There are hundreds of dead bodies on Everest that can never be recovered.
The odds of dying hover around 1% (give or take—depending on the conditions). It’s an incredibly high rate, you’d never be able to fly airplanes with that casualty rate.
Yet people still do it. As you climb mountain, you’ll often see dead bodies on the way up, many of them which are highly intact still because of the cold.
This man is known as “Green Boots”.
He was an Indian climber who died in 1996. It’s believed he was Subedar Smanla.
He and his group were hit by a blizzard just prior to reaching the summit. Several team members went back down, sensing the danger.
But Smanla and a few others forged ahead, not wanting to come this short. They made it to the top. When the others turned around to immediately go back down, Smanla decided to stay and say a few prayers on his own. It would be a costly mistake.
In all, three members died. They weren’t the first or the last. Choose your risks with caution.
