Two Mount Everest Climbers Die As 30 Climbers Suffer Frostbite And Altitude Sickness At The Top

Two Mount Everest climbers died of altitude sickness on the world’s highest mountain, and they are the first two deaths on the mountain in 2016, according to the Guardian. Both victims were on the same expedition team and died within hours of each other.

Motivational speaker and professional mountain climber, Eric Arnold, a 35-year-old Dutch man, had enough bottled oxygen and climbing partners but complained of feeling weakness on his way back down Mount Everest. After suffering from weakness and frostbite, he died Friday near South Col before he was able to get to a lower altitude.

According to Arnold’s Twitter account, he was from Rotterdam. He tweeted on Friday that he reached Everest’s summit on his fifth try before dying later that night.

Bergbeklimmer Eric Arnold bereikt top Mount Everest bij vijfde poging https://t.co/oeswLrfXyd pic.twitter.com/991NvMg6Op

— Eric Arnold (@EricArnold8850) May 20, 2016

Translated from Dutch, Arnold’s tweet read, “Mountaineer Eric Arnold reached top Mount Everest at fifth attempt.”

Arnold told RTV Rijnmond in an interview earlier this year that the risks of climbing Everest continue even after reaching the summit.

“Two-thirds of the accidents happen on the way down,” he said. “If you get euphoric and think ‘I have reached my goal,’ the most dangerous part is still ahead of you.”

USA Today reports Arnold’s personal website was taken down and replaced with an “In Memoriam” photo of the Everest climber.

Hours after Arnold died, a second Everest climber from his expedition showed signs of altitude sickness. Maria Strydom, a 34-year-old Australian finance lecturer at Monash University’s business school in Melbourne, died Saturday afternoon. Strydom’s husband, Rob Gropel, was injured on the way down.

Strydom and her husband’s goal was to climb the highest peaks on the seven continents, according to the university’s website. They climbed Denali in Alaska, Aconcagua in Argentina, Mount Ararat in Turkey, and Kilamanjaro in Tanzania.

Before her attempt to climb Everest, Strydom said she felt completely prepared and would start thinking about her next climb depending on whether she reached the summit of Everest.

Strydom’s sister, Aletta Newman, said she found out about her sister’s death on Everest from a Google alert with a Himalayan Times story and didn’t know the exact cause of death.

“That is the absolute first I’d heard of it. We just don’t have answers and we would really like to have some.”

Pasang Phurba of the Seven Summits agency said it isn’t clear when and if the bodies of Arnold and Strydom will be brought down from the high altitude of Everest. It will depend on the team and family members. At least eight Sherpa guides will be needed since bodies become frozen and heavier to carry.

“We are waiting for the expedition leader and other climbers of the group to come down to base camp,” Phurba said. “We will then discuss [retrieving] her [Strydom’s] body. It cannot be left to lie as it is there.”

More details were not available due to poor communication with the crew on Everest, the New York Daily News reports.

In addition to the two deaths, 30 Everest climbers were injured by severe frostbite or altitude sickness near the summit, Mountaineering Department official Gyanendra Shrestha said on Sunday. Most of the climbers suffered from frostbite.

A 45-year-old Norwegian climber, Siv Harstad, was rescued by Sherpa guides after suffering snow blindness, a painful loss of vision after overexposure to UV rays. She was brought down from the summit on Saturday.

One Indian climber was unable to move due to severe frostbite afflicting her hands and feet. She was carried by several Sherpa guides to a lower camp where they attempted to have her rescued by helicopter, Pemba Sherpa of the Seven Summits Treks agency in Kathmandu said.

More than 250 people have died while attempting to climb Mount Everest since 1953. Everest is said to be the world’s highest mountain at 29,035 feet. Since May 11, nearly 400 climbers have reached the summit from Nepal due to favorable weather conditions. Several people have also climbed Everest from Tibet. Climbing season takes place from March to late May.