Rainbow Valley on Mount Everest: What It Is and Why It Exists
Rainbow Valley is the climbers' name for the stretch of Mount Everest just below the summit ridge, mainly on the northeast (Tibet) side above 8,000 metres, where the brightly coloured down suits of fallen mountaineers remain visible against the snow. The name sounds gentle; the reality is the opposite. It is not a valley at all but a slope inside the so-called death zone, and the colours are the red, yellow, orange, and blue jackets of climbers who could not be brought home. More than 340 people have died on Everest since 1921, and the majority died up here, on summit day, above the altitude where rescue is realistic. This article explains what Rainbow Valley actually is, how it differs from the death zone, why the bodies remain, and what is finally being done about it.
What Is Rainbow Valley?
Rainbow Valley is an informal nickname, not a place you will find on any official map of Everest. It refers to the area beneath the northeast ridge route, roughly between 8,000 and 8,500 metres, where climbers who died on summit day came to rest after falls or after being moved off the narrow path by later expeditions. Because modern expedition clothing is deliberately bright for visibility, the slope is dotted with colour, and passing climbers coined the name decades ago. Similar scenes exist below the south (Nepal) route near the South Col, and the nickname is sometimes used loosely for both sides.
The dead cannot be carried down from this altitude in most cases, so they stay, preserved by year-round sub-zero temperatures. Some have lain in place for decades, becoming grim landmarks that climbers use to track their progress, the most famous being Green Boots, the climber who rested in a limestone alcove at about 8,500 metres on the northeast ridge for nearly twenty years.
Rainbow Valley vs the Death Zone: What Is the Difference?
The death zone is a physiological boundary; Rainbow Valley is a place inside it. Above roughly 8,000 metres, air pressure falls to about a third of sea level and the human body can no longer acclimatise: it consumes itself faster than it can recover, no matter how fit the climber. Mountaineers can only survive there briefly, almost always with bottled oxygen, which is why every part of an Everest summit push above the South Col (south side) or Camp 3 (north side) takes place inside the death zone.
Rainbow Valley sits within that band on the north side descent. The two terms get mixed up online, but the distinction matters: the death zone explains why people die near the summit; Rainbow Valley is where many of them remain.
Why Do the Bodies Stay There?
Three forces keep the dead on the mountain. First, physics: a frozen body with gear weighs well over 100 kg, and at 8,000+ metres a rescuer can barely carry their own weight, so a recovery team needs six to ten strong climbers working in the death zone for hours. Second, danger: several rescuers have died attempting recoveries, and most expedition operators refuse the work outright. Third, cost: a high-altitude body recovery runs from USD 30,000 to 70,000 or more, and insurance rarely covers it. Families are usually left with a painful but honest choice: leave them where they climbed. Our guide on why Everest's dead cannot be brought down covers the full logistics.
How Many People Have Died on Everest?
The Himalayan Database counts more than 340 deaths on Everest from 1921 through the record 2026 season. The recent years show the pattern: 18 deaths in 2023, the deadliest year on record; 8 in 2024; 5 in 2025; and 5 in 2026, a season that also set the all-time record of 492 permits and more than 1,000 summits. Most deaths happen on summit day, above 8,000 metres, from falls, exhaustion, exposure, and altitude illness, which is exactly why the area below the summit ridge holds so many of the mountain's dead. The full year-by-year picture is in our article on Everest's death toll, and the crowding dynamics behind the modern numbers are covered in the real price of five minutes on top of the world.
The People Behind the Colours
Each suit in Rainbow Valley belonged to someone with a story, and a few have become part of Everest's collective memory. Green Boots, widely believed to be the Indian climber Tsewang Paljor, died in the 1996 blizzard and became the north side's most famous landmark. Francys Arsentiev, the Sleeping Beauty of Everest, died in 1998 just after becoming the first American woman to summit without oxygen; her body was moved out of sight in 2007 by one of the climbers who had stayed with her in her final hours. Writing about this place respectfully means remembering that: these are graves, not curiosities.
Is Anything Being Done? The Cleanup Campaigns
Yes, and the pace has picked up. The Nepali Army has run an annual Mountain Cleanup Campaign since 2019, and the 2024 operation, 12 soldiers supported by 18 Sherpas, recovered 11 tonnes of garbage, four bodies, and one skeleton from Everest, Lhotse, and Nuptse. The Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee cleared a further 85 tonnes of waste from the Everest region in spring 2024 alone. In late 2025 Nepal announced its first five-year Everest Cleaning Action Plan (2025-2029), and heavy-lift drones capable of carrying 15 kg from the high camps to Base Camp in minutes are now in trials. High-altitude recoveries from the death zone itself remain rare and dangerous, but the era of leaving everything where it falls is slowly ending.
Will Trekkers to Base Camp See Rainbow Valley?
No. Rainbow Valley lies above 8,000 metres on the climbing routes, far beyond anything visible from the trekking trails. The classic Everest Base Camp trek reaches 5,364 metres at Base Camp and 5,644 metres at Kala Patthar, in a completely different world from the death zone: no technical climbing, no bottled oxygen, and none of the mountain's grim upper reaches in view. Trekkers see Everest's summit pyramid from a respectful distance, which is exactly how most people should meet this mountain.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where exactly is Rainbow Valley on Everest?
Below the northeast ridge route on the Tibet side, roughly between 8,000 and 8,500 metres, on the slopes where fallen climbers came to rest. The name is informal and is sometimes applied to similar areas above the South Col on the Nepal side.
How long can you survive in the death zone?
Without bottled oxygen, consciousness at the summit can fade in minutes for an unacclimatised person; even acclimatised climbers on oxygen plan summit day around a 16-to-20-hour window. Beyond about 48 hours above 8,000 metres, survival odds collapse regardless of equipment.
How many bodies are in Rainbow Valley?
No official count exists for the area itself. Across the whole mountain, more than 200 of Everest's 340+ dead are believed to remain, most of them above 8,000 metres on or near the two main routes.
Can the bodies be removed?
Occasionally, at great risk and cost (USD 30,000 to 70,000+), and almost never from the highest slopes. The 2024 army campaign recovered four bodies and a skeleton, and Nepal's new five-year plan aims to make such recoveries more regular.
Related Reading
This article is part of our series on the human history of Everest: how many people die on Everest each year, why the bodies cannot be brought down, the story of Green Boots, Francys Arsentiev, the Sleeping Beauty of Everest, and why Everest gets deadly traffic jams.
