The eight-thousanders are the 14 mountains that rise more than above sea level. They are all in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges. This is a list of mountaineers who have died on these mountains.
By mountain Mount Everest
Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain at above sea level, has been host to numerous tragedies. Deaths have occurred on the mountain every year since 1978, excluding 2020, when permits were not issued due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The most notable deadly events on Everest were the 1922 British Mount Everest expedition, 1970 Mount Everest disaster, 1974 French Mount Everest expedition, 1996 Mount Everest disaster, 2014 Mount Everest ice avalanche, 2015 Mount Everest avalanches and 2023 Mount Everest season. As of December 2024, there had been 12,884 successful summits, and 340 people had died either before or after reaching the peak. Since 2019 the Nepali government has initiated periodic "clean-up" campaigns on the mountain, including bodies of climbers.
K2
K2 is the world's second-highest mountain at 8,611 meters (28,251 ft) above sea level. It lies in the Karakoram range, partially in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan-administered Kashmir and partially in the China-administered Trans-Karakoram Tract in the Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County of Xinjiang. While its summit is at a lower altitude than the summit of Mount Everest, it is considered a much harder mountain to climb due to its steep faces and extreme weather. The most deadly events on K2 were the 1986 K2 disaster, 1995 K2 disaster, and 2008 K2 disaster. As of August 2023, an estimated 800 people had completed a summit, and 96 had died on the mountain.
List of deaths on K2 Date Name Nationality Cause of death ReferencesJing GuanRock fallIftikhar HussainAvalancheKazuya HiraideUnknown, possible fallKenro NakajimaSer MuhammadAcute mountain sicknessUnknownMatthew EakinFallRichard CartierAli Akbar SakhiUnknown, suspected altitude sicknessRick AllenAvalancheAli Sadpara2021 K2 disaster: Froze to death in storm, remains found July 2021Juan Pablo Mohr PrietoJohn Snorri SigurjónssonAtanas SkatovFall during descent from Camp 3Sergi MingoteFall during descent from Camp 1Watanabe Kojiro Fall during descent Serge Dessureault Fall Miguel Ángel Pérez Unclear, likely altitude sickness Marty Schmidt / Avalanche Denali Schmidt Vitaliy Gorelik FrostbiteCameron, Gwen (6 February 2012) Vitaly Gorelik Dies On K2. alpinist.com Fredrik Ericsson Fall from the BottleneckÖsterreicherin bricht nach Tod ihres Gefährten Besteigung von K2 ab . Stern.de Petar Georgiev Unzhiev Altitude sickness K2: Bulgarian climber lost in C2. Everest K2 News. 19 July 2010 Michele Fait Fall with skis Hwang Dong-jin 2008 K2 disasterPierson, Billy (2008) K2 2008: List of climbers who passed away released. everestnews.com Park Kyeong-hyo Kim Hyo-gyung Pasang Bhote Jumic Bhote Gerard McDonnell Second or third serac fall Meherban Karim Hugues d'Aubarède Fall during descent Rolf Bae First serac fall Jahan Baig Fall while trying to recover Mandić's corpse Dren Mandić Fall during ascent Stefano Zavka Unknown (disappeared) Nima Nurbu Fall from the Bottleneck Arkadi Kuvakin Avalanche Aleksandr Foigt Yuri Uteshev Peritonitis Davoud Khadem Asl Lost in storm, presumed dead Sergei Sokolov Aleksandr Gubaev FallPae Kyong-kyu Avalanche Kim Jae-koung Lee Hwa-hyeung Klaus-Dieter Grohs Fall Muhammad Iqbal Sher Ajman Avalanche Park Young-do Fall Hit by rockfall Igor Benkin Exhaustion Lorenzo Mazzoleni Fall Jeff Lakes Exhaustion Bruce Grant 1995 K2 disaster Rob Slater Alison Hargreaves Javier Escartín Javier Olivar Lorenzo Ortiz Fall HACE Steve Untch Fall from broken rope while trying to assist injured Michael Groom off the mountain. Dmitri Ibragim-Zade Killed in a storm Aleksandr Parkhomenko Aleksei Kharaldin Daniel Bidner Altitude sickness, fall Sträng mot tuffaste toppen . Utemagasinet.se. 14 May 2008 Reinmar Joswig Fall Peter Mezger Dan Culver Banks, Kerry (July/August 1994) Death Zone. Vancouver Magazine. Altitude sicknessGora mrtvih na Himalaji . Gore-ljudje.net Adrián Benítez Fall Avalanche Suzuki Akira Fall Dobrosława Miodowicz-Wolf Exhaustion Alfred Imitzer Altitude sickness Hannes Wieser Alan Rouse Julie Tullis Mohammad Ali Stonefall Best of ExplorersWeb 2004 Award: Magic Line. k2climb.net. 31 December 2004 Fall Renato Casarotto Fall into crevasse on De Filippi glacier, approaching base camp Tadeusz Piotrowski Fall Maurice Barrard Disappeared, remains found in 1998 near Camp 1 Liliane Barrard Disappeared, remains found 19 July 1986, near the South Face John Smolich Avalanche Alan Pennington Daniel Lacroix Unknown (disappeared) K2 Summits. everestnews.com. July 2001 Yanagisawa Yukihiro Fall Stroke Laskhar Khan Ali, Son of Kazim Fall into crevasse Nick Estcourt AvalancheChris Bonington, Mountaineer, | Diadem Books, 1989, Mario Puchoz Pneumonia Art Gilkey Avalanche Pasang Kikuli Unknown (disappeared) Pasang Kitar Pintso Dudley Wolfe Altitude sickness, severe dehydration
Kangchenjunga
Kangchenjunga is the third-highest mountain in the world. Its summit sits at 8,586 meters (28,169 ft) in a section of the Himalayas called the Kangchenjunga Himal. Because of its remote location in Nepal and the difficulty of accessing it from India, the Kangchenjunga region is not much explored by trekkers. Despite modern improvements to climbing gear, the fatality rate of summit attempts on Kanchenjunga is high. While there had been 532 successful summits as of May 2022, 52 climbers had lost their lives on the mountain. 10 more climbers had died on Yalung Kang (Kangchenjunga West), one of several satellite peaks in the massif, which features routes to the summit of Kangchenjunga.
List of deaths on Kangchenjunga Date Name Nationality Cause of death References10 May 2025Margareta MorinFell ill and rescue could not be made25 May 2023 Luis Stitzinger HAPE and HACE5 May 2022 Narayanan Iyer Altitude sickness 16 May 2019 Biplab Baidya Exposure, frostbite Kuntal Kanrar 15 May 2019 Rodrigo Francisco Vivanco Figueroa Unknown (disappeared) 20 May 2014 Chhanda Gayen Fall on descent above Camp 4 on Yalung KangTres desaparecidos en una avalancha en el Kangchenjunga Oeste. desnivel.com. 23 May 2014 Migma Temba Sherpa Dawa Wangchu Sherpa 20 May 2013 Bibas Gurung Sherpa Fall Phu Dorchi Sherpa Park Nam-soo Fall on descent above Camp 4 Zsolt Erőss Exhaustion 24 May 2007 Íñigo de Pineda Blanc Fall Iñigo de Pineda lost on Kangchenjunga. mounteverest.net. 28 May 200724 May 2002 Christopher Hugh "Chris" Grasswick BC News. gripped.com. 19 October 200223 April 2000 Ang Dawa Tamang Hit by ice block 14 September 1999 Hyun Myeong-kun AvalancheNEWSFLASH 9/20/99. k2news.com. 20 September 1999 Han Do-kyu 16 May 1998 Shiina Atsushi Altitude sickness Akasaka Kenzo Fall 6 October 1995 Benoît Chamoux Riku Sherpa 5 October 1995 Pierre Alain Royer Autumn 1995Sukaraj LimbuAltitude sickness23 October 1994 Iordanka Ivanova Dimitrova Avalanche9 October 1994 Sergei Zhvirblya Ekaterina Ivanova 13 May 1992 Wanda Rutkiewicz Unknown (disappeared) 25 April 1992 Ang Dorje Sherpa Suffocation Lhakpa Nuru Sherpa 16 May 1991 Pasang Sherpa Fall 3 May 1991 Marija Frantar20 December 1989 Tchiring Chumbi Lama Sherpa Fall on Yalung Kang Ang Dawa Sherpa Jin Kyo-sup 17 May 1988 Sanjay Borole Exhaustion 31 May 1987 Chander Singh Fall 25 May 1987 Choten Tsering Phupu Bhotia Phu Dorjee11 January 1986 Andrzej "Leszek" Czok Altitude sickness22 April 1985 Borut Bergant Fall on Yalung Kang15 January 1985 Chris Howard Chandler Altitude sickness15 October 1981 Jean-Jacques Ricouard Fall 4 May 1980 Alfonso Medina Rubio Fall on Yalung Kang Sergio Hugo Saldaña Meneses 8 April 1977 Sukhvinder Singh Fall 15 May 1973 Matsuda Takao Hit by rock after summitting Yalung Kang"Climbs and Expeditions". The American Alpine Journal (1974) p. 20326 May 1955 Pemi Dorje Sherpa Unknown illness 9 August 1931 Hermann "Xaverl" Schaller Avalanche Pasang Sherpa August 1931 Babu Lall Blackwater fever Conefrey, Mick. The Last Great Mountain. Michael Conefrey, 2020.July 1931 Lobsang Unknown illness 8 May 1930 Chettan Sherpa Avalanche27 May 1929 Edgar Francis Farmer Unknown (disappeared) 1 September 1905 Unknown Fall UnknownUnknown Alexis A. Pache Chapter 52.28 August 1905 Unnamed porter
Lhotse
Standing at 8,516 meters (27,940 ft) above sea level, Lhotse is the fourth-highest mountain in the world. It is part of the Everest massif, and its standard climbing route follows the same path as Everest's South Col route up to the Yellow Band beyond Camp 3. After the Yellow Band, the routes diverge with climbers bound for Everest taking a left over the Geneva Spur up to the South Col, while Lhotse climbers take a right further up the Lhotse face. As of May 2022, there had been 1,089 successful summits and 22 deaths on Lhotse. A further 10 deaths had occurred on Lhotse Shar, a subsidiary mountain of Lhotse that offers a more difficult climb to Lhotse's peak than the standard route.
List of deaths on Lhotse Date Name Nationality Cause of death References18 May 2025Barna Zsolt VagoUnknownRakesh KumarCollapse on descent20 May 2024Gabriel Viorel TabaraFound dead in tent 8 May 2022 Khudam Bir Tamang Avalanche on south face 17 May 2019HACE17 May 2018Rustem AmirovAltitude sickness 19 May 2016 Ang Phurba Sherpa Fall 27 April 2015 Yomagato Horoshi 2015 Mount Everest avalanche (died in Kathmandu of injuries) 25 April 2015 Ge Zhen-fang 2015 Mount Everest avalanche 18 April 2014 Asman Tamang 2014 Mount Everest ice avalanche 20 May 2013 Lee Hsiao-shih Altitude sickness 16 October 2012 Temba Sherpa Fall Un sherpa fallece en el ataque a cima del Lhotse; Kuriki sigue subiendo en el Everest. Desnivel. 18 October 2012 19 May 2012 Milan Sedláček Exposure, frostbite 7 May 2010 Sergei Duganov Altitude sicknessEverest & Himalaya 2010 Season's End Chronicle, Take 1: 8000er Collectors, Everest Serial Summiteers and Lost Climbers. explorersweb.com. 18 August 2010 25 May 2009 Sergei Samoilov Fall 21 May 2007 Pemba Doma Thaktopa Sherpa 9 May 2006 Pavel Kalný Lhotse fall update: Czech Pavel Kalny lost, Martin Minarik uninjured . mounteverest.net. 12 May 2006 5 October 2003 Hwang Sun-dug Avalanche on Lhotse Shar Park Joo-hoon 17 September 2000 Vladimir Bondarev Avalanche 27 May 1997 Altitude sickness. risk.ru 24 October 1989 Jerzy Kukuczka Fall 27 September 1987 Avalanche on Lhotse Shar Sergio Reinaldo Escalera Fernández Francisco Porras Cerda Antonio Quiñones Tores 15 September 1987 Avalanche 30 October 1986 Pedro Alonso López Fall on Lhotse Shar 25 October 1985 Fall 25 October 1981Josef FauchereFall on Lhotse Shar 16 October 1981 Philippe Petten Fall on Lhotse Shar Pierre Favez Fall on Lhotse Shar 17 May 1980 Pasang Nima Sherpa Avalanche 28 April 1980 Nicolas Jaeger Unknown (disappeared on Lhotse Shar) 12 May 1977 Max Lutz Fall 17 December 1974 Exhaustion
Makalu
Makalu is the world's fifth-highest mountain at 8,481 meters (27,825 ft) above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur Himalayas 19 kilometers (12 mi) southeast of Mount Everest on the China–Nepal border. As of December 2024, there had been 800 successful summits of Makalu and 50 deaths on the mountain.