For nearly 30 years, a set of human remains marked by a pair of vivid green climbing boots has stood as one of the most grimly recognizable landmarks on Mount Everest’s northeast ridge, guiding thousands of climbers through the harsh terrain of the mountain’s deadly 8,000-plus meter “death zone”. Now, nearly three decades after the climber died in one of Everest’s deadliest recorded disasters, Indian authorities have launched the first formal steps to bring his remains down from the world’s highest peak.
The climber widely known as “Green Boots” is believed by Indian officials to be Dorje Morup, a member of an Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) expedition that attempted to summit Everest in May 1996. That storm season would go down in mountaineering history as one of the deadliest ever on the peak: when severe weather rolled in over the summit as Morup’s team neared the top, three members of the six-person ITBP expedition chose to turn back, while Morup and two other colleagues pushed on to complete their ascent. All three ITBP climbers ultimately lost their lives in the blizzard, which claimed a total of eight lives across multiple independent expeditions on the mountain that season.
Ever since 1996, Morup’s remains have rested in a sheltered cave in the death zone – the area above 8,000 meters where oxygen levels are too low to sustain human life for extended periods – taking their nickname from the bright green mountaineering boots the climber wore. For decades, passing climbers on the popular northeast route have used the remains as a key visual marker to gauge their progress toward the summit. Unlike many other bodies left on Everest, “Green Boots” has become a widely known part of the mountain’s climbing lore, referenced in countless expedition accounts and mountaineering histories.
The ITBP, India’s paramilitary force that manages border security along the Indo-Tibetan border, has now begun the procurement process to hire specialized high-altitude recovery teams to retrieve the remains from the northern route, which lies on the Tibetan side of Everest controlled by Chinese authorities. The recovery effort still faces steep barriers: all access to the northern side of the mountain is tightly regulated by Chinese officials, who have not yet issued any public comment on India’s recovery plan, and closed the entire mountain to foreign climbers for the 2026 spring climbing season without offering a public explanation. Without official Chinese approval, the operation cannot move forward.
Industry experts note that even with approval, the mission will be one of extreme danger. Body recovery operations in Everest’s death zone are notoriously high-risk: helicopters cannot land or even hover safely at that altitude, forcing recovery teams to carry remains down steep, icy slopes on foot. Teams face constant threats of avalanches, sudden severe weather storms, and life-threatening altitude sickness caused by the extremely low oxygen levels above 8,000 meters. Of the nearly 350 people who have died climbing Everest since the first successful summit in 1953, the majority of their bodies remain on the mountain’s slopes – the high cost and extreme risk of recovery operations make bringing most remains down unfeasible.
Pemba Sherpa, founder of Kathmandu-based adventure outfitter Xtreme Climbers Treks and Expedition, called the recovery logistically possible but heavily dependent on regulatory approval. “It is not impossible to retrieve the body from Everest, but the first challenge is getting permission from the Chinese officials and then only can they proceed to bring the body down,” Sherpa explained. As of the latest update, it remains unclear whether the recovery team will be made up of Indian, Nepali, or Chinese specialists, and no timeline for the operation has been announced, as planners wait for both regulatory approval and a window of favorable climbing weather on the peak.