Nepal — Even for the most experienced climber, Everest can be humbling.
In recent years, Ryan Mitchell has been making quality YouTube videos detailing his climbing expeditions. His initial climb was going with a sherpa up to the summit of Mt. Everest. However, he acknowledged the sherpa’s role in getting him up and decided to focus on improving his physical stamina further. Since then, the experienced climber has summited major peaks like Mt. Rainier and Ama Dablam.
He had an ambitious goal for 2026: to summit K2 and Mt. Everest without supplemental oxygen. Unfortunately, both attempts were foiled due to various factors. During the Everest expedition, he had to be airlifted due to him suffering from HAPE (High Altitude Pulmonary Edema).
He detailed the near-death experience on his YouTube channel earlier this week, which dives into how it happened, what it was like to be sick near Everest, and why he didn’t return to Base Camp.
What Went Wrong
Mitchell and his friend ended up spending weeks at high elevations to prepare for the climb up Everest. However, their summit attempt kept getting delayed. This was because the Everest route had yet to open, as it required a serac to collapse. Ryan and his buddy decided to fly down to Kathmandu to wait it out. There’s a possibility he ate some bad food while he was down there. They then flew back up to Gorak Shep, which is a tough altitude adjustment even for the most tenured climbers. After climbing to the Base Camp, he began experiencing weird symptoms, such as heavy coughing, vomiting, diarrhea, the inability to drink water, and shitting himself (his words, not mine).
After a few days of declining health at Everest Base Camp, he received medical attention and was airlifted to a nearby hospital. Due to the risks of returning to these extremely high elevations, he decided to cancel the trip.
While he’ll have to wait at least another year to summit Everest again, he’ll come back wiser and likely in even better shape.
Image/Video Credits: Ryan Mitchell
