Death toll for Mt. Everest climbers reaches 10 for this season

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Death toll for Mt. Everest climbers reaches 10 for this season

Samson X Horne | Saturday, May 25, 2019 1:49 p.m.

FILE - In this March 7, 2016, file photo, Mt. Everest, in middle, altitude 8,848 meters (29,028 feet), is seen on the way to base camp. American climber Don Cash who fulfilled his dream of climbing the highest mountains on each of the seven continents by reaching the summit of Mount Everest died of probable altitude sickness on the way down, mountaineering officials said Friday, May 24, 2019. Cash became ill at the summit and was treated there by his two Sherpa guides, one of the officials said. (AP Photo/Tashi Sherpa, File)

Officials say a British man died Saturday morning in an attempt to climb Mount Everest, bringing this season’s death toll to 10.

Al Jazeera reports that 44-year-old Robin Haynes Fisher died after he “suddenly collapsed” while returning from the summit.

Two other climbers died Friday, Irishman Kevin Hynes, 56, and Nepalese guide Dhurba Bista, 33.

Three Indian climbers died earlier in the week.

AJ reported that “hundreds of climbers pushed for the summit while taking advantage of this week’s weather windows.”

Expedition leaders are blaming large crowds for the deaths of at least five climbers on Mount Everest this week. Why operators say the traffic adds to the danger: https://t.co/OTDhnX7n0Y

— AR Democrat-Gazette (@ArkansasOnline) May 25, 2019

NBC news has described the influx of climbers as a “traffic jam,” where it quoted an expert who explained the peril on the mountainside.

“Before you reach the summit, you have to wait and every minute counts at that height,” Krishma Poudel of the Peak Promotion mountaineering agency in Nepal.

She declined to say whether the wait contributed to any deaths.

Fine line between "died while climbing Mount Everest" and "froze to death in the queue to take a selfie at the summit".

— Alexandre Afonso (@alexandreafonso) May 24, 2019

British broadcaster and adventurer Ben Fogle, the U.N. patron of the wilderness, called on the countries that share Everest to limit the number of climbers on the mountain, suggesting instead for a marathon-style lottery system for climbing permits, NBC reported.

Yesterday on Everest. Nepal and Tibet/China need to limit the number of climbers on the mountain with a London Marathon style lottery for climbing permits. pic.twitter.com/RERjSgnvXh

— Ben Fogle (@Benfogle) May 23, 2019

One thing seems certain: climbers are neither deterred by the congestion nor the casualties.

Talk about tempting fate.