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| 2 Everest Climbers Die on Their Way Down | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Mount Everest, a prolific killer, collects its victims in a number of ways. | Mount Everest, a prolific killer, collects its victims in a number of ways. |
| It subsumes them in avalanches, or sends them tumbling down a crevasse. But most often, its victims are taken by the thin mountain air. | |
| That is what appears to have happened to two climbers, a Dutch man and an Australian woman in the same group, who died in succession on Friday and Saturday while making their way down from the summit. | That is what appears to have happened to two climbers, a Dutch man and an Australian woman in the same group, who died in succession on Friday and Saturday while making their way down from the summit. |
| Pasang Phurba Sherpa, an official at Seven Summit Treks, which led the expedition, confirmed the deaths on Sunday and said both had been caused by altitude sickness. | Pasang Phurba Sherpa, an official at Seven Summit Treks, which led the expedition, confirmed the deaths on Sunday and said both had been caused by altitude sickness. |
| “All of the team together, they tried to help them, but they couldn’t save their lives,” Mr. Sherpa said in an interview from Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital. | “All of the team together, they tried to help them, but they couldn’t save their lives,” Mr. Sherpa said in an interview from Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital. |
| The expedition was the fifth time that the Dutch man, Eric Arnold, 35, an alpinist from Rotterdam, had tried to reach the summit, and on Friday he finally made it. But he was suffering from frostbite on his fingers and eyes, and complained on his blog about feeling weak. That night, while resting at Camp IV, the uppermost of four camps on the route to the summit, he died, Mr. Sherpa said. | The expedition was the fifth time that the Dutch man, Eric Arnold, 35, an alpinist from Rotterdam, had tried to reach the summit, and on Friday he finally made it. But he was suffering from frostbite on his fingers and eyes, and complained on his blog about feeling weak. That night, while resting at Camp IV, the uppermost of four camps on the route to the summit, he died, Mr. Sherpa said. |
| The Australian woman was Maria Strydom, 34, a lecturer on finance at Monash University in Melbourne and an experienced mountain climber. She succumbed to illness Saturday afternoon somewhere between Camps IV and III, Mr. Sherpa said. | The Australian woman was Maria Strydom, 34, a lecturer on finance at Monash University in Melbourne and an experienced mountain climber. She succumbed to illness Saturday afternoon somewhere between Camps IV and III, Mr. Sherpa said. |
| A separate team of climbers appeared to run into potentially deadly trouble around the same time, according to media reports. A trekking company official told The Press Trust of India, a news agency, that two Indian climbers were missing after reaching the summit early Saturday. | A separate team of climbers appeared to run into potentially deadly trouble around the same time, according to media reports. A trekking company official told The Press Trust of India, a news agency, that two Indian climbers were missing after reaching the summit early Saturday. |
| More than 250 people have died trying to climb Everest since the first recorded ascent in 1953. Researchers have found that they most often die during the descent, after being ravaged by low pressure, oxygen scarcity and severe cold in what is called the death zone, above 26,000 feet. Victims commonly show symptoms of high-altitude cerebral edema, a fatal swelling in the brain. | More than 250 people have died trying to climb Everest since the first recorded ascent in 1953. Researchers have found that they most often die during the descent, after being ravaged by low pressure, oxygen scarcity and severe cold in what is called the death zone, above 26,000 feet. Victims commonly show symptoms of high-altitude cerebral edema, a fatal swelling in the brain. |
| Favorable weather this climbing season, which runs from March through May, has allowed hundreds of climbers to reach the summit of Everest, after two years of tragedy on the mountain. | Favorable weather this climbing season, which runs from March through May, has allowed hundreds of climbers to reach the summit of Everest, after two years of tragedy on the mountain. |
| In 2014, an avalanche killed 16 Nepalese. Then, in April 2015, a series of earthquakes in the country killed nearly 9,000 people, including at least 18 who were at the mountain’s base camp. Climbing expeditions were canceled, and last year not one climber scaled Everest. | In 2014, an avalanche killed 16 Nepalese. Then, in April 2015, a series of earthquakes in the country killed nearly 9,000 people, including at least 18 who were at the mountain’s base camp. Climbing expeditions were canceled, and last year not one climber scaled Everest. |
| Mr. Sherpa said on Sunday that the rest of the Seven Summit Treks team on the mountain, which is being led by a Dutch climber, Arnold Coster, was still making its way down. They would assess later how to retrieve the two bodies, he said. | Mr. Sherpa said on Sunday that the rest of the Seven Summit Treks team on the mountain, which is being led by a Dutch climber, Arnold Coster, was still making its way down. They would assess later how to retrieve the two bodies, he said. |
| In an article about Ms. Strydom’s love of climbing, published in March on the Monash Business School’s website, she said that she felt well prepared for the Everest climb, and that after the attempt she would take a hot shower and then “turn to the next adventure.” | In an article about Ms. Strydom’s love of climbing, published in March on the Monash Business School’s website, she said that she felt well prepared for the Everest climb, and that after the attempt she would take a hot shower and then “turn to the next adventure.” |
| Her mother posted a picture on Facebook on Saturday of herself and her daughter on a cruise ship, smiling and holding cocktail glasses. “I’m just too devastated to communicate, sorry,” she wrote. | Her mother posted a picture on Facebook on Saturday of herself and her daughter on a cruise ship, smiling and holding cocktail glasses. “I’m just too devastated to communicate, sorry,” she wrote. |
| Mr. Arnold said in an interview in February on a Dutch radio program that he understood the risks in challenging the world’s tallest peak. | Mr. Arnold said in an interview in February on a Dutch radio program that he understood the risks in challenging the world’s tallest peak. |
| “It isn’t a death wish, but a kind of zest for life,” he said of his desire to make the climb. “For me, it lies in the mountains. And, apparently, getting a bit closer to the edge of life makes life even more beautiful for me.” | “It isn’t a death wish, but a kind of zest for life,” he said of his desire to make the climb. “For me, it lies in the mountains. And, apparently, getting a bit closer to the edge of life makes life even more beautiful for me.” |