Frozen in time in Everest’s death zone: Mission to bring home ‘Green Boots’ climber who was left to die near summit decades ago – then became a macabre landmark
For climbers battling towards the summit of Mount Everest, there is one macabre landmark they never expect to use as a guide.
High above the clouds, at almost 30,000ft, in the thin air of the mountain’s notorious ‘death zone’, lies the body of a man whose identity remains disputed nearly three decades after his passing.
Known only as ‘Green Boots’ for his distinctive neon mountaineering footwear, still visible beneath layers of ice and snow, he has become one of the most haunting symbols of Everest’s deadly allure.
For years, exhausted climbers making the perilous ascent via the Northeast Ridge route would pass within touching distance of the corpse, some stopping nearby to catch their breath before continuing towards the summit.
Others were forced to step over his stiff legs.
His final resting place, a small limestone alcove carved into the mountainside at almost 28,000ft, became so well known it acquired its own grim nickname – Green Boots Cave.
But now, Indian authorities are planning a complicated recovery mission to retrieve the anonymous climber’s body from Everest’s perilous slopes.
The man inside is believed by many to be Tsewang Paljor, an Indian climber who disappeared during one of Everest’s darkest disasters.
Yet others insist the body belongs to one of his teammates, Lance Naik Dorje Morup.
The uncertainty surrounding who Green Boots really was has only deepened the fascination with his story.
What is beyond doubt, however, is that his death serves as a stark reminder that on the world’s highest mountain, triumph and tragedy often exist side by side.
High above the clouds, at almost 30,000ft, in the thin air of the mountain’s notorious ‘death zone’, lies the body of a man known only as Green Boots
The story of Green Boots is inseparable from one of Everest’s darkest chapters.
In May 1996, a six-member group converged on the mountain in pursuit of the ultimate mountaineering achievement – standing at the very top of the 29,032ft peak.
But what began as an ambitious summit attempt descended into catastrophe when a sudden blizzard swept across the mountain on May 10 and 11.
Three climbers died during the storm, making it one of Everest’s deadliest single-day tragedies and cementing the events of 1996 in mountaineering history.
Caught in the chaos were the members of an Indo-Tibetan Border Police expedition from India – including Subedar Tsewang Smanla, Lance Naik Dorje Morup and Head Constable Tsewang Paljor.
The group had embarked on an especially challenging mission.
They were attempting to become the first Indian team to reach Everest’s summit from its eastern Tibetan side via the Northeast Ridge route.
According to expedition records, the three climbers radioed their team leader at around 3.45pm Nepal time to report that they had reached the summit.
However, later accounts suggested poor visibility may have made it difficult to determine their exact position, raising the possibility that they remained some 430ft below the top.
Soon afterwards, conditions deteriorated dramatically. Ferocious winds battered the mountain, temperatures plunged and visibility shrank to almost nothing.
From below, members of the expedition reportedly spotted two headlamps moving above the Second Step at an altitude of around 28,000ft above sea level.
It would be the last sign of the climbers alive, as three of the men would never return to High Camp.
In the aftermath of the disaster, another grisly discovery awaited those who travelled the Northeast Ridge route.
Sheltered within a small cave-like recess in the rock was the body of a climber curled on his side, apparently having sought refuge from the mountain’s relentless conditions in his final moments.
The location sat deep within Everest’s so-called ‘death zone’ – the area above 26,000ft where the lack of oxygen places immense strain on the human body and survival can become a minute-by-minute battle.
The corpse remained where it lay and over time passing expeditions began referring to the site as Green Boots Cave.
The nickname derived from the striking neon-green Koflach boots worn by the deceased climber, which protruded from beneath the body and proved impossible for passing mountaineers to ignore.
As Everest expeditions increased during the years that followed, Green Boots became an unsettling but practical point of reference
As Everest expeditions increased during the years that followed, Green Boots became an unsettling but practical point of reference.
Climbers ascending the Northeast Ridge knew that reaching the cave meant they had arrived at around 27,890 feet and were approaching the mountain’s final challenges.
Many paused there briefly to rest or check oxygen supplies, and discarded oxygen cylinders accumulated around the site.
Veteran climber Noel Hanna later said: ‘It’s hard to miss the person lying there.’
For some, encountering Green Boots became one of the most disturbing aspects of climbing Everest. For others, the sight reinforced the brutal reality of the challenge they had chosen to undertake.
Despite Green Boots’ notoriety, the identity of the climber has never been officially uncovered.
The most widely accepted theory is that the body belongs to Tsewang Paljor.
Born on April 10, 1968, in the village of Sakti in India’s Ladakh region, Paljor was 28 years old when he died.
Those who knew him described him as a gifted climber whose natural ability made him a valuable member of the expedition team.
He had reportedly been selected for the summit push because of his considerable experience and skill.
Teammates later recalled that he climbed with remarkable agility, comparing his movements to those of a monkey navigating difficult terrain.
He was also remembered for his cheerful personality, willingness to help others and fondness for roast chicken.
Yet not everyone agrees that Paljor is Green Boots.
An alternative theory emerged in a 1997 article published in the Himalayan Journal by PM Das, who suggested the body instead belonged to Lance Naik Dorje Morup.
According to that account, Morup had been observed between the First and Second Steps, displaying signs of severe frostbite and struggling to manage his equipment.
Das wrote that Morup’s body had been discovered beneath the shelter of a rock near the descent route close to Camp Six, a description many believe aligns with the location of Green Boots Cave.
Eyewitness reports from Japanese climbers who were on the mountain during the same period further complicated the narrative.
They described encountering an Indian climber believed to be Morup who had refused to wear gloves over frostbitten hands and was finding it difficult to unclip his safety carabiner at anchor points.
Meanwhile, expedition leader Harbhajan Singh reportedly remained in radio contact with Paljor on May 10, with the final communication taking place at around 5.35pm.
Conflicting testimony, the extreme conditions and the passage of time have made definitive identification difficult.
Adding to the uncertainty is the fact that both Paljor and Morup are understood to have worn similar climbing equipment, including green boots.
Without DNA testing – a near-impossible undertaking in such a remote and hazardous environment – the question of who Green Boots really was may never be answered.
However, Indian authorities are now looking to recover Green Boots’ remains from the mountain, in what is expected to be a complicated mission.
The operation will require India to coordinate with Chinese authorities to transport the body across the Tibet-Nepal border, fly it to Kathmandu, and arrange repatriation to India.
It is expected to be carried out between June and September of this year.
The recovery of the remains is considered extremely dangerous as helicopters are unable to land at that altitude, meaning experienced Sherpas and climbers must manually move the body down steep terrain while facing risks such as avalanches, storms and oxygen deprivation.
But for now, what remains clear is the symbolic power that the remains on the mountain have come to hold.
Everest is often portrayed as the ultimate test of human endurance and ambition, but Green Boots represents another side of the mountain’s story.
He is a reminder of the steep cost that such ambition can exact from adventurers.
Around 200 bodies are estimated to remain on Everest’s slopes, many impossible to recover because of the dangers involved in retrieval operations at extreme altitude.
Some have been buried in avalanches or fallen into deep crevasses, while others continue to mark the routes used by climbers chasing their own summit dreams.
For decades, Green Boots was perhaps the most recognisable of them all, frozen in place high above the earth’s land. He became a waypoint and a warning.
And while climbers continue to debate whether the man in the cave was Tsewang Paljor or Dorje Morup, the mountain itself has offered no answers.
Nearly 30 years after the storm that claimed his life, Green Boots remains one of Everest’s most haunting reminders that the world’s highest peak is as unforgiving as it is captivating.
