FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

News

Tragedy and Triumph on Mt. Everest: Two Climbers Dead, Two Others Make History

Two climbers died and two more are missing, but a woman set a new record for ascents by a female, and a combat amputee reached the summit for the first time.
Photo par Nyi Nyi Aung/TCCM/EPA

The weekend on Mount Everest was divided between tragedy and triumph. Two climbers died of apparent altitude sickness and two more are missing, but a Nepalese woman who works as a housekeeper in Connecticut broke her own record for ascents by a female, and a man became the first combat amputee to summit the world's tallest peak.

Dutch mountaineer Eric Arnold, 35, died making his descent after he finally reached the mountain's summit on his fifth attempt. "Two-thirds of the accidents happen on the way down," Arnold told a radio station in the Netherlands before the climb. "If you get euphoric and think 'I have reached my goal,' the most dangerous part is still ahead of you."

Advertisement

In a local television interview earlier this year, Arnold said he had dreamt of climbing Everest since he was a kid, and that he used to have a poster of the mountain above his bed. According to the Associated Press, Arnold had complained of weakness and died on Friday night. He tweeted a picture of himself after making it to the top.

Bergbeklimmer Eric Arnold bereikt top Mount Everest bij vijfde poging — Eric Arnold (@EricArnold8850)May 20, 2016

Maria Strydom, an Australian climber and lecturer at Monash University, was in Arnold's 40-person expedition. Strydom displayed signs of altitude sickness — caused by the lack of oxygen atop the 29,000-foot mountain — and died on Saturday, not long after Arnold. She and her husband, both vegans, were attempting to complete the "seven summits" by reaching the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. She had already scaled Denali in Alaska, Aconcagua in Argentina, Mount Ararat in Turkey, and Kilimanjaro in Kenya.

Related: This Simulation Found Most Glaciers Near Mount Everest Could Be Gone By 2100

"It seems that people have this warped idea of vegans being malnourished and weak," Strydom said, according to the AP. "By climbing the seven summits, we want to prove that vegans can do anything and more."

Wishing — Monash University (@MonashUni)April 8, 2016

Other cases of altitude sickness and severe frostbite have affected more than 30 climbers this season. Pemba Sherpa from the Seven Summit Treks agency in Kathmandu told the Guardian that one Indian climber had such advanced frostbite that she couldn't move, and said that several sherpas carried her to a lower camp, where efforts to rescue her by helicopter were underway.

Advertisement

Related: Climbers Can No Longer Scale a Section of Mount Everest Because of Climate Change

Wangchu Sherpa of the Trekking Camp Nepal agency in Kathmandu told AP that two Indian climbers, Paresh Nath and Goutam Ghosh, have been missing on Everest since Saturday. They were last seen near the mountain's summit.

Meanwhile, Lhapka Sherpa, 42, climbed the mountain for a seventh time, breaking her own record for ascents of Everest by a woman. She had traveled to Nepal, where she was born and raised, from Hartford, Connecticut, where she now lives with her two children and works as a housekeeper.

Retired US Marine Corps Staff Sergeant Charlie Linville, 30, became the first combat-wounded veteran to reach the mountain's summit. Lineville lost a portion of his right leg and parts of his fingers on his left hand when an explosive device went off as he tried to defuse bombs in Afghanistan in 2011. Linville's plans to climb Everest in 2014 and 2015 were hampered by a huge avalanche above base camp that killed 16 Sherpa guides, and the devastating earthquake that hit Nepal last year.

12:30 pm 5/19/16 Nepali time. Charlie Linville is the first combat wounded veteran to reach the top of — The Heroes Project (@HeroesProjectUS)May 20, 2016

Congrats to USMC Staff Sgt. Charlie Linville--the 1st combat wounded vet to summit Mt — Sarah Huisenga (@SarahHuisenga)May 20, 2016

Because climbing efforts were more or less abandoned in the last two years due to natural disasters, trekking companies were banking on this year's season, which runs from March until the end of May, to be a success. So far, there has been good weather and hundreds of climbers have reached the summit.

Related: One Year After Deadly Disaster, Climbers Are Still Leaving Shit All Over Mount Everest

Follow Tess Owen on Twitter: @misstessowen