It probably won’t be the first (or second, since the missing climber is surely dead too). After initial good luck with weather, there have been high winds for the last several days. From an update yesterday:
High winds were in the forecast from multiple services and internet sites, but some teams either didn’t believe them or ignored them and made a summit push on Tuesday, May 15 – around fifty people turned back, and two climbers have been missing for days.
Unbelievably, around 50 people turned back after attempting to summit on May 12 with winds gusting to 50mph. The top limit for the best teams is 30 mph. Why expedition leaders choose to put their clients in obvious danger is beyond me.
So now all the teams are targeting the good weather window this weekend.
The high winds are expected to ease as we move closer to the weekend, but serious concerns are brewing. With May 19th -21st as the sweet spot (low winds), crowds become an issue since high summit winds have kept people off the summit this week. So if everyone targets May 19th -21st, look for masses to push to be in position at C2 and the Col by the 18th.
Initial reports were that everyone was ok, but now it seems two more likely have died on Everest after part of the route collapsed near the Hillary step.
Here’s a pic of climbing conditions Monday - 2019 was even worse, but it’s pretty crowded.
And a pretty ridiculous update from one of the expedition companies. Talk about burying the lede:
Big congratulations to our 8K Expeditions Team B & C for their successful summit of Everest! Despite harsh weather conditions, the entire team successfully stood atop Everest. They are now descending to the base camp. While celebrating this success we regret to inform you that a cornice collapse occurred yesterday at Hillary Step. Two of our brave team members, Mr. Daniel Paul Paterson (UK) and Mr. Pastenji Sherpa (Nepal), are missing.
100 years exposed in that environ can break up a body pretty well even in the absence of predator activity, methinks. Dessication, super-high winds, ice & snow movement etc.
Shoes and boots are miles ahead of preserving body parts than the rest of our clothing. Puget Sound is littered with severed feet from bodies that have long since been obliviated by the elements.
