Everest Exposed

FreezingBodieson MountEverest
BodiesonEverest

writtenbyLilianaFerrer&SorenPeterDeHaan

ThedeadbodiesonMount Everestareagruesomereminder tothosepeoplewhoattemptto reachthesummitofjusthow deadlyitcanbe.Justknowingthat thebodiesofdeadclimbersare scatteredaroundMountEverest provesthatit'sextremely dangerousanddifficulttotryto removethem.Reachingthe summitofEverestisatough challengeunlikeanyotheron HereisonefrozenbodyfoundonEverest.Thenameoftheclimberisundisclosed.. Earth.Toattempttobringadead bodyorastrandedclimberdown wouldtaketoolongandwouldbe riskingsomeoneslife.Thismakes rescueattemptspractically Howlongdoesittakeforabodytofreeze? suicidal.(continued) Asthebodyisroughly60%water,itcantakeaslittleas8hoursandaslong as48hours(dependingontheamountofbodyfatandthequalityofthe heatresistantgear)forahumanbody.

QandA:AsktheDoctor...

Howmanyfrozenbodieshavebeenreturnedtosealevel?
Veryfewbodieshavebeenrecoveredfromthemountain.Itissodangerousto recoverasinglebodythatnoteven40havebeenrecoveredfromtheslopes.The mainwaystoretrieveabodyarethroughhelicopters,andsometimessherpas willbringthemdown.
thispersondiedandhavebecomea landmarkforotherclimbers.

BytheNumbers
#ofdeathsonEverest:233 #ofbodiesrecovered: 35 #ofdeathtosummitratio:1to10 Speedofrecordsummitwinds:175mph Lowaveragetemperature:31F #ofdeathsonMay10,1996:8

BodiesonEverest(continued)
Andso,thenumberofbodiescontinues togrow,oftenpointedoutasgrisly landmarks.AlanArnette,aprofessional climber,says: Itsverydisrespectful.But{theyare} calledlandmark{s},and{theyare}rightthere nexttothetrail.Therearemanyothers whowishthebodiestobetakendown, namelyfamilies,friends,climbers,and sherpas.Thebodiesarespreadapart throughoutthemountaintrails,butthe bodiesfartherdownarefewerandmore easilyrecovered,andsomostofthebodies arelocatedinthe"DeathZone,"whichis aferbasecamp5.Thesebodies,suchas thegreenbootscorpse(right)arealongside orevenonthetrail.Manyofthebodiesare stillfrozenintime,intactwiththeirclimbing ropestillaroundtheirwaists.Firsttime climberswillalmostcertainlybecaughtby surprisebytherealityofit,andalthoughthey areimpossibletoforget,climberssummiting forasecondorthirdtimedontexamine themagain.Despitethemorbidfeel,itis stillapowerfuldrawtosummit.Sandra Leduc,aCanadianlawyer,capturesthis deathlyscenequitewell. IthoughtIwasinamorgue."

Thefamousgreenbootscorpse,curledinalimestonecave8,500meters
abovesealevel.Hewasbelievedtobecomingdownfromthesummitwhenhe died.

Doesyourbodyprotectyourselffromfreezing?

Yes.Thereareactuallyseveraldifferentwaysthatyourbody attemptstomaintaincomfortablebodytemperature.Foronething, whenyoubegintogetcold,yourbodyreducestheamountofblood goingtoyourskinandpartsfarawayfromthecenterofyourbody,suc asyourdigits.Thisprocessofcontrollingbloodflowiscalled vasoconstriction.Anotherdefenseagainstthecoldisshivering.The colderyourbodygets,themoreitacknowledgesit,anditbeginsto shake.Convertingstoredenergyintoheatwiththefriction,then,of course,yourbodytellsyouthatyouarecold,givingalittletimetofinda warmerposition.

InterestedinEverest? Goto www.mounteverest.net/ forNews,HowToArticles, Discussions,andmore!

Haveaquestionabout Everest? Askthedoctor!

Waitupforournextissue: PrayerFlagsareWhat? Whatarethey?Howare theymade?Whatdothey mean?Andmore...