Mount Everest's "Death Zone" claimed more than 300 lives

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The highest part of Everest above 8000 thousand meters was given a special name "death zone". There is so little oxygen that the cells in the body begin to die. What does the person feel at the same time? The mind becomes clouded, sometimes delirium begins. Those who are particularly unlucky develop pulmonary or cerebral edema. A Business Insider describes the dire details of altitude sickness.

Everest is the tallest mountain in the world. Its height reaches 8848 meters above sea level.

Climbers and scientists have given the highest part of Everest, located above 8000 meters, a special name "death zone".

In the "death zone" there is so little oxygen that body cells begin to die. Climbers are confused, they suffer from altitude sickness, are at risk of heart attack and stroke.

Recently, those wishing to reach the summit of Everest lined up so long that some died of exhaustion while waiting for their turn to conquer the peak.

The human body cannot function properly above a certain level. We feel best at sea level, where there is enough oxygen for the brain and lungs to function.

But climbers who want to climb Mount Everest, the world's summit at 8,848 meters above sea level, must challenge the death zone, where oxygen is so scarce that the body begins to die: minute by minute, cell by cell.

There have been so many people on Everest this season that at least 11 people have died last week. In the "death zone" the brain and lungs of climbers suffer from oxygen starvation, the risk of heart attacks and strokes increases, and the mind quickly begins to cloud.

At the top of Mount Everest, there is a dangerous lack of oxygen. One climber said it felt like "running on a treadmill while breathing through a straw."

At sea level, the air contains approximately 21% oxygen. But when a person is at an altitude of more than 3.5 kilometers, where the oxygen content is 40% lower, the body begins to suffer from oxygen starvation.

Jeremy Windsor, a physician who ascended Everest in 2007 as part of the Caudwell Xtreme Everest Expedition, spoke to Mark Horrell, who blogs about Everest, about the blood tests taken at "Death zone". They showed that climbers survive on a quarter of the oxygen they receive at sea level.

“This is comparable to the rates of patients on the brink of death,” says Windsor.

At 8 kilometers above sea level, there is so little oxygen in the air, according to American climber and filmmaker David peashears, that even with additional air cylinders, you will feel like you are "running on a treadmill, breathing through a straw." Climbers have to acclimate and get used to oxygen deficiency, but this increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Over the course of a few weeks, the body begins to produce more hemoglobin (a protein in red blood cells that helps carry oxygen around the body) to compensate for the changes caused by high altitude.

But when there is too much hemoglobin in the blood, it thickens, and it is difficult for the heart to disperse it through the body. It is because of this that a stroke can happen, and fluid accumulates in the lungs.

A quick check with a stethoscope detects a clicking sound in the lungs: this is a sign of fluid. This condition is called high-altitude pulmonary edema. Symptoms include fatigue, a feeling of choking at night, weakness, and a persistent cough that produces a white, watery or frothy fluid. Sometimes the cough is so bad that cracks appear in the ribs. Climbers with high-altitude pulmonary edema suffer from shortness of breath even when resting.

In the death zone, the brain can also begin to swell, which leads to nausea and the development of high-altitude psychosis.

One of the main risk factors at an altitude of 8,000 meters is hypoxia, in which internal organs, such as the brain, lack oxygen. This is why acclimatizing to the heights of the "death zone" is impossible, high-altitude expert and physician Peter Hackett told PBS.

When the brain does not receive enough oxygen, it can begin to swell, resulting in high-altitude cerebral edema, analogous to high-altitude pulmonary edema. Due to cerebral edema, nausea, vomiting begins, it becomes difficult to think logically and make decisions.

Oxygenated climbers sometimes forget where they are and develop delusions that some experts consider a form of psychosis. Consciousness becomes cloudy, and, as you know, people start doing strange things, for example, ripping off their clothes or talking to imaginary friends.

Other potential hazards include loss of appetite, snow blindness, and vomiting.

Clouding of the mind and shortness of breath are not the only hazards climbers should be aware of. “The human body starts to work worse,” adds Hackett. - I have trouble sleeping. Muscle mass decreases. The weight is dropping."

Nausea and vomiting caused by high-altitude pulmonary and cerebral edema lead to loss of appetite. The sparkling of endless ice and snow can cause snow blindness - a temporary loss of vision. In addition, blood vessels may burst in the eyes.

These high altitude health problems can indirectly cause injury and death to climbers. Physical weakness and loss of vision can lead to falling. Your mind, clouded by a lack of oxygen or extreme fatigue, interferes with making the right decisions, which means you can forget to buckle on a safety line, go astray, or fail to properly prepare equipment on which life depends, such as oxygen cylinders.

The climbers survive in the "death zone", trying to conquer the summit in one day, but now they have to wait for hours, which can end in death

Everyone says that climbing into the "death zone" is a real hell on earth, in the words of David Carter (David Carter), the conqueror of Mount Everest, in 1998, was part of the expedition "NOVA". PBS spoke to him too.

As a rule, climbers striving for the summit try their best to ascend and descend again to safer heights within one day, spending as little time as possible in the "death zone". But this frantic dash to the finish line comes after many weeks of climbing. And this is one of the hardest parts of the road.

Sherpa Lhakpa, who has climbed Mount Everest nine times (more than any other woman on earth), previously told Business Insider that the day a group tries to summit is by far the most difficult part of the route. …

For the climb to be successful, everything must go according to plan. At about ten o'clock in the evening, the climbers leave their refuge in the fourth camp at an altitude of 7920 meters - just before the start of the "death zone". They make the first part of the journey in the dark - only by the light of stars and headlamps.

Climbers usually reach the summit after seven hours. After a short rest, with everyone cheering and taking photos, people turn back, trying to finish the 12-hour journey back to safety, before nightfall (ideally).

But recently, expedition companies said that so many climbers are claiming the summit, trying to reach their goal in a short period of good weather, that people have to wait for hours in the "death zone" when the path is clear. Some fall from exhaustion and die.

The Kathmandu Post reported that on May 22, when 250 climbers rushed to the summit at the same time, many had to wait for their turn to climb and descend back. These additional unplanned hours spent in the "death zone" killed 11 people.