There are How Many Bodies on Mount Everest?!

Hundreds of bodies left freeze-dried on Everest? You may recall our recounting of the “traffic jams” of climbers, but we didn't know how many just pulled off the road and parked, forever. According to the website Altered Dimensions (which also has creepy pictures, should you dare) there are over two hundred:

At 26,000 feet, in the “death zone”, necrosis sets in and their body begins to die. During their ascent, the climber is literally teetering on the brink of life and death and in a race to reach the summit, and back, before their bodies shut down and die. Should they fail in the attempt, their bodies become part of the mountain landscape…

Besides explaining how the departed become climbing landmarks, like the lost “Green Boots” who got a new cave-mate in 2008, there's also a list of climbers and their causes of death from 2012 and 2013, mentioning that in “2014, a group of about 50 people preparing the season’s climbers, were hit by the avalanche at more than 20,000 feet (just above base camp in the Khumbu Ice Fall).  16 people died (including 3 whom were never found).”

Hat tip: Smithsonian Mag.