'He was on top of the world but never came home'

Maroosha Muzaffar on why so many climbers die on Everest

- Maroosha Muzaffar

Jason Bernard Kennison was told he would never walk again after a horrific accident in 2006, yet this month the Australian defied all his doctors’ expectations by climbing to the summit of Mount Everest. He did not make it back down the mountain, having fallen ill on the descent. “He stood on top of this world but sadly didn’t come home,” his grieving family in Perth said.

Kennison spent 17 years learning to walk again following the accident that left him with spinal injuries. His climb was to raise money for the charity Spinal Cord Injuries Australia – instead, he became one of a growing number of mountaineers losing their lives climbing Everest.

The world’s tallest mountain has already claimed 11 lives since April, when the climbing season began. Though no one agency collates statistics on Everest casualties, on average it is believed that between three and five climbers perish each season. This year, the Nepal government issued 478 permits to climb Mount Everest, local media reported. The previous record was 409 for 2021.

Nepal has eight of the world’s 14 highest peaks. According to Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism, until 14 May, the government generated a revenue of $5.8m from mountain tourism, $5m from Everest alone.

Mountaineering experts have criticised the move to increase the number of permits. “The challenges with more climbers on the mountain will be potential traffic jams on the climbing route, especially if the weather windows are few and far between. This can lead to climbers running out of oxygen and facing exhaustion/exposure,” says Garrett Madison, president of USbased Madison Mountaineering.