# How many bodies are on Everest? And will they ever decay? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 8, 2015, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bodies-are-on-everest-and-will-they-ever-decay/719582 "2015-05-08T22:04:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2015, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bodies-are-on-everest-and-will-they-ever-decay/719582/1 "2015-05-08T22:04:20Z")
Mallory and Irvine, Green Boots - how many climbers and Sherpas have died on Everest? And, will they ever decay? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2015, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bodies-are-on-everest-and-will-they-ever-decay/719582/2 "2015-05-08T22:16:50Z")
[Iceman Ötzi](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96tzi) died in the Alps 5300 years ago, was mummified and pretty well preserved under similar conditions. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2015, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bodies-are-on-everest-and-will-they-ever-decay/719582/3 "2015-05-09T00:31:01Z")
[Here’s a collection of photos of Everest bodies](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfOKQ5A8Mtg)\*\* (mildly graphic)\*\*. Most are still covered in clothing but exposed areas of the body do seem to desiccate (i.e. dry up) and wither away. A little disturbing seeing a seemingly intact, clothed body with an exposed skull attached to it. According to Wiki there are about 150 bodies on Everest. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2015, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bodies-are-on-everest-and-will-they-ever-decay/719582/4 "2015-05-09T00:50:22Z")
> **[List of people who died climbing Mount Everest](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_who_died_climbing_Mount_Everest)** > > Over 310 people have died attempting to reach the summit of Mount Everest which, at 8,848.86 metres (29,031.7 ft), is Earth's highest mountain and a particularly desirable peak for mountaineers. The most recent years without known deaths on the mountain are 1977, in which only two people reached the summit, and 2020, when permits were suspended by Nepal because of the COVID-19 pandemic. > Deaths have been attributed to avalanches, falls, serac collapse, exposure, frostbite, or health problems r... About 250 climbers have died on Everest. The bodies of those who were killed in Basecamp and some of those in the icefalls and at South Col were removed. Pretty much all the rest are still on the mountain somewhere; either lost, left where they fell, or entombed in a nearby crevasse. So there’s well over 100 bodies somewhere up there. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2015, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bodies-are-on-everest-and-will-they-ever-decay/719582/5 "2015-05-09T23:20:33Z")
Another macabre question: when these bodies finally dessicate down to bones, do they get light enough to be blown off the mountain? I would think the Nepal government would prefer to remove the bodies-seeing them cannot be good for climber’s morale. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bodies-are-on-everest-and-will-they-ever-decay/719582/6 "2015-05-10T02:33:39Z")
I think this pictures included Rob Hall and Scott Fischer, from 1996. But I would like to think they’ve been recovered by now. Sometimes the bodies find a gruesome end: The bodies high on Everest freeze solid. Then in the spring thaw, some of them get exposed by the receding snow, and if they blow off or otherwise fall down a cliff, they can shatter like ice cubes. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bodies-are-on-everest-and-will-they-ever-decay/719582/7 "2015-05-10T03:06:17Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Another macabre question: when these bodies finally dessicate down to bones, do they get light enough to be blown off the mountain? I would think the Nepal government would prefer to remove the bodies-seeing them cannot be good for climber’s morale. > **[Hannelore Schmatz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannelore_Schmatz)** > > Hannelore Schmatz (14 February 1940 – 2 October 1979) was a German climber and the fourth woman to summit Mount Everest. She collapsed and died as she was returning from summiting Everest via the southern route; Schmatz was the first woman and first German citizen to die on the upper slopes of Everest. > Schmatz was on an expedition via the South East Ridge route with her husband, Gerhard Schmatz, when she died at 8,300 metres (27,200 ft). Gerhard Schmatz was the expedition leader, then 50 year... That’s more or less what happened to her, after terrifying countless climbers by dying and freezing in a sitting position, eyes open, with hair blowing in the wind. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bodies-are-on-everest-and-will-they-ever-decay/719582/8 "2015-05-10T12:49:16Z")
A similar thing happens in the high mountains around Seattle. My brothers friends told of walking up to a man sitting, alone, in the fog, and noticing that the snow/ice was not melting when it hit his face. Kind of scary when you know that if you count wrong, or miss a landmark, and go down the wrong gully/ridge in the bad light, that’s how you will end up. In that case they later identified him as a missing climber. That family … got some closure … from knowing what had happened to him, and that he was sort of alright, out there. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bodies-are-on-everest-and-will-they-ever-decay/719582/9 "2015-05-10T22:03:42Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > A similar thing happens in the high mountains around Seattle. My brothers friends told of walking up to a man sitting, alone, in the fog, and noticing that the snow/ice was not melting when it hit his face. Kind of scary when you know that if you count wrong, or miss a landmark, and go down the wrong gully/ridge in the bad light, that’s how you will end up. > > In that case they later identified him as a missing climber. That family … got some closure … from knowing what had happened to him, and that he was sort of alright, out there. I’m pretty sure there’s no place in the US where the authorities will just leave a body. Sure there’s a lot of wilderness for one to go missing, but once found they are definitely going to recover it. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bodies-are-on-everest-and-will-they-ever-decay/719582/10 "2015-05-10T22:22:48Z")
So after some quick googling, it looks like there are some bodies on Mt. McKinley. But they’re either in places that were deemed too hazardous to recover or else which were reburied by the rangers at the family’s request instead of recovered. But I’m pretty sure there’s nowhere in the lower 48 like that. Certainly not in the Seattle area. The military helicopters they sometimes use for S&R are perfectly capable of operating up to the summit of Mount Rainier so recovery operations aren’t the massive undertaking they are in the upper reaches of Denali let alone over 8,000m in the high Himalayas. ---
**Author:** ![Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cabin_fever_1/32/2908_2.png) [@Cabin\_Fever\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabin_Fever_1)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bodies-are-on-everest-and-will-they-ever-decay/719582/11 "2015-05-10T22:38:51Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > A similar thing happens in the high mountains around Seattle. My brothers friends told of walking up to a man sitting, alone, in the fog, and noticing that the snow/ice was not melting when it hit his face. Kind of scary when you know that if you count wrong, or miss a landmark, and go down the wrong gully/ridge in the bad light, that’s how you will end up. > > In that case they later identified him as a missing climber. That family … got some closure … from knowing what had happened to him, and that he was sort of alright, out there. That’s probably the way I would want to go, IF I had to sit on a mountain-top freezing to death watching the sunset. Although my body breaking into a bunch of ice cubes? Not so much. Just leave me until spring thaw. Better than being eaten by a great white. Death is never very pretty. ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bodies-are-on-everest-and-will-they-ever-decay/719582/12 "2015-05-10T23:12:15Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > So after some quick googling, it looks like there are some bodies on Mt. McKinley. But they’re either in places that were deemed too hazardous to recover or else which were reburied by the rangers at the family’s request instead of recovered. > > But I’m pretty sure there’s nowhere in the lower 48 like that. Certainly not in the Seattle area. The military helicopters they sometimes use for S&R are perfectly capable of operating up to the summit of Mount Rainier so recovery operations aren’t the massive undertaking they are in the upper reaches of Denali let alone over 8,000m in the high Himalayas. I took **Melbourne** ’s remarks to mean that corpse in question had recently gone missing. It hadn’t been abandoned, like on Everest, it just hadn’t been found yet. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2015, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bodies-are-on-everest-and-will-they-ever-decay/719582/13 "2015-05-10T23:59:07Z")
> [@SeldomSeen](#): > > I took **Melbourne** ’s remarks to mean that corpse in question had recently gone missing. It hadn’t been abandoned, like on Everest, it just hadn’t been found yet. Maybe, but the “knowing he was sort of alright, out there” implies the body was just left there to enjoy the view forever. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bodies-are-on-everest-and-will-they-ever-decay/719582/14 "2015-05-11T08:32:15Z")
FWIW, I’ll clarify that I don’t know what happened after. My understanding was that the dead man was far enough off the main route that he hadn’t been previously located, and that when he was located, the family was willing to let him rest there. But that was early 1990’s, and I can’t claim that I have strong and accurate memories. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bodies-are-on-everest-and-will-they-ever-decay/719582/15 "2015-05-11T13:33:07Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > FWIW, I’ll clarify that I don’t know what happened after. My understanding was that the dead man was far enough off the main route that he hadn’t been previously located, and that when he was located, the family was willing to let him rest there. > > But that was early 1990’s, and I can’t claim that I have strong and accurate memories. I’m 99% sure that the authorities would not be willing to just leave the body there, regardless of the family’s wishes. The only circumstances when this is done is when recovering the body would be too hazardous. If the family didn’t want him, he’d be treated like a pauper, which usually means burial in an unmarked grave by the local county government. ---
**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:** [May 11, 2015, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bodies-are-on-everest-and-will-they-ever-decay/719582/16 "2015-05-11T14:00:32Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Another macabre question: when these bodies finally dessicate down to bones, do they get light enough to be blown off the mountain? I would think the Nepal government would prefer to remove the bodies-seeing them cannot be good for climber’s morale. The problem is that, by definition, the corpses lie in places where simply “breathing and walking on” are difficult and dangerous, let alone any kind of physical exertion like carrying a corpse. It’s not called “[the death zone](http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_zone)” because it’s all rainbows and ponies. An expedition to bring them back down would run high risks of simply adding some more to the pile. ---
**Author:** ![Kelevra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/97f17d/32.png) [@Kelevra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelevra)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bodies-are-on-everest-and-will-they-ever-decay/719582/17 "2015-05-11T14:23:25Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > … I would think the Nepal government would prefer to remove the bodies-seeing them cannot be good for climber’s morale. It’s nearly impossible to remove the bodies that are high up on Everest. It’s difficult enough just to get yourself up and down. Here’s an article about a team of Sherpa’s hoping to remove [5 bodies](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/apr/19/mount-everest-death-zone-clean). I believe it was in Krakauer’s book _Into Thin Air_ where he told the story of a Korean climber that died on the mountain. His family mounted an expedition to bring him back. The team managed to move him 200 yards. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bodies-are-on-everest-and-will-they-ever-decay/719582/18 "2015-05-11T15:18:56Z")
George “Because it’s there” Mallory died on Everest. His body was finally found 75 years later; it was well preserved, though the sun had bleached the hair white. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2015, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bodies-are-on-everest-and-will-they-ever-decay/719582/19 "2015-05-11T15:19:03Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > I’m 99% sure that the authorities would not be willing to just leave the body there, regardless of the family’s wishes. The only circumstances when this is done is when recovering the body would be too hazardous. > > If the family didn’t want him, he’d be treated like a pauper, which usually means burial in an unmarked grave by the local county government. If a body can be found by just “walking up to it”, I’m pretty sure it can be removed. ---
**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:** [May 11, 2015, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bodies-are-on-everest-and-will-they-ever-decay/719582/20 "2015-05-11T16:01:30Z")
> [@GreasyJack](#): > > So after some quick googling, it looks like there are some bodies on Mt. McKinley. But they’re either in places that were deemed too hazardous to recover or else which were reburied by the rangers at the family’s request instead of recovered. > > But I’m pretty sure there’s nowhere in the lower 48 like that. Certainly not in the Seattle area. The military helicopters they sometimes use for S&R are perfectly capable of operating up to the summit of Mount Rainier so recovery operations aren’t the massive undertaking they are in the upper reaches of Denali let alone over 8,000m in the high Himalayas. Paging D. B. Cooper… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-bodies-are-on-everest-and-will-they-ever-decay/719582.md?page=2)