Everest toll climbs to 8 in 2024: Why are so many people dying?

Yet another person has died climbing Mount Everest this year.

An Indian climber attempting to scale the world’s highest mountain died at a hospital on Tuesday.

Banshi Lal, 46, was rescued from Everest last week.

He was admitted to hospital for treatment, but passed away.

“He died at the hospital yesterday," Rakesh Gurung of the tourism department told AFP.

In all, eight people have died trying to climb Everest this year including a British climber and guide presumed dead.

Last year, 18 people died attempting to climb the mountain — the highest toll ever.

But why are so many people dying on Everest? Is overcrowding to blame?

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Let’s take a closer look:

A brief look

First, let’s take a brief look at Everest.

Everest stands at a height of 8,849 metres above sea-level.

This year marks the 71st anniversary of Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary first scaling its peak.

Everest has since been scaled thousands of times – over 6,600 successful attempts have been made till December 2023.

Every year hundreds of people try to scale the mountain.

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As per The Conversation, climbers spent years trying to hone their bodies to meet the challenge.

They do this by training manically, sleeping in altitude tents and in chambers that mimic low-oxygen environments.

They also climb other peaks over 6,000 metres.

Brutal conditions

However, those who have climbed Everest say nothing prepares you for how difficult it is.

This is due to the conditions being downright brutal.

As per CNN, the sky is filled with thick, murky clouds.

The wind is freezing with snow being hurled across the mountain at 160 kilometres per hour.

The temperature is at -1 degree Celsius.

Not to mention the life-threatening snowstorms and avalanches.

Trauma surgeon Dr Jacob Weasel told CNN he climbed Everest in May after a year of training.

“I would put on a 50-pound backpack and do two hours on a stair stepper with no problem,” Weasel told CNN. “So, I thought that I was in pretty good shape.”

But the surgeon said he had no idea what he was in for.

“I would take five steps and have to take 30 seconds to a minute to catch my breath,” Weasel added.

Which is why climbers aiming for the summit usually head to the base camp first and spend a few days there – twice.

“If you took somebody and just plopped them up at the high camp on Everest, not even on the (top), they would probably go into a coma within 10 to 15 minutes,” Weasel said.

“And they would be dead within an hour because their body is not adjusted to that low of oxygen levels.”

“Because no matter how well you are trained, once you get to the limits of what the human body can take, it’s just difficult,” he continued.

As per The Conversation, oxygen availability at the base camp is about half of that at sea level.

At the summit, this is under 30 per cent.

Mountain of death

According to ABC, at least 322 people have died on Mount Everest.

The outlet cited data from The Himalayan Database, which goes all the way back to 1922.

That works out to around 4.4 deaths per year.

However, since the the turn of the century, the average death rate on Everest has risen to 6.4

Most people are killed in avalanches and falls.

Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS), exhaustion, non-AMS illnesses, and exposure to the elements also frequently kill climbers.

Climbers are also at risk of  high-altitude pulmonary oedema and high-altitude cerebral oedema, as per The Conversation.

The former is a result of accumulation of fluid in the lungs. This can result in excessive breathlessness and a dry cough that produces a foamy, pink sputum.

The latter is a result of excess fluid in the brain.

This results in  severe headache, confusion, dizziness, loss of balance, and ultimately coma or death.

“Your brain is starved of oxygen,” Weasel told CNN. “I had auditory hallucinations where I was hearing voices [of friends] that I thought were coming from behind me. And I had visual hallucinations. I was seeing the faces of my children and my wife coming out of the rocks.”

What about overcrowding?

The year 2023 was the worst ever when it comes to deaths on Everest.

Eighteen people died trying to climb the mountain.

Yuba Raj Khatiwada, the director of Nepal’s tourism department told The Guardian climate change played a big part in this.

“The main cause is the changing in the weather. This season the weather conditions were not favourable, it was very variable. Climate change is having a big impact in the mountains,” Khatiwada said.

The Nepal government, which issued a record high 479 permits last year, took a lot of flak.

According to The Guardian, the permits, which cost Rs 12 lakh each, are a huge source of income for the nation.

But Khatiwada denied overcrowding was to blame.

He told the newspaper the number was higher this year because the window for climbing opened earlier and the season was longer than usual.

But Ang Norbu Sherpa, the president of the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association, insisted that “too many” permits were being issued.

“The climbing has pattern has changed, it used to be hardened climbers but now it is a lot of novice climbers who want to get to the summit of Everest,” said Sherpa.

Speaking to ABC, professional mountain guide Allan Cohrs warned that Everest is no place for novices.

“I do not agree with taking on a climb like Mt Everest without any prior experience, as this is dangerous for not only the individual climber, but also the Sherpa and Western guides, and other climbers,” he said.

“It is seriously challenging, takes great commitment, but it is no place for the faint-hearted or inexperienced.”

“I believe that people should climb for the love of climbing, and Mount Everest should not be a bucket-list pursuit,” he added.

Alan Arnette, a mountaineer who climbed Everest in 2011, agreed,

“The root cause of the high number of deaths lies with inexperienced clients who push themselves too hard and do not turn back soon enough,” Arnette told The Guardian.

“Many guide companies have no experience requirements and accept anyone, telling them ‘We will teach you everything you need to know.’ But when the client gets in trouble, they can be abandoned to save the lives of the support staff. We saw several clients abandoned this season, left alone on the upper mountain, with some still missing today.”

With inputs from agencies