An American climber died Sunday on his way to the summit of Mount Everest , expedition organisers said, the latest death to mar the ongoing climbing season.
The 50 -year -old mountaineer died close to the Balcony , a small platform above the 8 , 000-metre mark considered the mountain ’s “ death zone ” .
“ An American climber has died around the Balcony area. We are trying to get more details ,” Murari Krishna Sharma of Everest Parivar Expedition , a private mountaineering company , told AFP.
The death zone is notorious for its difficult terrain and thin air, where low levels of oxygen heighten the risk of altitude sickness .
A search is also underway for an Indian climber who lost contact after reaching the summit of the world ’s tallest mountain Saturday .
His Nepali guide was found unconscious at Camp 4 , just below 8 ,000 metres , with severe frostbite .
“ He has been out of reach since yesterday. We have sent a search and rescue team, ” said Thupden Sherpa of Arun Treks and Expeditions , another private climbing outfit .
It is the third death so far this climbing season .
Legendary Swiss climber Ueli Steck died late April while on an acclimatization climb , and 85-year -old Min Bahadur Sherchan perished attempting to reclaim his title as the world ’s oldest person to summit Everest .
Last year five people lost their lives on the world ’ s highest peak . Another 443 successfully summited from the Nepal side , and another 197 made it to the top from the north side in Tibet .
Since the first summit of Everest in 1953 more than 300 people — most of them locals – have died attempting to scale Everest and Lhotse , which share the same route until diverting at Camp 3 at 7 ,200 metres .
Despite the risks and recent disasters , Everest ’s allure remains undimmed , with Nepal issuing 375 permits for this year ’ s spring climbing season.
Mountaineering is a major revenue-earner for the impoverished Himalayan nation but tragedies cancelled two consecutive years of climbing at Everest .
In 2014 , the season was called off after an avalanche killed 16 Nepali guides.
A devastating earthquake triggered another avalanche at the base camp in 2015, leaving 18 dead.

http://punchng.com/american-climber-dies-on-everest-indian-missing/

Just went up to kill yourself