Kathmandu, Nepal – Despite the known perils of entering Mount Everest’s notorious “death zone” above 8,000 meters (26,000 feet) and the hundreds of corpses that litter the route, climbers are flocking to the world’s highest peak in record numbers for the 2024 spring season.
Veteran climbers and industry insiders warn that overcrowding could likely make for another deadly year on the mountain. Though climbing numbers fluctuate yearly based on weather windows and permit distributions, 2024 is shaping up to be a peak season not seen in over a decade.
“It’s going to be a total lollapalooza up there,” said Kami Rita Sherpa, who summited Everest 28 times, more than any other individual. “With such crowding and inexperienced teams, it’s a recipe for disaster above the death zone altitudes. The bodies are just piling up.”
Nepal’s tourism ministry has issued a staggering 408 climbing permits for Everest so far this season, after halting approvals in late April due to logistical concerns over managing such an onslaught of climbers. Just 10 years ago, only 281 permits were issued for the entire spring season on the Nepal side.
Multiple factors are driving the surge in demand, chief among them the postponement of many expeditions during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is also a new wave of aspiring Indian climbers with growing wealth and interest in conquering the final frontier of mountaineering achievement.
However, with such a narrow weather window from late April through May for summit bids, bottlenecks and jostling for position in the death zone are all but inevitable given the limited camps, routes, and oxygen supplies. Over 300 bodies have accumulated along the camps and routes from Everest over the decades, a haunting backdrop.
“Having that many climbers simultaneously pushing through the death zone where your body is dying from oxygen deprivation is just extremely dangerous,” said Peter Athans, a seven-time Everest summiter and author of several books chronicling the mountain’s greatest tragedies. “Any sort of delay or traffic jams and you’re looking at certain death for slower climbers.”
Climbers can only spend a limited number of hours in the death zone, named for the inability of humans to survive for more than a couple of days at such extreme altitudes. Delays of just hours can deplete oxygen supplies and make the difference between life and death.
The deadliest day on Everest was in 2019 when a surprisingly clear weather window saw several teams rushing from various camps, only to get bottlenecked with hundreds of other climbers all attempting to summit together. At least 11 climbers died that day from delays of over 12 hours trying to reach the peak and descend under dwindling oxygen.
To try and mitigate such logjams, both Nepal and Chinese expedition organizers have considered implementing temporary strict permit approvals to space out climbing groups. But with the stakes so high for climbers often investing $50,000 or more on a single attempt, there is fierce resistance to any system that could deny or delay hard-fought summit bids for a given weather window.
Veteran guides warn that the overcrowding situation on Everest has spiraled out of control in recent years as less experienced foreign climbers and locally organized budget expeditions have flooded the mountain. But the allure of standing atop the highest point on Earth and the potential for social media celebrity continues to outweigh risk assessments.
“As long as there’s money to be made, they’ll keep selling permits,” said Athans. “That’s the sad truth about modern Everest. The more climbers, the more bodies get left behind.”
