A Mount Everest climber stumbled across the frozen body of an earlier adventurer as he made an attempt on the perilous summit.

Climber Nathaniel Douglas, 36, found the corpse wedged into a crevasse just 30 metres (98 feet) below the peak.

Still in perfectly preserved climbing gear, the luckless climber had their helmet on and orange high-visibility clothing.

As Nathaniel prepared his harness for the final climb to the top, he could be seen looking down at the climber's corpse shaking his head ruefully.

Nathaniel, a medical device sales rep from Seattle, Washington, USA, stumbled across the body on May 14 around 5 am.

He said: 'One final frozen climber found in a crevasse just before the summit. Will never get over it.'

The identity of the dead climber is unknown.

Nathaniel said: 'It's generally accepted that above 8,000 metres (26,247 feet), you're on your own up there if you die.

'It's nearly impossible, and extremely dangerous and expensive, to remove a dead body in the death zone.

'It's a bit ominous, you have to come to terms with the fact that there is a risk you will not come back at all - including your body - once you set out into the death zone above 8,000m.'

He added: 'I think it's poetic when climbers pass away and are left behind up there.

'They become one with the mountain, and a landmark for every climber after them pursuing their same life passion.

'Capturing and sharing these types of videos is coming 100 per cent from a place of respect: it helps the fallen climber live on forever in people's memories and the mountain.

'If my body were left up there, I personally wouldn't mind pictures and videos of my fallen self being shared.'

In November, two Thai trekkers died while aiming for the peak due to extreme cold and high altitude sickness. Mountaineers who wish to conquer Everest faced dangers of avalanches, falling, and mountain sickness or exhaustion.