Edmund Hillary lived to 88... I'm thinking that the fitness requirements to climb to altitude are more than able to compensate for the stresses of the climb.
I was thinking that maybe pre-climbing with treatment of diamox or dexamethasone may be the way to go and study those that took it versus those that didn't.
Anecdotal evidence re: E. Hillary
I’d really like to see the data of death age vs. life expectancy for the exact demographic represented by each successful summiter, as well as the cause of death.
That might tell a clearer story.