Of the 8,000 mountain peaks in Nepal, three times as many deaths occur during the descent from the summit as during the ascent. The Himalayan Database, created by American journalist Elizabeth Hawley and computer scientist Richard Salisbury, has been recording climbs on Nepalese peaks and collecting data on fatal accidents since the 1960s. The database records 348 fatal accidents during attempts to reach the summits of the eight 8,000-meter Nepalese peaks, with 161 of these related to Mount Everest alone. Of these, 81 occurred during the ascent, while 267 occurred during the descent, meaning that 77% of accidents happened during the descent. On Everest specifically, 126 deaths occurred during descent and 35 during ascent. In France, the National Union of Mountain Guides (SNGM) also tracks accidents during guided climbs in various mountain ranges, both in France and abroad. Between 2021 and 2024, the SNGM recorded 503 accidents across all guided activities, including 33 that occurred outside of France, involving over 1.4 million people. Of these, 73.8% happened during descent. However, this percentage includes winter sports, which account for 52% of all reported accidents, and canyoning. When considering only alpinism and climbing, the proportion of accidents during descent drops to 40.6%. Jean-Philippe Gary, director of the SNGM, explains that while some categories have very low numbers—such as 5 deaths out of 24 accidents in mixed terrain—the percentages can be statistically unreliable due to the small sample sizes. He also notes that guided climbs make up about 1.5% of all accidents, even though there are nearly 7,500 guided outings each year. Most accidents, he says, occur during unguided amateur climbs. Although descent is not inherently more dangerous than ascent, the data suggests that for French guides as well, descent remains a particularly risky part of any climb.