26,300'
A flat, barren field surrounded by Everest on the north, Lhotse on the south, the 7,000 foot Kangshung Face on the east and the 4,000-foot Lhotse Face on the west, the South Col is a legendary place. The only camp in the "Death Zone" (above 25,000') where biological functions in the human body (like digestion) begin to shut down from lack of oxygen, Camp IV is a haunted place in the minds of climbers. This is where altitude sickness is likely to go from bad to worse, where climbers die in their sleep, where those who stay too long sometimes stay forever. It is also the last camp before the summit one mile away. Nerves and altitude prevent most climbers from getting any real rest here, and all have a hard time eating. Hypoxia (a lack of oxygen to the brain) makes even tying shoelaces or boiling water require intense concentration. In 1996, climbers were stranded on the South Col for hours in 100mph winds and temperatures of -40°F when they couldn't find their camp after descending from the summit in a white-out. Ten people died in that storm making it a day with the greatest loss of life in the history of Everest.
