A mountain guide recently shared a video capturing a cornice collapse on Mount Everest and described how his teammates narrowly escaped the life-threatening situation after a tense rescue operation. The world’s highest peak has seen huge crowds due to smaller windows when the climb is attempted.
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Guide recalls Everest horror
A guide for the International Federation of Mountain Guides (IFMGA), Vinayak Malla, posted video from his expedition that showed the tension-filled chaos on Everest.
Malla relived the terrifying events of May 21 and talked about how the summit ridge felt different from her previous mountain experiences. There was a lot of cornices, soft snow, and snow covering rocky areas. Even the weather station had some snow on it.
The climbers saw a cornice collapse just meters ahead of them and encountered slow-moving traffic after reaching the summit. Four climbers survived the danger and returned home, but two went missing and were subsequently discovered dead.
Two dead near Mount Everest’s top
Nepali climber Binod Babu Bastakoti and Kenyan climber Cheruiyot Kirui were confirmed dead near the Mount Everest summit. Bastakoti passed away while descending from Camp IV due to altitude sickness, while Kirui was found by rescuers a few metres below the summit, attempting the climb without supplemental oxygen, the reports said.
Overcrowding on Mount Everest creating hurdles in climb
Malla said that due to overcrowding, there are challenges in navigating through the congested traffic amid dwindling oxygen supply. He said he and his team took a new route to return to Base Camp safely after the climb.
