An Indian mountaineer, Subrata Ghosh, aged 45, tragically died on Mount Everest after experiencing symptoms of altitude sickness during his descent from the summit, officials confirmed on Friday. He became the second fatality on the world’s highest peak this climbing season.
Ghosh, a native of West Bengal, reached the summit around 2 p.m. on Saturday as part of the Mountaineering Association of Krishnanagar – Snowy Everest Expedition 2025. However, while descending near the Hillary Step, a notoriously dangerous section just below the 8,848.86-metre (29,032-foot) summit, he began showing signs of exhaustion and altitude sickness.
According to Bodhraj Bhandari, Managing Director at Snowy Horizon Treks, Ghosh refused to continue descending despite his Sherpa guide Champal Tamang’s repeated efforts to help him. Tamang eventually had to leave Ghosh and return alone to Camp IV, reporting the incident early Friday morning.
Efforts are currently underway to retrieve Ghosh’s body, and a post-mortem will determine the exact cause of death.
The Hillary Step, located in Everest’s “death zone”—above 8,000 metres—remains one of the most dangerous parts of the climb due to critically low oxygen levels and extreme conditions.
Earlier this week, Philipp II Santiago, a 45-year-old climber from the Philippines, also died at the South Col after collapsing from exhaustion. Both climbers were part of expeditions organized by Snowy Horizon Treks.
So far this climbing season, Nepal’s Department of Tourism has issued 459 permits, with over 100 climbers and guides already having reached the summit.
