Body of fallen climber finally found in ‘death zone’

Tshiring Jangbu Sherpa could not forget the body he saw just meters from the summit of Lhotse in the Himalayas more than a decade ago.

In May 2012, the Nepali man acted as a guide for a German climber trying to climb the world’s fourth-highest mountain. ).

Mr. Sherpa was curious as to why the Czech climber died so close to the summit. A glove was missing from the frozen body.

“With bare hands, your hands may slip off the rope,” the guide said. “He may have died after losing his balance and hitting the rocks.”

The body remained where it had been – every climber who climbed Lhotse thereafter had to cross it.

Little did Mr. Sherpa, 46, know that 12 years later he would return to the Himalayas 12 years later as part of a team of 12 military personnel and 18 Sherpas deployed by the Nepali Army to retrieve the body of the climber.

More than 300 people have died in the Everest region since climbing records began a century ago, and many of the bodies are still there. The death toll continues to increase: Eight people have died so far this year; 18 in 2023, according to Nepal’s tourism department.

The government first launched a clean-up campaign in 2019, which included removing the bodies of some dead climbers. But this year marks the first time authorities have set targets, starting from the so-called “dead zone”, above 8,000m (26,247 feet) above sea level.

Eventually, the team, who subsisted on water, chocolate and Sattu, a mixture of chickpea, barley and wheat flour, recovered four bodies.

After a 54-day operation that ended on June 5, a skeleton and 11 tons of garbage were cleared with a low profile.

Major Aditya Karki, the leader of this year’s operation, told BBC Nepali: “Nepal has a bad reputation for heavily polluting the Himalayas with garbage and dead bodies.”

The event also aims to improve climber safety.

Major Kaki said many people were startled by the sight of the body – last year a climber was unable to move for half an hour after seeing a body on his way to Mount Everest.

Many people are unable to retrieve the bodies of their loved ones who died in the mountains of Nepal. Even if they have the financial means, most private companies refuse to help remove bodies from death zones because it is too dangerous.

The military allocated 5 million rupees ($37,400; £29,000) this year to recover each body. It takes 12 people to descend from a height of 8,000m, each requiring 4 bottles of oxygen. A cylinder costs more than $400, which means oxygen alone costs $20,000.

Climbers have only about 15 days each year to ascend and descend from 8,000 meters because wind speeds slow down during the transition between wind cycles. In the death zone, wind speeds often exceed 100 kilometers per hour.

After finding the body, the team mostly continued working after nightfall because they did not want to disturb other climbers. In the Everest region, which also consists of Lhotse and Nuptse, there is only one ladder and ropeway for people to climb up and down from the base camp.

“It’s very difficult to bring a body back from the death zone,” Mr. Sherpa said. “I vomited sour water a lot. Others were coughing and had headaches because we were at such a high altitude for several hours.

At an altitude of 8,000m, even a strong Sherpa can only carry a maximum of 25 kilograms (55 pounds), less than 30% of its carrying capacity at lower altitudes.

The body located near the top of Lhotse Peak, which is 8,516m above sea level, has changed color after being exposed to the sun and snow for 12 years. Mr Sherpa said the body was half buried in the snow.

The bodies of all four climbers were found in the same position in which they died. Their limbs are frozen and unable to move, making transport even more difficult.

Nepali law stipulates that all bodies must be in top condition before being returned to authorities – any damage could result in penalties.

The cleanup team arranged a system of ropes to gradually lower the body, as it was impossible to push the body from behind or pull it from the front. Sometimes bodies get trapped in the rocky, icy terrain, and pulling them out again is a difficult task.

Mr Sherpa said it took 24 hours non-stop to transport the body, believed to belong to the Czech climber, to the nearest camp, only about 3.5 kilometers away. The team then spent another 13 hours transporting the body to another lower camp.

The body’s next stop was a helicopter ride to Kathmandu, but bad weather kept the crew stranded in the town of Namqi for five days. They arrived safely in the capital on June 4.

The four bodies and skeletons are currently kept at a hospital in Kathmandu.

The military found identification documents on the bodies of two people – Czech mountaineer Milan Sedlacek and American mountaineer Ronald Yearwood, who died in 2017. The Government of Nepal will be in touch with the respective embassies.

Efforts to identify the other two bodies are ongoing.

Sherpa climbers and guides track the location and possible identity of missing climbers, so they provide some potential information on the bodies. They believe all the bodies belong to foreigners, but the government has not confirmed this.

About 100 Sherpas have died in the Himalayas since records began, so many families have been waiting for years to perform final Buddhist rites for their loved ones.

Authorities have said they will bury the body – regardless of whether it belongs to a foreigner or a Nepali – if no one claims it after three months of identification.

Mr. Sherpa first climbed the Himalayas when he was 20 years old.

“Mountain climbers are famous for climbing. The Himalayas have given us a lot of opportunities,” he said.

“Now is my time to give something back to the Himalayas by completing this special job of recovering the body.”