An article on BBC.com shares how the bodies of deceased climbers are being recovered from Mount Everest. Since the advent of popular climbing up Everest, some 300 individuals have perished, with many of their bodies left behind. Today, the Nepali army has hired 18 sherpas to help bring them down. This year, the team is focusing on the “death zone”, a point near the top of Everest at an altitude of 26,000+ feet.
Twelve workers are needed to retrieve a single body from 26k feet. Nearly half the budget for the rescue effort goes to oxygen for the sherpas. The team has only a 15-day window when it’s safe to ascend and descend from that height, and works mostly at night so they don’t disturb other climbers. Long-lost bodies are frozen solid, making transportation difficult.
Great premise for a story! An enterprising thriller writer could create a caper novel with lots of chills and spills. Or change the setting for a science fiction or fantasy novel. What happens next?
