The Death Zone

 Climbing the world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest, is on the bucket list of countless adventurous individuals. Part of The Himalayas, Mount Everest’s peak towers at 29,029 feet (8,848 meters) above sea level and marks the border between the countries of Nepal, to the south, and Tibet to the north. In Nepal, Everest is known as “Sagarmatha” and in Tibet call the mountain “Chomolungma”. The cost of climbing Mount Everest is $25,000 – $60,000 (16,660 – 39,700 pounds) but ultimately, some pay with their lives.

  In recent years, Mount Everest has become notorious for an area known as “The Death Zone” which is the final resting place for over 200 climbers who lost their lives during their attempt to reach the mountain’s peak.

“The Death Zone” is located 26,000 feet (7,925 meters) above sea level where oxygen is so scarce, all but the most experienced climbers must breathe with the assistance of air-filled canisters. Only 1/3 of the oxygen available at sea level is present in the Death Zone; Therefore, climbers who attempt to summit without the aid of an oxygen bottle or those who run out will face oxygen depletion which can eventually lead to death. Oxygen depletion causes hallucinations and fatigue, often climbers suffering from a lack of oxygen will sit down and give up for no apparent reason, only to die hours later.

 Mount Everest partially punctures the stratosphere creating an environment which is in a constant state of subzero temperatures and can drop to -100 degrees Fahrenheit (-73 degrees Celsius). Jet stream winds reach speeds of 200 miles/hour (320 kilometers/hr), literally blowing climbers off the face of the mountain, never to be seen again.

  Any exposed skin will immediately become frostbitten which can lead to gangrene and in many cases, amputation. Due to the incredibly severe conditions this high above sea level, when a climber is in danger, not much that can be done to help. Often times, assisting a fellow climber in a deadly situation could led to your own death.

 In 2006 the death of British climber David Sharp caused quite a bit of controversy in the media. Despite the fact that at least 40 people climbing the mountain that day passed directly by him on their way to the summit while he was still alive, only a few stopped to help. He was severely frostbitten and suffering from oxygen depletion. According to those who stopped to tend to him, he was far beyond help. Eventually, he had to be left behind on the mountain to die. The media called the actions of these climbers who left David Sharp “callous”. While it is certainly easy to sit in a temperature-controlled environment in judgement of those who left a fellow summiter to die, only those who were there will ever know if anything could have been done to save him. Conditions on the mountain are so deadly, each hopeful summiter must sign a “body disposal” form which asks the preferred choice for your body, should you die at any point during your climb; Return home, return to Kathmandu (capital of Nepal) or remain on the mountain.

  Surprisingly, many choose for their body to remain on the mountain where they died. In fact, when local Sherpas, who believe leaving dead bodies on the mountain to be disrespectful to the mountain gods, attempted to remove several of the deceased, two families came forward asking that their loved ones remain where they met their demise. Many times, those who were with them on their fatal climb will return to give the body a “burial”, usually moving the body out of view from the mountain’s path or concealing their corpse with large stones.

 Many times, bodies cannot be recovered from the Death Zone. A recovery attempt would require 5-10 highly experienced Sherpas, even then, recovery may be impossible and the effort could easily claim another life. It costs approximately $30,000 to return a corpse to its native country.

 The south side of the mountain is considered to be “cleaner”. Most bodies on the southern, Nepalese side of the mountain have, at the very least, been removed from the main path. Only recently, helicopters have become able for use in the recovery of bodies; However, the body must be moved as far as a base camp on the south side of the mountain. The north side, which is controlled by the Chinese government, does not allow helicopter use for any purpose. The north side is notorious for being the more dangerous route with a far higher death rate than the south. On the northeastern side of the mountain lies “Rainbow Valley”. Despite its Care Bear-esque name, the area was dubbed as “Rainbow Valley” for the numerous corpses dressed in multicolored down jackets which line the main path.

  David Bashears, five time summiteer of Everest confessed, “There had been nothing in my training to prepare me to pass through the open graveyard waiting above.”

Did You Know?
On May 29th, 1953 Sir Edmond Hillary and his Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay, became the first known people to reach Mount Everest’s summit. When Hillary died, his family wished to have his cremains scattered from atop the mountain, but the Nepalese government intervene and would not allow it.

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Who is “Green Boots”?

The body of “Green Boots” inside “Green Boots’ Cave” in the Death Zone of Mount Everest. One of the few photos in which his boots actually appear to be green.

The Everest Disaster of 1996 refers to a blizzard that occurred on May 10th & 11th which led to the loss of eight lives. The blizzard caused the deadliest day and deadliest year on Mount Everest until the 2014 Mt. Everest avalanche which resulted in 16 casualties. The Nepal Earthquake which occured in April 2015 and caused an avalanche on the mountain that killed 19 people is now holds the record for the deadliest day in the mountain’s history. On May 10, 1996 a team of six Indian climbers from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police expedition were attempting to summit when the blizzard began. Just short of the peak, three of the six chose to continue with the summit while the others returned to base camp. Climbers Subedar Tsewang Samanla, Lance Naik (Lance Corporal) Dorje Morup and Head Constable Tsewang Paljor contacted the three team members who had returned to base camp via radio to notify them they had reaced the summit and would be descending shortly. The three men left prayer flags, Khatas (traditional Tibetan Buddhist ceremonial scarfs) and placed pitons (metal spikes used in mountain climbing as anchor points to prevent a fall and aid in climbing) atop the mountain. Samanla, who was the leader of the expedition instructed Dorje Morup and Tsewang Paljor to begin descent as he remained behind to conduct a religious ceremony from the mountains peak.

Tsewang Samanla

Tsewang Paljor

What happened next remains a mystery; All that is certain is that the three men died in the 1996 Everest Disaster. The team did not make any additional radio contact with their team members at base camp and never returned. Evidence suggests they may have never even made it to the actual summit, appearing to have stopped 430 feet (150 meters) short due to confusion from poor visibility.   A team of Japanese climbers their summit may have seen one or more of the Indian climbers but failed to assist them because they were unaware the three climbers had been reported missing. The Japanese team claimed during their descent they saw a person on a fixed rope and a second unidentifiable object which may have also been a human. One team member from the Japanese expedition even greeted another unitentified climber, possibly a missing member of the Indian expedition.   Although the Japanese team aided the unitentified climber in transitioning to their next set of ropes, the climber did not otherwise seem to be in need of assistance. Eventually, a body was discovered under the overhang of a boulder along the Northeast Ridge Route at 27,890 feet (8500 meters), near Camp 6. The corpse was found lying next beside a rucksack with clothing intact but no gloves on.

Oxygen bottles lying next to Green Boot’s body.

Green boots worn by the deceased climber led people to refer to him simly as “Green Boots” and the limestone alcove he was discovered in as “Green Boots Cave”.

Green Boot’s Kolflach boots appear to be more yellow than green in many photographs. This is most likely due to lighting. Over time, the boots may have faded as well.

People have long believed the body in the small cave was that of Tsewang Paljor who had been wearing a pair of green Koflach boots when he was last seen alive.

An article published in the Himalayan Journal in 1997 put forth the theory that the body is actually Dorje Morup and Paljor’s body was never discovered. According to Morup’s team he “refused to put on gloves over his frost-bitten hands” and during the ascent, before the group spilt up, he was already struggling and “was finding difficulty in uncoiling his safety carabiner at anchor points”.
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If you enjoyed this article, you might also like The Death Zone, George Leigh Mallory, Hannelore Schmatz, Nepal Earthquake, Pray the Decay Away: Natural Postmortem Preservation, The Seven Stages of Decomposition, Everybody Poop: The Post-Mortem Edition, Germanwings Crash: Andreas Lubitz Suicide was a Mere Side Effect to the Murder of 149 People and Possible Relatives: Tina Enghoff Photographs Homes of the Recently Deceased

THE WALKING DEAD: Indonesia

  

 In villages occupied by the Toraja people located in the mountains of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, Shamans have been raising the dead for centuries. While we might refer to the Indonesian walking dead as “zombies”, they are known by the Toraja people as “Rolang”, or “the corpse who stands up”. The only major difference between the Western world’s idea of a traditional zombie and the Indonesian version is that many people have witnessed the Rolang and luckily, they do not crave human flesh. According to the religious beliefs of the Toraja people, in order for a deceased person to reach the afterlife known as “Puya” or “The Land of Souls”, their corpse must be returned to the place of their birth for burial.

 Prior to the Dutch colonization of this area in the 20th century, the Toraja people lived in remote villages without roads connecting one to the other. Due to the difficulty of treading terrain in this mountainous region, people were terrified to journey too far in fears that their body could not be returned to their birthplace in the event of their demise. The Toraja’s beliefs state that if the body is not returned to the corpse’s village of birth, the soul will never reach Puya and will forever wander around in limbo, confused by their unfamiliar surroundings. In order to aid in transporting corpses, Shamans would be called upon to temporarily raise the dead so that they could walk back to their birthplace on their own in order to attend their funeral and begin their journey to Puya. Every August, a ritual known as Ma’nene or “The Ceremony of Cleaning Corpses” takes place.

Corpse cleaning, grooming and redressing during Ma’nene

During this time, families exhume the bodies of deceased relatives in order to wash them, groom them, change their clothes and repair their coffins. The bodies are taken to the place of their death, then back to their grave in the village of origin. Often the deceased are paraded around the village in straight lines during the journey in order to observe the living;

 This is done out of respect to the ‘Hyang’, unseen spiritual entities with supernatural powers who reside in mountains, hills and volcanoes and may only move in straight lines.

 Simple wooden caskets are placed into limestone cliffs in order to make it easier for the bodies to be retrieved for Ma’nene. Some of these limestone burial caves are so old that many coffins have rotted away leaving nothing but skeleton; Some belonging to people who died 1,000 years ago.

 Generally coffins belonging to children and infants are suspended from the sides of these limestone cliffs with rope. Once the rope rots and the coffin falls, new ropes are simply reattached and the coffin is hung once more. Infants who die before beginning teething are buried in Baby Grave Trees. [Read all about The Baby Grave Tree here]

 The Toraja, who are known as skilled woodworkers carve life-sized wooden effigies for high-status villagers which are called “Tau-Tau” and are also displayed on these limestone burial cliffs. Often, the Tau-Tau are dressed with the deceased’s favorite piece of jewelry or clothing. In the Toraja culture, more importance is placed on funerals and The Ceremony of Cleaning Corpses than births and marriages.

 In addition to returning to their place of birth, Toraja people believe that for a soul to reach Puya, all relatives of the family, no matter how far away, must attend the deceased’s funeral. Due to this stipulation, it can take several weeks, even several months, for the funeral to take place. While awaiting burial, the corpse is taken to a traditional ‘Tongkonan’ house. These houses are used almost exclusively as a place to keep the deceased before burial, similar to a funeral home. Tongkonan houses pass down from generation to generation and cannot be bought or sold according to the Toraja culture.

These elaborate houses are adorned with buffalo horns which are considered to be a symbol of wealth. The roofs’ shape symbolizes prows of the ships which carried the ancient Toraja people to the land they inhabit today. Less wealthy families may instead keep their loved one inside a room of their own home. Prior to burial the corpse is treated somewhat like an actual living person; The body will be washed, groomed, have changes of clothing and will even be offered daily meals.

 It is not uncommon for a visitor to thank the corpse for being a good host. The main reason the deceased are treated so much like the living is because the Toraja people believe it takes many, many years to reach Puya and that in some sense, the deceased remain with their bodies until they complete the voyage. Once all relatives (and the corpse) have arrived in the deceased’s village of birth, the funeral festivities may begin.  those attending the funeral will gather in ceremonial sites called “Rante”. Usually, hundreds of people are in attendance at Toraja funerals and for the wealthy, a massive feast is held which may last for several days. It is believed that for the soul to reach Puya more quickly, it is nessesary that blood is spilled at the funeral; The more blood spilled, the faster the journey into the afterlife will be. For this reason, buffalo and pigs are sacrificed at the ceremony. The installment of a new Tau-Tau requires the sacrifice of no less than 29 buffaloes and 59 pigs. For an exceptionally wealthy citizen, dozens of buffalo and hundreds of pigs will be slaughtered while those in attendance sing, dance and try to catch the animals’ blood with bamboo straws. Sometimes cockfights called “bulangan londong” are also held.

 Family will offer the corpse items they feel will be needed for the journey into the afterlife (commonly money and cigarettes). In modern times, bodies are usually transported in cars which means there is not much need for the walking dead; However, it is claimed that Shamans often attend funeral celebrations and can use the same magic to cause a slaughtered buffalo to get up and walk after it has been beheaded. This is to prove the same magic used to create Rolang is still practiced by the Toraja Shamans today. When Rolang was a popular method of transporting corpses to their burial site, special runners would go ahead of these walking dead (who were usually accompanied by a Shaman and family members) to warn people on the path and in villages that a corpse would be shambling through shortly.

 Once temporarily reanimated, the corpse would be expressionless, unresponsive, and only able to perform the most basic of functions such as walking. If anyone were to address the corpse by name or unnecessarily touch the body (in a hug, for instance) the corpse would immediately collapse and sometimes, disappear. These migrations to the corpse’s birthplace were also conducted in straight lines and were silent, somber affairs which could take many days, weeks or even months if the person had journeyed too far from home before their demise.

 The practice remains a complete mystery and although most young people of the Toraja culture do not believe in this ancient practice, the older Toraja population swear it to be real saying it is now only practiced in some areas where it is necessary such as the remote village of Mamases. The practice of regularly exhuming and cleaning corpses can be found in a few other parts of the world such as Madagascar. Unfortunately, it is believed to be a large part of why the bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death is still prevalent in that area. During the 14th century, the Black Death killed an approximate 200 million people. The disease can last in an infected corpse for several years, putting those who exhume and handle deceased infected bodies at risk of contracting the notoriously deadly disease.
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Photos courtesy Reuters, The Associated Press, Sijori Images and Mongabay.com

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Be sure to read about another bizarre funeral rite of the Toraja, The Baby Grave Tree
If you enjoyed this article, you might also like The Zombie Cat Parasite, Pray the Decay Away: Incorruptible Corpses and Other Forms of Postmortem Preservation, The Seven Stages of Decomposition, Everybody Poops: The Postmortem Edition, Mount Everest’s Death Zone, Pascualita: How Much is that Corpse Bride in the Window, How to Drive a Corpse Cross-Country and Rasputin’s Pickled Penis on Public Display