SEATTLE — A Seattle climber who spoke to KIRO 7 Eyewitness News from Mount Everest said "something needs to be done" to prevent more deaths on the world's tallest mountain.
Four people died on Everest last weekend amid a traffic jam of climbers scrambling to reach the top.
The hundreds of climbers trying to summit the mountain caused two- to three-hour wait times, said Brent Bishop, in a phone interview with reporter Chris Legeros on Thursday morning.
"You have 150 people moving on the same route at the same time, and you get jammed up there," Bishop said.
Bishop, a University of Washington graduate, called KIRO 7 Eyewitness News from base camp to talk about Everest and the conditions on the mountain.
Bishop and his team were attempting to climb the historic west ridge that's only seen five ascents in 50 years. Poor weather conditions turned them around and the team is heading home.
He said he's now seeing a large crowd of climbers on the more commonly used route up the mountain.
"That can create a very dangerous situation because the longer you're out above 8,000 meters, whether you're using oxygen or not, it wears on you," Bishop said.
Bishop said that in the last couple of years, he's noticed the numbers of climbers increasing, causing problems.
Bishop -- who reached the summit of Everest in 1994 and 2002 -- started the "Buy Back" program, that helps remove thousands of pounds of trash from Everest.
He said he's worried about the four recent deaths, and said something needs to be done about the number of climbers on this mountain.
"It looks like the same thing could potentially happen tonight. That's not a good thing."
Bishop is heading down from base camp and eventually, back to Seattle.
Bishop is the son of the late legendary climber Barry Bishop.
KIRO
