Bottleneck of climbers blamed for deaths on Everest

“Too many people, too few summit windows, too many inexperienced people climbing and inadequate support” are at the heart of the high number of fatalities on Everest this season.

Mon, 27 May, 2019 - 13:00

Lorna Siggins

“Too many people, too few summit windows, too many inexperienced people climbing and inadequate support” are at the heart of the high number of fatalities on Everest this season.

That’s the view of US Everest and K2 summiter Alan Arnette in the aftermath of the deaths of two Irish men, Kevin Hynes (56) from Co Galway on May 23 and Séamus Lawless (39) from Wicklow on May 16, who are among 20 fatalities to date on the 8,000m metre peaks this season.