Who is Arun Tiwari? Was Arun Tiwari trapped in the ‘Death Zone’? After all, why did the family leave the body on Everest? Has Hillary Step now become the most dangerous death trap for climbers? Amidst the record crowd, is Everest becoming a mountain of death?
Mount Everest Climber Death: A news has come from the king of mountains and the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest, which has shocked everyone. 53-year-old brave mountaineer Arun Kumar Tiwari from Hyderabad finally conquered Everest, but destiny had other plans. While coming down from the peak, his health suddenly deteriorated and he closed his eyes forever. Now his family has taken such a heart-wrenching and mysterious decision, which is being discussed all over the world. The family has decided to leave his body in the ‘Death Zone’ of Everest.
The failure of 2025 and that last step of 2026…
Arun Kumar Tiwari was not a novice. He was posted as a senior director in a big IT company in Hyderabad and kissing the mountains was his passion. Earlier, he had conquered deadly peaks like Mount Elbrus of Russia, Mount Denali of America and Mount Aconcagua of Argentina. In the year 2025, he had stepped towards Everest for the first time, but then he had to return empty handed from a height of 7,200 meters. Not accepting defeat, he set out to challenge death again in this season of 2026. This time he was successful in reaching the top, but this historic success turned into an endless suspense and mourning.
The horrifying truth of ‘Hillary Step’: Where life surrenders
This accident happened near ‘Hillary Step’, the most dangerous and scary part of Everest. This is an almost 40 feet high, almost vertical rock that falls directly into the ‘Death Zone’. The oxygen level here is so low that the human brain and body stop functioning. A record 274 climbers summited the peak in a single day this season, causing massive traffic jams on the Hillary Step. When exhausted Arun Kumar was descending, death surrounded him at this dangerous turn. According to Nivesh Karki, director of Nepal’s ‘Pioneer Adventures’ company, at that time four Sherpas were present to help them, but they too became helpless in front of this cruel game of nature.
Over $24,000 spent and 12 Sherpas: Why is it impossible to retrieve the body?
Bringing down a body from Mount Everest is one of the most complex and hair-raising operations in the world. It takes a force of at least 8 to 12 highly skilled Sherpas to bring down a lifeless body from a steep slope like Hillary Step. This requires huge quantities of bottled oxygen and special equipment, which costs lakhs of rupees. Despite this, there is no guarantee that the body will be able to come down safely. Amidst the bitter cold and snow storms, the bodies become heavy and damaged so fast that even the lives of the rescuers are at stake.
“If it had reached us, it would have been mutilated…” Brother-in-law’s emotional revelation
On this entire incident, on Wednesday, May 27, Arun Kumar’s brother-in-law Sudhir Upadhyay revealed the painful truth which forced him to take this decision. He said, “He (Tiwari) is now at Lord Shiva’s shrine. The process of bringing back the body is so complicated that by the time it reached us, it would have been badly damaged and mutilated. Such rescue operations there (on Everest) are never considered successful.” The family, swinging between faith and technical helplessness, finally decided with a heavy heart that it was better to leave their beloved in the lap of the mountains.
Everest’s ‘graveyard’ and the mystery of Andhra Pradesh’s Sandeep’s death
Leaving dead bodies in the mountains is nothing new; Even today, the bodies of hundreds of climbers are lying on Everest like a ‘landmark’. Arun Kumar was not the only one who was unlucky. Sandeep Arey, a 46-year-old US-based IT professional who was originally from Hindupur, Andhra Pradesh, also died during the same period after conquering Everest. However, Sandeep’s body could be brought down and his last rites were performed in Bengaluru on Wednesday, May 27. This death of two IT giants has once again exposed the dreadful suspense hidden behind the shining beauty of Everest, where the distance between life and death is only a few breaths.