What is Mount Everest's 'death zone'? Bodies retrieved from mountains amid risky operation

Five bodies, including one skeleton, have finally been recovered from Mount Everest ’s so-called ‘death zone’ after the Nepali army deployed a dozen military personnel and 18 sherpas to clean up the high Himalayas .

Authorities started the operation in 2019 and, this year, they set a goal to recover five bodies from the ‘death zone’, which is at an altitude of 8,000 metres (26,247 feet).

The clean-up team recovered the human remains while surviving on water, chocolate, and sattu, a concoction of wheat, barley, and chickpea flour.

After a 54-day operation that concluded on June 5, one skeleton and eleven tonnes of trash were retrieved at lower altitudes.

The team did not want to disturb other mountaineers, so after finding the bodies, they worked largely after nightfall.

There is just one ladder and ropeway in the Everest region, which also includes Lhotse and Nuptse, for climbers to use to ascend and descend from base camp.

“It was very tough to bring back the bodies from the death zone,” Tshiring Jangbu Sherpa, who is part of the operation, told the BBC, adding: “I vomited sour water many times. Others kept coughing and others got headaches because we spent hours and hours at very high altitude.”

Even powerful sherpas are limited to carrying 25 kg (55 pounds) at 8,000 metres, which is less than thirty percent of their maximum weight at lower elevations.

The bodies of the climbers were discovered exactly where they had died. Transportation was made more difficult by the fact that their limbs could not be moved due to their frozen state.According to Nepalese law, bodies must be returned to the authorities in the best possible condition; any harm could incur fines.

The skeleton and the four bodies are being held at a hospital in Kathmandu.Identification documents belonging to American mountaineer Roland Yearwood, who passed away in 2017, and Czech climber Milan Sedlacek have been discovered by the army. The relevant embassies will be in contact with the Nepali government.The other two bodies are still being identified.

Regardless of whether the dead belong to a foreigner or a Nepali citizen, authorities said they would bury the remains if no one came to claim them three months after they had been identified.

What is it and why do they call it the ‘death zone’?

It is the deadliest part of the mountain.

The term death zone in climbing refers to elevations over a specific point where there is not enough oxygen pressure to support human life for a lengthy period of time.

The perils of the death zone have resulted in numerous victims in high-altitude mountaineering, either directly from the loss of vital functions or indirectly from bad decisions made under duress (for example, failing to turn back in deteriorating conditions or misjudging the climbing route), or from physical weakening that causes accidents (for example, falls).

How long can you survive in the death zone, Everest?

It is recommended that people avoid spending more than 16 to 20 hours in the death zone. For most people, 48 hours is the absolute threshold. This is in the presence of more oxygen.

Climbers can only reach elevations of 8,000 metres for approximately 15 days out of the year because winds slow down during these wind cycle transitions. The wind speed frequently reaches 100 km/h in the death zone.

About 21 hours without oxygen (by Babu Chiri Sherpa on Everest) and 90 hours with oxygen (by Pemba Gyalje on K2) is the record for the amount of time spent in the death zone. Both of these record holders are Sherpas, who have evolved a genetic resistance to living at high elevations.

How many people have died on Mount Everest?

Since the beginning of mountain climbing records in the Everest region a century ago, there have been over 300 deaths in the area , and many of these bodies are still there.

According to Nepal 's tourism department, the death toll has continued to rise: eight people have died so far this year, and 18 people perished in 2023.

The cost of recovering the remains of family members who perished in the mountains is beyond the reach of many. Most private companies say it is too risky to assist in removing bodies from the death zone, even if they have the financial means.This year, the military has set out five million rupees (£46,000) for the recovery of each body. To descend a body from 8,000 metres, twelve people are required, each of whom needs four oxygen cylinders. Since each cylinder costs more than $400 (£309), the cost of oxygen alone comes up to $20,000 (£15,460).

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