Mount Everest has seen many deaths throughout the centuries. However, there are only about 200 bodies that are still left on the tallest mountain in the world, standing tall at 8848m. Dying on Mount Everest is much better than dying on a hospital bed for many mountaineers, including Don Cash. Cash was an enthusiastic soul who started his journey by summiting the most famous and tallest mountains in the world. He surely made a victory and a name for himself when he climbed Mount Everest, the last mountain he needed to complete seven summits.
Sadly, he passed away in his attempt to complete his dream. There are a lot of interesting facts related to Cash and his journey of mountaineering that started from the year 2015. If you want to learn more about Don Cash, keep reading till the end of this article.
Who was Don Cash?
Don Cash was a mountaineer from Utah, The United States of America. He passed away in 2019 in his attempt to return from the highest peak in the world. One of the more fortunate and better parts of his ascent was that he succeeded in climbing the mountain regardless of what the result of his climb was. Moreover, he always told his children that he preferred to die in the mountains doing what he loved the most instead of dying in a hospital bed.
Furthermore, Cash started his journey in mountaineering a few years ago. He has, to this date, climbed many mountains all around the world. Among the seven summits in the world, Mount Everest was his final and most legendary climb. He has climbed all the other summits as well.
Cash had always been active on his Instagram. Hence, his followers and anyone who wants to know more about him can still get to see a lot of pictures and memoirs from his trip to the mountains before he died. He surely was one of the most invested mountaineers of our time.
Don Cash Mount Everest
Cash passed away on Mount Everest in the year 2019. His death was both legendary as well as tragic. It was legendary in the sense that the mountaineer wanted to climb the tallest peak as a way of succeeding in climbing all the seven mountains in the world that are known as the Seven Summits. These mountains include the tallest mountains in the world, which are also as popular as they are tough to climb.
Don could not make it to the base camp after he went up Mount Everest because his body entirely gave up after managing to summit the tallest mountain in the world. The Sherpas who were guiding him tried their best to help him descend from the peak, only to end up failing in doing so. Their attempts to revive Cash failed as his body had already succumbed to what his family assumed was a heart attack.
The high altitude and the mix of his heart condition may have been the reason for his death. Besides this, his family will never get to see him ever again as his body will not return to Utah ever. But, they are proud of his achievements as he died doing what he loved the most.
His daughter Brandlin Cash, 29, says, “He loved them so much because he was tested. There’s more to life. You can try to do fun, but there is more to traveling and going somewhere. I loved all of his hikes.”
Furthermore, a friend of Cash, Ray, claimed to have loved all the late mountaineer’s hikes and how traveling to the mountains had always been more than just having fun for him. Besides this, he proceeded to say that the mountaineer was more than life and was always passionate about what he did. Regardless of what his friends and family had to say in addition to death, they all believe that he died a death that he always wanted.
His son remembers what his father always taught him, “Do one thing that is a challenge and do it in his honor,.” At 21, Tanner Cash has learned a lot from his father and his life than he ever would any other way.
Cash’s death was not a tragedy, according to his friends and family. And a heartwarming fact about Don is that he expressed to the world through his social media that he felt “so blessed” to be able to climb Mount Everest before summiting.
Don Cash Body Mount Everest
It is a fact that Cash will never return home to Utah. His body is still somewhere around the higher heights of Mount Everest. According to a reporter from Nepal’s famous news portal, The Himalayan Times, his body is on the southeast side of the tallest peak in the world, where he passed away just a few meters below the Hillary Step, a steep rock wall. It is impossible to retrieve bodies from the top of the mountain, and many bodies, over the years, have been stranded and stuck in the mountain. Moreover, a lot of bodies have disappeared, and only around 200 bodies remain on Mount Everest as of now.
Pioneer Adventure Pvt. Ltd.’s chairman Pasang Sherpa said that the guides from their agency tried their best to bring him down the mountain. Apparently, the guides had carried the mountaineer down to the Hillary Step. But, they could not take him forward because of the traffic on Mount Everest. The guides had even given him oxygen, but he did not make it and passed away at 55.
While the cause of his death is still almost a mystery, his daughter is confident that he died from cardiac arrest. She also is very thankful that he died this way, which had surely given him peace of mind. Brandlin says she is sure he has died without suffering, which is the best way to go.
Though Cash’s death is saddening, he had always considered it better to die on a mountain as a passionate mountaineer. And he has done so in the highest peak of the world.
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