There are only 14 mountains in the world that go above the 8,000 metre mark. At that altitude, no matter the amount of training, experience or conditioning, a climber will never be able to spend more than 48-hours there: this is called The Death Zone. At that altitude, oxygen levels are so low that the human body will start using up its own storages faster than breathing can replenish it. There is a reason the word "death" is in its name: it'll kill you.

As Norwegian writer godhead/v explains in his blog a sea of lead, a sky of slate, Mount Everest comes with its own "Death Zone" as well. But unlike most other mountains, this area has earned itself the name of "Rainbow Valley" due to the multicolored down jackets of the numerous corpses littering the hillside. Everest has claimed one in every ten who have attempted to reach the summit and, despite the harsh conditions of lethal altitudes, corpses have remained in place for decades, some appearing frozen in time with their climbing gear intact.

The entire article is quite an interesting read, but some readers may find the graphic nature of the images disturbing. If you're okay with that, then click here to read the whole thing.