Hannelore Schmatz
Encyclopedia
Hannelore Schmatz was a West German mountain climber. She died of exhaustion on October 2, 1979 as she was returning from successfully summiting Mount Everest
via the southern route, the first woman and first German citizen to die on the upper slopes of "Chomolungma."
Schmatz was on an expedition via the South East Ridge route with her husband when she died at 8,300 metres (27,200 ft). Gerhard Schmatz was the expedition leader, 50 years of age at the time and the oldest man to summit Everest. On the same expedition was the American Ray Genet
, who also died while descending from the summit.
In 1984, police inspector Yogendra Bahadur Thapa and sherpa
Ang Dorje fell to their deaths while trying to recover Schmatz’s body on a Nepalese police expedition.
For years, Schmatz's remains could be seen by anyone attempting to summit Everest by the southern route. About 100 metres above Camp IV she sat, leaning against her pack with her eyes open and her hair blowing in the wind.
Lene Gammelgaard, the first Scandinavian woman to reach the peak of Everest, quotes the Norwegian mountaineer and expedition leader Arne Næss, Jr. describing his encounter with Schmatz's remains, in her book Climbing High that tells the account of her own 1996 expedition.
Mount Everest
Mount Everest is the world's highest mountain, with a peak at above sea level. It is located in the Mahalangur section of the Himalayas. The international boundary runs across the precise summit point...
via the southern route, the first woman and first German citizen to die on the upper slopes of "Chomolungma."
Schmatz was on an expedition via the South East Ridge route with her husband when she died at 8,300 metres (27,200 ft). Gerhard Schmatz was the expedition leader, 50 years of age at the time and the oldest man to summit Everest. On the same expedition was the American Ray Genet
Ray Genet
Ray Genet, often referred to by the nickname Pirate, was an accomplished mountaineer whose many distinctions included having been the first guide on Mount McKinley in Alaska - the highest mountain in North America....
, who also died while descending from the summit.
In 1984, police inspector Yogendra Bahadur Thapa and sherpa
Sherpa people
The Sherpa are an ethnic group from the most mountainous region of Nepal, high in the Himalayas. Sherpas migrated from the Kham region in eastern Tibet to Nepal within the last 300–400 years.The initial mountainous migration from Tibet was a search for beyul...
Ang Dorje fell to their deaths while trying to recover Schmatz’s body on a Nepalese police expedition.
For years, Schmatz's remains could be seen by anyone attempting to summit Everest by the southern route. About 100 metres above Camp IV she sat, leaning against her pack with her eyes open and her hair blowing in the wind.
Lene Gammelgaard, the first Scandinavian woman to reach the peak of Everest, quotes the Norwegian mountaineer and expedition leader Arne Næss, Jr. describing his encounter with Schmatz's remains, in her book Climbing High that tells the account of her own 1996 expedition.