Colorado Lawyer Is Now The 11th Person To Die On Everest In 10 Days

A Colorado climber, Christopher John Kulish, 62, died on his descent from the summit of Mount Everest on Monday, making him the eleventh person to pass away on the peak this season. His family said the lawyer-by-day died “doing what he loved.”

Kulish scaled the 29,035-foot peak from the normal Southeast Ridge route on Monday morning, but died suddenly at South Col from what is believed to be a cardiac arrest. Mountaineering organization Climbing The Seven Summits released a statement on Monday confirming Kulish’s death.

“We are deeply saddened to acknowledge the tragic passing of valued Everest team member and experienced mountaineer Christopher Kulish, 62 from Colorado in the United States,” the statement read. “Chris passed away in his tent suddenly on the afternoon of 27th May 2019 at the South Col after successfully reaching the summit of Mt. Everest, thus completing his long-held goal of the ‘Seven Summits’ – the highest peak on each continent.”

“Chris climbed strongly throughout summit day in a small team with no crowds and in good weather. He was in good spirits throughout the climb and following his arrival back at the South Col.

“Initial assessment suggests the cause of death was cardiac arrest however this is unconfirmed. Emergency first aid and rescue procedure were administered at the scene but failed to revive him.”

The CTSS statement concluded, “Chris was a quintessential lifelong climber who had been mountaineering since he was a teenager. We are proud to have had him as part of our team and are deeply saddened and shocked by his passing. Our focus is in supporting his loved ones during this unimaginably difficult time and we ask for your assistance in this by respecting their privacy.”

Chris’ family released a statement to CBS Denver:

“We are heartbroken at this news. Chris, who turned 62 in April, went up with a very small group in nearly ideal weather after the crowds of last week had cleared Everest. He saw his last sunrise from the highest peak on Earth. At that instant, he became a member of the ‘7Summit Club’ having scaled the highest peak on each continent. An attorney in his ‘day job,’ he was an inveterate climber of peaks in Colorado, the West and the world over. He passed away doing what he loved, after returning to the next camp below the peak. He leaves his mother, Betty (‘Timmie’) Kulish, a younger sister, Claudia, and a younger brother, Mark.”

This year has been the deadliest climbing season on Everest since 2012, which saw 10 climbers’ deaths. Many of the deaths this year have been attributed to overcrowding at the summit, creating a logjam of climbers in the final stretch of the climb, where oxygen supplies are lethally low. Most climbers can only spend a matter of minutes at the summit without oxygen supplies. Seasoned climbers refer to the area above 26,000 feet as the “death zone.” A record number of 381 climbers had been permitted to scale the mountain from the Nepali side this season, the Reuters reported.

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Climbed up to camp 3, 7500m but the jet stream had returned closing the summit after only 2 days so I descended to basecamp. Around 100 climbers did summit in those 2 days with sadly 2 deaths, an Indian man found dead in his tent at camp 4 and an Irish climber lost, assumed fallen, on his descent. A go fund me page has been set up for a rescue bid for the Irish climber but it is a well meaning but futile gesture. Condolences to both their friends and families. Both deaths happened above 8000m in the so called death zone where the majority of deaths of foreign climbers happen. Around 700 more people will be looking to summit from Tuesday the 21st onwards. My revised plan, subject to weather that at the moment looks promising, is to return up the mountain leaving basecamp Tuesday the 21st 0230 and, all being well and a lot of luck, arriving on the summit the morning of Saturday the 25th. I will be climbing with my Sherpa, Jangbu who is third on the all time list with an incredible 19 summits. The other 4 members of our team decided to remain on the mountain and are looking to summit on the 21st. My cough had started to return at altitude so I couldn’t wait with them at altitude for the window to open without the risk of physically deteriorating too much. Furthermore as I had missed due to sickness the earlier camp 3 rotation best practice was for me to descend to allow my body to recover from the new altitude high so I could come back stronger. This was not an easy decision as the 13 hours climbing from basecamp to camp 2 in a day was the hardest physical and mental challenge I had ever done, now I have it all to do again. Finally I am hopeful to avoid the crowds on summit day and it seems like a number of teams are pushing to summit on the 21st. With a single route to the summit delays caused by overcrowding could prove fatal so I am hopeful my decision to go for the 25th will mean fewer people. Unless of course everyone else plays the same waiting game. #everest #everest2019 #lhotseface

A post shared by Robin (@1c0n0clast22) on May 19, 2019 at 1:15am PDT

British climber Robin Haynes Fisher warned of the dangers of overcrowding in a May 19 Instagram post, writing in part, “With a single route to the summit, delays caused by overcrowding could prove fatal so I am hopeful my decision to go for the 25th will mean fewer people. Unless of course everyone else plays the same waiting game.”

Mount Everest has gotten so crowded that climbers are perishing in the traffic jams https://t.co/ASc7424Kpl pic.twitter.com/udtvHj4w1o

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) May 24, 2019

Another American who tragically died on the mountain was Donald Lynn Cash, 55, who collapsed after reaching the summit. Two Sherpa guides helped him to regain consciousness, but he died on the descent.

Donald’s son, Tanner Cash, told NBC News the last message his father sent to him was: “I feel so blessed to be on the mountain that I read about for the last 40 years.”