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| Mrs. Kalpana Das sportslogon.com |
In this year's climbing season, the death of climbers on Mt. Everest has occurred in quick succession no mountaineering clubs/ schools would have thought about this unexpected tragedy in a short period. There are many reasons attributed for the death of so many people - more than 12 this year. Three main reasons appear to be the contributing factors - first, the issuance of as many as 381 permits (cost of each permit is $ 11000 ) to the prospective climbers, the availability of small window of suitable weather on the higher slopes - oxygen - starved death zone in this short season and most importantly long wait in the line. The resultant traffic jam on both ways going up and coming down the mountain. led to slow depletion of oxygen canisters climbers carried with them. This meant before running out of oxygen, they had to be squeezed within the short weather windows to achieve their goal - scaling the peak and getting back to the safe zone where they could breathe comfortably. A difficult job to do in a tough and rugged terrain above 28000 feet from msl.
The unfortunate fact is many who died on Everest this season were experienced climbers. One among them was a 52-year old woman
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| 2019 human traffic on Everest. sportstar.thehindu.com/ |
Above image: This photo from climber Nirmal Purja's Project Possible expedition shows heavy traffic of mountain climbers lining up to stand at the summit of Mount Everest. Many teams had to line up for hours on May 22 to reach the summit, risking frostbites and altitude sickness, as a rush of climbers marked one of the busiest days on the world's highest mountain. The long line od climbers in the death zone is similar to the one you may find in front of a ballpark to get the ticket for the cricket match between Austalia and England....................
from Odisha state (Dhenkanal district). Kalpana Das was no stranger to this risk-ridden outdoor adventure sport. She successfully scaled Everest from Nepal in 2008 and became Odisha's first woman mountaineer, Kalpana died while descending after scaling Everest for the second time. She had scaled several peaks in India, Nepal, South America, Australia and Europe and gained lots of experience in high-altitude mountaineering. According to media reports, Kalpana had difficulty in walking after reaching the peak. When she became too weak move with the help of Sherpas, she made the descent. By the time they reached the balcony area, her breathing had stopped.
I am sure this daring woman's spirit of adventure and guts to face any worst situation on the high mountains, in spite of her age factor will inspire and instill confidence in young Indian women who like mountaineering.
https://sportstar.thehindu.com/other-sports/mount-everest-climber-deaths-kalpana-das-odisha-traffic-summit-safety-concerns-anjali-kulkarni-nihal-bagwan-nepal-tourism-news/article27238379.ece
http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2019/may/24/odishas-first-woman-mountaineer-kalpana-dies-1981118.html
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