Posted on 05/22/2016 8:00:39 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Dr Strydom, who also goes by Marisa, was on a seven-week expedition with her husband Robert Gropel - who has also been injured during the trek.
The 34-year-old's family say the couple's GPS tracker stopped working on Friday.
A single transmission from the tracker on Saturday gave them hope but a Google search on Saturday night delivered the devastating news that Dr Strydom had died, her sister Aletta Newman told AAP.
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Conflicting media reports attributing her death to altitude sickness, snow blindness and a stroke only added to the distress of the Strydom family, who have yet to hear from the company behind the expedition.
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Seven Summit Treks confirmed Dr Strydom's death but said it didn't have her family's details.
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The family is also worried about Maria's husband Robert Gropel, a veterinarian who was with his wife on the expedition.
The Department of Foreign Affairs told Ms Newman only that Dr Gropel is injured and they are trying to get him down from the mountain.
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Ms Newman said efforts were underway to recover her sister's body but from an elevation of 8000 metres it would be difficult.
Dr Gropel is at camp two and a rescue will be attempted.
Dutch climber Eric Arnold, who was in the same climbing party, died of altitude sickness on Friday - both fatalities the first this year on the world's highest peak.
Ms Newman said her sister and brother-in-law were experienced climbers and took extra oxygen bottles as a precaution.
Dr Strydom and Dr Gropel are vegans who were determined to climb the highest mountains on each continent.
"It seems that people have this warped idea of vegans being malnourished and weak," Dr Strydom said in March.
"We want to prove that vegans can do anything and more."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
I enjoy travel writing and adventurous tv programs in the secure comfort of my suburban living room.
Maybe they’ll subsidize Vegan meals in the cafeteria in her honor.
“Everest has become the rich yuppie version of “Hold my beer and watch this....””
Yep. They’d take a helicopter if possible and stand there proclaim victory.
A “Memorial to Marissa”. Pictures. Tributes. Maybe even a bust.
And a Maria Strydom scholarship for students committed to bio-ethical business practices.
Pass the roast beef!
I agree. I hope the couple did not have children.
I wonder why the so called environmentalists haven't been clamoring for it to be closed or restricted.
I am still waiting for the day for George Leigh Mallory's body to be found with the Kodak camera and film to see once and for all who really got to the top of the mountain.
The images are shocking. Not sure if anyone knows exactly how many bodies there are on the mountain.
Oh my! That’s horrible!
I have a hunch that the border area south of Otay Mesa has Everest beat in the pollution department.
“I wonder why the so called environmentalists haven’t been clamoring for it to be closed or restricted.”
Some have wanted it closed for safety reasons: http://www.blueridgeoutdoors.com/go-outside/should-mount-everest-be-closed-forever/
It was closed in 2015: https://gearjunkie.com/mount-everest-closed-for-2015
They have been. Nepal won't. Too important to the local economy.
If it’s that simple maybe you should give it a try.
Very True. An earlier post corrected me about the pollution and what has been cleaned up. I am astounded that there has been 500 tons of debris on that mountain.
I would imagine though that trying to clean and bring down human waste is another matter.
Pop Quiz, how many of these people going up there I wonder did so with the idea of being able to claim they had sex at the summit???????????????/
I think every climber should be required to pick up an oxygen canister and throw it as far as they can down hill on their return trip. It may not solve the whole problem, but it would make it easier over time.
Now those vegans may be dead...
Including that of George Mallory. In fact, climbers on the North Face used to use one body ("Green Boots") as a landmark. "Turn left at the body with the green boots and go on to the Second Step."
Everest, as any climber will tell you, is NOT a particularly challenging climb technically. It is an extremely harsh hike though. Today, a lot of people with more money than brains or training are attempting to summit, with traffic jams along parts of the route that cause fatal delays.
Mallory’s body was found in 1999: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Mallory
(A good memory does not equal pale ink...)
A lot of people died that season.
Read Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air." Incredible stories.
Mallory’s body has been found.
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