‘Incompetent climbers’ drive Everest death toll
Aug 14, 2026
“They don’t know how to put crampons on,” mountaineer Nick Hollis says of slow, amateur climbers. Traffic jams on Everest have been blamed for the 11 deaths this season. Nepal also issued a record number of permits this year, each costs US$11,000.
AI GeneratedMay contain errors
What I hadn't expected to see was so many bodies of climbers that had died either that day or the
day before. Here's a body of a climber that came down yesterday and just getting it packed up
ready for evacuation. In my view the landscape on Everest has changed. Climbers now inexperienced
climbers that are attempting to climb Mount Everest without what I consider the necessary
prior experience. The thing that goes on these crampons, so the spikes, this is what gives you
the grip in the snow and ice. They don't know how to put crampons on. They don't know how to put
their harnesses on properly. They need a sherpa to clip them in and out of the ropes to look after
the entire ways.