Everest | 2016 S Col-SE Ridge

A Netherlands expedition to Everest in 2016 via S Col-SE Ridge, led by Arnold Coster. Summit reached on 20th May 2016. 18 members recorded.

Expedition Details

Field Value
ID 9090
Imported 2026-03-06 18:04:49.359634
Expedition ID EVER16105
Peak ID EVER
Year 2016
Season 1
Host Country 1
Route 1 S Col-SE Ridge
Route 2 -
Route 3 -
Route 4 -
Nationality Netherlands
Leaders Arnold Coster
Sponsor Arnold Coster Expeditions Everest 2016
Success 1 True
Success 2 False
Success 3 False
Success 4 False
Ascent 1 -
Ascent 2 -
Ascent 3 -
Ascent 4 -
Claimed False
Disputed False
Countries Australia, Canada, Nepal, Poland
Approach Lukla->Namche->Dingboche->Lobuje->Everest BC
Basecamp Date 2016-04-20
Summit Date 2016-05-20
Summit Time 0345
Summit Days 30
Total Days 32
Termination Date 2016-05-22
Termination Reason 1
Termination Notes -
High Point (m) 8849
Traverse False
Ski False
Paraglide False
Camps 0
Fixed Rope (m) 0
Total Members 9
Summit Members 7
Member Deaths 2
Total Hired 9
Summit Hired 7
Hired Deaths 0
No Hired False
O2 Used True
O2 None False
O2 Climb True
O2 Descent False
O2 Sleep True
O2 Medical False
O2 Taken False
O2 Unknown False
Other Summits -
Campsites BC(20/04,5350m),C1(27/04,6000m),C2(28/04,6300m),C3(18/05,7100m),C4(19/05,7900m),Smt(20/05)
Route Notes BC 20/04 5350m C1 27/04 6000m C2 28/04 6300m C3 18/05 7100m C4 19/05 7900m (as reported by Arnold Coster) Smt 20/05 by McDonald and Karma Sherpa at 3:45 am; Maya Sherpa, Tashi, Changba Sherpa, Pontinen at 5:30 am; van Buren and [Mingma] Norbu at 7:15 am; Eric Arnold, Pasang [Gyaljen], Van den Broeke, Mingma Tenduk and Karsang Dawa at 8 am; Gropel and Dorjee at 9 am. STRYDOM (reported by Arnold Coster) At 8 am Coster got a radio call from Pemba Tenduk, who told him that Strydom was very slow. Coster talked to her on the radio and told her to go down. It took her 12-1/2 hours to the South Summit. At first she refused, but after a while she told him that she would descend. She was with Pemba Tenduk and Nim Dorjee Sherpa. Coster did not hear anything from her for another 2 hours. Von Buren radioed Coster between the South Summit and the Hillary Step at about 10 am and told him that Strydom was doing pretty badly. When Strydom's husband Gropel met his wife at the South Summit he convinced her to go down. Coster spoke to Gropel at the South Summit at about 11 am. Gropel told him that Strydom was very unwell and at about 11:30 am Gropel gave her dexamethasone injections. Gropel injected her with a shot of dex every 4 hours. Van den Broeke, Van Buren, Arnold plus their Sherpas were all on the South Summit at the time. At about 3 pm Coster sent up another Sherpa (Nima Lama) with spare oxygen for Strydom (she was on 4 litres). They were at the Balcony at the time. Strydom was suffering from severe HACE and was trying to run away. Nim Dorjee, Pemba Tenduk and Pemba (the guy who carried oxygen up to Arnold) tied her up in the end and dragged her down to C4, where they arrived at 2 am on 21 May. Gropel had reached C4 at about midnight. Coster had never seen a case of HACE that was that severe. He gave Strydom 12 mg of Dex every 4 hours. The team kept Strydom awake all night and gave her dex and food and the next morning she was able to stand up on her own, and walk with assistance. The team (Strydom, Gropel, Arnold, Van de Broeke) left C4 at 8 am. Strydom was able to walk and abseiled down the Geneva spur with assistance. Still on the Geneva Spur, she slipped and fell into the fixed rope and died at that point. It was about 10:30 am. They left her on the Geneva Spur just on the side at about 7800m. They went down to bring Gropel to safety as he was obviously very upset. They reached C2 at about 7 pm. Spent the night at C2 and on 22 May Gropel was evacuated by helicopter to BC and then to Kathmandu. All other members at BC. ERIC ARNOLD (reported by Coster): On his summit bid, Eric Arnold left the South Col at 7 pm on 19 May. At 6:30 am Pasang radioed Coster from the Hillary Step telling him that Arnold was suffering from stomach cramps. Coster talked to Arnold and thought that he seemed fine and was not worried about him. On the descent Pasang called Coster again after they had left Strydom at about 11:30 am. He said that Arnold was very slow and Coster told him to crank up the oxygen to 4 liters to get him down faster. Arnold descended and at about 3 pm when he was halfway down the Balcony he ran out of oxygen. This is when Coster sent Pemba Sherpa up to bring some oxygen up to Arnold; Pemba Sherpa gave Arnold the oxygen and then continued up to help Strydom. Arnold was without oxygen for about 30 minutes, but he was able to descend on his own and arrived at C4 at about 5 pm. He went to see Coster and told him that he had trouble breathing. His throat was swollen; however, his oxygen saturation was at 85%. Coster did not think there were any signs of HACE as he seemed clear in his mind. As he was very exhausted Coster told him to go to his tent and eat and drink something and gain some strength. Arnold went to his tent at about 6:30 pm. Van Buren joined him there later. Arnold must have died at about 9 pm. They left him in the tent and the next morning they took him to the big rock at the South Col to bury him. On 22 May everyone was back down at BC. On 23 May everyone left BC by helicopter either to Lukla or to Kathmandu. Coster stayed with the Sherpas. On 23 May all of Coster's Sherpas left BC at 10 pm to ascend to C2. They rested there for about 4 hours and continued to the South Col. On 24 May the Sherpas got Strydom down to above the Yellow Band and Arnold down to C3. They got there at about midnight. Sherpas left body there and went down to C2. On 25 May they ascended again to C3 to pick up Arnold's body and brought him down to the bottom of the Lhotse Face. The weather was bad and the heli could not pick him up on that day and had to return on 26 May to finally pick up Arnold's body. Coster left BC on 25 May with the first helicopter that did not manage to pick up Arnold to Lukla to start official procedures about the two fatalities. On 26 May he flew back to Kathmandu with Arnold's body On 26 May the same group of Sherpas went back up to the Yellow Band from C2, picked up Strydom's body and got her to the bottom of the Lhotse face. She was picked up by heli on 27 May. Autopsy for Arnold showed no cause of death. (as reported by Grace McDonald) Smt 20/05 by McDonald and Karma Sherpa at 3:45 am; Maya Sherpa, Tashi, Gropel, Pontinen and Pemba at 5 am; Niels and Norbu at 6:30 am; Eric Arnold and Pasang at 7:30 am; Pieter at 8 am. Summit team and Strydom left C4 at 7 pm on 19 May. On her way down, McDonald saw Strydom and Gropel (married couple) at 5 am not even halfway up to the South Summit. Strydom seemed fine at that point. She talked clearly and congratulated McDonald on her summit success. Gropel was not wearing his oxygen mask properly. The pair continued up. All summiteers stayed at C4 apart from McDonald, Pontinen, who went to C2. Van Buren descended to C3. STRYDOM (As reported by Gropel to Grace McDonald): At the South Summit Gropel and Strydom decided that he would go up and she would go down as she was not feeling well. (As reported by a Sherpa to McDonald): Strydom refused to go down from the summit and got as far as the Hillary Step. Coming down from the summit, Gropel met Strydom at the Hillary Step. They descended to the South Summit, where Strydom started to have HACE. Apparently she was scared of the Sherpas and was trying to get away from them. Gropel radioed Coster and said he needed a rescue. Coster told them that she needed dexamethasone, so Gropel gave her Dex. They got her down to C4 at 2 am on 21 May. Coster, who had been at C4 all the time, gave her Dex injections, which made her feel better. She was lucid and talking and the team had the feeling that they had "brought her back." After having spent the night at the South Col, and the whole team started to descend, but when they reached the Geneva Spur, Strydom collapsed and died. Body recovered by now. Everyone went back to C2. ERIC ARNOLD (As reported by Gropel to Grace McDonald): Eric Arnold was feeling sick on the way up. On summit day he left a bit ahead of the rest of the group at 6:30 am. He sat down just below the Balcony and was obviously not feeling well. He was suffering from stomach cramps and stayed there for a while. After he had reached the summit McDonald met Arnold, Van den Broeke and Van Buren. Arnold was going a lot slower than his usual pace. Van Buren had stopped to help with Strydom, and Arnold overtook them. Now below the Balcony Van Buren saw Arnold sitting there and they had a chat. Arnold seemed fine but only reached C4 at 4 pm. He went into a tent with Van den Broeke. Coster talked to Arnold and urged him to go down to C2, but Arnold was too tired. He refused to eat or drink. He lay down in the tent with Van den Broeke. At about 6 am Van den Broeke called Coster and said that Arnold had died. Nobody thought that he was that bad. According to his Sherpa Pasang, Arnold had run out of oxygen just above C4. Oxygen: Taken and used from C3 to top to C3 by members; from C4 to top to C4 by Sherpas.
Accidents -
Achievement -
Agency Seven Summit Treks
Commercial Route True
Standard Route True
Primary Route False
Primary Member False
Primary Reference -
Primary ID -
Checksum 2459545
Year 2016
Summit Success True
O2 Summary Used
Route (lowercase) s col-se ridge

Members

18 recorded members.

Name Sex Year of Birth Citizenship Status Residence Occupation
Arnold Coster M 1976 Netherlands Leader Moordrecht, Netherlands Expedition leader Details Other expeditions
Eric Ary Arnold M 1980 Netherlands Climber Rotterdam, Netherlands City traffic planner Details Other expeditions
Robert James Gropel M 1980 Australia Climber Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia Veterinarian Details Other expeditions
Grace Katherine McDonald F 1977 Canada Climber Toronto, Ontario Attorney Details Other expeditions
Violetta Maria Pontinen F 1964 Poland Climber Espoo, Finland Horticulturist Details Other expeditions
Maria Elizabeth Strydom F 1981 Australia Climber Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia University professor Details Other expeditions
Pieter Johan Van den Broeke M 1957 Netherlands Climber Ulvenhout, Netherlands Urologist Details Other expeditions
Niels Paul Van Buren M 1979 Netherlands Climber Haarlem, Netherlands Entrepreneur Details Other expeditions
Karma Sherpa M 1986 Nepal Sirdar Balakharka, Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions
Pasang Gyaljen Sherpa M 1995 Nepal H-A Worker Makalu-5, Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions
Ngima Dorchi (Nima Dorji) Sherpa M 1975 Nepal H-A Worker Makalu-9, Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions
Mingma Thindu (Hapsi) Sherpa M 1984 Nepal H-A Worker Makalu-9, Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions
Kasang Dawa Sherpa M 1992 Nepal H-A Worker Makalu-9, Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions
Mingma Nurbu Sherpa M 1986 Nepal H-A Worker Makalu-6, Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions
Dorchi Sherpa M 1984 Nepal H-A Worker Makalu-4, Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions
Tashi Changba Sherpa M 1996 Nepal H-A Worker Makalu-5, Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions
Pemba Thinduk Sherpa M 1982 Nepal H-A Worker Makalu-9, Makalu-Barun - Details Other expeditions
Maya Sherpa F 1978 Nepal Climber Patle-5, Okhaldhunga - Details Other expeditions

References

4 recorded references.

Expedition ID Journal Author Title Publisher Citation Yak 94
EVER16105 - - http://www.arnoldcosterexpeditions.com/blog/tragedy-struck-our-team - - -
EVER16105 - - http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2016/05/22/everestlhotse-2016arnold-coster-statement-climbers-deaths/ - - -
EVER16105 - - https://www.facebook.com/MountainClimbGrace/ - - -
EVER16105 - - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/30/mount-everest-death-maria-strydom-fell-ill-15-minutes-summit - - -