# Bodies remain on Mount Everest. Why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 22, 2015, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bodies-remain-on-mount-everest-why/725910 "2015-07-22T23:52:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bodies-remain-on-mount-everest-why/725910/221 "2015-10-08T17:13:23Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Like I said, if your goal is removing the bodies from the mountain then just “tossing them down the mountain” won’t accomplish that. \*Unless \*you achieve the toss with enough horizontal momentum. As I said before : high explosives is the obvious way to go :). ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bodies-remain-on-mount-everest-why/725910/222 "2015-10-11T10:39:49Z")
I just saw this article on the BBC about the formal and informal efforts to remove bodies from Mt. Everest. The end of the article says that some bodies, including Green Boots, have been moved and suggests that the Chinese Tibetan Mountaineering Association and the Chinese Mountaineering Association may be responsible. > **[Death in the clouds: The problem with Everest’s 200+ bodies](https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20151008-the-graveyard-in-the-clouds-everests-200-dead-bodies)** > > They lie frozen in time, thousands of metres above sea level. The grim death toll on Everest is becoming impossible to ignore, says Rachel Nuwer. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2015, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bodies-remain-on-mount-everest-why/725910/223 "2015-10-11T13:24:29Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > If you’re at the lower camps you’re not much use to the folks up high. If you’re at the higher camps, you can’t stay long and would have to shuttle down regularly. The resource costs would be incredibly high, and you’d crowd the already over crowded path where bottlenecks are critical hazards. > > The Sherpa teams supporting the climbing groups are already the rescue teams in place. I know that helicopters have trouble in the thin air, but what about a medevac [hot air balloon](http://www.ifonly.com/adventure/product/2397/balloon-expedition-over-mt-everest)? ---
**Author:** ![jleslie48](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbe5ce/32.png) [@jleslie48](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jleslie48)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2016, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bodies-remain-on-mount-everest-why/725910/224 "2016-05-23T15:48:23Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I had a thought a month or so ago that if everyone dragged every corpse a few yards, then within a few years they’d be down. Then I remembered the crevasses. also someone has to detach the body from the ground. My guess is they are effectively frozen to the ground as well. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bodies-remain-on-mount-everest-why/725910/225 "2016-05-24T06:46:08Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Some bodies are not permanently frozen in the ice, as Nelson says. But the bodies do freeze solidly. If later it is blown off the mountain and falls, it can shatter much like an ice cube shatters when thrown against a rock. This does not conjure pretty images. Ice cubes aren’t made of meat and bone. Frozen humans shattering into a million tinkling fragments is something that happens commonly in movies, but in real life (and especially at temperatures well above that of liquid nitrogen), it’s not going to be like that. The bodies on Everest are not just frozen, they’re partially freeze-dried. They might well break apart at the joints or midsection, and would certainly suffer surface damage from impact, but they’re not going to smash into little pieces like an ice cube. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bodies-remain-on-mount-everest-why/725910/226 "2016-05-24T15:57:48Z")
My thoughts on the original question and the required logistics are (I’m just pulling assumptions out of my arse here) that climbing Everest is closer in magnitude to a moon landing (though without the same fuel costs among other things) than it would be to rock climbing Mt Rushmore or something of that nature. I’m no expert but I’ve read _Into Thin Air_ by Krakauer and read various things online. From what I’ve read, as well as comments upthread, I get the impression that simply getting oneself up **and back** is an extremely dangerous and exhausting undertaking (no pun intended). Maybe if a few countries are willing to chip in for a few permanent way-stations (like something from a James Bond film or The Thunderbirds) on the way up it might be feasible but I suspect the money for that would be hard to find. ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bodies-remain-on-mount-everest-why/725910/227 "2016-05-24T16:07:24Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > Maybe if a few countries are willing to chip in for a few permanent way-stations (like something from a James Bond film or The Thunderbirds) on the way up it might be feasible but I suspect the money for that would be hard to find. To repeat what has already been discussed upthread: Various schemes or permanent installations have been discussed that would make the climb safer. This is generally a bad idea. Aside from the logistical problems of building such facilities in the first place, anything that makes the climb safer and/or easier would inevitably attract climbers who are less competent, less prepared, and more willing to accept risk in the belief that help is close at hand. This is pretty much the opposite of what we need. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bodies-remain-on-mount-everest-why/725910/228 "2016-05-24T16:09:36Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Ice cubes aren’t made of meat and bone. Frozen humans shattering into a million tinkling fragments is something that happens commonly in movies, but in real life (and especially at temperatures well above that of liquid nitrogen), it’s not going to be like that. > > The bodies on Everest are not just frozen, they’re partially freeze-dried. They might well break apart at the joints or midsection, and would certainly suffer surface damage from impact, but they’re not going to smash into little pieces like an ice cube. this. it’s not like a frozen steak shatters if you drop it. ---
**Author:** ![velomont](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8491ac/32.png) [@velomont](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velomont)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bodies-remain-on-mount-everest-why/725910/229 "2016-05-24T16:26:20Z")
> [@Chihuahua](#): > > To repeat what has already been discussed upthread: Various schemes or permanent installations have been discussed that would make the climb safer. This is generally a bad idea. Aside from the logistical problems of building such facilities in the first place, anything that makes the climb safer and/or easier would inevitably attract climbers who are less competent, less prepared, and more willing to accept risk in the belief that help is close at hand. This is pretty much the opposite of what we need. Agreed. I certainly wasn’t suggesting way stations as a good idea and it sounds as though it’s enough of a zoo already without encouraging more under or unqualified adventure seekers. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2016, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bodies-remain-on-mount-everest-why/725910/230 "2016-05-24T16:48:38Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > this. it’s not like a frozen steak shatters if you drop it. Exactly. I dropped a frozen leg of lamb and it chipped the concrete floor of the garage. The meat was barely dented. If it’s frozen to liquid helium temperatures, maybe meat will shatter, but not so much at snowy mountaintop temperatures. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2016, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bodies-remain-on-mount-everest-why/725910/231 "2016-05-28T18:53:46Z")
If getting the bodies out of sight is satisfactory, how about requiring that each expedition must bring up a grenade? To be used to explode the body into smaller pieces that can either be retrieved as generic trash or will hopefully be dispersed by the winds. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2016, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bodies-remain-on-mount-everest-why/725910/232 "2016-05-28T19:08:44Z")
That worked really well with the whale. [Dead Whale Explosion on Dutch Beach - YouTube](https://youtu.be/d0R06k9mnao) Sent from my LG-V495 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bodies-remain-on-mount-everest-why/725910/233 "2016-05-28T19:10:16Z")
Sorry, wrong video. Sent from my LG-V495 using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bodies-remain-on-mount-everest-why/725910/234 "2016-05-29T02:00:04Z")
> [@GaryM](#): > > That worked really well with the whale. Yeah but 1) the whale was one hell of a lot bigger 2) The whale was freshly dead and thus chock full of fresh gooeyness. These bodies are apparently freeze dried and much smaller. And if the first time a grenade is used on a particular body if you’re still left with pieces too large to ferry out easily, why, then some succeeding group uses their grenade on what’s left. Repeat until what’s left doesn’t trigger the ‘oh mighod I’m looking at a dead human body’ reflex in ordinary onlookers. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bodies-remain-on-mount-everest-why/725910/235 "2016-05-29T02:07:25Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Yeah but 1) the whale was one hell of a lot bigger > 2) The whale was freshly dead and thus chock full of fresh gooeyness. > > These bodies are apparently freeze dried and much smaller. And if the first time a grenade is used on a particular body if you’re still left with pieces too large to ferry out easily, why, then some succeeding group uses their grenade on what’s left. Repeat until what’s left doesn’t trigger the ‘oh mighod I’m looking at a dead human body’ reflex in ordinary onlookers. And what about the avalanche(s)? ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bodies-remain-on-mount-everest-why/725910/236 "2016-05-29T02:15:30Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > And what about the avalanche(s)? That’ll move unwanted body (or parts theeof) downhill, too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2016, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bodies-remain-on-mount-everest-why/725910/237 "2016-05-29T02:32:09Z")
I thought I’d linked the video of them blowing up a dead whale on a beach in Washington state. It didn’t go well at all. Lots of large chunks flying around. ---
**Author:** ![Chickenwrangler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chickenwrangler/32/91_2.png) [@Chickenwrangler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chickenwrangler)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bodies-remain-on-mount-everest-why/725910/238 "2016-06-08T02:15:11Z")
Interesting article:- [http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20151008-the-graveyard-in-the-clouds-everests-200-dead-bodies](http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20151008-the-graveyard-in-the-clouds-everests-200-dead-bodies) ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bodies-remain-on-mount-everest-why/725910/239 "2016-06-08T02:36:21Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Why are the bodies allowed to remain there, laying on the surface, in plain sight of all who pass going up or down? It seems that common decency would dictate that those remains are removed for burial. Who’s going to go fetch them? You? Go right on ahead. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2016, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bodies-remain-on-mount-everest-why/725910/240 "2016-06-08T02:49:46Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > If getting the bodies out of sight is satisfactory, how about requiring that each expedition must bring up a grenade? To be used to explode the body into smaller pieces that can either be retrieved as generic trash or will hopefully be dispersed by the winds. Back when I was in the Army we’d joke about disposing of the fallen by digging a vertical hole and placing an incendiary grenade on top, because only callow 18-year-old-youths can seriously talk about something so stupid and disgusting and inhumane. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bodies-remain-on-mount-everest-why/725910.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bodies-remain-on-mount-everest-why/725910.md?page=13)