Welcome to Makiavelli Xplore, Aim is to bring to your knowledge facts about our planet and humanity generally, cultures, myths, legends, history e.t.c. Please, take your time to read, follow and upvote me if you find it educative... PLEASEEE
(As with Makiavelli Xplore, each and every facts and stories dished out are as researched from reliable sources which link or acknowledgement will be cited.)
Thank you for your following.
Mountain Everest, the highest point on the planet at a height of 8,848 meters.
Mount Everest's summit is located within the 'death zone,' an area of the mountain which is above 8,000 meters.
In the 'death zone' prolonged life is essentially impossible as the lack of oxygen and pressure means the body will eventually shut down over time.
More than 4,000 people have successfully climbed Mount Everest since Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first recorded climbers to reach the summit in 1953.
But there are many more thousands who tried and failed, with hundreds paying the ultimate price.
Today, it's estimated that there are more than 250 dead bodies resting on the mountain.
Over 250 bodies, left exposed out in the elements, some for decades and well preserved because of the freezing temperature.
Some bodies, like that of a young Indian climber named Tsewang Palijor, are so well-known that they are used as landmarks by other climbers on their way to the peak.
Palijor died during a blizzard in 1996, still wearing his full equipment, including a pair of neon green boots.
For years, climbers on Everest's north side knew they were getting close to the summit if they saw Palijor's body.
When snow cover is light, some climbers have even had to step over his extended legs on their way through.
Why so many bodies remain on the mountain years after the person's death is due to a few different factors.
One, some mountaineers and professional climbers who die on the mountain prefer to remain there, co-opting a tradition from seafarers more than a hundred years ago, according to the BBC.
But the major reason so many bodies are left in open view is due to the expense and danger involved with removing them.
Returning a body to a family can cost thousands of dollars and require help from six to eight people, all of whom may be putting their own lives in danger just to retrieve someone else.
And actually tryingto get a body back down the mountain can be incredibly difficult.
"Even picking up a candy wrapper high up on the mountain is a lot of effort, because it's totally frozen and you have to dig around it," said Ang Tshering Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association to the BBC.
"A dead body that normally weighs 80kg might weigh 150kg when frozen and dug out with the surrounding ice attached."
In 2007, Ian Woodall, a British climber, returned to Everest to bury the bodies of three climbers he passed on his way to the summit.
One of the climbers, a woman named Francys Arsentiev, was still alive when Woodall reached her during his initial ascent.
Her first words to him were"don't leave me behind."
The grim reality, though, is that Woodall could not have done anything for her without jeopardizing his own life or the lives of his team members.
He was forced to leave her to perish alone.
Climbing Mount Everest has become much safer over the past decade thanks to advances in technology and climbing gear.
Satellite phones allow a climber to stay in contact with base camp to get constant updates on weather systems in the area. A better understanding of exactly what kind and how much gear to take has also caused the death toll to drop dramatically.
GREEN BOOTS
Probably the most famous body that’s used as a marker is a body called “Green Boots,” located on the Northeast ridge near a limestone alcove at about 28,000 feet.
The body’s nickname comes from the green mountaineering boots that are still on the body’s feet.
It’s believed that the body is that of an Indian man named Tsewang Paljor, who was seen wearing green boots when he and his six man team climbed the mountain in 1996. On May 11, they were hit by a blizzard.
Paljor and two of his teammates continued up the summit, while the other three turned around. Apparently Paljor and his teammates reached the summit and radioed down to the base, saying that they had accomplished their mission. On the descent, Paljor hid in the cave from the blizzards, but he ultimately died from exposure in the cave while wearing the distinct boots.
Know more on this topic by checking out this link
Source: http://www.starpulse.com/the-problem-with-the-200-dead-bodies-on-everest-1904549061.html