The Himalaya by the Numbers: A Statistical Analysis - Himalayan ...

days in 1975 (the first verified ascents of the peak), the peak has never been attempted
again.
Chart D-9 shows hired death rates for the 8000m peaks with 75 or more hired above
base camp. The most deadly 8000m peaks are Annapurna I, Dhaulagiri I, and Manaslu
with death rates significantly higher than the mean death rate of 1.35% for all 8000ers.
Everest and Lhotse have death rates significantly lower than the mean. The hired
death rate of 0.0% Lhotse Shar is particularly striking since the member death rate of
4.27% is the highest for the 8000ers (see Chart D-6). Lhotse Shar is more demanding
technically, so expeditions tend not to use as many hired personnel at the higher
altitudes where the danger of falls and avalanches is greater; but due to the few hired
used, the low death rate is also not statistically significant. Cho Oyu is close to the
limit of being significant.
The mean death rates for hired personnel are almost identical for both the 7000m
and 8000m peaks. The reason for this will become more apparent in the discussion of
avalanche deaths later in this chapter.
Deaths by Geographical Regions
Chart D-10 shows death rates by geographical region. The Khumbu-Rolwaling-Makalu
region where the most climbing activity has taken place is also the safest. The most
dangerous regions are in central Nepal from Langtang-Jugal to Dhaulagiri-Mukut,
which is more prone to avalanching. The Manaslu-Ganesh region has almost three
times the member death rate as the Khumbu region.
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
1.23
1.07
Khumbu-
Rolwaling-Makalu
277/22542(M),
111/10369(H)
1.64
Chart D-10: Death rates by geographical region for all peaks from 1950-2006
(the death rate is above the column bar; the death and above BC counts are below)
92 Death Analysis
1.40
All Peaks
571/34920(M),
211/15031(H)
Deaths Rates by Geographical Region (1950-2006)
1.70
0.99
Kanjiroba-FarWest
9/528(M),
2/202(H)
1.75
1.15
Kangchenjunga-
Janak
40/2290(M),
10/873(H)
2.31
2.21
Dhaulagiri-Mukut
67/2900(M),
25/1129(H)
Members Hired
2.41
2.34
Langtang-Jugal
17/728(M),
7/290(H)
2.34
2.88
Annapurna-
Damodar-Peri
92/3931(M),
39/1353(H)
3.45
2.09
Manaslu-Ganesh
69/2001(M),
17/815(H)