I can’t imagine having a hobby that involves passing by, and in some cases climbing over, the exposed remains of others who died doing that same activity.
A good friend of mine is a professional alpinist who focuses only climbing eight-thousanders with no supplementary oxygen. Through him I’ve met others and learned about this whole community. A number of people are as weird and eccentric as us here in computer-nerd circles; one is tempted to armchair-diagnose some as autistic and climbing as their fixation, so something like Green Boots or the death of peers just won’t stop them. (I envy them that their fixation gives them the physique of a Greek god and stories that can impress any listener, so they often manage to be very socially successful in spite of their quirks.)
Is climbing over something that happens?<p>For passing by, that says some about the danger of the hobby and much more about the effort of getting the body back. There's lots of common activities where you might pass by a spot someone died while doing it. Notably, driving a car nearly guarantees it.
A climber who was pivotally involved in the failed rescue efforts for the dead person in this article <i>immediately</i> left on a solo climb of a nearby mountain. He died just over a year later in another climbing incident.<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoli_Boukreev" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anatoli_Boukreev</a>
Yeah and also knowing if something happens your team will definitely leave you
The stepping over the dead bothers me little, frankly. As a mountaineer, it's hard to imagine a nicer end than dying at the top of a beautiful mountain. Beats the care home for sure.<p>What <i>horrifies</i> me is the idea of stepping past people who are <i>alive</i> and dying, because... Meh? Because I paid to go the top, not rescue stragglers? People often say they can barely walk forwards, never mind rescue someone, and it's true. But surely if you have any energy left in you, it should go to saving a life. And if it is so touch and go for you, then don't go.
If you are averse to the Daily Mail, you can try this article instead:<p><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/22/mt-everest-green-boots-man-cave-climber-identity" rel="nofollow">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/22/mt-everest-gre...</a>
FTA:<p>Known simply as 'Green Boots' because of his distinctive bright green mountaineering footwear still protruding from the snow and ice, the remains have now been identified as Indian climber Dorje Morup, 47.<p>For decades, many mountaineers believed the body belonged to fellow Indian climber Tsewang Paljor, 28. The DNA comparison has now ended that long-running mystery.<p>The identification was confirmed by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) ahead of a bid to recover the body from Everest's notorious 'death zone' at an altitude of more than 8,000 metres.
Well, rest in peace. If they do remove him, I hope nobody else loses their lives in the process. I understand they often don't bring people down because of the difficulty and danger of carrying something has heavy as a person at that altitude.<p>"Rainbow Valley" is a region near the top with many bodies, so-called because of the variety of coats and other gear. Most photos on Google are AI-generated, though.
Greenboots is so iconic. Other people use him as a marker. Glad he got some attention. It’s always seemed a shame that it’s impossible to give him a proper burial.
He was one of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police.<p>Let us pay tribute to the courage of our Tibetan friends.<p>"The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is a central armed police force in India, under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is responsible for guarding India's border with Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It was formed in the aftermath of the Sino-Indian War of 1962"
Slightly off topic, but I first heard of Green Boots in the book The Climb. I picked it up completely randomly from a used book store six states away from home and wow what a find! It is a riveting story start to finish and I recommend it to everyone who is looking for a great read. My partner got her hyper fixation on high altitude mountaineering from it despite having no interest in ever actually climbing a mountain herself from reading it.<p>If you haven’t yet I highly recommend checking it out.
> <i>Indian climber Dorje Morup, 47.</i>
Greenboots has been laying there frozen in the snow since the 90s. It even became a landmark for other climbers. Im glad they managed to at least identify the poor soul. Who knows how much longer he’s going to rest there..
Looks like they might retrieve the body.<p>> The Indo-Tibetan Border Police is soliciting bids from high altitude recovery agencies for a mission to retrieve the remains of a climber long known only as "Green Boots" from the mountain's northern slope<p><a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mount-everest-green-boots-body-of-climber-recovery-plan-india/" rel="nofollow">https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mount-everest-green-boots-body-...</a>
I think Mallory's body was left until 1999. He died in 1924.
Conrad Anker covered his body in scree. Subsequent expeditions have been unable to locate it. There's speculation that it was secretly removed from the mountain for political reasons.
The location of Mallory's body was unknown until 1999. The location of this one has been known pretty much the whole time.
Is this an AI generated comment?
Serious question. When climbers are walking by bodies, do they check if they are still alive or need help? Is there nothing that could be done anyways? Face down means don’t bother checking?<p>Any human not moving in Rainbow Valley is presumed dead?<p>I imagine you’re trying to keep yourself alive and keep your eyes forward, and realize you can’t do anything to help them anyways.
There was a case of a climber (David Sharp) that was having issues and found shelter in the vicinity of green boots, and the theory was that part of why he died is that the 40 climbers who passed by him without stopping just assumed he was green boots and didn't pay attention.<p><a href="https://allthatsinteresting.com/david-sharp" rel="nofollow">https://allthatsinteresting.com/david-sharp</a><p>It's why green boots was moved (and is no longer a landmark), and David Sharp was also moved.
honestly just leave him. it's a more metal burial place than any other he'll get anywhere else.
Interesting, I always thought it was the younger guy. Here's kudos to Dorje for flossing in those bright green boots at 47.
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