12 Dead on Everest

[katietornado]

edition.cnn.com/2014/04/18/world/asia/nepal-everest-avalanche/index.html

Kathmandu, Nepal (CNN) -- A high-altitude avalanche Friday killed 12 Sherpa guides and seriously wounded three in the single deadliest accident on Mount Everest, officials said.

Four others are missing, said Madhu Sudan Burlakoti of Nepal's Tourism Ministry, adding that six people were injured in total.

A group of about 50 people, mostly Nepali Sherpas, were hit by the avalanche at more than 20,000 feet, said Tilak Ram Pandey of the ministry's mountaineering department.

The avalanche took place just above base camp in the Khumbu Ice Fall.

The climbers were accounted for, Pandey said. "Rescue teams have gone ... to look for the missing."
Locals celebrate first Everest ascent Locals celebrate first Everest ascent

Before Friday, the deadliest single-day toll was from an accident in May 1996, when eight climbers disappeared when a huge storm hit. Their tragic story was chronicled in Jon Krakauer's bestselling book "Into Thin Air."

Between May 15 and 30 is usually the best window for reaching the 29,028-foot peak.

Climbers and guides had been setting the ropes for the route, acclimating to the climate and preparing the camps along the route when the avalanche hit Friday, said Gordon Janow with Alpine Ascents International in Seattle.

Climbers arrive in April to acclimate to the altitude before heading toward the summit of the world's highest mountain.

Ethnic Sherpas acts as guides for the mostly foreign clients.

The spring climbing season is the busiest of the year.

About 334 foreign climbers have been given permission to climb Everest over the next couple of months, with an estimated 400 Sherpas helping them, mountaineering official Dipendra Poudel said.

Until the late 1970s, only a handful of climbers reached the top each year. The number topped 100 for the first time in 1993. By 2004, it was more than 300. In 2012, the number was more than 500.

The deadliest year on Everest was 1996, when 15 people died. Another 12 climbers were killed in 2006.

[josieposy]

This is so sad. Somehow I doubt it will deter many climbers.

[NewOrleans]

It will not deter people. They will view the avalanche as a freak accident unlikely to repeat itself. Notwithstanding that human error and indeed human presence are far more deadly on Everest. ( See the traffic jams at the Hilary Step.)

[jillboston]

Apr 18, 2014 7:05:48 GMT -5 tillie said:

So sad. I'm not a big "fan" of many of these people who attempt to climb Everest and just aren't prepared (and leave a ton of their trash there). The Sherpas save so many lives.

If it weren't necessary for the Sherpa's to make a living I'd say it is long past time for a moratorium on this climb.

[eddy]

For some reason this bothers me more because it was the sherpas who lost their life.

[NewOrleans]

I also blame the countries with access to Everest, quite frankly. They let everyone climb who can afford it in order to make money. In fact, Nepal just cut the cost in half to attract MORE people to climb.

[aurora]

Apr 18, 2014 9:41:37 GMT -5 eddy said:

For some reason this bothers me more because it was the sherpas who lost their life.

I completely agree.

I remember reading a while back that when Nepal tried to restrict climbing to make things safer for both Sherpas and climbers that people just started accessing it from the Tibetan side and the end result was economic damage to Nepal and especially the Sherpa climbing community.  Unfortunately I don't see an easy fix here.

[gretchenindisguise]

Apr 18, 2014 9:41:37 GMT -5 eddy said:

For some reason this bothers me more because it was the sherpas who lost their life.

Me too and I want to know the names of the sherpas to make sure it's none of the guys from the show Beyond Everest.

[ttt]

Apr 18, 2014 10:23:55 GMT -5 aurora said:

Apr 18, 2014 9:41:37 GMT -5 eddy said:

For some reason this bothers me more because it was the sherpas who lost their life.

I completely agree.

I remember reading a while back that when Nepal tried to restrict climbing to make things safer for both Sherpas and climbers that people just started accessing it from the Tibetan side and the end result was economic damage to Nepal and especially the Sherpa climbing community.  Unfortunately I don't see an easy fix here.

The problem is that Nepal allowed its local economy to become so dependent on climbing fees in the first place. 

[terpsfan]

Thanks to threads like this (I think we talked about the traffic jam on the Hilary step last year some time?) I get obsessed with Everest true stories and end up googling human popsicles on Everest..AHH NO MORE.

[readyin07]

Interested in learning more about the traffic jam and human Popsicles. Tell me more.

[NewOrleans]

Apr 18, 2014 19:08:58 GMT -5 readyin07 said:

Interested in learning more about the traffic jam and human Popsicles. Tell me more.

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