Following the disappearance of a Singaporean climber near the summit of Mount Everest, seasoned mountaineers are emphasizing the critical role of experience and thorough preparation for surviving expeditions to the world’s tallest mountains.
Mr. Shrinivas Sainis Dattatraya successfully reached the peak of the 8,849-meter Mount Everest on Friday (May 19). However, he reportedly experienced frostbite and altitude sickness, leading to separation from his group and a fall around 8,000 meters, as stated by his cousin Divya Bharath in a petition on Change.org.
Search operations were initiated by a team of sherpas on Saturday, with the last known contact occurring with base camp officials at around 8,500 meters.
Mr. Shrinivas, who embarked on the Everest climb as part of an expedition organized by Nepalese climbing firm Seven Summit Treks, commenced his journey from Singapore to Nepal on April 1.
His family has made an urgent appeal for assistance, including the deployment of a specialized rescue team. CNA has reached out to his wife Sushma Soma and father-in-law for further details.
On Monday evening, Ms. Sushma provided an update through an Instagram Story on her personal account, stating that the search for her husband was still ongoing and expressing gratitude for the support received.
According to three veteran climbers interviewed by CNA, experience often plays a pivotal role when ascending the “eight-thousanders,” the world’s 14 highest mountains exceeding 8,000 meters above sea level.
Climbers face the daunting “death zone,” where the thin air makes prolonged survival without supplementary oxygen impossible.
Oxygen levels drop below 40 percent in this zone, significantly increasing the risk of severe altitude sickness, including high altitude cerebral edema (HACE) and high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), both of which can be fatal.
Mr. David Lim, the leader of Singapore’s first Everest expedition in 1998, is well acquainted with these dangers. Over the past three decades, the 58-year-old motivational speaker has experienced HAPE twice, which involves constriction of blood vessels in the lungs, while HACE is characterized by brain swelling leading to disorientation and unconsciousness.
Although Mr. Lim did not reach the Everest summit in 1998 and 2001, he has since conquered numerous “virgin peaks” without pre-established routes.
He explained to CNA that experienced climbers possess heightened situational awareness, considering factors such as remaining daylight hours, current physical condition, and rate of ascent and descent. However, on Everest, such considerations become more challenging due to chronic hypoxia resulting from oxygen deficiency, even when climbers utilize bottled oxygen, which is common nowadays.
Mr. Lim noted that scaling Everest does not require an exceptional level of expertise, but rather demands the accumulation of experience and mountaineering skills over several years by attempting smaller peaks.
Although Mr. Lim is not personally acquainted with Mr. Shrinivas, he observed from the younger climber’s Facebook page that he had successfully scaled smaller peaks in recent years, demonstrating his prior experience in mountaineering.
