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Causes of Death on Mount Everest

Can you name the different ways people have died while attempting to climb Mount Everest?
Quiz by interopia
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Last updated: June 5, 2022
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First submittedApril 7, 2017
Times taken4,495
Average score66.7%
Rating4.77
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Cause
# of Deaths
Avalanche/Icefall
95
Fall
77
Altitude Sickness (AMS)
32
Exposure
26
Illness (non-AMS)
22
Exhaustion
20
Disappearance/Unknown
16
TOTAL
288
46 Comments
+32
Level 78
Sep 13, 2019
Surprised Yeti isnt there :)
+14
Level 85
Sep 13, 2019
Could account for some of the disappearances!
+2
Level 69
Oct 6, 2020
And falls, and avalanches...
+11
Level 83
Dec 23, 2019
And nobody has been murdered yet.
+13
Level 89
Dec 23, 2019
16 so far.
+14
Level 89
Dec 23, 2019
Another 77 suspicious.
+8
Level 71
Feb 23, 2020
You could argue some were murder: people were left behind, stolen supplies, etc
+10
Level 81
Feb 23, 2020
I tried hypoxia. That should probably be accepted for altitude sickness. Maybe with other type-ins like low oxygen or asphyxia though the latter isn't entirely correct. I also tried freezing for exposure (got it when I typed in hypothermia), yetis, murder, and some other things that didn't show up.
+2
Level 85
Feb 23, 2020
Thanks, kalbahamut! I've incorporated some of your suggestions!
+2
Level 68
Feb 23, 2020
I put "tired" and "muscles" which seem like the same idea as exhaustion.
+4
Level 85
Feb 23, 2020
"Tired" should have worked! I added muscles for you.
+1
Level 32
Jun 5, 2022
How about fatigue?
+4
Level 29
Feb 23, 2020
I put starve and freeze
+2
Level 52
Feb 23, 2020
Perhaps overexertion could work for exhaustion as well?
+1
Level 49
Feb 23, 2020
Bruh accept exhaustedness or exhaust please
+13
Level 75
Aug 13, 2020
Someone tell me why drowning was the first thing I typed
+11
Level 79
Sep 11, 2020
That is the most common way for a yeti to dispatch its victim.
+1
Level 61
Sep 30, 2023
One of my first guesses was volcano...
+1
Level 58
Dec 9, 2020
I can back up this claim :)
+3
Level 52
Jan 26, 2021
Would hunger/starvation fall under any of these? Or does that not happen?
+3
Level 85
Aug 28, 2021
People would die of thirst well before dying of hunger, which could take over a month to happen, so is unlikely to occur on Everest.
+1
Level 61
Sep 30, 2023
Wouldn't thirst/dehydration be valid then?
+4
Level 54
Apr 24, 2021
Can you accept HAPE for altitude sickness. Thanks! Great Quiz!
+2
Level 85
Apr 24, 2021
Done! Thanks!
+15
Level 85
Nov 10, 2021
Had almost 2 minutes to try to come up with "exhaustion", but didn't get it. Came up with a bunch of ways that apparently are not such popular ways to cash in one's chips on Everest...

Yeti attack

Drowning

Murder

Suicide

Spontaneous combustion

Lightning strike

Automobile accident

Keeping your eyes open when opening the Ark of the Covenant

+1
Level 72
Jun 4, 2022
I did come up with exhaustion. Almost exactly 1 second after the timer ran out. Having stared at the remaining slot for a good 2 mins and 1 sec! Oh well..
+1
Level 75
Jun 22, 2024
Suicide did surprise me I’d assume someone would’ve at some point..
+3
Level 53
May 29, 2022
I typed things like "tired", "cold", and "falling". I got everything right and now I know what imposter syndrome feels like.
+1
Level 61
May 30, 2022
I tried hunger / food, thirst / water, bears / animals, murder, hurricane / tornado... not really sure what was going through my mind.
+5
Level 43
May 31, 2022
I don't know why, but I tried typing things like murder, suicide, execution, hunger death XD
+4
Level 74
Jun 7, 2022
I... wha.... execution?

I mean I get the not knowing and just guessing things that result in death, but who exactly is going to be executed on a remote mountain?

+2
Level 83
Dec 3, 2022
one of the first things that came to mind was decapitation. I feel like that's something that could accidentally happen while climbing a mountain, right?
+1
Level 66
Jun 4, 2022
Could sickness be accepted for illness?
+2
Level 85
Jun 4, 2022
It is!
+1
Level 72
Jun 4, 2022
I was so excited to get to the comments page to write some funny remark about yetis… apparently not as original as I’d hoped. I did also have the word ‘cannibalism’ flash through my mind but I guess that’s not actually a cause of death as such.
+2
Level 72
Jun 4, 2022
Could you add fatigue as an alternate for exhaustion
+4
Level 61
Jun 5, 2022
This was kind of confusing. I wrote "heart attack", which was accepted as a type-in for illness, but then couldn't get exhaustion, which isn't really a cause of death in itself but something that brings on a heart attack. Cardiac arrest wasn't accepted for either.
+3
Level 85
Jun 5, 2022
Good point. I moved the heart attack type-in to the exhaustion category and also added cardiac arrest.
+1
Level 52
Dec 9, 2022
Hmm... insanity didn't work...
+1
Level 62
Mar 24, 2023
Nice one, and thanks for the friend request - that's my first.
+1
Level 51
May 26, 2023
I tried freezing to death / freezing and it didn't work, I feel like that should be at least a type-in.
+1
Level 85
May 26, 2023
Freezing works
+1
Level 65
Sep 29, 2023
Being an idiot would account for most of the above
+1
Level 68
Sep 29, 2023
Thanks for accepting HAPE!
+1
Level 69
Oct 6, 2023
There's an argument for many of those to be re-classified as a particular expensive and elaborate way to commit suicide...
+2
Level 19
Feb 12, 2024
i forgot what altitude sickness was called and was sitting typing variations of "oxygen deprivation" for so long lmaoo