Everest: surviving the death zone Published on Friday 25 May 2012 00:00 Four mountaineers died this week on Everest but still another 200 will bid to reach the summit this weekend. Dani Garavelli asks two Scots about their experiences on the mountain and why many climbers continue to ignore warnings with tragic consequences. Chris Tiso remembers the exact moment he gave up on his dream of scaling Everest. The Scottish adventurer and entrepreneur, who had suffered a brain haemorrhage the year before the expedition in 2000, was between camps 3 and 4 (the last before the final ascent) when he realised he was struggling to catch a breath. "I will never forget sitting looking out across towards Lhotse and thinking: "I've spent months preparing for this and this is my chance and the rest of the team are ahead of me here, but I've got to go with what I feel,"" he says. On reflection it was the right decision because it turned out I had patches of pneumonia on my lungs. Last weekend, around 200 climbers set off with the same dream to conquer the world's tallest peak, most of them from the Nepalese side. The climbing season is short each year, with most attempts made during May before the monsoon season, when the wind speeds high on the mountain are not at their worst. This year has been a poor season, and last weekend the climbers were desperate to take advantage of a short stretch of clear weather when they arrived en masse at the highest camp just below South Col and the death zone, so-called because of the steep icy slopes, treacherous conditions and low oxygen level. But as "traffic jams" formed causing long delays, and climbers queued to set off on the final ascent, the 8,848m mountain experienced its deadliest day since eight people lost their lives on 10 May, 1996. On Saturday, four people - German doctor Eberhard Schaaf, Nepal-born Canadian Shriya Shah-Klorfine, South Korean Song Won-bin and Ha Wenyi from China - died as they made their way back down. According to Nepalese officials, some climbers were heading for the summit at 2.30pm, even though 11am is the latest time recommended. Despite the distance from South Col to the summit being a mile, the debilitating effects of the death zone mean that it takes around 12 hours to complete that relatively short distance. Doctors say the body is effectively "dying" from the moment it sets foot in the death zone, and climbers have a maximum of two to three days they can survive at this altitude of 8,000m. Any delay places climbers in grave danger, particularly if they run out of oxygen and suffer from altitude sickness, which causes disorientation. With 200 more at staging camps waiting for another clear spell, fears are rising that a similar rush this weekend will lead to more deaths, yet the Nepalese authorities insist they are powerless to do anything about it. Although climbers require a permit, unpredictable weather conditions and other uncontrollable factors, such as illness amongst expedition members, make it difficult for the authorities to dictate which parties should climb on which days. Rather, it is left to the climbers to decide if it is safe for them to make the ascent. But with so much time, effort and tens of thousands of pounds staked on a successful trip, some experience what has been described as "summit fever" - a determination to get to the top which blinds them to the risks and to the fact that once they have reached it, they still have a long climb down. Shah-Klorfine, for example, was an inexperienced climber who had dreamed of scaling Everest since she was nine years old, had remortgaged her house and put off having children to achieve her goal. The tour company managing her climb said guides noticed her exhaustion and urged her to turn back, but she had refused. Polly Murray, the first Scottish woman to climb Everest, says the mountain was not overcrowded when she set off on the final ascent as part of the same expedition as Tiso in 2000 (the first successful expedition of the millennium). But the explorer and television presenter understands only too well how congestion in the death zone can lead to high death tolls. "We climbed in bad weather, the two other teams that were making a summit attempt on the same day turned back," she says. But I know from what people say, if you are late leaving the South Col, you are not going to give yourself enough time to get to the summit and back down again and that's probably what happened with these guys. That and perhaps a choke-up at the final summit ridge. What sometimes happens is that at spots such as the Hillary Step, which is quite a serious rock ice climb, people are queuing and getting frustrated, and some will already be feeling terrible. It's so high and you are so exhausted, but a lot of people have one thing on their mind and that's to reach the summit. Nepal tourism officer Gyanendra Shrestha said returning sherpas had told him that they had had to wait for up to three hours at the Hillary Step last Saturday. Not moving means that your hands or feet will be frostbitten. Then, there is the issue of oxygen - high up, you tend to use more," he added. More than 3,000 people have scaled Everest since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were first to reach the summit in 1953. For several decades after the achievement, its slopes remained the province of elite mountaineers. But the conquering of the peak by a guided expedition in 1985, which included a wealthy businessman and an amateur climber with only four years" experience, sparked a new era of commercialisation. Today, many climbers hire "full service" guide companies which, for between £25,000 and £50,000, will sort out permits, transportation to/from base camp, food, tents, fixed ropes, medical assistance while on the mountain, an experienced mountaineer guide, and even personal porters to carry backpacks and cook meals. Every year there is a surge of people wanting to earn their place in history; the last few days alone have seen records set for the youngest and oldest women to make it to the top - Mollie Hughes, 21, from Bristol, and Tamae Watanabe, 73, from Japan, respectively. And today, film-maker Keith Partridge from Lower Largo hopes to make the first live broadcast from the summit of Everest as he follows a climber to the top. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, Everest remains a hugely dangerous environment. The hostile conditions make it difficult to save a life if something goes wrong. Helicopter rescues, though on the increase, are often impossible, and other climbers may be too exhausted to carry another person even short distances. Even when people have died it may be impossible to recover their bodies and it's not uncommon to pass corpses along the route. In addition, some people believe a combination of high footfall and climate change is making the route ever more hazardous, with an unusually light snowfall this year leaving icy surfaces exposed. With so many people now gearing up for another rush to the summit, Ang Tershing, former president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, believes that the government should impose schedules. But with the Nepal government having issued 325 permits to foreign visitors at $10,000 each for this year alone, the Everest industry is a vital part of the country's economy. Tiso, the chief executive of Tiso outdoor clothing company, says it is worrying that lessons don't seem to have been learned since the 1996 tragedy which sparked much debate over overcrowding on the slopes. "That involved some very experienced mountaineers, but it highlighted the dangers of congestion on the mountain and the pressure and responsibility the guides felt to get their clients up the mountain in terms of providing value for money," he says. "My understanding was that following on from that clients couldn't be "guided" up the mountain; that professional mountaineers could only act as facilitators and that everyone on the mountain had to take responsibility for their own decisions. It's disappointing it is being suggested once again congestion has played its part in these latest deaths. This does not mean that he would like to see tighter restrictions introduced. "I'm a lover of the wild places and for me and many of my friends, family and customers, the mountains and the sea are the last great escape from rules and regulations which govern so much of our society," he says. For Murray the deaths are a reminder that Everest remains one of the toughest environments in the world. People do forget it's a big mountain and when the weather changes or you run out of oxygen or you are exhausted, you can die. They sort of lose respect," she says. This might be a harsh thing to say, but these tragedies are a reminder that not any Joe can get to the top. It's about keeping respect for nature and the elements.