After eight days of trekking to Everest Base Camp, we cross a critical threshold when the body begins to falter. As we gain altitude, every breath delivers less oxygen. Severe altitude sickness can be fatal. One hillside is covered with memorials to those who never made it back from Everest’s summit. In 2023 alone, 18 people died, the most in a single year. Many died so high up that their bodies are nearly impossible to recover. “Every time you go, you are so energized, and you feel like nothing