The eleventh death on the Mount Qomolangma slopes this year

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01:10

An American climber died on Monday on the descent from the summit of Mount Qomolangma, also known as Mount Everest, taking the death toll this year of the world's highest mountain to 11.

Christopher John Kulish, a 61-year-old American attorney, died on the Nepalese side of the mountain after scaling the 8,850-meter peak from the normal Southeast Ridge route in the morning and descending from the top along South Col, according to the Nepal tourism department official.

The cause of the sudden death was still unclear, according to the Nepal authorities.

Rather than avalanches, blizzards or high winds, exhaustion and tiredness have been blamed for most of the deaths on Qomolangma this year, media reported, which are even aggravated by delays due to the crowded route to and from the summit.

Hundreds of the mountain climbers line up to stand at the summit of Mount Qomolangma, May 22, 2019. /VCG Photo

"Traffic jam" was the word climber Tsering Tashi, who had just reached the summit on May 23, used to describe the scene to the media, who witnessed 30 people reaching the top at the same time.

Given the window time of the good weather is short and limited, the lead-up "traffic jam" caused Tashi a delaying of three hours before reaching the summit, yet time is enormously valuable for many climbers as it could mean life or death at that altitude.

Ending this month, the climbing season has taken 381 climbers permitted to scale the summit from the Nepalese side of the mountain and 130 others from the mountain's northern side in China's Tibet Autonomous Region.

Among the 11 victims, nine of them died on the Nepalese side and two on the Chinese side.

So far, about 5,000 people have made it to the Qomolangma summit, yet about 300 lost their lives among people who were trying to do so.

Source(s): Reuters