Could You Survive Everest's Death Zone?

Above 26,000 ft (8,000 meters), the human body is dying. There is not enough oxygen to sustain life, only to delay its ending, and every hour spent there draws down a reserve that cannot be refilled.

Most climbers who die on Everest do not fall. They run out of time. About six in ten deaths happen on the way down, when the summit has already been won and the mountain collects what it is owed.

This quiz isn’t about gear or elevation records. It’s about judgment, in the one place on earth where your brain is too starved of oxygen to make good decisions. Each scenario puts you in the Death Zone facing choices real climbers have faced. Pick the option you think gets you home—and find out whether you’d have come down that mountain.

Everest

1 of 10

It's 2:15 in the afternoon. You're perhaps ninety minutes from the summit. The weather is clear and you feel strong. What do you do?

Push for the summit, the weather is holding
Push on, you can descend faster than you climbed
Turn around immediately and descend
Rest thirty minutes, then decide

2 of 10

You've been climbing for eleven hours and you're bone-tired. There's a flat rock. You want to sit down for ten minutes. Is that safe?

Yes, brief rest restores strength
No, climbers who sit down in the Death Zone often never stand up
Yes, if you keep your oxygen mask on
Yes, provided someone stays with you

3 of 10

You reach the summit at 1:00 PM. You've dreamed of this for a decade. How long do you stay?

An hour, you have earned it
Long enough to wait for your teammates to arrive
Minutes, then start down
Until the weather shows any sign of turning

4 of 10

A queue has formed at a fixed rope below the summit. Thirty climbers are waiting. You'll stand still in the cold for two hours. What's the right call?

Wait your turn, everyone must
Wait, but sit down to conserve energy
Push past the queue on the unroped side
Consider abandoning the summit and descending

5 of 10

Your climbing partner develops a hacking cough, gurgling breath, and confusion. What is happening and what do you do?

Altitude sickness, give them rest at this altitude
Pulmonary or cerebral edema, descend immediately
Dehydration, give them fluids and continue
Exhaustion, share your oxygen and continue up

6 of 10

Near the summit you find a climber collapsed in the snow, conscious but unable to stand. You have oxygen and strength. What can you actually do?

Carry them down yourself
Give oxygen and shelter, but understand a carry is likely impossible
Continue to the summit, then help on the way back
Wait with them for a rescue team to arrive

7 of 10

You're on a guided climb. Your guide calls the turnaround, but you've spent your savings and years training. You're certain you can make the top. What do you do?

Argue your case, the guide may be overcautious
Continue alone and rejoin the group descending
Descend with the guide without argument
Ask for thirty more minutes as a compromise

8 of 10

You are climbing without supplemental oxygen to make the achievement purer. How does this change your odds?

Very little, if you're well acclimatized
It improves them, since tanks are heavy
It sharply increases your chance of dying
It only matters above the South Summit

9 of 10

Descending at dusk, you realize you're moving very slowly and the cold is deep. Camp IV is hours away. What's the greatest danger now?

Falling on the fixed ropes
Frostbite in your hands and feet
Stopping, and never starting again
Losing the route in the dark

10 of 10

You're on the summit, and a teammate two hours behind radios that they're still climbing. It's past turnaround. What do you do?

Wait for them at the summit
Descend, and radio them to turn around
Climb back toward them to help
Wait one hour, then descend

Everest

About Nick Lee