Hyderabad Techie Arun Kumar Tiwari’s Family Decides To Leave His Body On Mount Everest After Fatal Climbing Tragedy. How Expensive Is The Process?

Arun Kumar Tiwari Death: Arun Kumar Tiwari, a 53-year-old tech professional from Hyderabad, died last week while coming down from Mount Everest. His family has decided not to bring his body back home, leaving him on the mountain instead. They decided because of their faith, strong emotions, and, honestly, just how hard and risky it is to recover a body from such a high altitude. Arun’s relatives, especially his brother-in-law, said their choice came from their Hindu beliefs, the Himalayas are sacred, and Arun loved these mountains deeply. For them, bringing him back from what’s considered “Devbhoomi” felt wrong, almost like a sin. The family also didn’t want his children to remember him in a painful way, and they knew recovery efforts would put Sherpa rescuers in serious danger.

How expensive is it to get a body off Everest?

The expedition company explained that retrieving a body from the death zone isn’t just risky, it’s even more expensive than climbing the mountain in the first place. While a typical Everest climb runs about $45,000, bringing someone down can cost $90,000 or more. For Arun, the cost was first estimated at $114,000, then lowered to $94,000 as a special concession.

The job itself is gruelling. It usually demands 8 to 10 Sherpas, each with experience, working for several days in brutal conditions. Sometimes, they even have to cut the body out of solid ice and then lower it through dangerous terrain.

What exactly happened with Arun Kumar Tiwari? 

At about the same time, mountaineer Arun Tiwari managed to summit Everest at about 5.30 pm, according to him. He had two experienced guides, but Tiwari managed to reach Hillary Step when he felt exhausted, “and our guides could not get him back.” It is believed that while descending from the peak, Tiwari died near Hillary Step with the help of four guides. The place where Sandeep Are was dead on arrival is called Camp II.

Despite the number of successful summit attempts, including that of young woman Saanika Shah at 21 years old and an all-women BSF mountaineering group, the mountain does not forget to remind everyone about its danger.

What is the death zone on Mount Everest? 

The “Death Zone” on Mount Everest starts above 8,000 meters, or about 26,247 feet. Up there, the air gets so thin that there’s only a third of the oxygen you’d find at sea level, making it almost impossible for anyone to survive. Your body starts to break down fast, organs and cells just can’t get enough oxygen, and even if you use an oxygen mask, you feel wiped out and nauseous.

There’s also the risk of serious edemas. When your body struggles to deal with the lack of oxygen, fluid can leak into your brain (that’s called High-Altitude Cerebral Edema, or HACE) or into your lungs (High-Altitude Pulmonary Edema, HAPE). The cold is brutal, too. Temperatures drop anywhere from -25 to -30°C, so hypothermia and frostbite are real threats.

Everest is deadly. Since people started tracking summit attempts, at least 344 climbers have died. An estimated 200 bodies are still up there, simply because rescuing them is too dangerous and expensive.

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