Best views, weather, etc. How to test them 👓 SC, Ala. sites look back Betty Ford honored
NEWS
Mount Everest

Deaths, rescue mark perilous weekend on Mount Everest

John Bacon
USA TODAY
Nepalese Pemba Sherpa shows the spot on a map where a Dutch man and an Australian woman reportedly died at Camp 4 of Mount Everest, Nepal, on May 22, 2016. The two climbers died after summiting Mount Everest due to apparent altitude sickness on descent.  EPA/NARENDRA SHRESTHA

At least two climbers were missing Sunday on Mount Everest and three others were rescued on the same weekend that the world's largest mountain claimed its first two fatalities of the climbing season, authorities said.

Wangchu Sherpa, director of Trekking Camp Nepal, told the Himalayan Times that his team had lost track of four Indian climbers Saturday night. Sherpas rescued two people who were suffering from severe illness and snow blindness, he said.

The third rescue involved the airlift of a woman who was descending the mountain with another team when she suffered severe frostbite, said Pemba Sherpa, manager at Seven Summit Treks.

“It took a big and risky effort, but we were able to save her,” Pemba Sherpa told the Associated Press.

Nepal mountaineering authorities said Sunday that dozens of climbers had taken ill on the mountain in recent days. On Friday night, a climber who reached the summit of Mount Everest died on the way down from apparent altitude sickness, and a woman climber in his group died hours later.

2 climbers die on way down Everest

Eric Arnold, 35, a Dutchman from Rotterdam, had reached the summit on his fifth attempt just hours before his death. Early Saturday, Australian climber Maria Strydom, 34, who was trekking with her husband, died after losing her battle with altitude sickness.

Family members, in consultation with mountaineers, will determine if the arduous task of reclaiming the bodies from the mountain will be attempted.

When weather permits, Everest draws hundreds of climbers each year seeking its summit. Reaching it, however, is literally only half the battle. The climb down can be treacherous as exhausted climbers race the clock and sometimes weather to return to safe altitudes.

Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary made the first official ascent of Everest, known in Nepal as Sagarmāthā, in 1953. Since then, thousands of climbers have successfully reached its summit, but more than 200 climbers have died in the effort.

Featured Weekly Ad