Officials say a British climber died on Mount Everest died on Saturday, the eighth climber to die on the world’s tallest mountain and the 18th in Nepal’s Himalayas during the current climbing season.
Robin Haynes Fisher, 41, died in the so-called “death zone” known for low levels of oxygen on descent from the summit, Mira Acharya, a tourism department official, said.
The current climbing season ends this month.
Hiking officials attributed most of the deaths to weakness, exhaustion and delays on the crowded route to the 8,850-meter (29,035 feet) summit.
“He died because of weakness after a long ascent and difficult descent,” Murari Sharma of the Everest Parivar Treks company that arranged his logistics told Reuters.
“He was descending with his sherpa guides from the summit when he suddenly fainted.”
Fellow guides changed Fisher’s oxygen bottle and offered him water, but could not save him, Sharma said.
It comes as Irish climber Kevin Hynes, 56, died on Friday during his descent down the mountain.
The father-of-two died in his tent at 7,000 metres (23,000 ft) in the early hours.
Garrett Madison of the U.S. based Madison Mountaineering company that sponsors climbers to Mount Everest said many were not “well qualified or prepared climbers” and were without the support necessary to ascend and descend safely.
“If they were with a strong and experienced team they would have likely been fine, but with minimal support, once something goes wrong it’s tough to get back on course,” Madison told Reuters.
Mount Everest can also be climbed from Tibet and casualties have been reported from there this season too.
Hiking officials say between five and ten climbers die on Mount Everest in an average climbing year.
An expedition operator told the media too many permits were issued this season and the clear weather led several groups to push for the summit at the same time.
Nepal has issued permits to 379 climbers on Mount Everest in the season, which ends this month.