Green Boots is the corpse of a climber in bright green boots, which is a well-known altitude mark of 8500 metres on the northwestern slope of Everest. It is perhaps the most famous among the numerous dead bodies on Mount Everest. 

It is believed that the body is that of Indian expedition member Tsewang Paljor, who died during the tragic events of 1996. But this may be another member of the same group – Dorje Morup. 

Here Are Some Things You Should Know About Green Boots

Since Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world, it attracts many climbers at home and abroad to climb. Since the last century, people have been challenging “Everest”, but unfortunately, the oxygen on Everest is thin and the environment is harsh. The temperature is so low that not all climbers can descend safely. Many explorers have abandoned Everest. Among them, the most famous attractions are Green Boots, Sleeping Beauty, Resting People, etc.

Green Boots is one of the numerous bodies littered across Mount Everest

“Green Boots” was included in the list of two hundred corpses resting on Everest. It is unknown when exactly the term “Green Boots” entered the vernacular of Everest climbers. Over the years it spread, as every expedition on the northern slope noticed the corpse of a climber curled up in a limestone cave. 

The cave is located at an altitude of 8500 meters, and oxygen cylinders are lying around in it. It is located below the First Step of the Path. Also known as the “Sleeping Beauty” – the body of the American climber Frances Distefano-Arsentiev (wife of the Russian climber Sergei Arsentiev), who died in 1998 during an unsuccessful descent from Everest (in 2007, her remains were thrown into the abyss).

The corpses of climbers on Everest are difficult to evacuate because helicopters do not reach such a height, but the bodies are well preserved due to the constant negative temperatures

A French climber filmed Green Boots for the first time 

French climber Pierre Paperon first shot Green Boots on May 21, 2001. In the video, the body lies on its left side, with its head towards the top. According to Paperon’s report, the Sherpas told him that the body was that of a Chinese climber who had attempted to climb Everest 6 months earlier.

Another body with “Green Boots” was brought down in 2006

In 2006, another climber wearing green boots, David Sharp, died on Everest, with several climbers passing by him while he was still alive, thinking he was wearing “Green Boots”. The following year, Sharpe’s body was brought down from the mountain at the request of his family. Due to the expense, difficulty, and danger, this type of work is rarely carried out.

As time passed, the body became a landmark on the northern route, and many climbers associated it with the deceased David Sharp.

Green Boots “disappeared” from Mount Everest for some time

In 2014, however, Green Boots disappeared from view. Irish climber Noel Hannah, who visited the summit in May 2014, noted that most of the bodies on the northern slope disappeared without a trace. “I’m 95% sure it was moved or buried under rocks,” Hanna said. In 2017, members of the Russian team from the “7 Summits Club” stated that they saw a body on the mountainside, which was identified as “Green Boots”.

Green Boots is probably the body of Indian climber Tsewang Paljor 

The most common belief is that the “Green Boots” is Indian climber Tsewang Paljor who was wearing green Koflach boots on the day he and two other team members climbed in 1996. However, it is possible that this could be the corpse of another member of the same team – Dorje Morup. 

Due to bad weather in the 1996 season on Everest, 15 climbers died, including five from the Adventure Consultants and Mountain Madness expeditions on the southeast route and three Indians on the northeast route (these were climbers from the Indo-Tibetan border expedition police ). The expedition was led by Commandant Mohinder Singh and was the first Indian ascent of Everest from the eastern side.

Green Boots could’ve also been Dorje Morup

Although it is generally believed that the Green Boots is the body of Constable Tsewang Paljor, a 1997 article entitled “India’s North Face Climb of Qomolangma ” published by P. M. Das, deputy expedition leader in the Himalayan Journal, puts forward the possibility that that “Green Boots” could be Lance Nike Dorje Morup. 

Das wrote that two climbers were spotted on the descent using their headlamps at 7:30 p.m., although they were soon lost from sight. The next day, the leader of the second expedition group radioed base camp, reporting that they had encountered Morup moving slowly between the First and Second Stages. Das wrote that Morup “refused to put gloves on his frostbitten hands” and “had difficulty detaching his safety carabiner at the support points”. According to Das, the Japanese team helped him move to the next section of the rope.

It’s difficult to bring Green Boots down from the top

In fact, the remains of many victims become a source of contamination of local water supplies. This is because although the temperature on Everest is low, the temperature at the top of the mountain will also rise during the summer. At this time, the microbes on the remains become active and flow into the river downstream along with the meltwater of the iceberg, polluting the surrounding water sources.

Many family members of the victims also hope to get their relatives down the mountain, but this is difficult to achieve because the environment on Everest is too harsh.

This is because many of the remains of the victims are located at altitudes of over 8,000 meters above sea level, and the people in these places spent all their energy just walking up, let alone bringing the remains down the mountain.

In places above 8,000 meters above sea level, oxygen is scarce, making it difficult for rescuers to carry out physical work. Many victims have become integrated with the surrounding icebergs, and rescuers have to use ice picks to cut them out, which is very expensive.

One day, a rescue team said that transporting a victim from a mountain to an altitude of more than 8,000 meters could cost the lives of four team members.

It was precisely because of the high complexity of rescue that the remains of many victims were not brought down from the mountain. At least for a long period of time, they will still remain on Everest, quietly showing the way to subsequent climbers.