May offers the most reliable window for the hundreds of hopefuls who chase the world’s highest summit, but every climbing season on Everest also brings a grim tally of lives lost. The mountain’s unforgiving walls have claimed countless souls, and this year alone eight climbers perished. Below are 10 harrowing stories that reveal the lesser‑known fatalities and the astonishing, often heartbreaking, circumstances behind each attempt.
10 Harrowing Stories Overview
10 Shailendra Kumar Upadhyay
The drive to claim a “first” on Everest can be intoxicating. Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay secured the original “first” in 1953, and ever since the quest has shifted to “firsts” of a different flavor—first to paraglide, first to ski, first blind climber, and the coveted record of oldest summiter. In 2011, 82‑year‑old former Nepalese foreign minister Shailendra Kumar Upadhyay set out to become the oldest man to stand atop the world’s roof. He pushed his expedition to Camp I, but illness struck. While descending for medical aid, he collapsed and died. His body was airlifted to Kathmandu, ending his bid for the age record that had previously been held by a 76‑year‑old Nepali mountaineer. Two years later, Japanese legend Yuichiro Miura, at 80, shattered the record, having already survived four heart surgeries and a broken pelvis from skiing.
9 Blair Griffiths
The Khumbu Icefall, a treacherous jumble of crevasses and towering seracs, guards the gateway to Camp I on the South Col route. Its ice moves several feet each year, creating new gaps that can swallow climbers without warning. The most lethal hazard, however, are the massive seracs—unstable ice towers that can collapse without a sound, crushing anything beneath. Canadian CBC cameraman Blair Griffiths was documenting the 1982 Canadian Everest Expedition when a serac shifted, pinning him between two colossal blocks. After arduous attempts, his teammates recovered his body and performed a solemn cremation on the mountain, a stark reminder of the Icefall’s lethal unpredictability.
8 Maurice Wilson
While the 1924 British Expedition ended in mystery—George Mallory and Andrew Irvine vanished—another English eccentric, Maurice Wilson, pursued a solo ascent a decade later. Convincing himself that fasting, prayer, and divine faith could overcome Everest’s perils, Wilson bought a vintage Gipsy Moth plane he christened “Ever Wrest”. He intended to fly close to the summit, crash‑land, then trek the remainder on foot. After a series of bureaucratic setbacks, he finally reached India, then Tibet, guided by three Sherpas familiar with previous British attempts. Repeated assaults on the mountain were thwarted by weather, a massive 40‑foot ice wall, and his own inexperience. Refusing to retreat, Wilson pressed on until he perished in his tent, echoing the tragic demise of Scott. His quixotic quest remains a haunting footnote in Everest lore.
7 Shriya Shah‑Klorfine
Recovering bodies from the Death Zone is perilous, yet it has been achieved. Canadian‑born climber Shriya Shah‑Klorfine, 33, vanished on May 19, 2012, just shy of the summit, alongside three other climbers. Her body rested above 8,000 m, demanding a daunting rescue. A small Sherpa team—six to eight strong—ascended to retrieve her, placing her in a sled and lowering her down a 60‑degree slope, navigating crevasses hand‑by‑hand. The arduous descent took a full day, culminating at Camp II (6,500 m), where a helicopter could finally lift the sled. On May 29, 2012, her remains were safely flown away, a testament to the extraordinary effort required to bring a soul home from the roof of the world.
6 Marco Siffredi
At 22, Marco Siffredi made history in May 2001 by becoming the first person to snowboard down Everest, albeit via the North Col route after insufficient snow forced him off his original Hornbein Couloir plan. A broken binding forced a quick repair, but he still managed a four‑hour descent to Advanced Base Camp. Determined to conquer the Hornbein Couloir the following year, he returned in August 2002. After a grueling ascent through waist‑deep snow, a broken radio and an ill‑timed weather window left him alone at the summit. Ignoring his Sherpa’s pleas to wait, he launched down the steep Couloir. The Sherpas later found his snowboard tracks ending abruptly 1,500 ft below, with no sign of him—presumed dead, his body still unrecovered.
5 Tomas Olsson
Swedish skier Tomas Olsson and compatriot Tormod Granheim set out in May 2006 to become the first to ski down Everest’s North Face via the Norton Couloir—a 60‑degree, 3,000‑meter drop. After reaching the summit, they descended, but a broken ski forced Olsson to improvise with tape. At 27,900 ft they encountered a 150‑foot rock wall they could not ski. Attempting a rappel, Olsson’s snow anchor failed, sending him plummeting 2,500 m to his death. Granheim survived, later recalling the harrowing loss. Olsson’s body was recovered at 22,000 ft, a somber reminder of the razor‑thin margin between triumph and tragedy.
4 Hannelore Schmatz
The South‑East Ridge, once dubbed “Rainbow Valley” for its kaleidoscope of bodies, has long been a macabre gallery for climbers. German Hannelore Schmatz became the first woman to die on Everest’s upper slopes in 1979. Exhausted at 8,300 m, she and American Ray Gennet bivouacked in a storm, never to rise. Her frozen form remained seated against her pack, hair whipping in the wind, eyes wide open—an eerie sentinel for those who passed. Two climbers who later attempted to retrieve her body tangled themselves and fell to their deaths. Years later, the relentless wind finally swept her remains over the edge, erasing the grim landmark.
3 Green Boots
Perhaps the most infamous specter on Everest is “Green Boots”, a body lying in a small cave at 8,500 m, still wearing vivid green mountaineering boots. Believed to be Indian climber Tsewang Paljor, who disappeared during the 1996 disaster, his corpse became a grim waypoint for countless summit hopefuls. The 1996 season also claimed British climber David Sharp, who was mistakenly thought to be the famous Green Boots. In 2007, veteran Ian Woodall attempted to give the remains a proper burial but was thwarted by weather, leaving the mystery unresolved.
2 Francys Arsentiev
American Francys Arsentiev made history in 1998 as the first U.S. woman to summit Everest without bottled oxygen, yet her triumph was tragically short‑lived. After a grueling three‑day push above 8,000 m, she and husband Sergei reached the summit on May 22, only to be forced into an unplanned night at extreme altitude. The next morning, a separation left Francys alone, barely alive, while Sergei vanished attempting a rescue. An Uzbek team found her frozen and struggling; despite heroic effort, she succumbed before help could arrive. Her body lingered as a haunting landmark until fellow climber Ian Woodall later performed a modest burial, lowering her remains to a less conspicuous spot.
1 Namgyal Sherpa
The “Extreme Everest Expedition” of 2010, led by veteran Sherpa Namgyal, aimed to cleanse the mountain above 8,000 m of trash and two bodies. While the team hauled away 2,000 kg of waste, they left behind the remains of famed guide Rob Hall, per his widow’s wishes. Tragically, on May 16, 2013, during his tenth summit—a personal milestone—Namgyal collapsed at 8,000 m, clutching his chest before he passed. His death underscored the perpetual danger that even the most seasoned mountaineers face on the planet’s highest peak.