2 Indians die on Everest after summiting; 3rd critical at South Col | India News
Two Indian climbers – Hyderabad-based tech professional Arun Kumar Tiwari and Sandeep Aray, 46 – died during the descent. Mount Everest After reaching the summit, while a third Indian was critical at about 7,900 meters at South Col or Camp IV, Sherpa rescuers were trying to stabilize the man before transporting him to Camp II for possible helicopter evacuation, expedition officials said on Friday.Nivesh Karki, executive director and co-founder of Pioneer Adventures, the expedition company that handled the dead climbers, said, “They fell ill during the descent. We are working out how to recover the bodies.”Sandeep summited on Wednesday, when 274 climbers reached the summit of Everest in one day from the Nepalese side — a record — after delayed route fixing and a narrow weather window compressed summit attempts. On the way down, he experienced snow blindness and severe fatigue near the balcony area, prompting five Sherpa rescuers to make an overnight lift through the very high-altitude terrain. He was brought to the second camp, where he died on Thursday.Tiwari reached the summit around 5.30 pm on Thursday but fell seriously ill near the Hillary Step, one of the most exposed sections below the summit in the “death zone”. Four Sherpa guides tried to stabilize him and helped him down, but he could not be revived, officials said.On LinkedIn, Tiwari wrote from Everest Base Camp that he was “waiting for Mount Everest to “allow me to summit” and wanted “fair air, clear skies, benevolent mountain gods and good luck”. Soon after he joined ServiceNow, he traced his mountaineering journey, writing the previous track and the previous track in May 2015. It “cruelly tested” his limits but strengthened him.In another LinkedIn post from a previous Everest attempt, Tiwari said he turned back after his team raised concerns about his pace, recovery and condition outside Camp III. “Therefore, I chose life rather than being stuck in high camp due to snow blindness or lack of oxygen cylinders,” he wrote, adding that crossing 7,200 meters in these conditions could increase the risk of “exhaustion, snow blindness, avalanche” and loss of life.Tiwari’s profile notes that he climbed Denali, Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro and Elbrus as part of a planned Seven Summits expedition before climbing Everest. Arr’s hometown and detailed profile were not officially released until late Friday, with expedition teams following standard protocol of notifying families and withholding personal details until documentation is complete.Pioneer Adventures also confirmed that a third Indian climber has fallen seriously ill on the South Col, the windswept saddle between Everest and Lotus from where the highest summit bid is launched towards Nepal. At that altitude, rescue teams usually try to move a climber to a lower camp before attempting to evacuate because helicopters operate more safely at lower altitudes. Ground teams and high-altitude Sherpas were trying to move the climber to Camp II, from where an airlift could be planned if weather and medical conditions permitted. The climber’s identity was withheld under rescue and family-notification protocols.The deaths occurred during a season defined by traffic congestion on the Nepalese side With the northern route through Tibet closed to regular commercial operations, the southern route to Nepal bears the brunt of major international summits. Nepal issued 494 Everest permits this spring, mandatorily requiring the support of a Sherpa for each foreign climber, bringing the total number of people on the fixed-rope route during the peak window to nearly 1,000. A Sherpa guide who recently completed Everest and returned to Kathmandu TOI“This year was more crowded than last year because there were more clients.” “There is a need for authorities to control these numbers,” he added.The pressure has sharpened scrutiny of Everest’s changing expeditionary economy. Nepalese companies now sell entry-level Everest climbs for $30,000 to $45,000, undercutting some Western operators who charge $50,000 to $100,000, while premium packages can cost up to $300,000. The move has shifted more business directly to Kathmandu, with clients from Mumbai, Delhi and Beijing no longer needing to book through London or New York, but mountaineering watchers say intense price competition could affect staffing, acclimatization assistance, rescue capabilities and safety systems.Ankit Babu Adhikari, Kathmandu-based Nepali writer and co-author of ‘Sherpa’, says TOI That Everest’s changing expeditionary economy brought both ownership and risk closer to Nepal. “There is competition to climb cheaply,” he said, adding that when companies compete mainly on price, safety systems, personnel and expedition standards can be the first casualties.Mountain MaladiesAt high altitudes, climbers are vulnerable snow blindness, A painful temporary loss of vision caused by intense UV exposure reflected from snow and ice Acute fatigue, frostbite, dehydration, hypothermia, high-altitude cerebral edema and high-altitude pulmonary edema. In the death zone above 8,000 meters, Low oxygen levels can also impair judgment, balance and coordination.Dangerous peaksThe dangers of progeny have been documented for years. A study of deaths on Everest from 1921 to 2006, previously published in BMJ, the British Medical Journal, found that of 94 climbers who died after climbing above 8,000 meters, 53, or 56%, died during the descent from the summit and 16, or 17%, died during the return, while nine%, or 10%, died later. The study also found that fatigue, cognitive changes and loss of coordination were common among those who died, a pattern often seen when climbers reach the summit after hours of effort but are then faced with cold, thin air, slow fixed-rope movement and the grueling descent through oxygen reserves.
