Dr. Maria Strydom Photo: Monash Univeristy
The first climbing teams are reaching the summit of Mt. Everest after two straight years of natural disasters thwarted attempts on the mountain. And sadly, that means some of those people aren’t coming back alive. A 35-year-old Dutch man and a 34-year-old Australian women both succumbed to altitude sickness on their way down the mountain yesterday, according to reports. Both were experienced climbers.
Eric Arnold apparently died in his sleep after reaching the summit and returning to “Camp IV.” He was feeling weak and suffering from frostbite when he reached the camp. “My body has no energy left,” he’d said. This was Arnold’s fifth attempt on the summit, a feat he’d dreamed of completing since he was a child.
Eric Arnold Photo: Twitter
A day after Arnold passed, Dr. Maria Strydom of Melbourne died while traveling down from Camp IV to Camp III, suffering the same fate. Strydom, a lecturer at Monash University in Melbourne died after summiting and was said to be feeling extremely week and suffering from signs of altitude sickness. She was with her husband and they’d hoped to reach the world’s seven summits together.
A pair of Indian climbers were also reported missing on the mountain.
