angelburst29
The Living Force
Some confusion, if this initial "first report" is valid?
Mount Everest tragedy: 4 bodies found in tent at highest camp
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/05/24/4-bodies-found-inside-tent-at-highest-camp-on-everest.html
May 24, 2017 - The bodies were found by a team of Sherpa rescuers who were there to recover the body of a Slovak mountaineer who died over the weekend, Tourism Department official Hemanta Dhakal said.
The four climbers may have died from carbon monoxide poisoning after turning on stoves inside the tent without sufficient ventilation, Reuters reported, citing climber and blogger Alan Arnette.
Officials did not immediately reveal the identities of the dead climbers.
Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks, who was coordinating the recovery of the Slovak climber's body, said the Sherpa rescuers found the four bodies on Tuesday night.
The bodies were at Camp 4 at South Col, located at 26,247 feet, which is the last camp before climbers make their summit attempt. Any recovery attempt would require many Sherpas, who would have to bring the bodies down to Camp 2, from where they can be winched by helicopter.
Six climbers already have died this year trying to reach Everest's 29,035-foot summit. Adding to the dangers, a British climber claimed the rocky outcrop known as the "Hillary Step" near the summit had collapsed, though Nepali climbers later disputed that.
Indian climber Ravi Kumar, American doctor Roland Yearwood, Slovak climber Vladimir Strba and Australian Francesco Enrico Marchetti died over the weekend, and two climbers died earlier. The climbing season begins in March and runs through the end of May to take advantage of the best weather conditions in the harsh environment on Everest.
With 10 deaths, this season has exceeded what mountaineering officials say is a typical toll of six. Recent decades have brought improvements in climbing equipment, weather forecasting and reducing other dangers to climbers, keeping the death toll much lower than in the early decades on Everest.
The Nepalese Tourism Department issued a record 371 permits this year to people to scale the mountain. The increased number of climbers this year is likely because many people were unable to climb in 2014 and 2015, when deadly avalanches disrupted the climbing seasons.
Climbers who had permits for the 2014 season were allowed to receive a free replacement permit until 2019, while climbers with 2015 permits were given only until this year. The permits normally cost $11,000.
Everest 2017: South Col Dead Body Report was Wrong
http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2017/05/25/everest-2017-south-col-dead-body-report-wrong/
May 25, 2017 - I spoke live with both key sources last night.
Managing Director at Seven Summit Treks, Mingma Sherpa, who provided the the information to Himalayan Times reporter Rajan Pokhrel who wrote the story. Both now say it was a mistake and were no 4 new bodies.
I also confirmed with another Nepali operator Navin Trital plus long time Everest climber and guide, Willie Benegas of Benegas Brothers contacted me from the South Col and said no new bodies. He said he checked every tent.
Too Many Bodies?
The best explanation is that the Seven Summits Treks Sherpas somehow “confused” seeing one body and thinking it was four. Assuming good intentions here, perhaps an analogy with the “fog of war” is apt.
The six Sherpas were sent to the South Col to retrieve the body of Slovak climber Vladimir Strba who died between Balcony and South Col while climbing as independent with no Os. That retrieval was successful.
Seven Summits Treks was also involved in retrieving body of West Bengal climber Gautam Ghosh from the South Col.
Another body retrieval will soon start for Indian climber, Ravi Kumar, 27, who reportedly died from a fall near the Balcony after summiting. He became separated from his guide from Arun Treks.
First Report
The original article on finding four bodies at the South Col reported:
There were four deaths over this past weekend:
Good News
While all this has created worldwide headlines, I am grateful there are no new deaths to report in addition to the current six.
The other good news is that the mistaken report has generated a conversation about the experience of climbers and the qualification of guides. And that is a good subject to further explore.
Summits Continue
25 May was another good day on Everest’s Nepal side with over 40 new summits including the Benegas Brothers and International Mountain Guides. Both reported superb weather conditions.
On the Tibet side, several climbers seeking to summit without supplemental oxygen have moved to the higher camps. Heavy snow is now predicted for Saturday, so best if they can get up and down before then.
The bodies of four climbers turned up inside a tent at the highest camp on Mount Everest, raising the death toll this climbing season to 10 in the latest disaster at the world's highest mountain, officials announced Wednesday.
Mount Everest tragedy: 4 bodies found in tent at highest camp
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2017/05/24/4-bodies-found-inside-tent-at-highest-camp-on-everest.html
May 24, 2017 - The bodies were found by a team of Sherpa rescuers who were there to recover the body of a Slovak mountaineer who died over the weekend, Tourism Department official Hemanta Dhakal said.
The four climbers may have died from carbon monoxide poisoning after turning on stoves inside the tent without sufficient ventilation, Reuters reported, citing climber and blogger Alan Arnette.
Officials did not immediately reveal the identities of the dead climbers.
Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks, who was coordinating the recovery of the Slovak climber's body, said the Sherpa rescuers found the four bodies on Tuesday night.
The bodies were at Camp 4 at South Col, located at 26,247 feet, which is the last camp before climbers make their summit attempt. Any recovery attempt would require many Sherpas, who would have to bring the bodies down to Camp 2, from where they can be winched by helicopter.
Six climbers already have died this year trying to reach Everest's 29,035-foot summit. Adding to the dangers, a British climber claimed the rocky outcrop known as the "Hillary Step" near the summit had collapsed, though Nepali climbers later disputed that.
Indian climber Ravi Kumar, American doctor Roland Yearwood, Slovak climber Vladimir Strba and Australian Francesco Enrico Marchetti died over the weekend, and two climbers died earlier. The climbing season begins in March and runs through the end of May to take advantage of the best weather conditions in the harsh environment on Everest.
With 10 deaths, this season has exceeded what mountaineering officials say is a typical toll of six. Recent decades have brought improvements in climbing equipment, weather forecasting and reducing other dangers to climbers, keeping the death toll much lower than in the early decades on Everest.
The Nepalese Tourism Department issued a record 371 permits this year to people to scale the mountain. The increased number of climbers this year is likely because many people were unable to climb in 2014 and 2015, when deadly avalanches disrupted the climbing seasons.
Climbers who had permits for the 2014 season were allowed to receive a free replacement permit until 2019, while climbers with 2015 permits were given only until this year. The permits normally cost $11,000.
The same people that reported 4 bodies – 2 Sherpas, 1 foreign woman and 1 foreign male – were found at the South Col now say they got it all wrong.
Everest 2017: South Col Dead Body Report was Wrong
http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2017/05/25/everest-2017-south-col-dead-body-report-wrong/
May 25, 2017 - I spoke live with both key sources last night.
Managing Director at Seven Summit Treks, Mingma Sherpa, who provided the the information to Himalayan Times reporter Rajan Pokhrel who wrote the story. Both now say it was a mistake and were no 4 new bodies.
I also confirmed with another Nepali operator Navin Trital plus long time Everest climber and guide, Willie Benegas of Benegas Brothers contacted me from the South Col and said no new bodies. He said he checked every tent.
Too Many Bodies?
The best explanation is that the Seven Summits Treks Sherpas somehow “confused” seeing one body and thinking it was four. Assuming good intentions here, perhaps an analogy with the “fog of war” is apt.
The six Sherpas were sent to the South Col to retrieve the body of Slovak climber Vladimir Strba who died between Balcony and South Col while climbing as independent with no Os. That retrieval was successful.
Seven Summits Treks was also involved in retrieving body of West Bengal climber Gautam Ghosh from the South Col.
Another body retrieval will soon start for Indian climber, Ravi Kumar, 27, who reportedly died from a fall near the Balcony after summiting. He became separated from his guide from Arun Treks.
First Report
The original article on finding four bodies at the South Col reported:
At least four climbers including a woman mountaineer were found dead inside their tent at a high altitude camp on Mt Everest taking the death toll on the world’s highest mountain in the spring climbing season to at least nine in Nepal side, the base camp officials have confirmed.
Sherpa climbers from Seven Summit Treks who were there to recover the body of a Slovak mountaineer spotted four more dead bodies inside a tent, Managing Director at Seven Summit Treks Mingma Sherpa quoted the rescuers as saying over the phone from the incident site. Though the precise details of the incident are not available yet, the cause of death could be suffocation inside the tent, the rescuers reported.
Multiple sources at the base camp also confirmed that four persons belonging to a new trekking company have gone out of contact since Sunday after they were last seen near the Balcony area. “We are trying to verify all shreds of evidence before naming the victims,” a liaison officer at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation said.
There were four deaths over this past weekend:
•Vladimir Strba, 50 Slovakia, died between Balcony and South Col on south side, climbing as independent with no Os
•Francesco Enrico Marchetti, 54 Australia, at 8300m after summit from Tibet with Thamserku Treks and Expeditions
•Ravi Kumar, 27, from fall on Nepal side near Balcony after summit, separated from his guide from Arun Treks
•Roland Yearwood, 50 from USA Alabama climbing with SummitClimb
Good News
While all this has created worldwide headlines, I am grateful there are no new deaths to report in addition to the current six.
The other good news is that the mistaken report has generated a conversation about the experience of climbers and the qualification of guides. And that is a good subject to further explore.
Summits Continue
25 May was another good day on Everest’s Nepal side with over 40 new summits including the Benegas Brothers and International Mountain Guides. Both reported superb weather conditions.
On the Tibet side, several climbers seeking to summit without supplemental oxygen have moved to the higher camps. Heavy snow is now predicted for Saturday, so best if they can get up and down before then.