Do you have dreams of summiting Mt Everest? Do you dream of the fame, the glory, and the bragging rights? Well get ready to have those dreams colored by some bodies wrapped up in festive parkas as we talk about the dead on the mountain and the colorful graveyard that may have you stepping over bodies on the way up. Join us on The Odder as we talk The Rainbow Valley and all its residents.
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Music Credits
"Ever Mindful" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Main Theme:
"Dream Catcher" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
- Hello and Welcome to the Odder podcast. I’m your host Madison Paige, and today we are zipping up our parkas, strapping on our snow boots, and making sure our oxygen is ready as we hike up the cold face of Mount Everest to the area known as the Rainbow Valley. A lovely name for a deadly place. I hope none of you minds the extreme cold as we set out for the hike of our life. So bundle up babes and let's go!
- Hi…It’s me…I’m back. I know it’s been a while. A full month actually. I truly apologize for the delay in episodes. I always told myself that I would never miss an episode but that was wishful thinking because life truly wrapped itself around my feet. Unfortunately, I had several personal upheavals in the past month that led to me packing up my two cats and moving several states away from my Old Kentucky Home. That’s right, The Odder is now coming to you from a whole new venue. I am now sitting in a little one bedroom apartment and I tell you this because you may now hear some background noise either from my neighbors, the renovations going on, or from the neighboring garage. I will try to keep the audio as clean as I can but you know, little things like that just slip in some times. I am thankful for all of you who held out for my brief break as I got resituated and are back for the next episode as today. Welcome also to any of my new Oddees. If you like the episode, give us a follow and a review. They really do help. And today to get back into the swing of things, we are talking about one of my favorite topics, The Rainbow Valley. Ever since a college anthropology professor showed a documentary about this place in one of my classes, I have been fascinated by it. We are going to talk about What it is, Where it is, What causes it, and Some of the most famous residents. Let me go ahead and get a warning out of the way, I am going to be discussing death and if you so choose to google some pictures of the people listed, some of them can be graphic. Peep at your own risk. For this episode, I recommend a fuzzy blanket, a warm cup of hot chocolate, and something sweet as we travel out to Mount Everest with our guides and our maps as we try to follow the footsteps up to the peak.
- Mount Everest is something of a legend at this point. It’s reputed as the highest mountain on earth at 29,031.7 feet tall. A beautiful picture going from lush greenery at its base to snowy caps, this gorgeous natural wonder attracts hundreds of climbers yearly. To some, summiting Mount Everest is a lifelong dream and an accomplishment to write on a grave. Unfortunately for many others though the mountain has become their Grave. Falling prey to lack of oxygen, avalanches, and fatigue, many climbers never return from their attempt. No where else is this more prevalent than The area known as the Rainbow Valley.
- With a name as sweet as the Rainbow Valley, you might be fooled into thinking this a place of peace. A beautiful place where the sun glimmers on the snow. However, the truth behind the Valley is that the name comes from the smattering of different colored coats and boots of the many unfortunate who have fallen and never rose again. The Valley is below the northern ridge of Mt Everest above the altitude of 8000m. This is known as the death zone and is where most of the climber’s will perish. Out of all of Mt Everest currently recorded, of which you can find lists that are still being updated to this day, over 300 have died in the valley.
- Now why is 8000m the cut off point? Unfortunately it all has to do with oxygen, that vital life fuel. Above this point, the level drops significantly and the mount available is only about ⅓ of the normal level. Layer this on top of the extreme strain the body undertakes in the climb and it is a recipe for disaster.
- In 2019, The Himalayan Database clocked that almost 5.000 people had climbed to the top of the mountain. Of that number 295 of those perished. And remember this is a number of people who have reached the top, most die before they do. According to the BBC, the majority of deaths are due to avalanche at 41.6 percent, close behind is those who succumb to Acute Mountain Disease or Altitude sickness, at 22.2 percent. The rest of the deaths are covered by either Fall, Exhaustion, or even disappearance as some people have gone up and simply vanished leaving us to speculate their fate.
- Many climbers have taken to using the bodies as mile markers, some laying in such a way that to cross the narrow and treacherous paths you must step over the dead. Their puffy jackets, neon boots, and in some cases flags of their countries that have been draped over dot the mountain like splashes of color. They are left where they fell or crawled or laid, their bodies remaining in most cases forever.
- But why is this? To most people this sounds barbaric. Leaving the dead in the open? Stepping over bodies? What about a proper burial? In most cases, it simply isn't possible. To survive on mount everest you have to keep moving and trying to recover a body in most cases will make you another victim. The list of the dead on Mount Everest are dotted with good intentioned treks to retrieve a friend, a lover, or even a stranger that ended with the rescuer joining the valley. And while there are those who are successful in their endeavors, most do take the chance. However, let’s say you know one of the bodies in the Rainbow Valley and you want to retrieve it. The cost is more than 70k dollars. And that doest guarantee it. Helicopters cannot be used due to high winds, extreme weather is present 24/7 at that altitude, and the recovery of one takes several to achieve.
- So what horrors do these climbers face that ultimately bring most of them down? Mount Everest is truly a place where you are fighting nature constantly. Avalanches claim many lives, most notably events such as the 2015 Nepal Earthquake that caused an avalanche claiming the lives of 22 fatalities and the 2014 Mount Everest avalanche which took another 16. In an avalanche, you have about 15 minutes to save survivors. Most people that survive the initial incident are buried in snow and it essentially works the same as being buried alive in soil. Carbon Dioxide builds up in the snow surrounding the nose and mouth of the victim and they quickly succumb to the poisoning. And that is only if they didn't sustain some other injury. Several Avalanche victims have been recovered and found to have injuries from their own ice picks, rocks, and other debris.
- Altitude sickness is another heavy danger. Caused by a thinning of oxygen in the air, this is sometimes called mountain sickness. Anytime you go above the 8.000 m, you are on standing on a bomb and it is ticking away. While this is not a viral or bacterial illness, the symptoms to other illnesses are very similar. The victim may first experience moderate symptoms such as headache, dizziness, nausea and maybe vomiting, they will feel fatigue and have shortness of breath. IT will progress into trouble walking, a loss of coordination, the headache will worsen to the point no medication can help it, and their chest will feel tight and constricting. The final stages will show confusion, inability to catch their breath even while resetting. They will stop being able to walk and will start coughing up a frothy substance. Altitude Sickness claims its victims after they slip into a coma with death shortly following. Many of these victims that you encounter on the mountain will have the appearance of simply resting. They will be laying in alcoves, sitting up against their packs, or leaned over as if they just stopped for a breather. Not every victim will progress through all these symptoms, some will be quickly claimed by a cardiac episode. Even young and healthy climbers fall prey to heart attacks from the incredible strain their bodies are under.
- Falls are another major death toll on explorers. Crevasses are hidden crackin in the underlying layer of ice that become covered by snow. A climber, unaware of the lurking danger, takes one wrong step and plummets to their death. Rescues from Crevasses are nearly impossible. Some areas of the path consist of ladders secured with ice screws that must be carefully balanced on. A fall from one without a rope or even one with a rope can lead to broken bones and head injuries. This is actually illustrated in the sneak peek for this episode. Falls off of cliffs, slides down ice flows, or even just falling over and not having the strength to stand back up are dangers that shadow every explorer. Even other explorers are starting to pose a real danger. After a certain point, the climb is made reliant on fixed lines and climbing with rope. Using a jumar or a hand ascender ( that fancy thing you see in all the movies where they are holding like this little round clip and they slide it up the rope and it pulls them up) yep. Well the problem is as more and more people want to climb the mountain, there are actually starting to be lines at certain climbing points that are so narrow only one can pass on these lines. Climbing companies that are paid to lead explorers all go at the same time. This led to people literally stopping and waiting their turn but as I said before you have to keep moving to survive mount everest. Stopping leads to a loss of body heat, wasting of oxygen, and exhaustion. Anyone who runs or does any other kind of endurance sport knows that when you get going you kind of have to stay going or you lose those endorphins and that motivation to make it to the finish line.
- These dangers are not just faced on the way up, those who go up must come down and many perrish on the way back. To climb Mount Everest is to be trying to out trek death the whole time. You are fighting Mother Nature and she is fighting you back. Unfortunately, a lot of people have lost their lives chasing one of the biggest thrills known to man.
- One of the most talked about, most referenced bodies on Mount Everest is one referred to as Green Boots. I will be putting a picture of Green Boots on the socials, he is the one where the Green Boots. Now for the longest time, nobody knew who Green Boots was. There was speculation and we now have two possible answers. He is or was an unidentified body used as a landmark on the main Northeast Ridge route at about 8.500 m. The body was angled into a small cave and the boots stuck out the mouth of it. Green Boots was believed to be a victim of Altitude Sickness. Now Green Boots was actually moved in 2014 to a less conspicuous location and you'll see that a lot. A lot of bodies can be taken off the mountain but some are able to move them out of the path. Now Green Boots was believed to be an Indian Climber named Tsewang Paljor (Ta-wang Pal-jor)who was wearing Green Koflach boots on the day he and two others in his part attempted to summit the mountain in 1996. However, it is also speculated that another member of his party named Dorje Morup (Door-je More-up) may also be Green Boots.
- On May 10th, 1996 Morup and Paljor were both part of a team caught in a blizzard just short of the summer. While three of the six member team turned back, Morup, Paljor, and another member chose to go for it. At around 3:45pm the three climbers radioed their expedition leader that they had made it to the top. They left an offering of prayer flags, Khatas, and Pitons. While the other members chose to stay to complete a religious ceremony, Paljor and Morup decided to head down. There was no radio contact. Keep in mind there is a blizzard happening during all of this. Back at the camp, team members saw two headlands moving above the area known as the second step which is about 8570 meters. None of the three made it back to the camp. The member that had stayed behind to perform a religious ceremony would later be found dead above the second step by a japanese group. This same group would later encounter Morup making slow progress on May 11th. However, neither he nor Paljor would make it down. Many believe that Green Boots is Paljor because they do match what he was last reported wearing. A report from a different group would also lead to believe that Morup was found lying under the shelter of a boulder close to Camp 6. He had intact clothing and his rucksack nearby. All three men became overwhelmed by the extreme weather, lack of oxygen, and exhaustion and perished.
- Another well noted body is often called Sleeping Beauty Everest. I’ll also be including a picture of her. Sleeping Beauty laid on her back with her arms crossed over her chest in a purple and black jacket with orange boots. She truly looks like she is just taking a nap. Her body would also be moved on MAy 23rd 2007 to a location away from view. Her name was Francys Arsentiev. She was born in Hawaii and grew up in Colorado. In 1992 She would marry Sergei Arsentiev. The couple became a climbing powerhouse and actually named one of the Russian peaks after they were the first to summit it. They called the Previous Peak 5800m Peak Goodwill. She would later become the first U.S woman to ski down Elbrus. With an already impressive record, she set out to become the first U.S woman to summit Everest without the use of Supplemental Oxygen. This is sad, be prepared.
- In May 1998, Francys and Sergei arrived at base camp. On the 17th, they ascended from advanced base camp to the North Col and were able to reach 7700 the following day. On may 19th, Sergei radioed that they were in good shape and had reached 8.203m. He stated they would start their summit attemo the following day at 1am. They started as planned but were forced to turn back after their headlamps failed. They tried one more on may 21st but were forced back once again. These two failed attempts left them with no choice to head back. However, they were struggling with the lack of supplemental oxygen and were forced to spend another night above 8.000m. At some point, the two became separated. Sergei made his way to camp expecting his wife to meet him there but she had not arrived. Strapping oxygen and medicine on his person, he reascended, determined to find her. Nobody knows what really happened but the most accepted account is that on May 23, Francys was found by an Uzbek team. She was half conscious and negatively affected by oxygen deprivation and frostbite. She was not able to move. They attempted to help her with oxygen and carried her as far as they could but their own fatigue overwhelmed them and they had to leave her behind. She was still alive at this point. As they continued their descent, they encountered Sergei. They would be the last to see him alive. On May 24th, several other climbers would encounter Francys. She was found where she had been left. Sergei’s ice ax and rope were identified nearby but he was not present. She was still alive. Several teams attempted to help her but the conditions would not allow anyone to linger long. She died where she lay still clipped into the guide rope. Sergei was declared missing until an expedition in 1999 discovered his body apparently dead from a fall while attempting to rescue the woman he loved.
- God that always gets me. So many people tried to help, her husband lost his life after being so close. It’s just a true illustration of how unforgiving the mountain can be.
- One of the best known bodies is that of George Mallory. He was an English mountaineer who took part in the first three British Expeditions to Mount Everest in the early 1920s. He developed a strong skill in climbing after an excursion to the alps in college. His abilities would continue to improve and in 1922 he took part in the second mount everest expedition where his team achieved a record of 8.225m without supplemental oxygen. A reporter asked him why he wanted to climb Everest and Mallory famously answer “Because it’s there”
- During the third expedition in 1924, Mallory and his climbing partner Andrew “Sandy” Irvine disappeared on the northeast ridge of everest. They were last spotted approximately 800 vertical feet from the summit. The two were marked as disappeared for 75 years until May 1 1999 when a research expedition that had specifically been sent to look for their remains found Mallory. His body was found face down and I’m not going to put a picture on the socials because his skin is visible and it could be disturbing. HE was discovered in a funnel shaped basin at about 8200m. His waist showed severe rope jerk hemorrhaging suggesting that Mallory had died following a slide or fall. Mallories injuries would have been fatal as well as crippling, his right foot was nearly broken off and he had a golf-ball sized puncture wound in his forehead. His unbroken leg was laying over the broken as if to protect it but Dr. Elliot Schwamm, a neurosurgeon stated that the severity of the head wound would have left him immediately unconscious following the injury and would have died quickly in the elements. It has been speculated that the puncture to his head was caused by his Ice ax. A likely scenario being that Mallory or Irvine fell while they were tied together. As Mallory was sliding down the basin, he had his ax in front of him trying to slow down but it struck a rock and bounced up, striking and killing him.
- Irvine’s body remains missing to this day. Although there is some speculation as to what happened to the two the only remains of Irvine ever produced was the locating of his ice ax which was found not far from Mallory. The best tool that could enlighten us on the fate of the two men would be the two Vest Pocket Kodak cameras that Irvine mentioned in his diary. Experts from Kodak have said that due to the chemical nature of the black and white film as well as the subzero temperatures if either of the cameras were recovered, the film could still be viable. The hope is to one day find Irvine's remains with a camera intact.
- Finally we come to the body referred to as The German Woman. Not that creative compared to the other entries but impactful nonetheless. Her name was Hannalore Schmatz which I think is just a beautiful name. She was a German mountaineer and the fourth woman to summit Mount Everest. She was also the First woman and First German citizen to die on everest. In October 1979, Hannalore was on a expedition via the South East Ridge with her husband Gerhard Schmatz. Garhard was the expedition leader and at 50 years old was the oldest man to summit Everest. The group was exhausted on their descent and even though the Sherpa’s warned them not to stop, they chose to rest at 8500m. One of their group died overnight and Hannalore was in bad shape come morning. She continued her descent but only made it to 8300m before she sat down against her pack, said “water,water” to her guide, and died. Her body would remain propped against her pack and many would encounter it and write about it for years. One man even lost his life trying to retrieve her remains. She was frozen with her eyes open and her hair blowing in the wind. I think the best description I found actually came from Arnes Naess Jr, the ex husband of Diane Ross who encountered her remains on his own trek.
- “It's not far now. I can't escape the sinister guard. Approximately 100 meters (300') above Camp IV she sits leaning against her pack, as if taking a short break. A woman with her eyes wide open and her hair waving in each gust of wind. It's the corpse of Hannelore Schmatz, the wife of the leader of a 1979 German expedition. She submitted, but died descending. Yet it feels as if she follows me with her eyes as I pass by. Her presence reminds me that we are here on the conditions of the mountain."
- I will also not be putting a picture of her on the socials and be warned, the pictures you may look up may be upsetting. Know your comfort levels, know what will upset you before you go hunting. There is no blood in any of these pictures but there is exposed bone and tendon in some.
- Hannelore would hold her watch under her remains were blown over the face of the mountain by high winds.
- Mount Everest’s dead also make it into the movies. In 2015 a biographical Survival Adventure movie called Everest was released featuring box office bigs like Jake Gyllenhaal, Josh Brolin, and Keira Knightly it illustrated the true story of the events of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster in which two expedition groups must fight for survival.
- SPOILER
- SPOILER SPOILER
- IF YOU WANT TO WATCH THIS MOVIE AND NOT KNOW WHAT HAPPENS SKIP AHEAD
- I’ll give you a second
- Are we all good?
- Ok so two of the characters Rob Hall and Scott Fishcher were real people and they really died on the mountain and they are still there. Rob Hall was a guide in his own company Adventure Consultants. He was part of a team that became trapped in the 1996 Blizzard. He died during an attempt at ascent. A similar fate awaited Scott Fishcher who died due to exhaustion after the group he was leading also got stuck in the blizzard. While the movie is not a fact for fact retelling, It’s kind of haunting to know that while you are sitting at home, munching popcorn, rooting for these characters to make it, their real life bodies are still up there.
- Mount Everest and her Rainbow Valley truly show us the extent of human perseverance. Even faced with stepping over bodies and camping next to them, people still choose to go back. Some choose to go to honor the dead, covering the bodies with their countries flags or moving them to a more discreet location. People have died before reaching their goal and died coming back from it. But we still try.
- That's one of the wonderful things about Humanity. We keep trying. We try again. We try even where others have failed. We want to believe if we try hard enough we can succeed. We go outside of everything we know to try something new. Something incredible. I have not summited Mount Everest but to try, what an adventure. I hope we all keep trying to reach the top of whatever difficulty we are facing.
Well, that's all for this episode. So what do you think? Do you think you could survive it? Who were you most intrigued by? What do you think happened to Irvine? Let us know what you think on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and leave a review. The Odder Pod is now on TikTok. Come follow us there! Have a suggestion for a show? Send me an email at theodderpod@gmail.com with your request and whether you’d like me to mention your name, your alias, or nothing at all. Remember this is The Odder Side so give me something cool, creepy, or confusing to deep dive for you. If you liked the show, leave us a review! They really help! I actually have a really important job interview on posting day so if you are listening to this on that day send me some good vibes. I want to thank all of you for sticking it out with me. The Odder Podcast posts every other Thursday. Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next time on The Odder side.