Mountaineer Nick Hollis: ‘incompetent climbers’ driving Everest death toll

Stepping over long-dead bodies of frozen climbers as he sought to reach the summit of Everest was something for which Nick Hollis was mentally prepared. But even this seasoned mountaineer could not have imagined there would be so many fresh ones.

The 45-year-old British climber has just conquered Everest and completed all Seven Summits of the world - putting him into an elite group of around 500 people globally who have scaled the highest mountains on all seven continents.

His final summit - the 8,850-metre (29,035-foot) peak of Everest in the Himalayas - was made “much tougher than expected”, partly due to the presence of too many slow and inexperienced climbers, perilous to themselves and others.

Nepalese officials say 11 people have died on Everest this season - nine on the Nepali side and two on the Tibetan side, making this the deadliest season since 2015.

The Nepalese government issued a record 381 permits this year, each costing $11,000. With essential Sherpas and guides adding to the numbers, this meant there were more than 800 people trying to reach the summit in a year when the so-called “weather window” was a narrow few days in late May.

Most dangerous, in his view, is the growing count of “incompetent climbers” who move very slowly through technical sections of the route, creating bottlenecks and long delays.

He describes the “utterly remarkable” sight of people at Base Camp, who plan to attempt the summit, yet don’t have basic climbing skills such as how to use crampons or secure a harness.

“These people are complete beginners,” Hollis said.

“When the going gets tough...they become very slow and they’re unable to get through the obstacles and the more technical sections. That’s what creates the bottlenecks.”

With oxygen supplies limited, delays can be deadly.

Simply cutting permit numbers is unlikely to solve the problem, Hollis said. As he puts it: “If you were to restrict the number of permits down to say 200, you could still have 100 incompetent climbers within that mix.”

Much better, he said, would be a screening process. “You’d need to provide a climbing CV ... with a certain level of experience before you’re able to set foot on the mountain.”