In climbing a mountain like K2, why do more deaths occur when going down the mountain than going up it?

Question

Example: K2

Answer 1

Gipp gives a very comprehensive answer, but I'd like to emphasise a couple of the points.

Down-climbing is horrible! I find it much harder than climbing, and it feels so much more exposed. For one thing, you are going feet first, instead of head first, which means that you won't have scoped out good footholds as your head is going past (like you do when climbing), so it's much harder to find a good route to take down. If it's dark, it's even worse, as your feet will be a long way from your headtorch. Also, the leader (the guy that climbs down last, rather than first, as in normal climbing) would seem to be much more exposed, as he's climbing above his protection and down towards the next bit, instead of placing new bits as he goes. [At least, this is how it is if they're pitching a route rather than moving together].

Fatigue is another factor. Not just physical fatigue, but mostly mental. After you've been doing a hard climb for a few hours, and having to concentrate with every single movement and shift of balance you make, your mind is absolutely exhausted. You feel like that when you've got to the summit, and then you have to do exactly the same thing going back down!

Even assuming that a route has been properly planned, it can still very well be that the descent has to be made during midday hours, when the snowpack is at its most unstable, so slips can be made here.

and yeah 'summit fever' is definitely a problem, it just feels horrible to have to turn back when you're so close, even though you reeeally need to..

Answer 2

There's a few reasons:

1- Climbers are exhausted from the climb up, which reduces their physical climbing ability as well as their decision making abilities.

2- Downclimbing is just as technical if not more so than climbing up. In steep areas, you can't spot your hand/foot holds while down climbing nearly as well as on the way up.

3- Many catastrophes occur when the weather changes. On serious ascents, climbers will head out of high camp somewhere around midnight, with a goal of summiting by noon-2PM so they can make it back to high camp or even lower before dark. In the mountains, the weather can change drastically in the 18 hours the climbers are summiting and down climbing, making it easy to lose the trail, rush, or make any number of fatal errors.

4- Summit fever. A lot of climbers don't turn back when they should. They fall behind schedule on summit day and rather than turn back and get back to camp before dark, they keep pushing for the summit. This means their descent will be much later than anticipated, leaving more time for fatigue and weather to effect their climb.

5- a failure to understand "Getting up is optional, getting down is mandatory"

Answer 3

It's not just K2...many climbers are injured or killed on the way down - because they are tired or not paying attention because they summitted.

Ed Viesturs says "Getting to the top is optional...getting down is mandatory".  A climb is only half done when you summit.

Answer 4

I had the privilege of hearing Chris Warner tell the story of his ascent of K2, and he said that once they took the summit they had to get the photo and then get the heck out of there before the lack of oxygen would completely sap any strength they had left to make a safe descent.

Answer 5

your more tired and its just as difficult if not more