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Himalaya, Nepal and China
The Tomb on
Top of the World
The Tomb on
Top of the World
Mount Everest is the highest point on Earth, and many people have attempted to reach it. However, 331 climbers were unable to complete their journey. In other languages, Everest is also known as the Goddess Mother of the World, Chomolungma in Tibetan, or the Peak of Heaven, Sagarmartha in Sanskrit.
On Everest, the greatest dangers are avalanches, altitude sickness, and falling.
Avalanches took the lives of 84 people on Everest in 27 separate occasions. Two avalanches were especially deadly: 18 April 2014 (15 casualties) and 25 April 2015 (16 casualties). The earliest recorded avalanche on 7 June 1922 had the next highest casualties of 7 people.
Altitude sickness is another great danger. Once climbers reach 8,000 meters above sea level, the oxygen content of the air is not high enough to sustain human life. Climbers that lost too much oxygen accounted for 57 deaths.
Falls were also very deadly. Climbers often fell off glaciers and died from impact, or into the crevasses of the glacier and died because they were unable to get out.
331 Total Deaths
331 Total Deaths
84 Avalanche
84 Avalanche
57 Sickness
57 Sickness
56 Fall
56 Fall
Danger Zone:
8,000 meters
Danger Zone:
8,000 meters
Take a closer look at the elevation map to see the trends in where bodies still remain on Everest. Once the altitude reaches 8,000 meters, climbers are much more likely to die, either from the altitude or the difficulties of hiking in a low-oxygen area.
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