"Save Me" last words of a Toronto woman who died after reaching the summit of Mount Everest

Shriya Shah-Klorfine (33) died on Mt Everest 

(a candidate for Mississauga East-Cooksville in the last Ontario election)

The last words of a Toronto woman who died after reaching the summit of Mount Everest were "save me," says a close friend.

Climbers normally are advised not to try for the summit after 11 a.m. The area above the last camp at the South Col is nicknamed the "death zone" because of the steep icy slope, treacherous conditions and low oxygen level.

Shriya Shah-Klorfine of Toronto was one of four people who died while descending from the summit Saturday in what are being described as overcrowded conditions.

An estimated 150 climbers tried to reach the top Friday and Saturday as they rushed to use a brief window of good weather in an otherwise troubled climbing season. Many had been waiting at a staging camp for several days for their chance to head to the summit.

"There was a traffic jam on the mountain on Saturday. Climbers were still heading to the summit as late as 2:30 p.m., which is quite dangerous," Shrestha said.

Shah-Klorfine was born in Kathmandu, Nepal, grew up in Mumbai, India and then moved to Canada to be with her husband and start an import business, SOS Splash of Style Inc. Last year, Shah-Klorfine was a candidate for Mississauga East-Cooksville in the last Ontario election as a member of the Paramount Canadians Party.

"It was her lifelong dream" to reach the summit of the world's tallest peak, said Siddoo. She said Shah-Klorfine and her parents had taken a helicopter to Everest when she was a nine-year old girl, and she had been fixated on climbing the mountain ever since.

It was Shah-Klorfine's first trek to the 8,850-metre peak. Her godfather, Bikram Lamba, said she mortgaged her house to pay for the expedition, at a cost of nearly $100,000.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/save-me-last-words-of-mount-everest-climber-1.1182656