The frozen figure resting in a small limestone cave at 27,890 feet has become one of the most recognized yet somber landmarks on Mount Everest. Known simply as “Green Boots” because of the distinctive fluorescent green Koflach mountaineering boots visible from the trail, this grim marker has greeted thousands of climbers attempting the summit via the Northeast Ridge route for nearly three decades.
But Green Boots was not always a landmark. He was Tsewang Paljor, a 28-year-old Indo-Tibetan Border Police constable from India with dreams of conquering the world’s highest peak. His story is one of ambition, tragedy, and the unforgiving nature of the mountain that has claimed over 300 lives since humans first attempted to reach its summit.
Understanding the story behind Green Boots offers crucial lessons about the dangers of high-altitude mountaineering, the ethical dilemmas faced by climbers in extreme environments, and the thin line between achievement and disaster in the death zone. This comprehensive account examines not only how Tsewang Paljor became Mount Everest’s most infamous landmark but also what his story reveals about human ambition, the limits of survival, and the mountain that refuses to surrender its dead.
The Identity Behind Green Boots
Tsewang Paljor: The Man Behind the Name
Before becoming known worldwide as Green Boots, Tsewang Paljor lived a life defined by service, discipline, and a deep connection to the mountains. Born in 1968 in the Sakti village of Ladakh, India, Paljor grew up in the shadow of the Himalayas. The rugged terrain and high-altitude environment of Ladakh often called “Little Tibet” prepared him physically for the extreme conditions he would later face.
Paljor joined the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), a specialized mountain warfare force responsible for guarding India’s border with Tibet in some of the world’s most challenging terrain. As a constable, he developed exceptional physical fitness and familiarity with high-altitude operations. His colleagues described him as determined, physically strong, and eager to prove himself on the world stage.
The ITBP’s decision to mount an Everest expedition in 1996 represented a prestigious opportunity for Paljor and his teammates. For an organization built around mountain operations, summiting Everest would demonstrate their capabilities and bring honor to the force. For Paljor personally, it was the adventure of a lifetime a chance to stand atop the world’s highest point and join the elite ranks of Everest summiteers.
His training intensified in the months before the expedition. He participated in acclimatization climbs, oxygen system training, and technical rope work specific to the Northeast Ridge route. Friends and family noted his excitement mixed with appropriate respect for the mountain’s dangers. He understood the risks but believed his training and team support would see him through.
The 1996 Indo-Tibetan Border Police Everest Expedition
The ITBP expedition was led by Commandant Mohinder Singh and consisted of a mixed team of climbers with varying levels of high-altitude experience. The team included six climbers who would attempt the summit: Tsewang Paljor, Tsewang Smanla, Dorje Morup, Harbhajan Singh, S. Sherpa, and leader Mohinder Singh himself.
The expedition chose the Northeast Ridge route from Tibet, which was less crowded than the standard Southeast Ridge route from Nepal but presented its own technical challenges. The Chinese side required different permitting and logistics but offered more control over the expedition environment and fewer competing teams on the mountain.
The team established their base camp on the Rongbuk Glacier on the north side of Everest in April 1996. They followed standard high-altitude mountaineering protocol: establishing a series of progressively higher camps, making acclimatization rotations, and waiting for a suitable weather window to make their summit push.
Camp locations included Advanced Base Camp at approximately 21,300 feet, Camp I, Camp II, Camp III, and finally the high camp that would serve as the launching point for summit attempts. Each rotation pushed team members higher, allowing their bodies to produce more red blood cells and adapt to the decreasing oxygen levels.
However, the team faced challenges from the beginning. Some members struggled with the altitude more than others. Equipment issues arose. The weather patterns proved unpredictable, as they always are on Everest. Most critically, the team’s overall high-altitude climbing experience was limited compared to many commercial expeditions operating on the mountain that season.
The Fateful 1996 Climbing Season
The Deadliest Season in Everest History
The 1996 climbing season on Mount Everest would become infamous as one of the deadliest in the mountain’s history, claiming 15 lives across multiple expeditions and routes. While most public attention focused on the disaster that struck the south side on May 10-11 killing eight climbers including respected guides Rob Hall and Scott Fischer the Indian team’s tragedy on the north side occurred during the same devastating period.
May 1996 brought unusual weather patterns to the Himalayas. Multiple expeditions crowded both the north and south routes, all waiting for the narrow weather window that typically opens in mid-May. When forecasts suggested clearing conditions, numerous teams launched summit bids simultaneously, creating bottlenecks at technical sections and putting pressure on climbers to continue upward despite emerging warning signs.
The mountain was crowded in ways that would become common in later decades but were less typical in 1996. Commercial expeditions had grown in popularity, bringing less experienced climbers to the mountain with varying abilities to handle the extreme environment. This created a complex dynamic where individual decisions affected entire groups of climbers sharing the same routes and weather windows.
Meteorological conditions deteriorated rapidly on May 10-11. A powerful storm system moved in faster than predicted, catching multiple teams at high altitude. On the south side, climbers descending from the summit became disoriented in whiteout conditions, leading to the deaths that would be chronicled in Jon Krakauer’s bestselling book “Into Thin Air.”
On the north side, where the Indian team was operating, conditions were equally treacherous. The combination of extreme cold, high winds, and reduced visibility created a deadly environment for anyone caught above 8,000 meters the notorious death zone where the human body begins dying at a cellular level due to oxygen deprivation.
The Indian Team’s Summit Push
On May 10, 1996—the same day that would prove catastrophic for climbers on the south side—three members of the Indian expedition made their final push for the summit from the Northeast Ridge: Tsewang Paljor, Tsewang Smanla, and team leader Dorje Morup.
The trio left their high camp in the early morning hours, as is standard practice for summit attempts. Reaching the top of Everest and returning safely requires starting well before dawn to allow sufficient time for the round trip during daylight hours. The conventional wisdom among experienced Everest guides is to establish a turnaround time typically between 1:00 and 2:00 PM after which climbers must descend regardless of whether they’ve reached the summit.
The Indian team’s summit push faced challenges from the start. They were climbing more slowly than planned, possibly due to the extreme altitude, equipment issues, or physical condition. Radio communications with base camp were intermittent, making it difficult for support teams to track their progress or provide real-time weather updates and advice.
Despite the slow pace, the three climbers pressed onward. At some point during their ascent, they made the fateful decision to continue past what should have been their turnaround time. This decision driven by summit fever, the psychological phenomenon where the drive to reach the peak overrides rational judgment would prove fatal.
Reports suggest the team may have reached the summit, though this remains unconfirmed. What is certain is that they were at extreme altitude very late in the day, with darkness approaching and weather conditions deteriorating rapidly.
Critical Mistakes and the Point of No Return
Several critical errors compounded to seal the fate of the three Indian climbers, mistakes that have been analyzed extensively in mountaineering circles as cautionary examples.
Violation of Turnaround Time: The most fundamental error was continuing upward past the point where safe descent could be assured before nightfall. Experienced mountaineers emphasize that the summit is only halfway getting down alive is what matters. The 2:00 PM turnaround time exists because descending in darkness at extreme altitude multiplies every risk factor exponentially.
Oxygen Management: Questions remain about whether the team properly calculated their oxygen supplies. Supplemental oxygen is critical above 8,000 meters, and running out during descent has killed numerous climbers. If their oxygen systems failed or ran empty, the effects would have been rapidly debilitating.
Communication Gaps: Inadequate communication with base camp meant the team may not have received updated weather forecasts or urgent advice to turn back. Modern expeditions maintain nearly constant radio contact, but in 1996, communication technology was less reliable.
Team Decision-Making: Whether all three climbers agreed to continue or whether group dynamics prevented individual members from expressing doubts is unknown. But the psychology of high-altitude climbing often suppresses dissenting voices when summit fever takes hold.
Experience Limitations: While all three were fit and capable climbers, their limited experience at extreme altitude may have impaired their judgment at critical decision points.
By the time the full magnitude of their situation became clear, the three climbers had passed the point of no return. They were too high, too late in the day, and facing conditions that would challenge even the most experienced alpinists.
The Tragedy Unfolds
Last Known Moments
The final hours of Tsewang Paljor, Tsewang Smanla, and Dorje Morup remain partially reconstructed from limited radio communications, observations by other climbers, and physical evidence found later.
The last confirmed radio contact with the trio occurred late on May 10. They reported their position but provided limited details about their condition or plans. Base camp urged them to descend immediately, but whether they received or could act on this advice remains unclear.
As darkness fell and the storm intensified, temperatures plummeted to perhaps -40°F or colder. Wind speeds likely exceeded 50 mph, creating wind chill factors that could freeze exposed flesh in minutes. Visibility dropped to near zero in the blowing snow. The climbers were somewhere above 27,000 feet, well into the death zone.
In such conditions, even basic tasks become monumentally difficult. Changing an oxygen bottle can take 20 minutes when hands won’t function properly. Finding the correct route down requires visual references that disappear in whiteout conditions. Each step risks a fatal fall, and exhaustion makes every movement feel like moving through deep water.
The three climbers apparently made a decision to seek shelter rather than attempt to descend in complete darkness through the storm. They found a small limestone alcove on the northeast side of the route a cave-like overhang that offered minimal protection from the screaming winds. This spot, at approximately 27,890 feet, would become forever associated with the green boots that would later identify it.
Huddling in this minimal shelter, the three men faced the brutal mathematics of high-altitude survival. Without adequate oxygen, shelter, or the ability to generate body heat, survival time is measured in hours, not days. The body begins shutting down non-essential functions. Cognitive abilities deteriorate. Eventually, consciousness fades into what climbers call “terminal boredom”—a dangerous sleepiness that precedes death from hypothermia and oxygen deprivation.
Whether all three died that first night or whether one or more survived into the next day is unknown. What is certain is that none of them would descend the mountain alive.
The Death Zone Reality
To understand what Paljor and his companions experienced in their final hours, it’s essential to understand the unique hell of Everest’s death zone the altitude above 8,000 meters (26,247 feet) where human survival becomes a race against time.
At sea level, the atmosphere contains approximately 21% oxygen, and atmospheric pressure is sufficient to deliver that oxygen efficiently to the bloodstream through the lungs. At 29,029 feet, the summit of Everest, atmospheric pressure is only about one-third of sea level pressure. While the air still contains 21% oxygen, there’s so much less air overall that each breath delivers only about one-third the oxygen molecules.
The result is that climbers are slowly suffocating, even while breathing as hard as they can. The body simply cannot get enough oxygen to sustain normal function. Cells begin dying. The brain, which consumes about 20% of the body’s oxygen at sea level, becomes starved, leading to impaired judgment, loss of coordination, hallucinations, and eventually loss of consciousness.
The heart works frantically to circulate what little oxygenated blood exists, often beating at 140-160 beats per minute even at rest. Blood thickens as the body produces more red blood cells, increasing the risk of strokes and blood clots. Extremities receive less blood flow as the body prioritizes vital organs, making frostbite almost inevitable on exposed skin.
Climbers lose weight rapidly—up to a pound per day at extreme altitude as the body cannibalizes muscle tissue because digestion itself requires oxygen the body doesn’t have. Appetite disappears. Sleep becomes impossible. Simple tasks require superhuman effort.
Most critically, the death zone lives up to its name: humans cannot survive there indefinitely. Even with supplemental oxygen, which typically brings effective altitude down to around 23,000-24,000 feet, staying at extreme altitude degrades the body. Without supplemental oxygen, survival time at the summit is measured in minutes to hours. At 27,890 feet, where Green Boots’ cave is located, an incapacitated climber without oxygen might survive 12-24 hours in good weather, but far less in a storm.
The climbers trapped in that cave faced all these physiological challenges simultaneously while battling extreme cold and wind. Their bodies were shutting down while their minds, starved of oxygen, lost the ability to formulate survival strategies. Even if they had wanted to continue descending, their bodies may have simply refused to respond.
Search and Rescue Attempts
The following days brought desperate attempts to locate and potentially rescue the missing Indian climbers, but the brutal reality of high-altitude mountaineering severely limited what could be done.
On May 11, as the storm continued, expedition organizers at base camp tried repeatedly to establish radio contact with the trio. Receiving no response, they faced a terrible dilemma: send climbers up to search in dangerous conditions, potentially creating more casualties, or wait for improved weather while the missing climbers’ survival chances diminished by the hour.
When conditions improved slightly on May 12, several climbers from various expeditions who were still at high camps began limited search efforts. The challenge was immense—the northeast side of Everest covers vast terrain, and locating three climbers who might be sheltering anywhere along several possible routes would require searching areas where every step risks death.
A Japanese expedition that had climbers in the area reported seeing what appeared to be bodies or incapacitated climbers near the route, but they were either unable or unwilling to approach close enough to identify the individuals or assess whether they could be helped. This sighting would later become controversial, with some accusing the Japanese climbers of abandoning dying men. However, those familiar with extreme-altitude climbing understand that approaching potentially living climbers who cannot move on their own poses nearly insurmountable challenges.
The harsh truth is that rescue at extreme altitude on Everest is rarely possible. Each rescuer needs supplemental oxygen, physical reserves, and the ability to function at altitude where simply keeping oneself alive is difficult. Carrying or assisting a incapacitated person would require multiple strong climbers, adequate oxygen for everyone, and favorable weather conditions that rarely align.
Even helicopter rescues, which have become possible at lower elevations in recent years, cannot reach the death zone. The air is too thin for helicopters to generate lift above approximately 23,000 feet, and even reaching that altitude requires perfect conditions and accepting extreme risk.
By May 13-14, as more expeditions sent climbers past the location where the Indian team had sought shelter, it became clear that all three men had perished. The bodies were visible but could not be recovered or even approached safely. The mountain had claimed three more lives, and like so many before them, Paljor, Smanla, and Morup would remain where they fell.
Green Boots Cave: The Infamous Landmark
Geographic Location and Description
The location that would become known as Green Boots Cave sits on the northeast ridge route at approximately 27,890 feet (8,500 meters), in the death zone but still more than 1,100 vertical feet below Everest’s summit. This places it in a particularly high-traffic section of the northeast route, where virtually every climber attempting the summit from the Tibet side must pass.
The “cave” is really more of a small limestone alcove or overhang a natural indentation in the rock face that provides minimal shelter from the wind. It’s perhaps six feet deep, just large enough for a person to huddle inside out of the direct wind. The rock is dark gray limestone, contrasting sharply with the surrounding snow and ice.
The cave faces the trail at a slight angle, making the interior visible to approaching climbers. This visibility is what made Green Boots such a recognizable landmark there was no way to pass without seeing the body resting inside.
The location sits on a relatively narrow section of the ridge where the route is well-defined. Climbers ascending or descending must pass within a few feet of the cave entrance. In some conditions, climbers literally step over or around the extended legs of the body to continue on the route.
Geographic positioning places the cave in a spot where climbers are already severely taxed. Those ascending are entering the most extreme altitude they’ve ever experienced, typically suffering from oxygen deprivation, exhaustion, and the psychological weight of knowing they’re entering the death zone. Those descending are often at their most vulnerable exhausted from
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