The family of Hyderabad-based mountaineer Arun Kumar Tiwari (53), who died while descending from Mount Everest last week, has decided to leave his body on the mountain.
According to Tiwari’s brother-in-law Sudhir Upadhyaya, the decision was made on grounds of faith as well as the technical challenges involved in recovering the body.
"He (Tiwari) is in Lord Shiva's abode. The process of bringing the body...it would have been very badly damaged by the time it reaches us. Such operations there (Everest) are also not known to be successful," he told PTI on Wednesday.
Tiwari died near the Hillary Step, just below the summit, after falling ill during his descent last week while being assisted by four Sherpa climbers, according to Nivesh Karki, Director at Nepal-based Pioneer Adventures, which organised the expedition.
He reportedly experienced severe exhaustion shortly after beginning the final ascent from Camp 4, but continued his climb despite repeated advice from his personal Sherpa guide to turn back.
Sherpas tried to revive him with supplemental oxygen, but he died on the spot.
Tiwari, a senior professional in an IT major in Hyderabad, is an accomplished mountaineer.
He had climbed Mt Elbrus (Russia), Mt Denali (US) and Mt Aconcagua (Argentina), besides multiple peaks in the past.
Bringing the body down from Hillary Step on Everest is a perilous and very expensive operation as it requires a team of eight to 12 highly skilled Sherpas and large amounts of bottled oxygen, sources said.
Located at roughly 8,790 meters near the summit, the Hillary Step sits squarely in the "Death Zone," where oxygen availability is a major issue.
This leaves human bodies and rescuers constantly on the brink of exhaustion, frostbite, and altitude sickness.
Tiwari was trained by Boots and Crampon, an Indian company organising expeditions and treks all over the world.
(With inputs from PTI)