountains via YouTube