Mount Everest ‘death zone’ less deadly but more crowded, study finds
- The number of people tackling the world’s highest mountain has soared but the risk of dying has slightly lessened
- Eleven climbers died last year but fourfold rise in crowding had ‘no evident effect’
Between 2006 and 2019, around two thirds of climbers successfully reached the summit, compared to around a third in the preceding 15 years, according to the study by the University of Washington and the University of California, Davis.
The risk of dying on the mountain stood at 0.5 per cent for women and 1.1 per cent for men, down from 1.9 per cent and 1.7 per cent in 1990-2005, it said.
The increase in the number of summit attempts has led to a fourfold rise in crowding. In 2019, 955 people attempted to reach the summit, up from 222 in 2000. The study showed that on a single day in May 2019, 396 climbers had gathered at the narrow route below the summit – known as the “death zone”.
Eleven climbers died on Everest in May last year, making the season the deadliest since a 2015 earthquake that killed at least 18 people at the base camp. A photograph of climbers waiting their turn to go up and descend from the summit at the single-roped narrow route went viral, although officials say the crowds were not the main reason for those deaths.
“Surprisingly, crowding has no evident effect on success or death during summit bids,” the study’s abstract said. However, it still exposed climbers to more danger.
“If crowding slows climbers (as is expected), this increases their exposure to the elements, which should increase risk of an accident or illness,” said Raymond Huey, lead author of the report. “Moreover, one unexpected storm, earthquake, or avalanche could be disastrous on a crowded route,” he said.