Featured Image Credit: Ian Taylor
Topics: Health, World News
Emily Brown
A mountaineer who tackled Mount Everest in 2008 has explained what the 'death zone' is and how it could kill you in just five minutes.
Ian Taylor first got into mountaineering in his early 20s, after he went to university on Scotland and developed a love for 'winter mountaineering'.
He loved climbing in 'more challenging conditions', but it wasn't until he was sitting on a bus in Peru, where he heard someone talking about climbing Mount Everest, that he considered trying to take on the world's highest mountain.
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Together with his climbing partner, Ian set his sights on climbing the mountain in 2008, in an expedition that took 72 days from door to door.
The pair spent two weeks trekking to the mountain's Base Camp, then had six weeks of additional acclimatization above Everest Base Camp before they set off on their summit attempt.
But just as Ian, who shares information about treks on YouTube, was preparing to set off to the peak, he learned that a fellow climber in the next tent had died.
Speaking to UNILAD, he recalled: "I remember a lot of movement and panic around 1pm during the day... Around 2pm someone came to our tent telling us that someone had died in the tent next to us. Later we were told it was a Swiss climber.
"My climbing partner and I had a conversation about the death, but ultimately we had to block it out and focus on our journey and mentally prepare for the task at hand.
"Although disturbing and upsetting, it was extremely important to stay focused and positive. If you focus on the negative the mind can go there and stay there which is not a good place to be in the Death Zone."
Given its name, you'd be forgiven for wondering why anyone would voluntarily step into what's known as the 'death zone'. But if you want to reach Everest's 29,035-foot peak, there's unfortunately no avoiding it.
Ian offered an explanation about the 'Death Zone', which is located above 26,000 feet. The area gets its name because 'nobody can live above at 18,000 feet and not many people in the world live above 10,000 feet', Ian said.
He continued: "Altitude is cumulative, the higher you go the worst it gets. If I took you from sea level to 10,00 feet, you might have a light headache. If I took you from sea level straight up to 18,000 feet, we would be dead the next day. If I took you into the death zone above 26,000 feet, we would be dead in 5 minutes.
Needless to say, the area is not to be taken lightly - UK adventurer Bonita Norris has herself spoken about encountering corpses in the zone.
However, Ian made it through, and managed to reach the summit of Everest at 6:02am on May 23, 2008. After weeks of traveling, he spent 38 minutes at the top of the mountain before he returned to camp for the night, and then started the rest of his descent.
With years of experience behind him, Ian has come to believe that the 'respect' for Everest is 'a little reckless'. When it comes to the reality of successfully climbing the mountain, he said: "There is no substitute for experience."