Mount Everest has been a source of awe and inspiration ever since the great pioneering mountaineer George Mallory attempted the first ascent of the world’s highest peak in 1924, never to return. He was last observed 800 vertical feet beneath the summit at which point he and his climbing partner Andrew Irvine disappeared into the clouds. Over the years traces of the two climbers were uncovered – Irvine’s axe and a 1920s oxygen canister among other clues – but it was not until 1999 that a group of climbers discovered Mallory’s body at 26,760 feet (8,155 meters), appearing to have died after a bad fall. Irvine has still not been found. To this day the question lingers as to whether or not the two ever reached the summit in 1924 before succumbing to the elements.
Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first climbers to summit Mt. Everest in 1953.
Almost three decades after the first attempt at Mt. Everest was made, in 1953, New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Tibetan mountaineer Tenzing Norgay were the first to reach the top of Mount Everest. Since then, more than 5000 climbers have reached the world’s highest peak. In recent years, some climbing seasons have seen over 600 successful summits. The prospect of climbing the world’s highest peak inspires such an appeal that Nepal and China have developed significant industries running supported climbs up the mountain. Despite the increase in successful summits and supported climbing options, regrettably, more than three hundred individuals have perished in their attempts. Accordingly, Mount Everest remains one of the most challenging human endeavors on the planet.
Crowds line a path on Mt. Everest in 2019.
Before embarking on his 1924 attempt, the expedition where he would go missing, when questioned about his unrelenting desire to scale Everest, Mallory’s response was simply “because it’s there.” That same allure of Mother Nature’s grandeur is what continues to draw climbers to the peak today, making Mt. Everest the pinnacle many mountaineers’ bucket lists. With more climbers drawn to the mountain each year, many pose the question of how to keep people safe. This analysis will consider the Mt. Everest peak death reports, from Hillary and Norgay’s first ascent in 1953 through 2021, to examine potential patterns or underlying information in the causes and circumstances of each unfortunate end to a climber’s expedition.
The data used was obtained from The Himalayan Database. A sample of the initial data is shown to the right.
The majority of Mt. Everest climbing deaths occur during the Spring. This matches what one might expect, since the main climbing season on Mt. Everest is in April and May each year.
Despite a significant increase in Mt. Everest summit attempts since the first success in 1953, yearly climbing deaths have remained relatively constant.
The two countries with access to Mt. Everest are highlighted. The majority of deaths on Mt. Everest have been Nepalese climbers, likely due to their role in Nepal’s industry for supported climbs.
After removing unknown ages (initially entered as 0) , the distribution across age and gender appears relatively consistent for successful and unsuccessful summit attempts before climbing death.
Cause of death categorized into primary cause of death – Elements, Human or Unknown
Elements are the primary cause of death at lower altitudes; human factors and unknown causes contribute to the majority of climber deaths at higher elevations on Mt. Everest.
Significant overlap is evident in the clustering results using PC1 and PC2 from the PCA.
The significant overlap in the PCA clustering may suggest that the PCA was unable to retain a sufficient amount of information from the data during dimensionality reduction, causing less evident distinctions between clusters. Another explanation may be that there are evident distinctions between the clusters, but those distinctions are not visually apparent in two dimensions. Potentially the most obvious explanation, however; is that conditions on Mt. Everest are extremely unpredictable, so unpredictable that there are no strong patterns evident in the recorded fatalities because of that high variability in mountain conditions and human performance under such strenuous demands.
Altitude, Month, Decade and Age are among the most telling variables for primary cause of climber death on Mt. Everest.
A potential explanation for this first split might be that Everest Base Camp sits in that specified range. Human factors such as Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) or other Illness may be less likely to result in death if an individual is already at base camp, where they have an easier option of seeking attention than if they were to experience those issues while ascending. Another cause of death categorized as human factor is a fall, which is highly unlikely to occur at base camp rather than during a climb (likely outside of the specified elevation range). The majority of avalanches and ice incients, all categorized as "Element" for primary cause of death, generally occur within this altitude range as well.
Looking closely at the Mt. Everest death records revealed that many clues regarding the circumstances of a climber’s death many be contained within the reported fields. Altitude proved to be one of the most useful indicators regarding whether a climber’s death could be primarily attributed to human factors or elements (mountain condition) related causes. The most likely explanation for this is that a climber’s altitude at their time of death may provide clues as to what they were doing in their last moments. The most telling initial indicator about the nature of a climber’s death was whether their altitude was between 5000 and 6999m at the time – an altitude range which contains Everest Base Camp. If the recorded death did fall within that range of elevation, the primary cause of death was more likely to be attributed to human factors than to the elements.
Mt. Everest Base Camp in 2018.
This might be expected, in context, because human factors such as Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) or other Illness should be less likely to result in death if an individual is already at base camp, where they have an easier option of seeking attention, than if they were to experience those issues while away from many others/supplies attempting an ascent. Another cause of death categorized as human factor is a fall, which would also be expected to occur away from base camp – and likely in a different range of altitudes.
Though some innate clues were revealed in the data throughout analysis; no evident patterns persist throughout because Mt. Everest operates under a brutal and unpredictable system of its own. Climbers will forever be allured to the grandeur and majesty of the Himalayas, especially to the world highest point atop Mt. Everest. It provides an incredible challenge in the form of man vs. nature, one that can provide an unparalleled transformative experience so long as you are aware of your limits. In mountain climbing, the most critical rule for survival is a proper respect for the elements and Mother Nature.
