Nepalese expedition operators on Thursday expressed concern over the rising number of dead bodies being exposed as snow melts on Everest ahead of the busy spring climbing season.
Damber Parajuli, president of the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal, said the government should initiate a campaign to clean up trash left by climbers and retrieve dead bodies from the mountain.
‘The bodies of climbers who fell into crevasses or died during the expedition have appeared after several years. We can help recover those bodies, but we need the government's approval to handle it,’ he told dpa.
‘Climbers die of altitude sickness or fall to their death on the mountain,’ said Ang Tshering Sherpa, former president of Nepal Mountaineering Association. ‘Dead bodies at Everest's higher camps are left there because it takes huge effort to bring them back.’ Commercial expeditions on Everest run between April and May. The dead bodies are exposed following the snow melt towards the end of the climbing season, he said.
Sherpas from his expedition company have retrieved seven bodies from Everest in the last 10 years.
While about 5,000 people have successfully reached the top of Everest, more than 400 have died in their attempts. Around 200 of the dead are still believed to be buried in the snow.
