The Death of climber David Sharp shocked people worldwide and brought into the question the inhumanity of climbers on the mountain. Sharp a British climber successfully ascended the summit after two failed attempts without oxygen. During his descent, he rested in the small cave where green boots lay but instead slipped into unconsciousness.
Inspite of seeing him alive and pleading for help, several climbers including Mark Inglis ignored him in their quest to the summit leaving him to die. So much for the unwritten code that climbers should abandon their quest to help others in need or dying.
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The body of the pioneer of mountaineering on Everest, George Mallory was found in 1999 after 75 years mummified and lying head down on the north side of the mountain. In 1924, Malory was on an expedition to Everest with climbing partner Sandy Irvine. They disappeared while ascending the summit and their bodies were never found. It was widely believed from the injury marks on his body that an accident had caused one of the men to fall dragging the other with him. Mallory was believed to have died from a sharp blow to the head caused by crashing into rock jutting out on the mountain. Irvine’s body was never found.
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Hannelore Schmatz and partner Ray Genet made a successful ascent of the summit in October 1979 but while their descent, suffering from exhaustion decided to spend the night in the death zone in spite of their Sherpa’s warnings. Lacking necessary protection, they were caught in a snowstorm where Genett died of hypothermia. Schmats was unlucky enough to stop just 330 feet from camp suffering fever and exhaustion. Her last words were “water…water…. For years Hannelore lay in that position on Camp IV resting on her backpack grimfully staring out at the mountain before her. Strong winds eventually dragged her body down to the Kangsung face where she remains known simply as “the German Woman”.
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Among bodies on Everest and as weird as it sounds, there is nothing bright and happy about “The Rainbow Valley” which is an area on the Northeast ridge of the mountain near the summit. The Rainbow Valley is a pit of several dead bodies all looking very colorful because of the different colors of mountain jackets still attached to the bodies of the dead climbers.
There are corpses strewn across the mountain in this area where climbers usually push dead bodies on routes into the area as they could pose obstacles to others. Although Nepal Law states that bodies should be removed immediately to keep the sacred sanctity of the mountain, it is virtually impossible to do so.
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