by Raayan
“It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.”
[Sir Edmond Hillary]
15th May 2021, 13:30 Hrs, at about 8,300 m altitude on the Northern ascent route of Mt Everest
Norbu, a 39 year old seasoned Sherpa who had conquered Everest’s perilous slopes quite a few times, was now facing a blizzard of unprecedented ferocity. He and Hanna, 22, a rookie Czech climber, had become separated from their expedition and were desperately seeking refuge beneath a rocky outcrop. Time was their enemy, as being in the “death zone” meant that the diminished oxygen levels and pressure would ensure their eventual death if they did not make their descent out of there fast.
Yet, what sent chills down their spines was not just the wrath of the storm. In the distance, amidst the relentless blizzard, lay a haunting sight: ‘John Doe’ bodies, countless anonymous climbers who had met their end on Everest’s unforgiving terrain. Frozen in time, these forsaken souls seemed eerily preserved in the brutal cold. Among them was the famous “Yellow Boots,” a mountaineer who had met his demise in the 1990s, now remembered solely by his iconic footwear- a pair of Yellow Koflach boots, which ominously gleamed in the blizzard’s glare.
As they huddled together for warmth, a distinct sound of crunching of ice was heard somewhere nearby ~ as though someone or something was moving. They looked at each other. Could it be the rescue party or someone from their expedition? They peered hopefully and called out on the top of their voices.
Hanna let out a sudden yelp and urgently tugged at Norbu’s sleeve. Her eyes were fixed on a figure in the near distance. She pointed with her finger. Norbu strained his vision through the swirling snow. Hanna was pointing in the direction where ‘Yellow Boots’ lay. Were his eyes betraying him? It couldn’t be…
The Yellow Boots, which had long been a lifeless relic, appeared to be moving. Slowly but unmistakably, the body attached to the boots was rising from its icy tomb!!
A bone-chilling realization washed over Norbu as he comprehended the impossible unfolding before him. The long-forgotten mountaineer, the man who had become a legend through his boots, was coming back to life. His movements were stiff and unnatural, yet there was no denying it—he was distinctly moving. If Hanna was hallucinating due to lack of oxygen, how could he too be seeing the same thing? This was something else!
Panic surged through Norbu’s veins as the unthinkable happened—the once-frozen corpse began to walk, step by eerie step, towards them. A haunting, hollow moan escaped its frostbitten lips, echoing through the desolation of Everest. With their oxygen dwindling, Norbu and Hanna were trapped in a chilling nightmare, facing a relentless, undead climber from a bygone era.
With a voice trembling with fear, Norbu whispered urgently to Hanna, “We must go, now!” There was no other option but to leave this frozen nightmare behind and risk the perilous descent. Norbu and Hanna gathered their scant supplies and summoned every ounce of courage and strength they could muster. They knew they had to escape this supernatural horror at any cost. As they gingerly rose from their huddled position, the phantom mountaineer stopped and inexplicably turned around and continued his ghostly walk- this time towards the summit of Everest.
Norbu and Hanna watched in abject horror as Yellow Boots now seemed intent on continuing his incomplete ascent to the summit, and the disconcerting sound of crunching snow resonated through the blizzard’s relentless winds. Norbu noticed that the ghost climber had dropped something before moving away towards the summit. It appeared to be a tattered old journal or diary of some kind. He quickly picked it up as he and Hanna started their descent through the blizzard. Norbu couldn’t help but glance back, fear clenching him in an icy grip. What force could reanimate the dead on this desolate mountain?
With each step, the looming threat of oxygen depletion bore down on their minds, urging them to move with unwavering speed. As they descended, their oxygen masks clung to their faces, each breath shallow and desperate. Hours crawled by like agonizing eternities, and their strength waned with every painful step. The blizzard showed no mercy, and the unrelenting cold felt insurmountable.
Just when they felt they could bear it no longer, a faint glimmer of hope emerged on the horizon. Through the thick snowfall, the outlines of their rescue team became discernible. Their cries of relief pierced the howling storm.
However, as Norbu and Hanna staggered toward the safety of their fellow climbers, they turned one last time to see the figure in the Yellow Boots. Surprisingly, through a brief pause in the blizzard, a ray of sunlight illuminated the figure-It had paused its eerie ascent and now seemed fixated on them with empty yet melancholic eyes.
Upon reaching the safety of their team, Norbu and Hanna gasped for breath as they recounted their spine-chilling encounter. The experienced mountaineers exchanged bewildered glances, for no one had an explanation and dismissed as a delusion due to lack of oxygen.
1st June 2021, Thamel, Kathmandu, Nepal
Norbu and Hanna sat sipping coffee in one of the many cafes that dotted Thamel. They had not been able to shake the memory of that fateful encounter on the slopes of Everest. Norbu had kept the climber’s tattered journal on the table. He had been a tad superstitious and scared to go through the contents but he and Hanna decided to do it jointly today.
He opened it carefully, revealing handwritten pages filled with meticulous notes, sketches of mountain peaks, and detailed accounts of the climber’s experiences in climbing various peaks around the world. It was indeed the diary of the Yellow Boots climber, the man who had seemingly risen from the dead. His name was Tshering and he apparently was from Darjeeling in India.
As they flipped through the pages, Norbu and Hanna realized that the journal contained more than just climbing logs.
“I need to make it to the Everest summit this time- take what it may. How proud would my family and my country be of me. I have failed thrice but this time I will not return without conquering the summit”
… one entry read.
But as Norbu delved deeper into the diary, he also discovered a disturbing truth.
“I abandoned Krishan. I could have at least tried pulling him out of the crevasse. Is the summit so important that I forsake my friend to a painful death?….”
“No food. Oxygen is over. I cannot feel my feet. I don’t think I’m going to last much longer. It is surely my evil Karma of forsaking my friend which has doomed me. Now I neither have him nor can I ever reach the summit. Lord Buddha forgive me!…..”
… read the last two pitiable entries in the diary.
It dawned to Norbu that it was probably this guilt and deep sense of disappointment and regret which had driven the doomed climber to rise and continue climbing to the summit, even in death, as if he were searching for redemption.
Norbu and Hanna decided to uncover further details of the identity of the Yellow Boots climber and the climber he had left behind. They combed through old expedition records and interviewed fellow climbers who had summited Everest during that time. Slowly, they pieced together the story of a tragic climb, a deadly choice, and an unresolved mystery.
Their investigation led them to a small village in neighbouring India, where they tracked down the family of Krishan Singh, the climber whom Tshering had left behind. They learned of the pain and heartache that had haunted the family for years, never knowing what had happened to their loved one on that treacherous massif.
Norbu and Hanna also discovered that Tshering had been a skilled mountaineer driven by his obsession with the summit. His family, too, had never received closure, believing that he had been lost to the mountain forever. As they shared their findings with both families, emotions ran high. The diary had brought to light a long-buried truth, and it was a bittersweet relief for everyone involved. The families found solace in knowing the fate of their loved ones, even if it was a painful truth to accept.
The legend of the Yellow Boots climber continued to captivate the climbing community, but now, it held a deeper meaning. It became a cautionary tale, a reminder of the unforgiving nature of the mountains and the moral choices climbers must make in the pursuit of their dreams. Surprisingly, neither was Yellow Boots’ body nor his apparition ever again reported to have been spotted on the slopes of Everest.
Norbu and Hanna were forever changed by their encounter on Everest. They knew that many such secrets and tragic tales still lay buried in the icy depths of the world’s highest peak, but they had done their part in bringing a measure of peace to two souls who had probably not received a closure on the those frozen slopes.
Epilogue:
A seasoned mountaineer once stated, “When Everest takes a life, it also keeps it.” The number of bodies on Everest grows every year from the climbers who lose their lives on its slopes. Causes of death include hypothermia, exhaustion, lack of oxygen, and falls, among other realities. Once the bodies are frozen, they become attached to the hillside, and on Everest they stay – permanently. While nobody knows exactly how many bodies still reside on Mount Everest, the estimate clocks in at just over 280.
This story is a tribute to all those who are driven by a singular goal to conquer the world’s highest peak but sadly never make it back.
Though this story is inspired by true events and mountain lore, name of people and timelines are purely fictional and bear no resemblance to anyone alive or dead.