Two Everest climbers died high on the mountain during their summit bids yesterday.聽Over 50 other climbers summited successfully the same聽day.
Both climbers were being guided by Seven Summits Treks, whose cofounder 聽posted about the deaths on social media.聽, 41, of Switzerland, died聽near the 28,500-foot聽South Summit.聽鈥淢r. Abdul successfully reached the summit but began experiencing issues during his descent. We sent two additional Sherpas with oxygen and foods, unfortunately Sherpas couldn鈥檛 save him,鈥 wrote聽Dawa Sherpa. Although Dawa Sherpa attributed the death to general exhaustion, the exact聽cause is unclear. However, altitude sickness is a common cause of death on the mountain.聽Waraich had previously climbed six of the Seven Summits, and the聽Everest climb marked his seventh. He worked as a consultant for Swisscom in Zurich.
The second climber, Pakistani-American Puwei Liu, 55, reached the Hillary Step at 28,800 feet before suffering exhaustion and snow blindness, a condition in which a person loses much of their vision in the bright snow. Sherpas were able to guide him to the South Col at 26,300 feet, where he died. Liu had summited Nepal鈥檚 26,759-foot聽Manaslu in 2017 and China鈥檚 24,757-foot Muztagh Ata聽in 2016.
Seven Summits Treks intends to retrieve both corpses聽as conditions allow. It usually takes five to ten Sherpas to bring a body down from those altitudes. Since 2000, an average of almost four people have died each year on the Nepal side of the world鈥檚 highest peak. The weather was excellent on May 11 and 12, when over 100 climbers聽summited.
Nepal issued a record 408 climbing permits to foreigners for the spring 2021 season after being closed last year due to the pandemic. COVID has impacted multiple teams at Base Camp, with over 30 people evacuated to Kathmandu with symptoms.聽There have been no reported deaths related to the virus in the Everest climbing community.聽
Low winds and clear skies this week have allowed more than聽150 foreigners and Sherpas to summit safely. There were no summits today.聽Strong winds are expected to return to the mountain for the next ten days, stopping all progress.