Russian climber Alexey Bolotov died early Wednesday morning in the Khumbu Icefall. His body was found at the head of the Khumbu Glacier, though details surrounding his death have been slow to emerge.
According to a , Denis Urubko, Bolotov’s rope was frayed by the edge of a sharp rock, and the climber fell 300 meters “down a ravine filled with rock […] death was instantaneous.” He is said to have fallen at around 18,000 feet.
Bolotov and Urubko were planning their final attack in alpine style on a the sheer Southwest Face via a new route. Had all gone according to plan, they would have negotiated the Rock Band to the summit and descended via the standard Southwest ridge route.
From our feature story Lost on Everest: “Urubko told a Spanish magazine that he and Bolotov are ‘ready to work hard and die if necessary.'”