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In 2015, an avalanche killed over a dozen people on Everest. This climbing season is the deadliest since that year, with eleven deaths so far. The problem is not, however, the weather. Instead, the mountain is so overcrowded that climbers are literally dying of altitude sickness or exhaustion while waiting in a queue to get to the peak.

Waiting for hours at the peak is incredible dangerously, since climbers shed every pound of weight they can before they summit. There’s a small space––about the size of two ping-pong tables––at the top where 15 to 20 climbers can snap a few photos (#doinitforthegram). But before they get there, they have to wait in a long line, sometimes for hours. When oxygen is limited, the air is frigid, and your head is fuzzy, that’s a recipe for disaster.

There are many facets to the Everest problem. The first that Nepal is granting too many permits to climbers––each of which costs about $11,000––without regard for how crowded the mountain is getting or what the climbers’ qualifications are. That leads to the second problem: inexperienced climbers are flooding the mountain, making it incredibly dangerous for those who know what they’re doing. Finally, some of the expedition crews reuse gear, including oxygen tanks, in order to maximize profits.

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