Mount Everest’s Grim Secret: Hundreds Of Bodies Still Litter The World’s Highest Peak

For generations, climbers have dreamed of standing on the summit of Mount Everest. But for hundreds, the world’s tallest mountain became their final resting place.

More than 340 people are known to have died on Everest since the first successful ascent in 1953, and experts believe the true figure is even higher. Most of those bodies have never been recovered, frozen where they fell in the mountain's notorious "death zone" more than 8,000 metres above sea level.

Now India is preparing one of the most ambitious recovery missions ever attempted – a plan to bring home the remains of the mysterious climber known around the world as "Green Boots."

The Body Every Climber Knows

For decades, Green Boots became one of Everest's most infamous landmarks.

His distinctive green mountaineering boots made him instantly recognisable as thousands of climbers passed his frozen body on their way to the summit. Many even had to step over him before Chinese authorities later moved the remains slightly off the main route.

His identity has never been officially confirmed. India's Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) believes the body belongs to Indian climber Dorje Morup, while many Everest historians argue it is actually Tsewang Paljor, who disappeared during the disastrous 1996 expedition that claimed three Indian climbers.

Thirty years later, India hopes to finally solve the mystery.

Why Bodies Stay On Everest

Recovering the dead from Everest is often considered even more dangerous than rescuing the living.

Above 8,000 metres, oxygen levels are so low that even simple movement becomes exhausting. Rescue teams must battle brutal weather, near-vertical ice walls and extreme exhaustion while carrying a body that may have become frozen solid into the mountainside.

Veteran Everest analyst Alan Arnette says recovering a single body can require between six and ten experienced climbers, making every mission extraordinarily dangerous.

Green Boots May Be Frozen Into The Mountain

Experts warn Green Boots presents one of the hardest recoveries ever attempted.

After three decades, his remains are believed to be literally frozen into Everest's rock and ice.

Rescuers may need ice axes to carefully chip the body free before carrying it through the mountain's most dangerous terrain, including the infamous Second Step – a near-vertical rock face climbed using a metal ladder at almost 29,000 feet.

The recovery will also require cooperation between Chinese authorities, who control Everest's northern route in Tibet, and India.

More Than Just A Rescue

The mission is expected to cost between $100,000 and $150,000, requiring specialist climbers, oxygen supplies, fixed ropes and months of planning.

But not everyone believes it should happen.

Many of the Sherpas and Tibetan climbers who would likely assist follow Buddhist traditions, which discourage disturbing the dead. Some experts warn removing a body that has rested on the mountain for decades could conflict with deeply held religious beliefs.

Everest's Frozen Graveyard

Green Boots is far from Everest's only famous victim.

American climber Francys Arsentiev, known as "Sleeping Beauty", lay beside the climbing route for years before her body was moved. British explorer George Mallory, who vanished during his legendary 1924 expedition, remained missing for 75 years before his body was finally discovered in 1999.

Hundreds of others remain hidden beneath snow and ice.

Despite modern equipment making Everest safer than ever, the mountain continues to claim lives almost every climbing season.

For many who never make it home, Everest itself becomes their permanent memorial.

SOURCE

They should close it imho.