Over the years, many people have died at the highest peak of the world. Mount Everest is possibly one of those mountains that is as deadly as it is fascinating. In 2012, Shriya Shah Klorfine, who had always been very keen about the mountains since she was a child, passed away on Mount Everest. She had once been to Mount Everest as a child with her father, where they toured the peak through a helicopter.
Shriya was a Nepali Canadian mountaineer and a businesswoman who had been living in Toronto. Her life changed completely with just a decision. And we have written everything that you need to know about Shah in this article; keep reading to know more about Shriya Shah Klorfine and her last ascent to Mount Everest.
Shriya Shah Klorfine Mount Everest
Shriya Shah Klorfine contacted Utmost Adventure Trekking, which was a new mountaineering agency. Neither she nor the agency had been experienced when she made her booking for summiting Mount Everest through this agency in 2012.
The climb would cost $36,000 to $40,000 at the lowest. And all the equipment and airfares combined would cost her $100,000. Shah could not afford the trip on her own. Hence, she took the help of a website, www.myeverestexpedition.com, to raise donations for her trip. The website used a computer-generated photo of Shriya in front of Mount Everest. She showed her high ambition through her profile, stating, “I’M Possible,” proving that nothing is impossible. The website, sadly, could not raise money as was intended though. The donation either lost money or raised very little, which left Shah to no avail but to seek other ways of raising money.
She then decided to take out a second mortgage on her home to finance her expedition to Mount Everest. The leader of the team by which Klorfine was told her that the day was not good enough for a climb. She was reluctant, whatsoever, to climb the peak. The leader even warned her that she was a below-average climber and ascending to the mountain on the day that she did might prove to be fatal. But Shah was inclined towards taking the risk, and she did. The waiting hours during that season, especially on that day, were very long.
After 1996, 2012, as a year, was the worse to go to Mount Everest. In this year itself, there were 11 deaths, much higher than the eight deaths in the former year. While the waiting line and Shriya’s recklessness in wanting to climb the mountain have been one of the most assumed reasons for her death, many others assumed that she was not given enough oxygen cylinders while climbing the top of the mountain. Likewise, her lack of experience is also an additional reason for her death at the peak.
Shriya Shah Klorfine Death
There are Himalayan Database records that have recorded her to have died on May 19, 2012, around the southern side of Everest at 8400 meters altitude height. There were four more mountaineers who died the same day as Shriya.
Before summiting Mount Everest, she was the last to exit Camp IV. She had already been one of the least experienced members of the team led by Utmost Adventure Trekking. Despite the warnings from the leader of the team, she would not just give up on reaching the peak. The managing director of the agency claims to have seen her during her ascent. But things got worse around the death zone, which is above 8000 meters.
Mountaineer Leanne Shuttleworth found the body of Shriya Shah, which was clipped to a climbing line. Leanne rounded her body when she was with her father and other climbers. The body remained in the mountain for ten days until it was taken down through the mountain. Shriya’s body was found at over 8000 meters altitude before being retrieved by a helicopter.
A church in Toronto, Canada, conducted a memorial for Shriya Shah Klorfine on July 8, 2012. Additionally, Shah was only 33 years old when she died.
Shriya Shah Klorfine Cause of Death
Shriya had already consumed nine bottles of oxygen, and they were running out of more oxygen. Unfortunately, the weather conditions in the mountain were just as unfavorable. The Sherpas had to push her and pull her through their walk in the mountain, but after the traffic increased in the mountain, they could not take it any further.
She passed away due to suffocation despite there being assumptions about her death. Shah was already unable to stand properly even when she was with the Sherpas. And, the height of 8700 meters was enough to lead one to fatality.
Shriya Shah’s Personal Life
Shriya Shah was born on January 11, 1979 in Kathmandu, Nepal. She was raised in Mumbai, India, and spent the majority of her early life there while she completed her education at Tribhuvan University, located in Kathmandu, Nepal. She left India to work as a purser on a cruise ship.
While working on the cruise ship, she met her husband Bruce Klorfine. He was a jazz and event piano player. The couple married a while after meeting one another and settled in Toronto, Canada. The couple were together for a decade before she passed away on Everest.
Besides mountaineering, she had pursued careers as a fashion buyer for the Fairweather women’s clothing chain and an entrepreneur and founder of “SOS Splash of Style Inc.” In 2011, she tried her hands in the 2011 Ontario general election in the riding of Mississauga East—Cooksville.
Shriya Shah Klorfine Legacy
Klorfine has set a legacy for herself in the world of mountaineering. In 2012, Bob McKeown documented his clips from Nepal and a few clips of Shriya during her last moments. The Vancouver Sun noted the case of Shah as the pros and cons of risk-taking. Her case had proven that as fruitful and praiseworthy as risks can be, it can just be as fatal.
However, there have been just as negative claims against the foreign climbers who try their hands on climbing Mount Everest without any expertise. These individuals very often tend to ignore the dangers of doing so towards themselves as well as others. Though Shah has set an example and made both the Nepalese and Canadian communities proud, there still remains backlash regarding these things that lasted very long, even after her death.
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