Two Climbers from Mongolia Died on Mount Everest

Update, May 20: Multiple news outlets have reported that the second Mongolian climber, Purevsuren Lkhagvajav, has been confirmed dead on Mount Everest. According to Everest Chronicle, Pemba Sherpa, managing director of 8K Expeditions, said that officials identified Lkhagvajav’s body at 27,200 feet on the peak. On Sunday, May 19, officials from the expedition company told The Himalayan Times that rescuers had recovered a mobile phone from one of the climbers. Rescuers examined the phone and saw an image of the duo standing on the peak’s summit.

Original story, May 17: Tragedy has struck on the world’s highest peak.

On Friday, officials with guiding company 8K Expeditions confirmed the death of Mongolian climber Usukhjargal Tsedendamba, telling news outlets that his body had been discovered just below Mount Everest‘s summit at approximately 28,000 feet.

Tsedendamba was one of two Mongolian climbers missing on the peak since Monday, May 13. He and his teammate, Purevsuren Lkhagvajav, lost contact with Base Camp after departing from Camp IV on Sunday afternoon. Their disappearance sparked a search on the summit, which was hampered by high winds and bad weather. On Wednesday, two climbers reaching the summit said they saw two bodies just below the summit. Then on Friday, searchers confirmed that one of the bodies was Tsedendamba.

Pemba Sherpa, the manager of 8K Expeditions, told Explorersweb that rescuers have not confirmed whether or not the second body is Lkhagvajav.

“The search-and-rescue sherpa team found one of the missing climbers this morning at Everest’s South Summit, at approximately 8,550m,” Lakpa Sherpa said. “One more body was found a bit lower down, lying right above the Triangular Face, but his identity still needs to be verified. The rescuers were only able to take pictures of the body before retreating in difficult conditions.”

The two men had disappeared while attempting to reach the summit during a brief window of good weather. On Friday, May 10, a team of Nepali rope fixers reached the top of Everest, and their success prompted an early wave of climbers to push for the summit. But calm conditions quickly gave way to high winds on Monday, May 13. According to Explorersweb, the dramatic shift in weather forced several dozen climbers to turn back above Camp IV.

Three days into the search, the website Everest Chronicle quoted a Nepali official saying it would “be miraculous” if the two were found.

“No climber, as far as I can remember, has survived for so long at that altitude,” the official said. Both men disappeared in the so-called “death zone” above 26,000 feet, where the low concentration of oxygen creates a deadly environment even for climbers using supplemental oxygen.

According to Everest Chronicle, both Tsedendamba and Lkhagvajav were part of a nine-person expedition from Mongolia that had hired 8K Expeditions for the 2024 season. Officials from the guiding company said the Mongolian squad had only requested services its services at Base Camp—they did not seek out Sherpa support or extra bottled oxygen for the actual climb.

“They were confident about their skill and strength, they told us that they were professional climbers and needed no sherpa support,” Lakpa Sherpa told Everest Chronicle. “We even offered them our guides for free, but they turned down the request.”

The discovery of Tsedendamba marks the first confirmed fatality of the 2024 season, and it comes relatively late in the year. In 2023, three high-altitude workers died on April 13 when an ice tower collapsed in the Khumbu Icefall; an American named John Sugarman then died on May 1 of sickness. In total, 18 climbers died, tying the mark for the most ever in one season.