Dead bodies litter Mount Everest because it's so dangerous and expensive to get them down — and 2023 could be the most deadly season yet

• More than 310 people have died climbing Everest since exploration first started in the early 1900s. 
• It's dangerous to retrieve the bodies, so many litter the mountain to this day. 
• Many have blamed overcrowding for deaths in recent years, and 2023 saw a record number of climbers. 

Dead bodies are a common sight on top of Mount Everest. 

On average, six people die climbing the world's tallest peak each year. The year 2015 was the mountain's deadliest in recent history, when an avalanche killed 19.