# Stuff and Things > Sights and Sounds >  Ghosts Of Everest

## Albert Reincarnated

There is a community of the dead in the approaches to the summit of Mount Everest.  They are the mountain climbers who didn't make it.  The first member of the community was Edmund Mallory.  Check it out:

http://www.altereddimensions.net/pla...t-everest.aspx

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## Trinnity

<Creepy>

From the cited article:



> All dangers aside, ask any climber who has beaten the mountain and  reached the 29,000 foot summit and they will tell you the most  memorable, and disturbing, part of their climb were the many perfectly  preserved bodies that they passed on their way to the top.


Is it too impractical or dangerous to get the bodies off the mountain? I would think the families wouldn't want them left there.

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## Trinnity

Oh wait....



> Dead bodies in such a cold environment stay perfectly preserved.  Given  that a person can die between breaths, many dead are not recognized as  such until quite some time after they succumb.  In an environment where  the climber’s every step is a struggle, rescue of the dead or dying is  all but impossible and bodies of the dead are almost always  irretrievable.  The bodies become part of the landscape and many become  “landmarks” that later climbers use as way markers during their climb.   There are an estimated 200 bodies lying around the topmost part of Mount  Everest.


Wow, I don't get why people want to do such a difficult and dangerous thing. I never will.

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## Trinnity

Wow, this really is creepy. Here are some pics of some of the frozen climbers:

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## Trinnity



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## Brewski

I did the highest mountain in the contiguous 48 states.  It's almost exactly 1/2 the altitude of Everest.  I think it's amazing these guys can breathe up there.  I was gasping at 14,500 feet.

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## Trinnity



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## Trinnity

I had no idea it was so macabre up there. <shudder>

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## Calypso Jones

very sad...and they keep coming.

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## Trinnity

> very sad...and they keep coming.


I hear it's a big tourism thingy - taking people up there who have no business being there and don't know what they're doing. Holy cow~

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## Calypso Jones

hell of a way to die...and a hell of a reason.   How many of them wished they could do it over.

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## Trinnity

> hell of a way to die...and a hell of a reason.   How many of them wished they could do it over.


Yep, the ones who knew they were gonna die. According to the article, some would sit to rest and just pass into a state like sleep when dieing. They didn't know.

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## Trinnity

The first pic in post 5. This viddy is about him. His name was George Mallory.

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## Trinnity

This one talks about the guy you see sitting up (first pic, post 4).  There's footage of the man while he was still alive. People walked past  him and didn't help him. Find out why....watch the video.




His name was David Sharp.



About David Sharp. 



> The Inglis party passed Sharp during their ascent around 1 a.m. and  noticed that he was still breathing but due to the difficulty of  mounting a night-time rescue, continued toward the summit. Mark Whetu  instructed him to follow the line of LED headlamps stretching back to  Camp IV before moving on. Most of the other ascending climbers passed  Sharp without offering any substantial assistance. Everest guide Jamie  McGuinness reported that on reaching David Sharp on the descent some  nine hours later, "... Dawa from Arun Treks also gave oxygen to David  and tried to help him move, repeatedly, for perhaps an hour. But he  could not get David to stand alone or even stand resting on his  shoulders, and crying, Dawa had to leave him too. Even with two Sherpas  it was not going to be possible to get David down the tricky sections  below .


More at link: Wiki

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## Trinnity

Spoiler:
Just kidding....gotcha. That's Jack from "The Shining"

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## lostbeyond

> Yep, the ones who knew they were gonna die. According to the article, some would sit to rest and just pass into a state like sleep when dieing. They didn't know.


Do they die as a result of hypothermia?  Also, do their fingers and nose/ears freeze off before they die?  If yes, then I guess they may be chosing to die themselves because it is very painful to come back with any part of you frozen off, not speaking socially impossible (e.g. no nose).  How about the philosophy that "I lived and I won", then everyone must die sometime.  I am a climber too.

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## Trinnity

> Do they die as a result of hypothermia?  Also, do their fingers and nose/ears freeze off before they die?  If yes, then I guess they may be chosing to die themselves because it is very painful to come back with any part of you frozen off, not speaking socially impossible (e.g. no nose).  How about the philosophy that "I lived and I won", then everyone must die sometime.  I am a climber too.


I would think the primary problem would be hypoxemic (low partial pressure of oxygen in blood) hypoxia with a secondary of hypothermia. Just my opinion.

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lostbeyond (12-06-2012),Oskar (08-26-2017)

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## Calypso Jones

People think they are stronger than they are...and there is a certain amount of a sense of immortality..  It must be quite an unpleasant surprise when they find themselves in the position of dying on that mountain with no way off.

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## JustPassinThru

> <Creepy>
> 
> From the cited article:
> Is it too impractical or dangerous to get the bodies off the mountain? I would think the families wouldn't want them left there.


Too expensive.

Not all nations are as wealthy as we are.

Nor are we going to be as wealthy as we are, in the future.  Soon, cars that plunge into lakes, or people that die in structure fires...are going to be left to be.

Recovery and preparation for burial costs money - money that Tibet and other nations in that region don't HAVE.  Money we soon won't have.

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## Calypso Jones

Not only that but machines can't get the bodies off the mountain.   That takes manpower and at terrible risk.    They're very likely risking their own lives and wind up there with the body they were hired to take down.    

I don't know why anyone would want to go up it knowing the death and destruction they'll witness.

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## sachem

Simple. Because they want to get to the top. 

Everest is a mess at the higher altitudes. O2 tanks, other trash and bodies. Although there have been some recent clean up attempts, it is rather impractical to risk a life to go and get this stuff. Climbers know they may die and realize they will most likely be left there.

Not a bad way to go. I mean the hypothermia. Falling like Mallory, or others, not so good.

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## Trinnity

So sad, just awful.

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## Trinnity



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## sachem

Is that the doctor who survived that year they had all those deaths? He was a lucky one.

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## Trinnity

I think so.

*Mountain climber Lincoln Hall dies, aged 56*http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1226306144928

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## sachem

No. I'm thinking of another guy. From Texas.

Beck Weathers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beck_Weathers

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## sachem

Want to hear something heartbreaking. Hear about the phone call between one of the climbers, unable to get himself off Everest, and his pregnant wife back home. Knowing he is going to die soon. I forget which documentary it was in.

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## Trinnity

Rob Hall

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## JustPassinThru

> Want to hear something heartbreaking. Hear about the phone call between one of the climbers, unable to get himself off Everest, and his pregnant wife back home. Knowing he is going to die soon. I forget which documentary it was in.


Boy, she picked a winner.

You'd think he'd avoid the high-risk activities when his wife needs him so much...

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## Ghost of Lunchboxxy

There are certain pointless activities that I have never understood, and climbing extremely dangerous mountains is one of them. 


Is it an ego thing? Are there no challenges and barriers in your own life to occupy you that you have to climb Everest?

All of LIFE is an 'Everest', and we leave our bodies on the slopes. that should occupy ANYone enough.

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## JustPassinThru

I have climbed some easy mountains.  The steepest one was Pike's Peak.

Now there was danger there; it was an all-day activity and a challenge to get to the top in time.  There is no camping on the summit; there is of course a road to the top (no pedestrian traffic) and a gift shop and snack-bar up there, staffed only during daylight hours.  There is also the Pike's Peak Cog Railway, which only sends up cars during daylight hours.

The trail, which doesn't follow either the railroad or the paved road, does not close; but you're on your own after hours.  I expect there's probably an overnight watchman at the tourist shop to get you to move on after hours.

Now for all that civilization up there, the air is thin; it rarely gets above freezing in high summer at the summit.  It's, IIRC, 14,000 feet up there, and you get winded quickly.  There's a local club which likes to make nighttime hikes to the top and back on weekends when there's a full moon...but they know the trail.

The trick for me was to get to the top before the last train of the day left to go back...and, starting at 7am, it was nip and tuck.  I was tired, winded, hungry and felt I'd done more than I was up to.

For all that...the feeling when you reach the peak, looking down...it's a glorious one.  Not exactly accomplishment...but, I get the urge.

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## Ghost of Lunchboxxy

I'm not comfortable with heights, I don't even like going up ladders.

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## sachem

> Boy, she picked a winner.
> 
> You'd think he'd avoid the high-risk activities when his wife needs him so much...


One would think he might stop climbing once children were on the way. He is one of those folks who lives to take risks. Obviously she knew the risk too. That's what he did. Takes all kinds.

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## Calypso Jones

There are some fellows who take the risks not only with their own lives but the lives of their wife and children.   Say for instance enviromentalists who love the woods, take their family camping with them IN THE WILD and refuse to take  those tools needed for protection either against out of control actual wildlife and human wildlife.

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## Calypso Jones

I was reading a story the other nite....a young man remembering his mother who decided to climb Everest when HE was eleven.  She told him if he didn't want her to go, she wouldn't.    He said, you'll always wish you had if I say no....but that night he had a terrible dream about it and he called the next day and told her don't go.  She said to him, 'I was thinking about what you said when you said I would always regret not going, so i'm going'.   She died on that mountain at age 40.   He husband died trying to rescue her and two climbers stayed with her for awhile and then had to leave because it was so cold.  She is called 'the sleeping beauty'.

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Oskar (08-26-2017)

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## Pregnar Kraps

> <Creepy>
> 
> From the cited article:
> Is it too impractical or dangerous to get the bodies off the mountain? I would think the families wouldn't want them left there.


Only the extravagant, adventurous, over achieving, self confident, risk taking, ambitious, bold or well financed people attempt it these days, I'd guess.

And if the bodies are still there with all of the aforementioned types of people passing them on the way up and then back down again, it must be because SOMETHING prohibits their removal.

It stands to reason, IMO.

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## Jen

Sad.
Yet, they knew the huge risks when they started out and did it anyway.
So it's sad but very cool to have lived life on the edge like that.

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## Pregnar Kraps

> I was reading a story the other nite....a young man remembering his mother who decided to climb Everest when HE was eleven.  She told him if he didn't want her to go, she wouldn't.    He said, you'll always wish you had if I say no....but that night he had a terrible dream about it and he called the next day and told her don't go.  She said to him, 'I was thinking about what you said when you said I would always regret not going, so i'm going'.   She died on that mountain at age 40.   He husband died trying to rescue her and two climbers stayed with her for awhile and then had to leave because it was so cold.  She is called 'the sleeping beauty'.


I read the book by Jon Krakauer and after that I have had ZERO interest in reading any more about the folks who feel they _must_ scale the mountain and sometimes lose their lives on it.

_Into Thin Air_ 

_A Wikipedia Summary

_In the book, Jon Krakauer described the events leading up to his  eventual decision to participate in an Everest expedition in May 1996,  despite having mostly given up mountain climbing years before. The 1996  season expedition recorded 8 deaths, the third most on Everest in a  single day (the April 2015 Nepal earthquake  caused the most, at least 19 deaths), including Krakauer's guides Rob  Hall and Andy Harris. Initially, Krakauer, a journalist for adventure  magazine _Outside_,  stated that his intentions to climb Everest were purely professional.  The original magazine story was to have Krakauer climb only to base camp,  and report on the commercialization of the mountain. However, the idea  of Everest reawakened his childhood desire for climbing the mountain.  Krakauer asked his editor to put off the story for a year so that he  could train for a climb to the summit. From there, the book  chronologically moves between events that take place on the mountain and  the unfolding tragedy which takes place during the push to the summit.  In the book, Krakauer alleges that essential safety methods adopted over  the years by experienced guides on Everest are sometimes compromised by  the competition between rival guiding agencies to get their clients to  the summit.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_Thin_Air

*That book with that story of that season's climb sated every bit of my curiosity about the subject.

Haven't read anything about it since.*

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## JustPassinThru

> Sad.
> Yet, they knew the huge risks when they started out and did it anyway.
> So it's sad but very cool to have lived life on the edge like that.


You know what.

Mountain climbing at that altitude is stark; exhausting; painful...and lethal.  To me...it would be like sticking my hand down a garbage disposal just to see how far I could get.

VERY little payoff; and EXTREME potential consequences.

I'm not afraid of living.  In the past I was a skier.  I've moved across the country several times for what I thought were better jobs.  I ride a motorcycle.  I've dabbled in pyrotechnics.

But THIS...I don't see the benefit.  This isn't climbing Solsbury Hill to see the city lights.  This is so far up, all you can see is a black sky, white below; and your own diminishing oxygen supply.

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## Jen

> You know what.
> 
> Mountain climbing at that altitude is stark; exhausting; painful...and lethal.  To me...it would be like sticking my hand down a garbage disposal just to see how far I could get.
> 
> VERY little payoff; and EXTREME potential consequences.
> 
> I'm not afraid of living.  In the past I was a skier.  I've moved across the country several times for what I thought were better jobs.  I ride a motorcycle.  I've dabbled in pyrotechnics.
> 
> But THIS...I don't see the benefit.  This isn't climbing Solsbury Hill to see the city lights.  This is so far up, all you can see is a black sky, white below; and your own diminishing oxygen supply.


Heck. I noticed the difference in oxygen supply  the couple of times I went up Pike's Peak.  No problems, but I could tell if I hiked around much there would be. And that wasn't even as high as the first base camp on Everest.  I've never been a dare-devil (aside from not being afraid to move to a new state or country to live) but I have a son who likes sky diving, mountain climbing and ice climbing......  he lives in Kansas for now, so I feel less worried with him there.  My sister-in-law climbed Kilimanjaro on her 50th birthday.  That took more nerve than I have.

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## Trinnity

> I was reading a story the other nite....a young man remembering his mother who decided to climb Everest when HE was eleven.  She told him if he didn't want her to go, she wouldn't.    He said, you'll always wish you had if I say no....but that night he had a terrible dream about it and he called the next day and told her don't go.  She said to him, 'I was thinking about what you said when you said I would always regret not going, so i'm going'.   She died on that mountain at age 40.   He husband died trying to rescue her and two climbers stayed with her for awhile and then had to leave because it was so cold.  She is called 'the sleeping beauty'.


Francys Arsentiev

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Jen (10-19-2015)

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## Oskar

I've read that the Sherpas believe the mountain (which they call Sagarmatha) doesn't approve of climbers engaging in "jiggy-jiggy" inside the tents.

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## Oskar

> Francys Arsentiev




Her last words were "Don't let me die here!"

She has since been pushed out of view.

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## Oskar

> Oh wait....
> 
> 
> Wow, I don't get why people want to do such a difficult and dangerous thing. I never will.


Because it is there.

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## Oskar

> One would think he might stop climbing once children were on the way. He is one of those folks who lives to take risks. Obviously she knew the risk too. That's what he did. Takes all kinds.


Eh, climbing was his job. 

He was being paid big bucks to guide other climbers to the tops of mountains like Everest, K2, Manaslu, etc... 

Chicken in the pot, milk in the fridge, that sort of thing. 

I wonder what kind of life insurance policy and workers compensation package he had.

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## Canadianeye

Those photos are always creepy every time I see them. These people doing this are driven by something I don't understand, because it is unique to them, and what makes them tick.

Side note...I am with the Mallory/Irvine got to the summit first crowd. I think they died on the way back. Hillary was the first to summit who made it back alive.

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Oskar (08-26-2017)

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## Calypso Jones

> I was reading a story the other nite....a young man remembering his mother who decided to climb Everest when HE was eleven.  She told him if he didn't want her to go, she wouldn't.    He said, you'll always wish you had if I say no....but that night he had a terrible dream about it and he called the next day and told her don't go.  She said to him, 'I was thinking about what you said when you said I would always regret not going, so i'm going'.   She died on that mountain at age 40.   He husband died trying to rescue her and two climbers stayed with her for awhile and then had to leave because it was so cold.  She is called 'the sleeping beauty'.


she should be called the self absorbed beauty.   She showed her son he was second to her desires.   She left him with no parents.  What a selfish woman.

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## Oskar

> she should be called the self absorbed beauty.   She showed her son he was second to her desires.   She left him with no parents.  What a selfish woman.


Yeah, she could have waited until her son was 18. She would have been 47. 

At the time Arsentivev died, the oldest female summiter was 47 year old Yasuko Namba.

She died on the descent in 1996. Froze to death in a storm.

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## Oskar

A few weeks before he died on Mount Everest, Rob Hall said the following two things, which may not be exact quotes but carry the gist.

"Human beings are not designed to survive at the cruising altitude of a Boeing 747."

"Any bloody fool can make it to the top of this hill, the tricky part is getting back down alive."

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## Oskar

Since 1978, there hasn't been a single year that did not see at least one person die trying to climb or get down from the summit of Everest.

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