Traffic Jam On Everest: The Story of the 2019 Mt. Everest Overcrowding Disaster

The first expedition with the goal of making it to the summit of Mount Everest occurred in 1922. The expedition ended in failure and it wasn’t until over 30 years later when some one was confirmed to have reached the summit. Edmund Hillary and Tenzig Norgay achieved this incredible feat on May 29th, 1953. Since then, more mountaineers were able to reach the summit such as the legendary Jim Whitaker, the first American to summit Everest, who accomplished the feat in 1963. Throughout the 50’s and 60’s, only 24 climbers reached the summit. These were expeditions reserved only for the elite of the elite and consisted only of experienced and expert climbers. The casual every day person couldn’t just decide to climb Everest. It would be the same as deciding to pay some money go on a trip to the Moon – unfortunately, such a trip was reserved for astronauts only.

Then, in the 90’s that changed. The once desolate and inhospitable landscape of Mount Everest, which at one time contained only a few signs that any human had ever been there, became a source of massive source of income for the country of Nepal. They figured out that they can charge rich and ambitious Westerners just to try climb their mountain – the tallest one in the world - and the Westerners would actually pay. Experienced mountaineers like Rob Hall and Scott Fischer saw a business opportunity and started their own companies, offering to guide a group of individuals interested in reaching the summit of Everest. This led to the 1996 Everest Disaster, in which both Hall and Fischer lost their lives. Incredibly, it only fueled the desire for many to go give Everest a go, in part due to the success of Jon Krakauer’s book Into Thin Air. Krakauer was a survivor of the 1996 expedition.

From Hillary and Norgay’s accomplishment all the way through 1989, a 36 year period, less than 300 people reached the summit of Mount Everest. Then, in the decade of the 1990’s alone, 885 made it. And that was just the beginning. Nepal was making tens of millions of dollars as thousands of Westerners, most of whom were not experienced mountaineers, paid big bucks for a shot at reaching the summit. Throughout the decade of the 2000’s, about 3,425 people reached the summit. As these climbing seasons became busier and busier, the issue of overcrowding became a concern. However, due to the large profits, the Nepalese government has refused to put a cap on the number of climbing permits it sells.

Like the 1996 disaster, as more horrific tragedies occurred, the allure to climb the mountain only increased and by the 2010’s the traffic was getting out of hand. Every year a new record number of climbers showed up, and as social media became a thing – where sharing photos and experiences with others online is so important – climbing Everest became even more popular. Fortunately, serious overcrowding had not caused a major disaster yet, because there were usually multiple windows of opportunity to make a final summit push, so different groups set out on different days during the climbing season. Normally, there is a window of around 8-11 days that allows for a summit attempt. However, sooner or later, if the weather did not allow multiple days of opportunities, a disaster was waiting to happen. And in 2019, when about 800 people tried to reach the summit of Everest, that potential disaster became a reality. The same amount of people who reached the summit throughout the entire decade of the 90’s were making their push at the same time.

Every year, there are deaths on Everest – usually from altitude sickness, exhaustion, hypothermia or a terrible fall. Inexperienced climbers, especially if led by an incompetent guide, are at the most risk, especially if things start go south, as they did in 2019. Around mid-April, most of the hopeful summiters were at Base Camp and everything seemed normal. A team of Sherpas called the Icefall Doctors had already prepared the route through the Khumbu Icefall by installing ladders across crevasses, fixing ropes and pegs and making ice routes to Camp 2.

Then, in early May, Cylone Fani hit the Indian State of Odisha. Despite being 560 miles from Nepal, the cyclone did not spare the mountain as winds and snow battered both sides of Everest. This caused major delays for the climbers and was only the first setback of the 2019 Everest climbing season. Once the winds and snow from Fani subsided, it was discovered that there was a severe jet stream on the top of Everest preventing rope-fixers and hopeful-summiters to climb above 7,000 meters. The jet was severe, with winds well over 80 MPH. It needed to get down under 30 before any one could make a summit attempt.

As the first three weeks May passed, the jet only subsided long enough for a few very strong climbers to make the summit. Not all of the early climbers made it, though. Shay Lawless of Ireland and Ravi Thakar of India were the first two to die on Everest during the 2019 climbing season. Around 750 people were still waiting for their shot at the summit. Analysts were hopeful for about a 9 day window from May 20th to the 30th, which would give all 750 people an opportunity to make the summit without serious overcrowding. Unfortunately, that window started to close as the forecast changed and it looked like the only clear days would be May 22nd through the 24th before the jet returned with a vengeance on the 25th. With such a small window and not wanting to be stuck near the top of the mountain when the jet returned, hundreds of climbers prepared to depart for their assault on the summit on the evening of May 21st.

The result of so many climbers, many of whom were inexperienced and climbing in high altitude for the first time, was absolutely devastating. A massive line of climbers stood in the Death Zone, using up precious oxygen while barely moving if at all. The Death Zone refers to an altitude over 8,000 meters, where life cannot be sustained for an extended amount of time even with supplemental oxygen. Climbers who spend too much time in the Death Zone will lose vital functions of their brain and organs. Even if they are able to continue moving, their decision making becomes much weaker leading to accidents such as deadly falls.

Even the stronger climbers who were able to summit on the morning of May 22nd ran into the dense crowd on the way down. There was only one safety line for each climber to clip onto and a very narrow lane for climbers to safely follow. Those coming down wanted priority since they had summited and just needed to get down, but those climbing felt they deserved it since they still needed to get to the top. Even on the North side of the mountain, where crowds are usually not a problem, there were about 150 people going for the summit at the same time, causing massive overcrowding.

As the climbers spent more and more hours in the death zone, their bodies began to fail them. Most experienced and professional climbers have an extra gear they can tap into – a level of determination that the average every day person who just wanted to get a photo for their Instagram account on the top of Everest likely doesn’t have. Furthermore, professional climbers know techniques and strategies to conserve energy and keep moving. The result was many inexperienced climbers barely moving or completely stopping, holding up the traffic jam even more. Even for a climber who had the experience and training, with the ability and desire to move quicker, all they could do was wait in the queue.

Most of the climbers eventually made it to the summit, but many died on the way down. Spending as many as 20 hours in the Death Zone as opposed to the typical 10-12 hours during most climbs has to be one of the primary contributors. Donald Cash of Utah was one of those people who spent entirely too much time in the Death Zone. He made it to the summit but fainted due to altitude sickness shortly thereafter. He died on the Hillary Step and was left to rest on the mountain. After that, an Indian man named Nihal Bagwan succumbed to exhaustion during descent. “Bagwan died of dehydration, exhaustion and tiredness after being caught in the jam of climbers,” said Keshab Paudel of the Peak Promotion hiking agency that handled the climber’s logistics. Three more people died that same day during their descent.

All told, 11 people died during the 2019 Everest season, 9 of altitude sickness or exhaustion during descent. The last person to pass away was Christopher Jon Kulish, a lawyer from Boulder, Colorado, who reached the summit, joining the exclusive 7-Summit Club, having scaled the highest mountain in each of the 7 continents. He had a cardiac event during descent and tragically passed away. Considering the sheer amount of people attempting to summit at the same, many of whom were very inexperienced, the death toll could have been much worse. Imagine a horrible storm or avalanche hitting just as hundreds of climbers are stuck in a massive traffic jam right within the Death Zone. In order to avoid overcrowding in the future, the northern side of the mountain’s country, Tibet, set a limit on climbing permits to 300 per year.

Unfortunately, other than that, not a lot was done to prevent such a disaster in the future and the 2023 Everest climbing season, which is currently going on, is on pace to be the deadliest of all time. 13 climbers and sherpas have been confirmed dead and another 4 are missing. Unsurprisingly, the number of permits being handed out to climbers continues to set records every year. Even marathons have a limit and can be sold out in order to prevent too many runners being in the same place at the same time. It is understandable that Everest is a massive source of income for Nepal, but common sense would dictate that there needs to be a limit on climbing permits, which so far Nepal has not put in place.

Two-thousand-nineteen was one of the deadliest seasons in Everest history. What is shocking is that it wasn’t the work of a storm or avalanche but simply the sheer number of people climbing the mountain. “Crowds, while not the only reason people die on Everest, slow a climber’s pace and thus increase their fatigue and use of oxygen,” Alan Arnette wrote for Outside in 2019. “Some of these climbers who died spent 10 to 12 hours to get to the summit and four to six hours to get back down to the South Col. In other words, a 14- to 18-hour day in some of the world’s most inhospitable terrain.”

That same season, climber Nirmal Purja captured the viral photo of a traffic jam on the way to the Hillary Step.