Trash, Crowds, And Dead Bodies: Climbing Mount Everest In 2023

Published

2 years ago

June 14, 2023

admin

For most people, hearing the name Mount Everest brings to mind images of a pristine snow capped peak, perhaps with a brave climber standing atop it with an arm raised in triumph. After all, this person must have reached the pinnacle of human achievement by ascending the worlds highest mountain.

Does it get any better than that?

This idyllic view of Everest is slowly being erased, however, as stories about the mountains harsh realities make the rounds on social media. Its already widely understood that not everyone who tries to make it to the top of the world makes it back down. But thats only the beginning of the drama.

Located between Nepal and Tibet, Mount Everest is the worlds tallest peak. This majestic mountain sits at 29,029 feet above sea level. Oxygen is so thin at the top that its called the death zone. This is where even the most experienced climbers succumb to their bodies breaking down and for some, that means extreme sickness or even death.

Since the 1900s, more than 300 people have died trying to scale the icy terrain of Everest. Per an Insider report, 2023 is shaping up to be a particularly deadly year, with 12 climbers pronounced dead already and 5 still missing. Two factors contributing to these high rates of fatality are altitude sickness and overcrowding on the mountain.

Westend61. Getty Images.

Despite its risks, climbing Mount Everest has become more popular than ever blame it on social media, boredom, or just people inherently wanting to one-up each other. No matter the reason, the increased interest in scaling the worlds highest peak is now so extreme that new guidelines were instituted for this year.

These rules include stipulations prohibiting solo climbers (everyone must have a trained sherpa). All climbers must have successfully climbed a peak at least 7,000 feet high previously. People over 75, double amputees, and blind persons are all prohibited from climbing.

Its all part of an effort to stop overcrowding. Filmmaker and director Jennifer Peedom told Insider, It is extremely overcrowded now and just getting more and more every year.

The publication noted that Nepal issued a record 463 permits to people who want to climb Mount Everest during the 2023 season, meaning about 900 people will jostle to reach the summit this year alone. Things get dicey in May when wind dies down and temperatures warm. This is when theres a literal line up the mountain, with climbers pushing their way to the top.

Many people are aware of the fact that Everest is littered with dead bodies because its too costly and dangerous to remove them. But what fewer observers realize is that the mountain is also littered with trash. And theres a lot of it.

A video of the garbage-strewn base camp went viral on Instagram in mid-May, just ahead of the 70th anniversary of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgays ascending Everest for the first time on May 29, 1953. The duo is believed to be the first to reach the mountains peak.

Jam Press Vid/@tenzi_sherpa1999

The post came from mountain guide Tenzi Sherpa, who has been guiding climbers to the summit since 2019. The dirtiest camp I have ever seen, he wrote in the caption .

I think the government should make strict rules for those who leave trash [on Mount Everest], and a more effective cleaning campaign project should be held, the guide told Newsweek about his video post.

As concerning as the trash piles are among the white snow, the sherpas video isnt even the strangest story to come from Everest this season. That title belongs to the tale of a guide who allegedly saved a dying climbers life only to have the man supposedly block him later on social media.

The story goes that Malaysian climber Ravichandran, who goes by the name Ravichandran Everest or Ravi, was attempting to scale Everest when he succumbed to altitude sickness and collapsed not far from the summit. Video footage shows Gelje Sherpa, who had been climbing with a different client when he came upon the body, wrapping a mattress around the man and strapping the climber onto his back. He abandoned his own clients summit push to hike the man down to safety.

Footage of the incident was shared by Twitter user Visakan Veerasamy. The video went viral and has been watched more than 1.3 million times. there's an incredible story going on in the mountaineering community rn. there's a Malaysian climber who was at death's door, and was rescued by a sherpa who risked his own life to carry his lifeless body on his back for 6 hours. The climber then blocked the sherpa on Instagram https://t.co/AJW70vJ3Kr

Visakan Veerasamy (@visakanv) June 4, 2023

Gelje shared on Instagram on May 20: You may all be wondering where is the summit photo? Unfortunately no summit yet. At the Balcony during our summit push around 8,300m I saw someone in danger.

A man who needed rescuing and no one else was helping. I made the decision to cancel our clients summit push so that I could bring him down to safety before he died up there alone. I carried him myself all the way down to Camp 4 where a rescue team helped from then on. I will be back up the mountain soon after regaining energy from a huge task but I am so happy to say he is alive and recovering in hospital.

But just after this incredible story came to light, Ravi allegedly blocked Gelje on social media and refused to acknowledge his assistance. He posted about the incident several days later after getting a lot of negative attention on social media.

Sherpas are people who are so committed and dedicated to their clients especially coming from 14 Peaks Expedition Co. & The Seven Summit Expedition Co. They never leave you behind. I experienced it this year. When descending from [the] summit, I had difficulty. Tashi heard that I [was] in trouble, he organised the rescue team (Mingma Tendi, Gelje Sherpa, Nima Dorchi, Nima Tashi, Dawa Sherpa and Dipen Bhote). They are high altitude sherpas who make lots of sacrifices for their clients. They brought me to 7300 meter[s] for Heli Pick-up for a quick Heli flight to Hospital. Sherpas are important in my 8000 meter expeditions, he wrote.

Gelje Sherpa responded by saying in the comments, Thank you [clasped hands emoji] hope you are recovering well.

Daring rescues aside, theres no denying that climbing Mount Everest has changed a lot in the past seven decades since it began. Anyone seeking to reach the top of the world today should first know what theyre in for.

Theres sort of this idea that theres only one mountain that really matters in the kind of Western, popular imagination, Peedom told Business Insider. Shes climbed the mountain four times, but said the modern experience is nothing compared to what it used to be.

There seems to be a disaster mystique around Everest that seems to only serve to heighten the allure of the place, she told the publication. It is extremely overcrowded now and just getting more and more every year.

Entertainment

Penny Lancaster says she felt ‘belittled’ by ex-MasterChef host Gregg Wallace

Published

14 mins ago

September 29, 2025

admin

Penny Lancaster says she felt 'belittled' by ex-MasterChef host Gregg Wallace

Model Penny Lancaster has said she “felt ashamed and belittled” by how former MasterChef host Gregg Wallace treated her on the TV show.

Lancaster, who is also a TV personality and the wife of rock singer Rod Stewart, told Sky News’ The UK Tonight with Sarah-Jane Mee programme that she also felt let down by MasterChef’s production company Banijay UK.

“I didn’t feel like I was supported in that moment, I felt ashamed and belittled by the way Greg Wallace had treated me but equally I felt disappointed that the production company hadn’t come to my rescue,” Lancaster, 54 and a MasterChef contestant in 2021, said.

“There is a long way to go, but just by people coming forward and being honest about their experiences I think will help in the long term.”

At the end of July, Wallace, 60, apologised after a report commissioned by Banijay UK, and carried out by law firm Lewis Silkin, found 45 out of 83 allegations against him were substantiated.

Sir Rod Stewart criticised Wallace on Instagram in November 2024 and claimed he “humiliated” his wife when she was on the show.

He wrote: “Good riddance Wallace… You humiliated my wife when she was on the show, but you had that bit cut out didn’t you?

“You’re a tubby, bald-headed, ill-mannered bully.”

Sky News has approached Wallace for comment.

He has previously apologised to people he has hurt, saying in July that he knows he has said things that have offended people. He has denied a specific allegation of unwanted touching.

The BBC referred Sky News to their statement from July, in which the corporation said: “Although the full extent of these issues were not known at the relevant time, opportunities were missed to address this behaviour – both by the production companies running MasterChef and the BBC. We accept more could and should have been done sooner.

“We want to thank all those who took part in the investigation, including those who first raised concerns directly with the BBC in November last year. We apologise to everyone who has been impacted by Mr Wallace’s behaviour.”

Banijay UK, the producers of MasterChef, told Sky News: “We are extremely sorry to anyone who has been impacted by any inappropriate behaviour by Gregg Wallace whilst working on our shows and felt unable to speak up at the time or that their complaint was not adequately addressed.

“Ways of reporting concerns whilst working on our productions, protocols around behaviour and training for both cast and crew, have improved exponentially in recent years and we constantly review welfare procedures across our productions to ensure that they are as robust as they can be.”

US

At least four victims after Mormon church in Michigan set on fire during mass shooting

Published

14 mins ago

September 29, 2025

admin

At least four victims after Mormon church in Michigan set on fire during mass shooting

Five people have been killed, including the gunman, and at least eight others injured after a mass shooting and fire at a Mormon church in Michigan, police have said.

The incident took place at around 10.25am local time on Sunday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, about 50 miles north of Detroit.

The suspect – identified as Thomas Jacob Sanford, 40, from the nearby city of Burton – was shot dead by police officers.

He served in the Marines from June 2004 to June 2008 and was deployed in Iraq, Sky News’ US partner network NBC News reported.

What we know about the suspect in the Michigan church shooting

Sanford drove a vehicle through the front doors of the church before opening fire with an assault rifle, police said.

He then exited the vehicle and began firing rounds at people who were attending Sunday service, before deliberately starting the blaze, police added.

The blaze has been extinguished but authorities believe they will find additional victims in the charred building.

At around 8pm on Sunday (1am in the UK), Grand Blanc Township Chief William Renye confirmed that a further two victims were found in the burned remains of the church, in addition to two other victims who had suffered gunshot wounds.

As many as three improvised devices were found at the scene, according to two senior law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation, NBC reported.

According to Chief Renye, when gunfire broke out, people inside the church bravely put themselves at risk to protect the children.

“They were shielding the children who were also present within the church, moving them to safety,” he said. “Just extreme courage.”

Chief Renye said law enforcement officers arrived at the church within 30 seconds of receiving a 911 call. The suspect was “neutralised” in the back parking lot within eight minutes by a Department of Natural Resources officer and a Grand Blanc Township officer, he said.

Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement that “my heart is breaking for the Grand Blanc community” after the shooting.

She added: “Violence anywhere, especially in a place of worship, is unacceptable. I am grateful to the first responders who took action quickly.”

Sheriff: ‘Entire church is on fire’

Genesee County sheriff Christopher Swanson said at around 12.20pm that the “entire church” was on fire, and confirmed that people who were at the church had been evacuated.

Around 20 minutes later, the police department said the fire had been contained.

US attorney general Pam Bondi confirmed the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were responding to the incident.

US President Donald Trump said on Truth Social that “the suspect is dead, but there is still a lot to learn”, before saying the shooting “appears to be yet another targeted attack on Christians in the United States of America”.

He added: “PRAY for the victims, and their families. THIS EPIDEMIC OF VIOLENCE IN OUR COUNTRY MUST END, IMMEDIATELY!”

In the wake of the shooting and fire, the New York Police Department said it would deploy officers to religious institutions across the city “out of an abundance of caution”.

The incident occurred the morning after Russell M Nelson, the oldest-ever president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died aged 101.

Shootings reported in North Carolina, New Orleans, Texas

Meanwhile, authorities responded to a mass shooting at a coastal town in North Carolina late on Saturday, where three people were killed.

Five others were injured in that incident, where someone opened fire from a boat into a crowd at a bar.

Police described the incident as a “highly premeditated” attack.

According to Sky News’ US partner network NBC, Nigel Max Edge, 40, was detained by the Coast Guard and charged with three counts of first-degree murder, five counts of attempted murder and five counts of assault with a deadly weapon on Sunday morning.

He remains in custody without bond, jail records show.

Another shooting took place at a south Texas casino early on Sunday, with seven people shot and two killed.

A woman was also killed, and three others were injured in Bourbon Street, New Orleans, early on Sunday after a shooting.

US

‘I’m not so careful with what I say’ – is Trump feeling more invincible than ever?

Published

14 mins ago

September 29, 2025

admin

'I'm not so careful with what I say' - is Trump feeling more invincible than ever?

It was one sentence among the many words Donald Trump spoke this week that caught my attention.

Midway through a jaw-dropping news conference where he sensationally claimed to have “found an answer on autism”, he said: “Bobby (Kennedy) wants to be very careful with what he says, but I’m not so careful with what I say.”

The US president has gone from pushing the envelope to completely unfiltered.

Last Sunday, moments after Charlie Kirk‘s widow Erika had publicly forgiven her husband’s killer, Mr Trump told the congregation at his memorial service that he “hates his opponents”.

Twenty-four hours later, he drew fierce rebuke from medical experts by linking the use of Tylenol (paracetamol) during pregnancy to increased risk of autism.

The president treats professional disapproval not as a liability but as evidence of authenticity, fuelling the aura that he is a challenger of conventions.

On Tuesday, he went to the United Nations, where his frustrations over a stalled escalator and teleprompter failure were the prelude to the most combative address.

“I’m really good at this stuff. Your countries are going to hell,” he told his audience, deriding Europe’s approach to immigration as a “failed experiment of open borders”.

Then came a U-turn on Ukraine, suggesting the country could win back all the land it has lost to Russia.

Most politicians would be punished for inconsistency, but Mr Trump recasts this as strategic genius – framing himself as dictating the terms.

It is hard to keep track when his expressed hopes for peace in Ukraine and Gaza are peppered with social media posts condemning the return of Jimmy Kimmel to late-night television.

Perhaps most striking of all is his reaction to the indictment of James Comey, the FBI director he fired during his first term.

In theory, this should raise questions about the president’s past conflicts with law enforcement, but he frames it as vindication, proof that his enemies fall while he survives.

Mr Trump has spent much of his political career cultivating an image of a man above the normal consequences of politics, law or diplomacy, but he appears to feel more invincible than ever.

From funerals to world summits, world peace to public health, he projects the same image: rules are for others.

It is the politics of the untouchable.