• Indian climbers Sandeep Are and Arun Kumar Tiwari both died during their descent from Everest’s summit on May 20–21
• Both were clients of Nepali guiding company Pioneer Adventures and died from illness, not falls or avalanches
• Their deaths bring the 2026 spring season’s Everest fatality count to five, with seven total across Nepal’s Himalayan peaks
• Record-holder Kami Rita Sherpa, fresh off his 32nd summit, is publicly calling for the government to limit climber numbers
• Nepal issued a record 492 foreign climbing permits for Everest this season — the highest ever for a spring season

Two Indian mountaineers died on Mount Everest this week after successfully reaching the summit, their deaths casting a shadow over what has otherwise been a record-breaking season on the world’s highest peak — and reigniting urgent questions about how many people should be allowed on the mountain at once.

Sandeep Are, who reached the 8,849-metre (29,032-foot) summit on May 20, and Arun Kumar Tiwari, who summited on May 21, both fell ill during their descents. Nivesh Karki, managing director of Pioneer Adventures — the Nepali guiding company that organized both climbs — confirmed their deaths to AFP. “They fell ill while descending at high altitude,” Karki said. “We are working out how to retrieve the bodies.”

Tiwari died near the Hillary Step on the summit ridge, just below the top, while four Sherpa guides were actively trying to bring him down to safer elevations. Are’s descent was complicated by snow blindness that developed almost immediately after he reached the summit. He was rescued from the South Summit by five Sherpa rescuers and brought down to Camp II at 21,000 feet, where he died.

A Climber Who Prepared for Years

Those who knew Sandeep Are describe a man who took the challenge of Everest with extraordinary seriousness. Are lived in Phoenix, Arizona, and had spent years methodically building toward this climb. He had previously summited 22,838-foot Aconcagua in Argentina and 20,075-foot Lobuche Peak in Nepal as stepping stones.

Jesse Ramos, a climbing guide from Boulder, Colorado, who worked with Are through his company Boulder Mountain Guiding, spoke about his client and friend from Everest Base Camp. “He would visit Colorado biannually for the past few years in his preparation to climb Everest,” Ramos said. “He wanted to be a more well-rounded mountaineer so he continued to develop in rock climbing, ice climbing, and fixed line climbing. He took health and wellness very seriously going into Mount Everest.”

Ramos painted a picture of someone who found balance in discipline. “As a working professional, he fit in his yoga practice every day as far as I know. He loved doing head stands when he visited lakes, cliffs and rivers,” he said. “He spoke fondly of his homeland in India.”

Are is survived by a 17-year-old son.

A Season Already Marked by Loss

The deaths of Are and Tiwari are the fourth and fifth Everest fatalities of the 2026 spring season, and the first involving client climbers. Three Nepali workers had already died on the mountain before them: Lakpa Dende Sherpa, 52, died on May 3 while trekking to Base Camp; Bijaya Ghimire Bishwakarma, 35, died on May 10 in the Khumbu Icefall; and Phura Gyaljen Sherpa, just 20 years old, died on May 11 after slipping on the Lhotse Face. Across Nepal’s Himalayan peaks more broadly, the death toll stands at seven — a US climber and a Czech climber also died on Mount Makalu earlier this month.

Nepal’s Department of Tourism director Himal Gautam confirmed the two Indian deaths to news agencies, noting that the exact causes are still under investigation. “The exact cause of their deaths is not yet known,” Gautam said, even as the guiding company pointed to altitude illness.

Record Summits, Record Concerns

The deaths are unfolding against the backdrop of an extraordinary — and, to some, alarming — season. On Thursday, May 22, a record number of climbers reached Everest’s summit from the Nepali side in a single day, with tourism officials giving a preliminary count of 275 pending final verification. The Guinness record for the most people to climb Everest in a single day stands at 354, set in May 2019. By May 22, the season total had already surpassed 700 successful summits — including client climbers, guides, and high-altitude workers.

Nepal has issued a record 492 foreign climbing permits for Everest this spring — the highest number ever for a spring season. The Tibet route on the northern face remains closed this year by Chinese authorities, which has funneled all traffic onto Nepal’s southern route. The result: photos circulating from climbers on the mountain show long lines of people queuing on fixed ropes in the icy, oxygen-depleted death zone.

The man with perhaps the most authority to speak on what that congestion feels like is Kami Rita Sherpa, the 56-year-old Nepali climber who scaled Everest for a record 32nd time on May 17, extending his own world record. He returned to Kathmandu on Friday to a hero’s welcome — and immediately used the spotlight to raise an alarm.

“The expedition this time felt a bit crowded,” Kami Rita told reporters. “It was very crowded this year compared to last year because there was more clients. There is a need for authorities to control this number.” He was direct about what he thinks the solution looks like: “The government should regulate this a bit … They should let in only climbers of quality — there should be a limit.”

It’s a call that mountaineering experts have been making for years, and one Nepal has partially answered with tighter controls and higher permit fees. But this season’s record permit numbers suggest those measures haven’t slowed demand.

Among the milestones still being celebrated: British guide Kenton Cool reached the summit on May 22 for the 20th time, extending his own record for the most Everest ascents by a non-Nepali. And Pa Dawa Sherpa from the village of Pangboche summited for the second time this season — his 31st overall — placing him just one ascent behind Kami Rita’s record.

Austrian guide Lukas Furtenbach told Outside that 42 clients and support team members from his company, Furtenbach Adventures, reached the summit on May 22 alone, with a similar-sized group expected the following day.

The season that broke records also took lives. For Are’s teenage son, and for Tiwari’s family, the mountain that draws hundreds of people chasing the same dream gave nothing back.

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