Leave Them to Die
The Cold Truth About Everest's Summit Fever

Mount Everest is supposed to represent the very best of human ambition.

The highest mountain on Earth.
The ultimate test of endurance.
A place where courage, determination, and the human spirit reach their limits.

But high on the slopes of Everest-above 8,000 meters in the thin air of the Death Zone-another story exists.

A darker one.

Over the past three decades Everest has become something few early climbers could have imagined: a commercialized summit industry where hundreds of climbers line up for their chance to stand on top of the world. Many will pay more than $100,000 for the opportunity.

For some, reaching the summit has become the only thing that matters.

Even if someone is dying beside the trail.

Even if bodies remain frozen in the snow.

Even if turning around could save a life.

In Leave Them to Die, the brutal realities of modern Everest are examined without romanticism or excuses. Drawing from expedition records, fatality statistics, historical accounts, and firsthand reporting, this book explores the uncomfortable questions surrounding the world's most famous mountain.

Why do climbers continue past people who are clearly in trouble?

Why has the summit photo become more important than basic human compassion?

And how did the highest mountain on Earth become a place where the dead sometimes serve as route markers for those still climbing?

This book investigates the forces that created the modern Everest industry: