KATHMANDU, Nepal, May 30 (UPI) -- A deadly spring climbing season has ended on Mount Everest, with at least 10 people dying in efforts to reach the roof of the world.
A Web site, MountEverest.net, reported that about 500 people are believed to have reached the summit successfully, a record number.
The site said that three deaths have been confirmed on the south side of Everest, the route from Nepal, and seven on the north or Tibetan side. Another climber was killed in an effort to scale Mount Lhotse, which shares much of Everest's upward route.
But there are also unconfirmed reports of four more deaths on the northern side. That would make this season the deadliest ever, surpassing the 12 climbers killed in 1996, when Jon Krakauer wrote his best-seller, "Into Thin Air," about some of the deaths on Everest.
This season has been marked by high drama. There was the death of British climber David Sharp, who lay dying as 40 climbers passed him on their way up the mountain, and the rescue of Australian Lincoln Hall, who survived a night in the open after being left for dead.
