Climbing Everest is obviously highly dangerous, and although the advancement of technology, gear and, clothing has made it safer and more accessible to anyone, the threat to life is always very real.
Like when crossing massive crevasses through the notorious Khumbu Icefall. On May 9, two Sherpa climbers fell into a crevasse on Everest when the ladders they were crossing on collapsed.
In what looks like a ‘spot the hazard’ section of a Health & Safety at work video, ladders are actually used to cross the deep crevasses because the icefall is constantly moving and ladders can be adjusted daily. In this case, it appears the ladder was too close to the edge. When the second Sherpa moved towards it, the ladder slipped into the crevasse and pulled the two climbers with it.
This is an extremely rare occurrence on the world’s highest peak, and it’s lucky that no one was injured. There’s a reason that climbers always clip into the safety lines, here it probably prevented a disaster.
