The Death Zone: Lessons from History

• Published in: Wilderness & Environmental Medicine
• Main Author: Lankford, Harvey V.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publications 2021
• Subjects: Arctic; Wyss
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wem.2020.09.002; https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S1080603220301654?httpAccept=text/xml; https://api.elsevier.com/content/article/PII:S1080603220301654?httpAccept=text/plain; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1016/j.wem.2020.09.002; http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1016/j.wem.2020.09.002

This Lessons from History article about the naming of the extreme altitude “Death Zone” explores the historical mountaineering and medical literature relevant to the topic. Swiss alpinist and radiologist Edouard Wyss-Dunant (1897–1983) authored several reports and books about expeditions to arctic regions, deserts, and the Himalaya. Encouraged by the success of a Swiss expedition to the Garhwal Himalaya in 1947, Wyss-Dunant joined his fellow climbers from Geneva on a 1949 expedition to several peaks in the Kanchenjunga region. Wyss-Dunant was then invited to lead the spring 1952 Swiss Everest expedition. Despite this being the first Swiss attempt on Everest and on an untried route, Raymond Lambert and Tenzing Norgay nearly summitted Everest from the Nepal side. Wyss-Dunant earned mountaineering immortality by coining the phrase the Death Zone during the expedition’s foray into the upper regions of Everest. Wyss-Dunant went on to become a president of the Swiss Alpine Club and the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation. His writings and that of others provide an evocative supporting narrative to illustrate some of the problems of living (or dying) at extreme altitude.