Altitude
Cases unlock in order, like levels. This is case 52 of 100.
Everest Base Camp, Nepal, 5,364 meters, 5:40 am. Henrik Dahl, a 51-year-old Norwegian climber, was found dead in his tent, the oxygen mask still on his face.
The day before, the altitude had made him sick. The doctor ordered him to sleep on oxygen and go down at dawn. The cylinder hooked to the mask was empty.
The expedition has only four tents, and the night snow kept the footprints. Three people knew the oxygen stock. One of them swapped the cylinder.
The expedition's mess tent, yellow canvas snapping in the wind, butter tea steaming on the folding table.
Suspects
Pemba Nuru SherpaThe expedition's Sherpa guide, 38
Solveig BrandtHenrik's partner in the expedition, 46
Anselm WeberCamp doctor, 58
The real case
The oxygen cylinders stolen on Everest
Nepal, 2017
This case is a work of fiction. The characters, names, places and events in the game do not portray real people. The account below is a factual summary, based on public sources, of the case that served as inspiration.
During the 2017 season, Everest expeditions reported that oxygen cylinders left at the high camps, especially Camp 4, at about 8,000 meters, had been stolen or emptied. For anyone climbing into the so-called death zone, oxygen stashed in advance is part of the survival plan, and finding it gone on the way down can be fatal.
Guides and outfitters reported the problem, which was blamed on other teams taking cylinders in emergencies or to resell them. No deaths were directly proven, but the episode led to closer monitoring and marking of cylinders at the camps.
The game borrows the empty or missing cylinder that puts a climber's life at risk. The murder, the characters and the outcome are fiction.
Sources
Case glossary
Words from this case you might not know.
- Sherpa
- A member of a Himalayan people of Nepal, famed as mountain guides and porters on high-altitude expeditions.
- mess tent
- The shared tent at an expedition camp where members eat and gather.
- butter tea
- A Himalayan drink of tea churned with butter and salt, drunk for warmth and energy.