Greenboots has been laying there frozen in the snow since the 90s. It even became a landmark for other climbers. Im glad they managed to at least identify the poor soul. Who knows how much longer he’s going to rest there..
Known simply as 'Green Boots' because of his distinctive bright green mountaineering footwear still protruding from the snow and ice, the remains have now been identified as Indian climber Dorje Morup, 47.
For decades, many mountaineers believed the body belonged to fellow Indian climber Tsewang Paljor, 28. The DNA comparison has now ended that long-running mystery.
The identification was confirmed by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) ahead of a bid to recover the body from Everest's notorious 'death zone' at an altitude of more than 8,000 metres.
Greenboots is so iconic. Other people use him as a marker. Glad he got some attention. It’s always seemed a shame that it’s impossible to give him a proper burial.
Slightly off topic, but I first heard of Green Boots in the book The Climb. I picked it up completely randomly from a used book store six states away from home and wow what a find! It is a riveting story start to finish and I recommend it to everyone who is looking for a great read. My partner got her hyper fixation on high altitude mountaineering from it despite having no interest in ever actually climbing a mountain herself from reading it.
If you haven’t yet I highly recommend checking it out.
I can’t imagine having a hobby that involves passing by, and in some cases climbing over, the exposed remains of others who died doing that same activity.
Back in the 90s, I went to see an IMAX film about climbing Everest and at the beginning, I was thinking, “I could do this,” but as it continued my view turned into, “I will never do this. This is insane.”
What’s really scary now is that it’s turned into something where people have to literally stand in line to reach the summit.
As a firefighter/EMT I occasionally have to deal with death, and I will even put myself in somewhat dangerous situations (that I've been trained for, and for which I have appropriate PPE) if there's a chance I can save a life.
But putting myself in a situation where the likelihood of dying is quite high for no reason other than to say I did it? No thanks.
Nevertheless I'm glad the family of Mr. Morup is no longer wondering what happened to him.
Well, rest in peace. If they do remove him, I hope nobody else loses their lives in the process. I understand they often don't bring people down because of the difficulty and danger of carrying something has heavy as a person at that altitude.
"Rainbow Valley" is a region near the top with many bodies, so-called because of the variety of coats and other gear. Most photos on Google are AI-generated, though.
Let us pay tribute to the courage of our Tibetan friends.
"The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is a central armed police force in India, under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is responsible for guarding India's border with Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It was formed in the aftermath of the Sino-Indian War of 1962"
Serious question. When climbers are walking by bodies, do they check if they are still alive or need help? Is there nothing that could be done anyways? Face down means don’t bother checking?
Any human not moving in Rainbow Valley is presumed dead?
I imagine you’re trying to keep yourself alive and keep your eyes forward, and realize you can’t do anything to help them anyways.
What exactly is dangerous about this climb? What kills people specifically?
I hear people talk about the weather, visibility, injuries, etc etc. But all of those, if you stay put they're not problems, right? The only real problem I can think of is temperatures so low that your equipment can't contain heat loss for long enough and your body will shut down.
Ok temperature. So if this is the only danger (that can't be addressed by staying put) then could it be addressed by thicker clothes and/or electrically heated clothes?
Article mentions helicopters can't (or safely) fly there due to thin air at altitude.
Sounds logical for existing helicopters designed to operate at lower altitude.
But wouldn't it be possible to design or adapt a helicopter specifically for this purpose?
It's not that aerodynamics / lift etc suddenly stop working, it's 'just' the numbers changing. Eg. a helicopter with longer rotor blades, or dual-rotor design might work? Bonus points if it could fly unmanned to not risk pilots' lives unnecessarily.
During the ~1 week of the year where it's safest to summit, they're typically looking at 15kph winds with up to 50kph gusts. Conditions are worse for the rest of the year. It's unsafe to try to hover near the ground in those conditions, and the thinner atmosphere just compounds that problem.
Also, you're talking about designing a new, specialized helicopter... that's not cheap, and someone would have to pay for it. What's the commercial incentive?
28 comments
[ 1.8 ms ] story [ 51.9 ms ] threadKnown simply as 'Green Boots' because of his distinctive bright green mountaineering footwear still protruding from the snow and ice, the remains have now been identified as Indian climber Dorje Morup, 47.
For decades, many mountaineers believed the body belonged to fellow Indian climber Tsewang Paljor, 28. The DNA comparison has now ended that long-running mystery.
The identification was confirmed by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) ahead of a bid to recover the body from Everest's notorious 'death zone' at an altitude of more than 8,000 metres.
If you haven’t yet I highly recommend checking it out.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jun/22/mt-everest-gre...
The irony of this though is that you just become bucketed in another consumer group.
Resist the packaging of yourself by media firms and marketing.
Try and consume news through the sources like AFP or Reuters (unfortunately not free anymore)
https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-porter-death-k2-norwegia...
What’s really scary now is that it’s turned into something where people have to literally stand in line to reach the summit.
But putting myself in a situation where the likelihood of dying is quite high for no reason other than to say I did it? No thanks.
Nevertheless I'm glad the family of Mr. Morup is no longer wondering what happened to him.
"Rainbow Valley" is a region near the top with many bodies, so-called because of the variety of coats and other gear. Most photos on Google are AI-generated, though.
Let us pay tribute to the courage of our Tibetan friends.
"The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is a central armed police force in India, under the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is responsible for guarding India's border with Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It was formed in the aftermath of the Sino-Indian War of 1962"
Any human not moving in Rainbow Valley is presumed dead?
I imagine you’re trying to keep yourself alive and keep your eyes forward, and realize you can’t do anything to help them anyways.
I hear people talk about the weather, visibility, injuries, etc etc. But all of those, if you stay put they're not problems, right? The only real problem I can think of is temperatures so low that your equipment can't contain heat loss for long enough and your body will shut down.
Ok temperature. So if this is the only danger (that can't be addressed by staying put) then could it be addressed by thicker clothes and/or electrically heated clothes?
Not trolling, real question.
Sounds logical for existing helicopters designed to operate at lower altitude.
But wouldn't it be possible to design or adapt a helicopter specifically for this purpose?
It's not that aerodynamics / lift etc suddenly stop working, it's 'just' the numbers changing. Eg. a helicopter with longer rotor blades, or dual-rotor design might work? Bonus points if it could fly unmanned to not risk pilots' lives unnecessarily.
During the ~1 week of the year where it's safest to summit, they're typically looking at 15kph winds with up to 50kph gusts. Conditions are worse for the rest of the year. It's unsafe to try to hover near the ground in those conditions, and the thinner atmosphere just compounds that problem.
Also, you're talking about designing a new, specialized helicopter... that's not cheap, and someone would have to pay for it. What's the commercial incentive?