Climbing Mt Everest: Ksh13M Costs, Risks & Why Bodies Cannot Be Recovered

The death of Kenyan banker Cheruiyot Kirui during his pursuit to summit Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen brought to light the dangers associated with attempting a treacherous expedition.

Kirui wanted to reach the world’s highest mountain summit (8,848.86 meters above sea level) without supplementary oxygen, defying the increased risks that come with it compared to climbing it with supplementary oxygen. 

He went missing on Wednesday with his guide, a Nepali climber identified as Nawang Sherpa, on Wednesday, at Bishop Rock, located at an altitude of 8,000 metres. However, his body was found a few metres below the Everest summit point, as announced on Thursday morning by the Nepali mountaineering news website Everest Today.

Climbing Mt Everest is considered by many as the ultimate human test as you not only have to encounter brutal challenges such as altitude sickness, weather and snow avalanches from the Khumbu Icefall but also time, altitude adjustment, the right gear, wait for the right weather and of course money.

Kenyan banker Cheruiyot Kirui posing in front of his gear before climbing Mt Everest. /CHERUIYOT KIRUI

Summiting it requires a lot of experience in mountaineering elsewhere, a certificate of good health, equipment and a trained Nepalese guide. This is because the snow and ice on the mountain create deadly hazards, such as avalanches, and there is only a limited climbing season due to bad weather conditions. 

At 8,849 metres, Everest’s summit has approximately one-third the air pressure that exists at sea level, and this is the altitude that puts a person metres below the cruising altitude of passenger aircraft.

This significantly reduces a climber's ability to breathe in enough oxygen. Because of this, scientists have determined that the human body is not capable of remaining indefinitely above 6,000 metres. 

The chances of success are much less than when climbing without supplemental oxygen, and with a less than 40 per cent success rate, one needs to be extremely fit, compared to a success rate of almost 80 per cent with supplemental oxygen.

The Death Zone

Climbers who ascend higher than 8,000 metres on Mount Everest enter the "death zone". In this area, oxygen is so limited that the body's cells start to die, and judgment becomes impaired.

“There, your body is not structured to survive with that oxygen concentration, which is around a third of what is at sea level. The idea is that when you are there, you get to the summit as fast as possible and then down before your body starts shutting down or dying, so to speak,” the late Kirui stated in a past interview.

“That is the area where people use supplemental oxygen. If you have it, then you're compensating for the low oxygen in the environment by using the bottled oxygen.”

According to news media agencies, 310 people died in November 2022 while attempting to climb the mountain. It further says more than 200 bodies are still on the mountain and have not been removed due to the dangerous conditions.

Experts say if you try to climb Everest, you have about a one in a hundred chance of dying along the way. This is attributed to technology and infrastructure that have brought down the number of deaths.

A description of the death zone on Mt Everest. /PHOTO

The majority of deaths are caused by snowfall avalanches. But as climbers move higher up the mountain and their oxygen intake is reduced, their bodies are increasingly at risk for a number of ailments, including pulmonary oedema, cerebral oedema, and blood embolisms, National Geographic explains.

The chances of frostbite are also dramatically increased at such altitude as the heart works harder to pump blood around the body delivering oxygen.

“Furthermore, breathing “gas” only increases the relative oxygen to about the same level as the air at basecamp, and if it runs out on summit day, the body might not be able to adapt to the sudden lack of oxygen. Lastly, oxygen units are notoriously unreliable,” it says.

Why Bodies Can't Be Recovered From Everest

There are two base camps on Mount Everest, on opposite sides of the mountains: South Base Camp is in Nepal at an altitude of 5,364 metres (17,598 ft) (28°0′26″N 86°51′34″E), while North Base Camp is in China at 5,150 metres (16,900 ft) ( 28°8′29″N 86°51′5″E).

The camps are used by mountaineers to climb during their ascent and descent. Supplies are also shipped by porters and with the help of animals. Mountaineers acclimatise in these camps to reduce the risk of altitude sickness.

Climbing Mt Everest can cost you an arm and a leg. Climbers pay anything from $35,000 (Ksh4.9 million) to more than $100,000 (Ksh13 million).

The cost includes $11,000 (Ksh1.4 million) for the climbing permit from the government of Nepal or Tibet, bottled oxygen and high-altitude gear that includes tents, sleeping bags and boots. It also covers medical care, food and support from Sherpa guides and bottled oxygen for them, which is mandatory for every foreign climber.

When you finally reach the summit, you will find a small dome of snow about the size of a dining room table. That is because the summit has enough space for half a dozen or so climbers to stand and enjoy the view.