After 30 years on Everest, ‘Green Boots’ may finally come home

A family’s extraordinary wait

For 30 years, a frozen body known to generations of Everest climbers simply as "Green Boots" has lain beneath an overhanging rock about 8,500 metres above sea level, becoming one of the mountain's most famous and haunting landmarks.

Now India is preparing a dangerous expedition to bring the remains down from the world's highest mountain — and authorities believe they have finally established that the climber was Dorje Morup, an Indian mountaineer who died during a 1996 expedition.

For his family in Ladakh, the recovery would bring something they have been waiting three decades for: the chance to finally bring him home and give him a proper funeral.

The climber who never came home

Morup, a 48-year-old member of India's Indo-Tibetan Border Police, was one of six climbers attempting to become part of the first Indian expedition to reach Everest's summit from the Chinese side.

Three climbers turned back as a blizzard struck. Morup and two companions continued towards the summit and successfully reached the top.

But disaster struck during their descent.

The storm killed all three men.

While the bodies of Morup's companions were either found or identified, one body became known around the world as "Green Boots", because of the distinctive lime-green mountaineering boots still visible beneath the snow.

For years it was assumed to be another member of the expedition, Tsewang Paljor. But surviving testimony, the location of the climbers' final radio contact and Morup's clothing and equipment have led Indian officials to conclude that Green Boots was actually Morup.

DNA testing will be carried out if the recovery succeeds.

A mission almost as dangerous as the climb

Getting him down will be considerably harder than simply reaching him.

The body lies in Everest's so-called death zone, where temperatures can fall to around -40C and oxygen levels are roughly one-third those at sea level.

Specialist climbers may need to fix ropes across some of the steepest terrain on the mountain before physically carrying the frozen remains down to an altitude where they can be transported away.

Experts estimate that a team of 10 to 12 experienced climbers could be required, with the recovery costing tens of thousands of dollars.

The operation itself will be dangerous, and climbers have warned that no rescue mission should put living Sherpas at unnecessary risk.

India's Indo-Tibetan Border Police, which is funding the operation, hopes to find a specialist recovery team and bring Morup down by September.

‘Where were you all these years?’

For Morup's wife, Konchak Yangskit, the possibility of finally seeing her husband again is almost unimaginable.

She never saw his body after the 1996 disaster and says part of her therefore refused to believe he had died.

"On some days, before I went to sleep, I would think that there'd be a knock on the door tonight and that when I opened, he would be there," she told the BBC.

"When he comes home, I will ask him: 'Where were you all these years?'"

Morup left behind photographs, medals, trophies and a certificate from the Chinese government confirming that he reached Everest's summit at 17:30 on 10 May 1996.

His son says the family will hold a funeral for him in Ladakh if his remains are recovered.

But they intend to keep one remarkable reminder of his final journey.

"We are planning to keep the Green Boots."

SOURCE