- 2023 is already one of the deadliest years ever recorded on Mount Everest.
- Kenton Cool has reportedly climbed the mountain 17 times, more than anyone born outside of Nepal.
2023 has been a particularly lethal year for climbers, with Mount Everest already having one of its deadliest years on record.
Thirteen people had reportedly died on the mountain by the end of the spring season, and there are a further four listed as missing — and one seasoned climber is pointing the blame at the rising number of Nepalese climbing companies, The Times reported.
British climber Kenton Cool, who holds the record for the most ascents of Everest by anyone born outside of Nepal, said that some of these operators were putting profits ahead of safety protocols, taking people who weren't prepared to attempt the climb up the mountain.
"When I arrived on the scene in 2004, the majority of climbers had a deep climbing résumé," he told The Times.
"Now there are droves of people who have not climbed a mountain before. This is one of the reasons why we are having multiple deaths. There's a lack of experience, a lack of support," he added.
Cool, 49, who has a record of 17 summits of Everest, noted the number of firms that appeared and disappeared in quick succession, saying that this highlighted a lack of accountability that you would be unlikely to find in the West.
He called for an inquiry into how to improve standards.
But Yuba Raj Khatiwada, the director of Nepal's tourism department, disagreed with Cool and said that weather was the key factor in the number of deaths this year.
He said that the season's "weather conditions were not favorable, it was very variable," adding that "climate change is having a big impact in the mountains."
But Cool said he had heard of a worrying case of an operator not bringing enough oxygen cylinders for all of their clients to reach the top.
"If you've got ten clients and you've only got oxygen for five of them, if all ten of them, what do you do then? Is there going to be oxygen theft? That's not a well-regulated industry. That would not happen, categorically, with a Western outfit. Not knowing where clients are — how does that happen?" Cool said.
Other hikers have blamed the deaths on overcrowding on the mountain, which has seen over 300 people die since exploration first started in the early 1900s.
Some have complained about human traffic jams in the mountain's "death zone," which climbers enter when they get above 8,000 meters, around 26,250 feet. The air there is dangerously thin, and most people have to use oxygen masks to stay safe.
"There seems to be a disaster mystique around Everest that seems to only serve to heighten the allure of the place," Jennifer Peedom, a filmmaker and the director of "Sherpa," previously told Insider.
"It is extremely overcrowded now and just getting more and more every year," she added.