Eleven deaths as 'chaos' unfolds on Everest in 'zoo-like' conditions

Climbing Everest has never been sold as easy. It's one of the deadliest mountain in the world.

But an influx of inexperienced mountaineers who receive permits from the Nepalese government has reportedly turned the notorious "death zone" into chaos, creating "zoo-like" human traffic jams near the summit.

Due to minimal suitable days to climb, an increasing number of climbers are trying to reach the summit while conditions are clear. It's been a scramble that's left at least 11 climbers dead this month alone.

The narrow summit window has resulted in "chaotic" conditions where climbers have been forced to line up and wait in high altitudes before continuing to their ascent, while others claim they've stepped over lifeless bodies while trekking back down the mountain.

Robin Fisher, a British climber, was one of the recent fatalities on the slopes of Mount Everest. Tragically he had warned of the dangers of huge queues on Everest just days before his death.

Fisher posted to Instagram, warning that a "single route to the summit delays caused by overcrowding could prove fatal". He then said he hoped his decision to delay his climb would mean fewer people.

"Unless of course everyone else plays the same waiting game," he said.

View this post on Instagram

Climbed up to camp 3, 7500m but the jet stream had returned closing the summit after only 2 days so I descended to basecamp. Around 100 climbers did summit in those 2 days with sadly 2 deaths, an Indian man found dead in his tent at camp 4 and an Irish climber lost, assumed fallen, on his descent. A go fund me page has been set up for a rescue bid for the Irish climber but it is a well meaning but futile gesture. Condolences to both their friends and families. Both deaths happened above 8000m in the so called death zone where the majority of deaths of foreign climbers happen. Around 700 more people will be looking to summit from Tuesday the 21st onwards. My revised plan, subject to weather that at the moment looks promising, is to return up the mountain leaving basecamp Tuesday the 21st 0230 and, all being well and a lot of luck, arriving on the summit the morning of Saturday the 25th. I will be climbing with my Sherpa, Jangbu who is third on the all time list with an incredible 19 summits. The other 4 members of our team decided to remain on the mountain and are looking to summit on the 21st. My cough had started to return at altitude so I couldn’t wait with them at altitude for the window to open without the risk of physically deteriorating too much. Furthermore as I had missed due to sickness the earlier camp 3 rotation best practice was for me to descend to allow my body to recover from the new altitude high so I could come back stronger. This was not an easy decision as the 13 hours climbing from basecamp to camp 2 in a day was the hardest physical and mental challenge I had ever done, now I have it all to do again. Finally I am hopeful to avoid the crowds on summit day and it seems like a number of teams are pushing to summit on the 21st. With a single route to the summit delays caused by overcrowding could prove fatal so I am hopeful my decision to go for the 25th will mean fewer people. Unless of course everyone else plays the same waiting game. #everest #everest2019 #lhotseface

A post shared by Robin (@1c0n0clast22) on May 19, 2019 at 1:15am PDT

Fisher reportedly died during his descent in the so-called "death zone", becoming the eighth tragedy on the mountain this season.

A combination of low oxygen levels, exhaustion and weakness can prove fatal in the notorious stretch of the mountain.

Writing of the fatalities of two climbers before him, Fisher explained how the men that had died in conditions above 8000m where the "majority of deaths of foreign climbers happen".

Fisher noted he would summit Everest several days after his original plan, citing May 25 as the day he'd reach the top.

"Around 700 more people will be looking to summit from Tuesday the 21st onwards," he wrote alongside a video of himself climbing the mountain, his last post before his death.

British mountaineer Robin Fisher warned of overcrowding at the summit in his last post to social media. Photo / Supplied

"My revised plan, subject to weather that at the moment looks promising and … all being well and a lot of luck … arriving on the summit the morning of Saturday the 25th."

Fisher, who was climbing with a Sherpa who had 19 summits under his belt, noted he picked up a bad cough during his time on Everest.

"My cough had started to return at altitude so I couldn't wait with them at altitude for the window to open without the risk of physically deteriorating too much," he wrote.

"I am hopeful to avoid the crowds on summit day and it seems like a number of teams are pushing to summit on the 21st. With a single route to the summit delays caused by overcrowding could prove fatal so I am hopeful my decision to go for the 25th will mean fewer people. Unless of course everyone else plays the same waiting game."

Phase one complete with a week to spare. I hope people are now believing. I hope the support continues and #ProjectPossible meets the funding and sponsorship we still need. Strange how a photo of a queue has had the biggest response so far!! pic.twitter.com/ZIOCYPCjzf

— Nirmal Purja MBE (@nimsdai) May 24, 2019

American lawyer Christopher John Kulish became the latest confirmed casualty after reaching the top of Everest on the Nepalese side of the mountain.

While descending from the summit, the 62-year-old safely reached the South Colonel (situated at an altitude of around 7900m) late Monday evening before he suddenly died, Meera Acharya, the director of Nepal's Tourism Department told CNN.

In a statement, the family of the Colorado man said they were "heartbroken" at the news, but he died doing what he loved.

"Chris, who turned 62 in April, went up with a very small group in nearly ideal weather after the crowds of last week had cleared Everest," it read.

"He saw his last sunrise from the highest peak on Earth. At that instant, he became a member of the '7 Summit Club' having scaled the highest peak on each continent."

According to the New York Times, a record number of permits to climb Mount Everest have been issued by the Nepalese government this year, with many reportedly lacking the skills needed to summit the mountain safely.

The increased permits and clear weather ultimately caused a human traffic jam, with climbers forming a huge waiting line to reach the top on an icy, rocky ridge with a several-thousand-metre drop below.

One climber, who managed to reach the summit, said climbers' puffer jackets were pressed against each other for hours on end as they waited in line to get to the top.

"It was scary," Ed Dohring, a doctor from Arizona, told The New York Times. "It was like a zoo."

Dohring said he had to tread around a woman who had recently died in order to continue his progress to the summit.