First Everest death of climbing season recorded

Mount Everest is seen from Namche Bajar, Solukhumbu district, Nepal, May 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha) (Niranjan Shrestha/AP)

Kathmandu, Nepal — A Filipino climber has died on Mount Everest, officials said Thursday, becoming the first fatality of this year’s climbing season on the world’s highest mountain.

Philipp Santiago, 45, was preparing to summit the 8,849-metre (29,032-foot) peak, but was exhausted when he reached the final camp (Camp 4) on Wednesday night, Himal Gautam of Nepal’s tourism department told AFP.

“He died at the place where he was resting,” said Bodha Raj Bhandari, of Snowy Horizon Treks and Expedition, which organized Santigo’s climb.

“We are consulting to bring his body back to the base camp.”

Eight Nepali climbers reached the summit of Mount Everest on May 9, kicking off this year’s climbing season for hundreds of others, which runs from April to early June.

More than 50 climbers have reached the summit since the route opened, taking advantage of a brief spell of good weather.

Nepal has issued 458 permits to mountaineers this season, who are usually escorted by at least one Nepali guide.

A sea of tents hosting more than a thousand people -- foreign climbers and support staff -- has built up at the foot of Everest.

Over-crowding has become a serious issue on Everest where in 2019 a human traffic jam meant teams were forced to wait for hours at the summit in freezing temperatures, risking depleted oxygen levels that can lead to sickness and exhaustion.

At least four of the 11 deaths on the peak that year were blamed on overcrowding.

Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks and welcomes hundreds of climbers each spring, when temperatures are warmer and winds typically calmer.

Last year, more than 800 climbers made it to the peak of the world’s highest mountain, including 74 from the northern Tibet side.

A boom in climbers has made mountaineering a lucrative business since Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa made the first ascent in 1953.