2 Climbers Die Descending Mt. Everest Today | Aussie Woman, Dutch Man

An Australian woman, 34, and Dutch man, 35, died while descending from the summit of 29,028-foot Mt. Everest today.

Over 330 climbers have summited Everest since May 11th from the Nepali side.  A few more have summited from the Tibet side.  It’s said that somewhere around 10% of the people who summit Everest die on the descent.

The Australian woman was Dr. Maria Strydom, a lecturer with the Melbourne university’s Department of Banking and Finance.  She reportedly was suffering from altitude sickness, weakness, and low energy on the summit.

“After reaching the summit yesterday she said she was feeling very weak and suffering from a loss of energy… signs of altitude sickness.” – Pasang Phurba Sherpa

It’s thought that she also suffered a stroke and blindness while descending from the 29,000-foot summit.  Dr. Strydom was a staunch vegan on a mission to prove to the world that vegans can do anything.

“It seems that people have this warped idea of vegans being malnourished and weak.  By climbing the seven summits we want to prove that vegans can do anything and more.” – Dr. Maria Strydom in March

Eric Arnold was the Dutch man who died today.  He told teammates: “my body has no energy left,” shortly before dying.  This was Eric’s 5th and final attempt at Mt. Everest.  He did summit.