The Story Behind another Deadly Year

[questionmark]

This year was the deadliest on Mount Everest since 12 climbers died on the mountain in 1996. But storms and avalanches were not the culprit. Instead, congestion in the Death Zone combined with inexperience resulted in a half-dozen deaths in just one May weekend.

By Lukas Eberle

He takes off his oxygen mask and takes a couple of careful breaths. His throat quickly begins to constrict. The air is so thin that Aydin Irmak, 46, feels as if he were suffocating. He quickly puts the mask back on. Then he looks around. Is this the place, he wonders? Irmak is walking across a slightly sloping area of ice, under a deep blue sky. He sees a small glass case with a Buddha statue inside. Yes, this is the place. Irmak is standing on the summit of Mount Everest.

The date is May 19, 2012, the temperature is minus 37 degrees Celsius (minus 34.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and the wind is icy. The highest point on earth, at 8,848 meters (29,029 feet), is a godforsaken place. Irmak is the last of 176 climbers to have reached the summit on this day. The others are already making their descent. When he encountered a group on his way up, one climber shouted to him: "Turn around!" But he kept on walking.

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Edited October 6, 2012 by questionmark

[Ashotep]

Minus 34, don't think I would want to go there even if I could pay the $10,000 for the permit. These climber need to know they are putting their lives in danger by doing this and if you die it was your decision to make the trip. I don't know why someone that is not a experienced climber would even attempt it.

[spud the mackem]

Why climb a mountain in freezing temperatures if you want to die ? why not just jump into a river or in front of a train.If you put yourself in harms way deliberately you deserve all you get.