Subhash Pal
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Mount Everest in 2016 covers events about
Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow heig ...
, the highest mountain on Earth located in Nepal and Chinese Tibet in Asia. It is a popular climbing destination for extreme high altitude climbers, with several hundred climbing each year despite various dangers.


Summary

The Nepal Department of Tourism said by June 2016 that about 456 people made it to the summit of Mount Everest, including 45 women. They noted some good summit windows, and on one day, 19 May 2016, 209 climbers made it to the summit. By 11 May 2016 the lines were fixed on the south side of Everest, after which several hundred climbers would make it up in the critical weather windows. Alan Arnette published his Everest report by year end, based on results for the now 93-year-old
Elizabeth Hawley Elizabeth Hawley (9 November 1923 – 26 January 2018) was an American journalist, author, and chronicler of Himalayan mountaineering expeditions. Hawley's ''The Himalayan Database'' became the unofficial record for climbs in the Nepalese Himal ...
, which were released in December 2016. For 2016 her records indicate 641 made it to the summit early 2016. 2013 set a record for most summiters in a year, around 667, not surpassed until 2018 when around 800 summited the peak.


Spring 2016 climbing season

On 11 May 2016, nine Sherpas summited Mount Everest. The next day another six persons reached the top. These were the first summitings since 2014, when 106 made it to the top. By 13 May, 42 climbers had reached the summit and by 22 May, good weather had allowed over 400 climbers to reach the summit. However, about 30 climbers developed frostbite or became sick, and two climbers died from what was reported as possible
altitude sickness Altitude sickness, the mildest form being acute mountain sickness (AMS), is the harmful effect of high altitude, caused by rapid exposure to low amounts of oxygen at high elevation. People can respond to high altitude in different ways. Sympt ...
. Among those that had to turn back was a science expedition attempting to study the link between
hypoxia Hypoxia means a lower than normal level of oxygen, and may refer to: Reduced or insufficient oxygen * Hypoxia (environmental), abnormally low oxygen content of the specific environment * Hypoxia (medical), abnormally low level of oxygen in the tis ...
and cognitive decline. Although it did not run its course, it did give some clues into the effects of high-altitude acclimatisation on human blood. Adrian Ballinger and Cory Richards were sponsored by
Eddie Bauer Eddie Bauer, LLC is an American clothing store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Eddie Bauer sells its merchandise via retail stores, outlet stores, and online and via phone, with a call center in Groveport, Ohio. Its flagship store is ...
to climb Everest, and they relayed information from the Everest climb using the
smartphone A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
software application and service
Snapchat Snapchat is an American multimedia instant messaging app and service developed by Snap Inc., originally Snapchat Inc. One of the principal features of Snapchat is that pictures and messages are usually only available for a short time before the ...
. Mount Everest has had a 3G wireless data communication network since 2010. One of the things that was reported by them, was that
bottled oxygen Bottled oxygen is oxygen in small, portable, high pressure storage cylinders, as used for high-altitude climbing. Bottled oxygen may also be for a breathing gas, especially for scuba diving or during surgery. (see also diving cylinder and oxygen ...
was stolen from them and there was some bad behaviour up there. The bottled oxygen was there for emergency back-up if they ran into trouble. Cory Richards summited Mount Everest without oxygen and returned safely, and Adrian made it almost to the top also. Another famous mountaineer, British climber
Kenton Cool Kenton Edward Cool (born 30 July 1973) is an English mountaineer and mountain guide. He is one of Britain's leading alpine and high altitude climbers and has reached the summit of Mount Everest sixteen times, including leading Sir Ranulph Fie ...
achieved his 12th Everest summit (the second-highest number of Everest summitings for a foreigner after
Dave Hahn David Allen Hahn (born November 3, 1961, Okinawa, Japan) is an American professional mountain guide, ski patroller, journalist and lecturer. In May 2013, he reached the summit of Mount Everest for the 15th time—at the time, this was the most sum ...
), and US celebrity mountaineer
Melissa Arnot Melissa Arnot Reid (born December 18, 1983) is an American mountaineer. She has climbed to the summit of Mount Everest six times. Life and career Arnot was raised just outside Glacier National Park in Whitefish, Montana. After college, she began ...
, completed her sixth summit, and achieved her personal goal of climbing Everest without supplementary bottled oxygen. This also turned out to be the most summits for a foreign female (not Nepali or Chinese), and one of the first US women to summit and survive without supplementary oxygen. In 1998,
Francys Arsentiev Francys Arsentiev (January 18, 1958 – May 24, 1998) became the first woman from the United States to reach the summit of Mount Everest without the aid of bottled oxygen, on May 22, 1998. She then died during the descent. Early life, education a ...
had made it to the summit, but died during the descent; she went on to become a famous corpse as a landmark known as "Sleeping Beauty" until she was buried on Everest in 2007 by one of the people who had tried to help her. Another woman from the Americas, the Ecuadorian woman Carla Perez also summited Mount Everest in 2016 without supplementary oxygen. Perez and Arnot became the fifth and sixth women to summit Everest without supplementary oxygen. There is an ongoing discussion about the use of extra bottled oxygen in mountaineering. Also at issue is
Dexamethasone Dexamethasone is a glucocorticoid medication used to treat rheumatic problems, a number of skin diseases, severe allergies, asthma, chronic obstructive lung disease, croup, brain swelling, eye pain following eye surgery, superior vena cav ...
(Dex), which is valuable as a lifesaver as it reduces swelling in the brain if someone comes down with
high-altitude cerebral edema High-altitude cerebral edema (HACE) is a medical condition in which the brain swells with fluid because of the physiological effects of traveling to a high altitude. It generally appears in patients who have acute mountain sickness and involves di ...
(HACE). When American Bill Burke was interviewed for his attempt, he noted how one of his team members had overdosed on Dex, prompting a medical evacuation even as in his more recent expedition, someone had 25 doses of Dex. He also noted it was hard to argue against large supplies of Dex, due its life-saving properties against some types of altitude sickness, especially HACE. An example of a death in which Dex was implicated was Dr. Eberhard Schaaf in 2012 on Everest. Schaaf died on descent at the south summit from altitude sickness. It has a good reputation as a life saver, and is commonly given to Everest climbers for its ability to intervene in last desperate moments when altitude sickness sets in. For example, in the 2016 season Robert Gropel said he gave Dex to his wife (as reported by the ''
Daily Telegraph Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...
'') in attempt to save her as they tried to descend Everest. Dex is not the only drug that is potentially a problem, with the UIAA noting the aforementioned dexamethasone, but also
acetazolamide Acetazolamide, sold under the trade name Diamox among others, is a medication used to treat glaucoma, epilepsy, altitude sickness, periodic paralysis, idiopathic intracranial hypertension (raised brain pressure of unclear cause), urine alkalin ...
(aka Diamox),
amphetamine Amphetamine (contracted from alpha- methylphenethylamine) is a strong central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, and obesity. It is also commonly used ...
, and
alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...
use; and another noted Diamox (acetazolamide) use among trekkers. It is not really a matter of some authorities being for or against medications, but awareness, as misuse can cause drug interactions and various side effects. In particular it was noted that supplementary oxygen significantly lowers death rate on ultra-high altitude mountain climbing, and is generally not regulated as a drug, whereas the safe use of medications is less understood or even acknowledged in many cases. (see also:
Effects of high altitude on humans The effects of high altitude on humans are mostly the consequences of reduced partial pressure of oxygen in the atmosphere. The oxygen saturation of hemoglobin determines the content of oxygen in blood. After the human body reaches around above s ...
) Mexican-American
David Liaño Gonzalez David Liaño González (born December 19, 1979) is the first mountaineer to double summit on Mount Everest from both the Nepal and Tibet sides, which he has climbed seven times so far. He has climbed both versions of the Seven Summits Liaño Gonz ...
(aka ''David Liano'') summited for the sixth time, promoting a charity and also carrying a
Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...
flag with him to the Everest summit. Another sports team represented at the Everest summit was the
Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...
, with its flag unfurled by Kim Hess. Rounding out US mountaineering was news that a group of soldiers and veterans summited, including some who had been wounded in combat. A British wounded veteran (one-eyed) was also trying to summit but gave up his bid to help some Indian climbers. In 2016 the first climbers from Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Tunisia reached the summit of Mount Everest. Only two other people from North Africa have summited Everest, one from Algeria and the other from Morocco. The youngest Australian woman to summit Mount Everest was Alyssa Azar. She returned to Australia safely, but a bittersweet victory for Australia after the loss of another Australian woman who was also trying to summit that May with her husband. The youngest Japanese woman also summited (and returned alive) at the age of 19. Another woman record-breaker in 2016 was the first woman from
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
to summit Mount Everest, Napassaporn Chumnarnsit, who was granted an audience with the Prime Minister of Thailand for her achievement. The first person with
cystic fibrosis Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare genetic disorder that affects mostly the lungs, but also the pancreas, liver, kidneys, and intestine. Long-term issues include difficulty breathing and coughing up mucus as a result of frequent lung infections. O ...
also summited Mount Everest on his third try. Also, a 61-year-old summited with two artificial knees. He had been trying for several years and had lost his Nepali friend Sherpa Nawang Tenzing in the 2015 earthquakes. He was not alone in being grief-stricken, as many climbers connected with the Everest mountaineering community lost climbing buddies in two years of disasters. One who narrowly survived the disasters himself climbed this year to bring attention to the disease
Lewy body dementia Lewy body dementias are two similar and common subtypes of dementia—dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD). Both are characterized by changes in thinking, movement, behavior, and mood. The two conditions have sim ...
(DLB), which had affected his father.


Rescues and fatalities

On 11 May 2016 a Calgary physician died in Tibet, in the Chinese-side base camp. A 25-year-old Nepali named Phurba Sherpa, fixing lines near the Lhotse summit, fell to his death. A guide company, Arnold Coster Expeditions, suffered two fatalities, and a third client had to be airlifted out. One was a man from the Netherlands, and another was a South African-born Australian woman. Her husband had tried to save her, but he also ran into trouble and had to be airlifted out with medical complications. These deaths were very widely reported in international news and triggered some public discussion about Everest mountaineering and tourism.


Indian expedition

An Indian expedition from
West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
suffered three fatalities and a fourth member, Sunita Hazra had to be rescued on her way down. The team was led by a South Korean climber named Jinchol Cha, and had four Indian Bengalis: Subhash Pal, Goutam Ghosh, Paresh Nath and Sunita Hazra (female, 38) with Loben Sherpa accompanying them. The team, managed by Trekking Camp Nepal, had attempted to climb the peak on 21 May. While climbing up, Paresh and Goutam became sick near Camp IV and could neither ascend nor descend from the higher camps near 8,000 metres. Lakpa Sherpa and Subhash Pal, the Indian mountaineer, from
Bankura Bankura () is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Bankura district. Etymology In the Mahabharata, Bankura was described as Suhmobhumi. The word or (in Nagari: rāḍh) was introduced af ...
,
West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
continued climbing and reached the summit of Mount Everest on Saturday, 21 May 2016. On 22 May 2016, Pal collapsed while descending the
Hillary Step The Hillary Step was a nearly vertical rock face with a height of around located near the summit of Mount Everest, about above sea level. Located on the southeast ridge, halfway between the "South Summit" and the true summit, the Hillary Step ...
ice wall. He died in the region between Camp IV and Camp III, due to frostbite which later led to hypothermia. While descending from the summit, Sherpa found both Paresh and Goutam dead near Camp IV. After reaching near Camp III, Subhash was unable to speak or move due to altitude sickness. The team tried to save him but could not. A British climber Leslie Binns gave up his summit bid to help and rescue Sunita who had fallen and was ailing on her descent. The climber successfully rescued her and tried to save another from her expedition team. With the help of four climbers, Sunita was rescued. Their stock of bottled oxygen was running out, so they quickly descended to Camp II, saving Sunita's life. She was airlifted from Camp II the next day by the Himalayan Rescue Association to Kathmandu with severe frostbite injuries. Sunita was treated at Norvic International Hospital. She lost two fingers due to frostbite. Goutam's body was found and retrieved. Six Sherpas stayed in the region for five days to search and rescue the missing climbers. They retrieved Subhash's body and returned. Paresh's body remained in the mountain and could not be retrieved due to bad weather. Plans to retrieve his body were postponed until the next year. They were part of a larger eleven-member expedition from India. Eight had reached the summit, including the injured woman


Death toll

The death toll for Everest climbers rose to five in most reports by late May 2016, and with a death of a high-altitude worker on Lhotse face during the season (Everest summiters sometimes need to climb Lhotse face depending on the route), gave a total of six known deaths from the Everest massif by the time the season drew to a close. Although not widely reported during May, a climber in Tibet had died on 11 May 2016 which makes it possibly six for Mount Everest and seven for the Everest Massif. The Nepal ministry of tourism said five people died (on the Nepali side).


References

{{Mount Everest Mount Everest 2016 deaths Indian mountain climbers Mountain climbers from West Bengal Indian summiters of Mount Everest