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[[File:Mount Everest morning.jpg|thumb|Everest and [[Lhotse]] from the south (Nepal): in the foreground are [[Thamserku]], [[Kangtega]], and [[Ama Dablam]]]]
'''Mount Everest''' {{small|(also '''Mount Sagarmatha''' or '''Mount Qomolangma''')}}{{notetag|({{Lang-ne|सगरमाथा|translit=Sagarmāthā}}; {{Lang-bo|ཇོ་མོ་གླང་མ|translit=Chomolungma}}; {{zh |s = 珠穆朗玛峰 |p = Zhūmùlǎngmǎ Fēng }})}} is [[List of highest mountains on Earth|Earth's highest mountain]] above [[sea level]], located in the [[Mahalangur Himal]] sub-range of the [[Himalayas]]. The [[China–Nepal border]] runs across its [[summit|summit point]].<ref name="Bishart">{{cite magazine |last = Bishart |first = Andrew |title = China's New Road May Clear a Path for More Everest Climbers |url = https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/adventure-blog/2016/05/04/how-the-everest-experience-is-different-in-china-versus-nepal/ |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180921114517/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/adventure-blog/2016/05/04/how-the-everest-experience-is-different-in-china-versus-nepal/ |url-status = dead |archive-date = 21 September 2018 |magazine=National Geographic |date=4 May 2016}}</ref> Its elevation (snow height) of {{convert|8848.86|m|ftin|frac=2|abbr=on}} was most recently established in 2020 by the Chinese and Nepali authorities.<ref>{{cite news|title=Mount Everest is two feet taller, China and Nepal announce|work=[[National Geographic]]|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/12/new-height-of-mount-everest-announced-by-china-and-nepal/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201208113343/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/12/new-height-of-mount-everest-announced-by-china-and-nepal/|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 December 2020|access-date=8 December 2020}}</ref><ref name="LiveScience">{{cite web |url= https://www.livescience.com/tallest-mountain-on-earth |title= Is Mount Everest really the tallest mountain on Earth? It depends how you measure height. |author= Joe Phelan |date= Oct 28, 2022 |website= livescience.com |publisher= Future US, Inc. |access-date= April 27, 2023 |quote= Researchers have measured Mount Everest many times over the past few decades, but the latest assessment, announced in November 2021, puts it at 29,031.69 feet (8,848.86 meters), which is almost 5.5 miles (8.8 kilometers) tall. |archive-date= 26 December 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211226121526/https://www.livescience.com/tallest-mountain-on-earth |url-status= live }}</ref>
Mount Everest attracts many climbers, including highly experienced mountaineers. There are two main climbing routes, one approaching the summit from the southeast in Nepal (known as the "standard route") and the other from the north in [[Tibet]]. While not posing substantial technical climbing challenges on the standard route, Everest presents dangers such as [[altitude sickness]], weather, and wind, as well as hazards from [[avalanche]]s and the [[Khumbu Icefall]]. As of May 2024, 340 people have [[List of people who died climbing Mount Everest|died on Everest]]. Over 200 bodies remain on the mountain and have not been removed due to the dangerous conditions.<ref name="Climber News">{{cite web |url= https://www.climbernews.com/how-many-dead-bodies-are-on-mount-everest/ |title= How Many Dead Bodies Are On Mount Everest? |date= November 7, 2022 |website= climbernews.com |publisher= Climber News |access-date= April 27, 2023 |quote= "As of November 2022, 310 people have died while attempting to climb Mount Everest." |archive-date= 5 October 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20241005160805/https://www.climbernews.com/how-many-dead-bodies-are-on-mount-everest/ |url-status= live }}</ref><ref name="Nuwer">{{cite web |url= https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20151008-the-graveyard-in-the-clouds-everests-200-dead-bodies |title= Death in the clouds: The problem with Everest's 200+ bodies |author= Rachel Nuwer |author-link= Rachel Nuwer |date= October 8, 2015 |publisher= BBC |access-date= April 27, 2023 |quote= |archive-date= 5 October 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20241005160807/https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20151008-the-graveyard-in-the-clouds-everests-200-dead-bodies |url-status= live }}</ref>
Climbers typically ascend only part of Mount Everest's elevation, as the mountain's full elevation is measured from the [[geoid]], which approximates [[sea level]]. The closest sea to Mount Everest's summit is the [[Bay of Bengal]], almost {{convert|700|km|mi|abbr=on}} away. So to approximate a climb of the entire height of Mount Everest, one would need to start from this coastline, a feat accomplished by [[Tim Macartney-Snape| Tim Macartney-Snape's team]] in 1990.
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[[File:"Papers relating to the Himalaya and Mount Everest" in Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Vol. I (1857), p. 346.jpg|thumb|The name "Mount Everest" was first proposed in this 1856 speech, later published in 1857, in which the mountain was first confirmed as the world's highest.]]
Mount Everest's [[Nepali language|Nepali]]/[[Sanskrit]] name is ''Sagarmāthā'' ([[International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration|IAST]] transcription) or ''Sagar-Matha''<ref name="Sagar-Matha: Nepal3">{{cite web |title=Sagar-Matha: Nepal |url=http://www.geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-1507822&fid=4445&c=nepal |access-date=18 April 2014 |website=Geographical Names |archive-date=26 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326070315/https://geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-1507822&fid=4445&c=nepal |url-status=live }}</ref> (सगर-माथा, {{IPA-ne|sʌɡʌrmatʰa|}}, <small>lit.</small> "goddess of the sky"<ref name="Krakauer-19973">{{cite book |last1=Krakauer |first1=Jon |title=Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster |date=1997 |publisher=Villard |isbn=978-0-679-45752-7 |location=New York}}</ref>),<ref name="Unsworth5843">{{cite book |last=Unsworth |first=Walt |title=Everest – The Mountaineering History |publisher=Bâton Wicks |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-898573-40-1 |edition=3rd |page=584}}</ref> which means "the head in the great blue sky", being derived from सगर (sagar), meaning "sky", and माथा (māthā), meaning "head".<ref>{{cite web |title=Mt. Everest 1857 |url=http://www.harappa.com/engr/darjeeling.html#everest |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226022726/http://www.harappa.com/engr/darjeeling.html |archive-date=26 December 2007 |access-date=23 January 2008 |publisher=harappa.com}}</ref>
The [[Classical Tibetan|Tibetan]] name for Everest is ''Qomolangma'' ({{lang|bo|{{linktext|ཇོ་མོ་གླང་མ}}}}, <small>lit.</small> "holy mother"). The name was first recorded (in a Chinese transcription) in the 1721 Kangxi Atlas, issued during the reign of [[Qing China|Qing]] [[Emperor Kangxi]]; it first appeared in the West in 1733 as ''Tchoumour Lancma'', on a map prepared by the French geographer [[Jean Baptiste Bourguignon d'Anville|D'Anville]] and based on Kangxi Atlas.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Storti|first=Craig|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f34jEAAAQBAJ|title=The Hunt for Mount Everest|year=
The official [[Transcription into Chinese characters|Chinese transcription]] is {{nowrap|{{lang|zh|{{linktext|珠穆朗玛峰}}}}}} {{nowrap|(<small>[[traditional characters|t]]</small> {{lang|zh|{{linktext|珠穆朗瑪峰}}}}),}} or ''Zhūmùlǎngmǎ Fēng'' in [[pinyin]]. While other Chinese names have been used historically, including ''Shèngmǔ Fēng'' {{nowrap|(<small>[[traditional characters|t]]</small> {{lang|zh|{{linktext|聖母峰}}}},}} {{nowrap|<small>[[simplified characters|s]]</small> {{lang|zh|{{linktext|圣母峰}}}},}} <small>lit.</small> "holy mother peak"), these names were largely phased out after the Chinese [[Ministry of Civil Affairs|Ministry of Internal Affairs]] <!---name at that time is "Internal Affairs, "中央人民政府内务部"---> issued a decree to adopt a sole name in May 1952.<ref>{{cite news
<!--- Missing Nepali name history--->
The British geographic survey of 1849 attempted to preserve local names when possible (e.g., [[Kangchenjunga]] and [[Dhaulagiri]].) However, [[Andrew Scott Waugh|Andrew Waugh]], the British [[Surveyor General of India]], claimed that he could not find a commonly used local name, and that his search for one had been hampered by the Nepalese and Tibetan policy of exclusion of foreigners. Waugh argued that - because there were many local names - it would be difficult to favour one name over all others; he therefore decided that Peak XV should be named after British surveyor [[George Everest|Sir George Everest]], his predecessor as Surveyor General of India.<ref name=everest_bwp70/><ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite news|work= The Times |title=India and China|date=4 October 1856|page=8|issue=22490}}</ref><ref name="rgs1857">{{cite journal | title=Papers relating to the Himalaya and Mount Everest | journal=Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London | date=April–May 1857 | volume=IX | pages=345–351}}</ref> Everest himself opposed the honor, and told the [[Royal Geographical Society]] in 1857 that "Everest" could neither be written in [[Hindi]] nor pronounced by "[[Indian people|the native of India]]". Despite Everest's objections, Waugh's proposed name prevailed, and the Royal Geographical Society officially adopted the name "Mount Everest" in 1865.<ref name=everest_bwp70/><ref>{{cite journal|title=Papers relating to the Himalaya and Mount Everest|journal=Proceedings of the London Royal Geographical Society of London|date=April–May 1857|volume=IX|pages=345–351}}</ref> The modern pronunciation of Everest ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɛ|v|ər|ᵻ|s|t}})<ref>{{cite web|title=Mount Everest|website=Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
In the late 19th century, many European [[Cartography|cartographers]] incorrectly believed that a native name for the mountain was [[Gaurishankar]], a mountain between [[Kathmandu]] and Everest.<ref name="Waddell">{{cite journal|first=LA|last=Waddell|title=The Environs and Native Names of Mount Everest|journal=The Geographical Journal|volume=12|number=6|date=December 1898|pages=564–569|jstor=1774275|doi=10.2307/1774275|bibcode=1898GeogJ..12..564W
===Other names===
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* "Peak XV" (temporary, assigned by British Imperial Survey)<ref name=everest_bwp70/><ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref name="rgs1857"/>
* "Deodungha"<ref name=five>{{cite web |url=http://www.historyextra.com/facts/5-facts-about%E2%80%A6-mount-everest |title=5 Everest facts |publisher=historyextra.com |access-date=1 June 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406051156/http://www.historyextra.com/facts/5-facts-about%E2%80%A6-mount-everest |archive-date=6 April 2016}}</ref> (Old Darjeeling)
* "Gauri Shankar, " "Gaurishankar," or "Gaurisankar" (misattribution; used occasionally until about 1900. In modern times the name is used for a different peak about {{convert|30|mi|km|abbr=off}} away.<ref name="Ahluwalia1978">{{cite book |author=H.P.S. Ahluwalia |title=Faces of Everest |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EK-CAAAAMAAJ |year=1978 |publisher=Vikas Publishing House |isbn=978-0-7069-0563-2 |access-date=11 July 2016 |archive-date=5 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241005160711/https://books.google.com/books?id=EK-CAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>)
==Surveys==
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Nicolson retreated to [[Patna]] on the [[Ganges]] to perform the necessary calculations based on his observations. His raw data gave an average height of {{convert|9200|m|ft|abbr=on}} for peak "b", but this did not consider [[light refraction]], which distorts heights. However, the number clearly indicated that peak "b" was higher than Kangchenjunga. Nicolson contracted malaria and was forced to return home without finishing his calculations. Michael Hennessy, one of Waugh's assistants, had begun designating peaks based on [[Roman numerals]], with Kangchenjunga named Peak IX. Peak "b" now became known as Peak XV.<ref name=everest_bwp70/>
In 1852, stationed at the survey headquarters in [[Dehradun]], [[Radhanath Sikdar]], an Indian mathematician and surveyor from [[Bengal]] was the first to identify Everest as the world's highest peak, using [[trigonometry|trigonometric]] calculations based on Nicolson's measurements.<ref name=BBC_mwde>{{cite news|title=The man who "discovered" Everest|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3193576.stm|work=BBC News|date=20 October 2003|access-date=11 April 2008|first=Soutik|last=Biswas|archive-date=15 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080415093207/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3193576.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> An official announcement that Peak XV was the highest was delayed for several years as the calculations were repeatedly verified. Waugh began work on Nicolson's data in 1854, and along with his staff spent almost two years working on the numbers, having to deal with the problems of light refraction, barometric pressure, and temperature over the vast distances of the observations. Finally, in March 1856 he announced his findings in a letter to his deputy in [[Kolkata|Calcutta]]. Kangchenjunga was declared to be {{convert|28156|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}}, while Peak XV was given the height of {{convert|29002|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}}. Waugh concluded that Peak XV was "most probably the highest in the world".<ref name=everest_bwp70/> Peak XV (measured in feet) was calculated to be exactly {{convert|29000|ft|m|abbr=on|sigfig=5|}} high, but was publicly declared to be {{convert|29002|ft|m|abbr=on|sigfig=5|}} in order to avoid the impression that an exact height of {{convert|29000|ft|m|sigfig=5|}} was nothing more than a rounded estimate.<ref name=tas1982>{{cite journal|title=Letters to the Editor|journal=The American Statistician|volume=36|number=1|date=February 1982|pages=64–67|jstor=2684102|doi=10.1080/00031305.1982.10482782|last1=Stegman|first1=Charles E|last2=Bellhouse|first2=David|last3=Ehrenberg|first3=A.S. C|last4=Mantel|first4=Nathan|last5=Proschan|first5=Frank|last6=Gianola|first6=Daniel|last7=Searle|first7=S.R|last8=Speed|first8=F.M|last9=Milliken|first9=G.A}}</ref> Waugh is sometimes playfully credited with being "the first person to put two feet on top of Mount Everest".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Pendulum Paradigm: Variations on a Theme and the Measure of Heaven and Earth|page=267| author=Beech, Martin|year=2014| publisher=Universal-Publishers}}</ref>
===20th century===
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In 1856, Andrew Waugh announced Everest (then known as Peak XV) as {{convert|29002|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}} high, after several years of calculations based on observations made by the [[Great Trigonometrical Survey]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Krakauer|first=Jon|title=Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster|publisher=Anchor Books|year=1997|isbn=978-0-385-49478-6|edition=First|location=New York|pages=15–16|oclc=36130642}}</ref>
From 1952 to 1954, the [[Survey of India]], using [[triangulation]] methods, determined that the height of Everest was {{convert|8847.73|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}.<ref name="everest-height-1952-1954">{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/Everest_201304 |title=Technical Paper No. 8, The Height of Mount Everest a New Determination (1952–1954) |last=Gulatee |first=Bihari Lal |publication-date=10 May 1955 |publisher=[[Indian Agricultural Research Institute]] |location=New Delhi, India |access-date=2 June 2023}}</ref> In 1975 it was subsequently reaffirmed by a Chinese measurement of {{convert|8848.13|m|ft|2|abbr=on}}.<ref name=ABC_au/> In both cases the snow cap, not the rock head, was measured.
The {{convert|8848|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} height given was officially recognised by Nepal and China.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8608913.stm |title=Nepal and China agree on Mount Everest's height |work=BBC News |date=8 April 2010 |access-date=22 August 2010 |archive-date=3 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303133522/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8608913.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> Nepal planned a new survey in 2019 to determine if the [[April 2015 Nepal earthquake]] affected the height of the mountain.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Daley |first1=Jason |title=Nepalese Expedition Seeks to Find Out if an Earthquake Shrunk Mount Everest Read |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/nepalese-expedtion-wants-find-out-if-earthquake-shrunk-mount-everest-180971963/ |work=Smithsonian.com |publisher=Smithsonian Magazine |date=15 April 2019 |access-date=28 August 2019 |archive-date=31 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531075731/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/nepalese-expedtion-wants-find-out-if-earthquake-shrunk-mount-everest-180971963/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
In May 1999, an American Everest expedition directed by [[Bradford Washburn]] anchored a [[Global Positioning System|GPS]] unit into the highest bedrock. A rock head elevation of {{convert|8850|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}, and a snow/ice elevation {{convert|1|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} higher, were obtained via this device.<ref name="alpres">{{cite web|url=http://www.alpineresearch.ch/alpine/en/presse1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070103165811/http://www.alpineresearch.ch/alpine/en/presse1.html|archive-date=3 January 2007|title=Elevation of Mount Everest newly defined|publisher=Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research|date=12 November 1999|access-date=1 April 2007}}</ref> Although as of 2001, it has not been officially recognised by Nepal,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nepalgov.gov.np/countryprofile.php|title=Country Profile|publisher=Government of Nepal|year=2001|access-date=1 April 2007|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070314011131/http://www.nepalgov.gov.np/countryprofile.php |archive-date = 14 March 2007}}</ref> this figure is widely quoted. [[Geoid]] uncertainty casts doubt upon the accuracy claimed by both the 1999 and 2005 (see [[#21st-century surveys|§ 21st-century surveys]]) surveys.<ref>{{Cite web|last=US Department of Commerce|first=NOAA|title=GEOID18 Technical Details {{!}} GEOID18 {{!}} National Geodetic Survey|url=https://geodesy.noaa.gov/GEOID/GEOID18/geoid18_tech_details.shtml|access-date=9 March 2021|website=geodesy.noaa.gov}}</ref>
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===21st century===
On 9 October 2005, after several months of measurement and calculation, the [[Chinese Academy of Sciences]] and State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping announced the height of Everest as {{convert|8844.43|m|ft|2|abbr=on}} with accuracy of ±{{convert|0.21|m|in|1|abbr=on}}, claiming it was the most accurate and precise measurement to date.<ref name="Junyong Yanping Janli Chunxi 2010 pp. 122–131">{{cite journal | last1=Junyong | first1=Chen | last2=Yanping | first2=Zhang | last3=Janli | first3=Yuan | last4=Chunxi | first4=Guo | last5=Peng | first5=Zhang | title=Height Determination of Qomolangma Feng (MT. Everest) in 2005 | journal=Survey Review | publisher=Informa UK Limited | volume=42 | issue=316 | year=2010 | issn=0039-6265 | doi=10.1179/003962610x12572516251565 | pages=122–131| bibcode=2010SurRv..42..122J | s2cid=129376174}}</ref> This height is based on the highest point of rock and not the snow and ice covering it. The Chinese team measured a snow-ice depth of {{convert|3.5|m|ft|0|abbr=on}},<ref name=ABC_au>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/enviro/EnviroRepublish_1478658.htm
It is thought that the [[plate tectonics]] of the [[Main Himalayan Thrust]] and related faults, which form the [[convergent boundary]] between the [[Eurasian Plate]] and [[Indian Plate]], are adding to the height and moving the summit northeastwards. Two accounts suggest the rates of change are {{convert|4|mm|in|abbr=on}} per year vertically and {{convert|3|to|6|mm|in|2|abbr=on}} per year horizontally,<ref name="alpres"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/99/everest/roof_content.html|title=Roof of the World|publisher=[[National Geographic Society]]|year=1999|access-date=1 April 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070712170109/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/99/everest/roof_content.html|archive-date=12 July 2007}}</ref> but another account mentions more lateral movement ({{convert|27|mm|in|abbr=on|disp=or}}),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mos.org/Everest/exhibit/platetectonics.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061108172757/http://www.mos.org/Everest/exhibit/platetectonics.htm|archive-date=8 November 2006|title=Everest: Plate Tectonics|publisher=Museum of Science|year=1998}}</ref> and even shrinkage has been suggested.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4204539.stm|title=China fears Everest is shrinking|work=BBC News|date=25 January 2005|access-date=1 April 2007|first=Louisa|last=Lim|archive-date=3 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211003102716/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4204539.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>
=== Comparisons ===
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The summit of Everest is the point at which Earth's surface reaches the greatest distance [[above sea level]]. Several other mountains are sometimes claimed to be the "tallest mountains on Earth". [[Mauna Kea]] in Hawaii is tallest when measured from its base;{{NoteTag|name=base|The "base" of a mountain is a problematic notion in general with no universally accepted definition. However, for a peak rising out of relatively flat terrain, such as Mauna Kea or Denali, an "approximate" height above "base" can be calculated. Everest is more complicated since it only rises above relatively flat terrain on its north (Tibetan Plateau) side. Hence the concept of "base" has even less meaning for Everest than for Mauna Kea or Denali, and the range of numbers for "height above base" is wider. In general, comparisons based on "height above base" are somewhat suspect.}} it rises over {{convert|10200|m|ft|1|abbr=on}} from its base on the mid-ocean floor, but only attains {{convert|4205|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} above sea level.
By the same measure of base to summit, [[Denali]], in [[Alaska]], formerly known as Mount McKinley, is taller than Everest as well.{{NoteTag|name=base}} Despite its height above sea level of only {{convert|6190|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}, Denali sits atop a sloping plain with elevations from {{convert|300|to|900|m|ft|abbr=on}}, yielding a height above base in the range of {{convert|5300|to|5900|m|ft|abbr=on}}; a commonly quoted figure is {{convert|5600|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/denali/expedition/mission.html |title = Surviving Denali, The Mission |publisher = [[PBS|Public Broadcasting Service]] |website = PBS.org |year = 2000 |access-date = 7 June 2007 |archive-date = 20 November 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101120103239/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/denali/expedition/mission.html |url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url = http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/09/12/Mount-McKinley-83-feet-shorter-than-thought-new-data-show/4061379016741/ |title = Mount McKinley 83 feet shorter than thought, new data show |work = [[United Press International]] |access-date = 18 March 2014 |archive-date = 26 March 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220326072757/https://www.upi.com/blog/2013/09/12/Mount-McKinley-83-feet-shorter-than-thought-new-data-show/4061379016741/ |url-status = live }}</ref> By comparison, reasonable base elevations for Everest range from {{convert|4200|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}} on the south side to {{convert|5200|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}} on the [[Tibetan Plateau]], yielding a height above base in the range of {{convert|3650|to|4650|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name="washburn_map">''Mount Everest'' (1:50,000 scale map), prepared under the direction of [[Bradford Washburn]] for the Boston Museum of Science, the Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research, and the [[National Geographic Society]], 1991, {{ISBN|3-85515-105-9}}.</ref>
The summit of [[Chimborazo]] in [[Ecuador]] is {{convert|2168|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} farther from Earth's centre ({{convert|6384.4|km|mi|1|abbr=on|disp=comma}}) than that of Everest ({{convert|6382.3|km|mi|1|abbr=on|disp=comma}}), because the Earth bulges at the equator.<ref name="Robert Krulwich">{{cite web |url = https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9428163 |title = The 'Highest' Spot on Earth? |date = 7 April 2007 |website = NPR.org |publisher = [[National Public Radio]] |first = Robert |last = Krulwich |access-date = 4 April 2018 |archive-date = 30 January 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130130164111/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9428163 |url-status = live }}</ref> This is despite Chimborazo having a peak of {{convert|6268|m|ft|1|abbr=on}} above sea level versus Mount Everest's {{convert|8848|m|ft|1|abbr=on}}.
===Context and maps===
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Below 7,000 m (23,000 ft), the Rongbuk Formation underlies the North Col Formation and forms the base of Mount Everest. It consists of [[sillimanite]]-[[K-feldspar]] grade schist and [[gneiss]] intruded by numerous [[sill (geology)|sills]] and [[dike (geology)|dikes]] of [[granite|leucogranite]] ranging in thickness from 1 cm to 1,500 m (0.4 in to 4,900 ft).<ref name="IslandArcv14"/><ref name="Searle1999a">Searle, M.P. (1999) "Emplacement of Himalayan leucogranites by magma injection along giant sill complexes: examples from the Cho Oyu, Gyachung Kang and Everest leucogranites (Nepal Himalaya)". ''Journal of Asian Earth Sciences''. v. 17, no. 5–6, pp. 773–783.</ref> These leucogranites are part of a belt of Late [[Oligocene]]–[[Miocene]] intrusive rocks known as the Higher Himalayan leucogranite. They formed as the result of partial melting of [[Paleoproterozoic]] to Ordovician high-grade metasedimentary rocks of the Higher Himalayan Sequence about 20 to 24 million years ago during the subduction of the Indian Plate.<ref name="GuoOthers2012">Guo, Z., and M. Wilson (2012) "The Himalayan leucogranites: Constraints on the nature of their crustal source region and geodynamic setting." ''Gondwana Research''. v. 22, no. 2, pp. 360–376.</ref>
▲ | title = The Himalayas: Two continents collide | publisher = USGS | date = 5 May 1999 | access-date = 6 February 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/pr/95/18688.html|title=Press Release: An Earth Plate Is Breaking in Two|website=www.columbia.edu}}</ref> Current interpretations argue that the Qomolangma and North Col formations consist of marine sediments that accumulated within the continental shelf of the northern passive continental margin of India before it collided with Asia. The Cenozoic collision of India with Asia subsequently deformed and metamorphosed these strata as it thrust them southward and upward.<ref name="MyrowOthers2003a">Myrow, P.M., N.C. Hughes, T.S. Paulsen, I.S. Williams, S.K. Parcha, K.R. Thompson, S.A. Bowring, S.-C. Peng, and A.D. Ahluwalia. 2003. "Integrated tectonostratigraphic reconstruction of the Himalaya and implications for its tectonic reconstruction." ''Earth and Planetary Science Letters''. vol. 212, pp. 433–441.</ref><ref name="MyrowOthers2012a">Myrow, P.M., N.C. Hughes, J.W. Goodge, C.M. Fanning, I.S. Williams, S.-C. Peng, O.N. Bhargava, S.K. Tangri, S.K. Parcha, and K.R. Pogue. 2010. "Extraordinary transport and mixing of sediment across Himalayan central Gondwanaland during the Cambrian-Ordovician." ''Geological Society of America Bulletin''. vol. 122, pp. 1660–1670.</ref> The Rongbuk Formation consists of a sequence of high-grade metamorphic and granitic rocks that were derived from the alteration of high-grade metasedimentary rocks. During the collision of India with Asia, these rocks were thrust downward and to the north as they were overridden by other strata; heated, metamorphosed, and partially melted at depths of over {{convert|15 to 20|km|mi}} below sea level; and then forced upward to surface by thrusting towards the south between two major detachments.<ref name="Searle2012a">Searle, M. 2012. ''Colliding Continents: A geological exploration of the Himalaya, Karakoram, & Tibet.'' Oxford University Press, Oxford. 464 pp. {{ISBN|978-0-19-965300-3}}</ref> Mount Everest is rising by about 2 mm per year.<ref name="HanOthers2024"> Han, X., Dai, J.G., Smith, A.G., Xu, S.Y., Liu, B.R., Wang, C.S., and Fox, M., 2024. "Recent uplift of Chomolungma enhanced by river drainage piracy." ''Nature Geoscience. published online September 30, 2024, pp.1-7.</ref>
===IUGS geological heritage site===
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A minute black [[jumping spider]] of the genus ''[[Euophrys]]'' has been found at elevations as high as {{convert|6700|m|ft|-2}},<ref name="wanless">{{Cite journal |title=Spiders of the family Salticidae from the upper slopes of Everest and Makalu |journal=[[Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society]] |url=https://britishspiders.org.uk/system/files/library/030505.pdf |last=Wanless |first=F. R. |date=1975 |issue=5 |volume=3 |pages=132–136 |ref=wanless |author-link=Fred Wanless |access-date=2023-09-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708174745/https://britishspiders.org.uk/system/files/library/030505.pdf |archive-date=2023-07-08 |url-status=live}}</ref> possibly making it the highest confirmed non-microscopic permanent resident on Earth. Another Euophrys species, ''[[E. everestensis]]'', has been found at {{convert|5030|m|ft|-2}}, and may feed on insects that have been blown there by the wind.<ref name="wanless"/> There is a high likelihood of microscopic life at even higher altitudes.
The [[bar-headed goose]] migrates over the Himalayas and have been seen flying at the higher altitudes of the mountain.<ref name="his7">{{cite web|url=http://www.history.com/news/7-things-you-should-know-about-mount-everest|title=7 Things You Should Know About Mount Everest|author=Jesse Greenspan|website=History.com|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=2 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602021529/https://www.history.com/news/7-things-you-should-know-about-mount-everest|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1953, George Lowe (part of the expedition of Tenzing and Hillary) said that he saw bar-headed geese flying over Everest's summit.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30799436|title=Bar-headed geese: Highest bird migration tracked|work=BBC News|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=13 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220513161923/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30799436|url-status=live}}</ref> Another bird species, the [[chough]], have been spotted as high as the [[South Col]] at {{convert|7920|m}}<ref name="jhunt">''The Ascent of Everest'' by John Hunt (Hodder & Stoughton, 1953) In chapter 14, Hunt describes seeing a chough on the South Col; meanwhile Charles Evans saw some unidentified birds fly over the col</ref> and [[yellow-billed chough]]s have been seen as high as {{convert|26000|ft|m|order=flip}}.<ref name="his7"/>
[[Yak]]s are often used to haul gear for Mount Everest climbs. They can haul around 100 kg (220 pounds), have thick fur and large lungs.<ref name="autumn"/> Other animals in the region include the [[Himalayan tahr]], which is sometimes the prey of the [[snow leopard]].<ref name="thesis">{{cite web|url=http://www.carnivoreconservation.org/files/thesis/ale_2007_phd.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.carnivoreconservation.org/files/thesis/ale_2007_phd.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=Ale, Som B. "Ecology of the Snow Leopard and the Himalayan Tahr in Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park, Nepal." University of Illinois, 2007}}</ref> The [[Himalayan black bear]] can be found up to about {{convert|14000|ft|m|order=flip}} and the [[red panda]] is also present in the region.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://animals.mom.me/list-animals-mount-everest-7481.html|title=List of Animals on Mount Everest|website=Pets on mom.me|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=4 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804074007/https://animals.mom.me/list-animals-mount-everest-7481.html|url-status=live}}</ref> One expedition found a surprising range of species in the region including a [[pika]] and ten new species of ants.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livescience.com/4037-everest-expedition-uncovers-exotic-species.html|title=Everest Expedition Uncovers Exotic Species|website=LiveScience.com|date=7 April 2006|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=26 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326072759/https://www.livescience.com/4037-everest-expedition-uncovers-exotic-species.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
== Climate ==
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|Dec avg record low C= -34
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|source 1= <ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.topchinatravel.com/mount-everest/the-climate-of-mount-everest.htm |title= Monthly Average Coldest temperature on Everest Summit |publisher= topchinatravel.com |access-date= 16 August 2015 |archive-date= 5 October 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20241005160710/https://www.topchinatravel.com/mount-everest/the-climate-of-mount-everest.htm |url-status= live }}</ref>
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}}
=== Climate change ===
The base camp for Everest expeditions based out of Nepal is located by [[Khumbu Glacier]], which is rapidly thinning and destabilizing due to [[climate change]], making it unsafe for climbers. As recommended by the committee formed by Nepal's government to facilitate and monitor mountaineering in the Everest region, Taranath Adhikari—the director general of Nepal's tourism department—said they have plans to move the base camp to a lower altitude. This would mean a longer distance for climbers between the base camp and Camp 1. However, the present base camp is still useful and could still serve its purpose for three to four years. The move may happen by 2024, per officials.<ref>{{Cite news |date=17 June 2022 |title=Nepal to move Everest base camp from melting glacier |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61828753 |access-date=17 June 2022 |archive-date=17 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230717222537/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61828753 |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Meteorology===
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In 2008, a new weather station at about {{convert|8000|m|ft|abbr=on}} elevation went online.<ref name=uiaa>{{cite web|url=http://www.theuiaa.org/news_86_Everest-weather-station-goes-online|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105213822/http://www.theuiaa.org/news_86_Everest-weather-station-goes-online|archive-date=5 January 2009|title=Everest weather station goes online |publisher=UIAA| date=16 June 2008|access-date=15 May 2012}}</ref> The project was orchestrated by Stations at High Altitude for Research on the Environment (SHARE), which also placed the [[Mount Everest webcam]] in 2011.<ref name=uiaa/><ref name=hs>{{cite news|title=Mount Everest webcam gives new meaning to high-def|first=Claire|last=Connelly|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/technology/aint-no-mountain-high-enough-webcam-streams-video-from-top-of-mount-everest/story-fn7celvh-1226153560068|newspaper=[[Herald Sun]]|date=30 September 2011|access-date=30 September 2011|archive-date=4 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211104074827/https://www.heraldsun.com.au/technology/aint-no-mountain-high-enough-webcam-streams-video-from-top-of-mount-everest/story-fn7celvh-1226153560068/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The solar-powered weather station is on the [[South Col]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://gewex.org/2009Conf_gewex_posters/Vuillermoz_GP1-20.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111119173246/http://gewex.org/2009Conf_gewex_posters/Vuillermoz_GP1-20.pdf|archive-date=19 November 2011|first1=Agostino|last1=da Polenza|first2=Elisa|last2=Vuillermoz|first3=Gian Pietro|last3=Verza|first4=Alberto|last4=Cortinovis|publisher=Ev-K2-CNR Committee|location=Italy|title=SHARE: Everest Automatic Weather Station: South Col, Mt. Everest, Nepal}}</ref>
Mount Everest extends into the upper [[troposphere]] and penetrates the [[stratosphere]].<ref name="dz">{{cite web |author=godhead/v |title=The Open Graveyard of Mt. Everest's 'Death Zone' |url=https://gizmodo.com/5755875/abandoned-on-mt-everest |access-date=20 September 2015 |website=Gizmodo |date=10 February 2011 |publisher=Gawker Media |archive-date=23 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181023040829/https://gizmodo.com/5755875/abandoned-on-mt-everest |url-status=dead }}</ref> The air pressure at the summit is generally about one-third what it is at sea level. The altitude can expose the summit to the fast and freezing winds of the [[jet stream]].<ref name=Peplow2004>{{cite journal |doi=10.1038/news040524-2 |title=High winds suck oxygen from Everest |first1=Mark |last1=Peplow |date=25 May 2004 |journal=Nature}}</ref> Winds commonly attain {{convert|100|mph|km/h|abbr=on|order=flip}};<ref name="theweek">{{cite news |title=The deadly odds of climbing Mount Everest: By the numbers |work=The Week |url=https://theweek.com/articles/475353/deadly-odds-climbing-mount-everest-by-numbers |access-date=20 February 2020 |archive-date=3 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603173923/https://theweek.com/articles/475353/deadly-odds-climbing-mount-everest-by-numbers |url-status=live }}</ref> in February 2004, a wind speed of {{convert|175|mph|km/h|abbr=on|-1|order=flip}} was recorded at the summit.
These winds can hamper or endanger climbers, by blowing them into chasms<ref name="theweek" /> or (by [[Bernoulli's principle]]) by lowering the air pressure further, reducing available oxygen by up to 14 percent.<ref name="Peplow2004" /><ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.thetech.org/exhibits/online/everest/about/physiology.htm| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713003833/https://www.thetech.org/exhibits/online/everest/about/physiology.htm|archive-date=13 July 2015|title=The Physiological Effects of Altitude|website=TheTech|access-date=20 September 2015}}</ref> To avoid the harshest winds, climbers typically aim for a 7- to 10-day window in the spring and fall when the Asian [[monsoon]] season is starting up or ending.
Mount Everest hosts several weather stations that collect important data on high-altitude weather conditions. Among them is the Balcony Station, the highest weather station on the planet, located at about 8,430 meters (27,657 feet) above sea level. Set up by climate scientists Tom Matthews and Baker Perry in 2019, this station is positioned just below the summit of Everest, which is the highest point on Earth. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Weather Stations on Mount Everest |url=https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/weather-stations-mount-everest/ |access-date=2024-08-28 |website=nationalgeographic.com |archive-date=28 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240828200932/https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/weather-stations-mount-everest/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
As of January 20, 2020, the Balcony Station ceased transmitting data. <ref>{{Cite web
==Expeditions==
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[[File:1963 reunion of the 1953 Everest-climbing expedition.jpg|thumb|Reunion of the 1953 British team]]
{{see also|List of people who died climbing Mount Everest}}
Because Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world, it has attracted considerable attention and climbing attempts. Whether the mountain was climbed in ancient times is unknown. It may have been climbed in 1924, although this has never been confirmed, as neither of the men making the attempt returned. Several climbing routes have been established over several decades of climbing expeditions to the mountain.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mounteverest.net/expguide/route.htm|title=The route – climbers guide to Everest|website=www.mounteverest.net|access-date=23 February 2020|archive-date=31 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531063921/https://www.mounteverest.net/expguide/route.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://alpenglowexpeditions.com/blog/mount-everest-routes/|title=Mount Everest: The Routes|date=4 May 2017|website=Alpenglow|access-date=23 February 2020|archive-date=4 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230804184834/http://alpenglowexpeditions.com/blog/mount-everest-routes|url-status=live}}</ref>{{Better source needed|date=February 2020|reason=Sources are self-published and may not comply with [[WP:ABOUTSELF]]. This template footnote may be removed if the preceding sources do comply with [[WP:ABOUTSELF]].}}
Everest's summit is first known to have been reached by a human in 1953, and interest from climbers increased thereafter.<ref name=la>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-01-04-mn-1935-story.html|title=Mt. Everest's Popularity Is Still Climbing|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=20 September 2015}}</ref> Despite the effort and attention poured into expeditions, only about 200 people had summited by 1987.<ref name=la/> Everest remained a difficult climb for decades, even for serious attempts by professional climbers and large national expeditions, which were the norm until the commercial era began in the 1990s.<ref name=japtimes>{{cite news|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/05/27/general/japans-everest-timeline/#.VZ6oDfBdgnd|last1=James
Although lower mountains have longer or steeper climbs, Everest is so high the [[jet stream]] can hit it. Climbers can be faced with winds beyond {{convert|200|mph|km/h|abbr=on|order=flip}} when the weather shifts.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.alanarnette.com/kids/everestfacts.php|title=Everest Facts for Kids|website=www.alanarnette.com|access-date=23 January 2014|archive-date=12 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190112120740/http://alanarnette.com/kids/everestfacts.php|url-status=live}}</ref> At certain times of the year the jet stream shifts north, providing periods of relative calm at the mountain.<ref name=wind>{{cite web|url=http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/window-of-opportunity-everest/64450|title=Window of Opportunity: Everest Climbing Season Underway|website=Accuweather|access-date=23 January 2014|archive-date=1 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160901215435/http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/window-of-opportunity-everest/64450|url-status=dead}}</ref> Other dangers include blizzards and avalanches.<ref name=wind/>
===Early attempts===
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On 8 June 1924, George Mallory and [[Andrew Irvine (mountaineer)|Andrew Irvine]] made an attempt on the summit via the North Col-North Ridge-Northeast Ridge route from which they never returned. On 1 May 1999, the [[Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition]] found Mallory's body on the North Face in a snow basin below and to the west of the traditional site of Camp VI. Controversy has raged in the mountaineering community whether one or both of them reached the summit 29 years before the confirmed ascent and safe descent of Everest by Sir [[Edmund Hillary]] and [[Tenzing Norgay]] in 1953.
In 1933, [[Lucy, Lady Houston|Lady Houston]], a British [[millionaire]]ss, funded the [[Houston–Mount Everest flight expedition|Houston Everest Flight of 1933]], which saw a formation of two [[Westland Wallace|aeroplanes]] led by the [[Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 14th Duke of Hamilton|Marquess of Clydesdale]] fly over the Everest [[Summit (topography)|summit]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Crompton|first=Teresa|title=Adventuress: The Life and Loves of Lucy, Lady Houston|publisher=The History Press|year=2020}}</ref><ref name=flymicro>{{cite web|url=http://www.flymicro.com/everest/index.cfm?page=docs%2FHistory%2FAeroplanes.htm
Early expeditions—such as [[Charles Granville Bruce|Charles Bruce]]'s in the 1920s and [[Hugh Ruttledge]]'s two unsuccessful attempts in [[1933 British Mount Everest expedition|1933]] and [[1936 British Mount Everest expedition|1936]]—tried to ascend the mountain from [[Tibet]], via the North Face. Access was closed from the north to Western expeditions in 1950 after China took control of Tibet. In 1950, [[Bill Tilman]] and a small party which included [[Charles Snead Houston|Charles Houston]], Oscar Houston, and Betsy Cowles undertook an [[Mount Everest reconnaissance from Nepal#1950 Houston–Tilman exploration of Solu Khumbu|exploratory expedition to Everest through Nepal]] along the route which has now become the standard approach to Everest from the south.<ref name=evhist_timeline>{{cite web|url=http://www.everesthistory.com/time3.htm |title=Everest History Time Line |website=Everest History |year=2003 |access-date=17 June 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100526185812/http://www.everesthistory.com/time3.htm |archive-date=26 May 2010}}</ref>
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===1950s–1960s===
On 23 May 1956, [[Ernst Schmied]] and [[Juerg Marmet]] ascended.<ref name=swiss/> This was followed by [[Dölf Reist]] and Hans-Rudolf von Gunten on 24 May 1957.<ref name=swiss>{{cite web|url=http://www.everesthistory.com/climbers/schmied.htm|title=Ernst Schmied|publisher=EverestHistory.com|access-date=10 April 2010|archive-date=14 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314055704/http://www.everesthistory.com/climbers/schmied.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Wang Fuzhou]], [[Gongbu (mountaineer)|Gonpo]] and Qu Yinhua of China made the first reported [[1960 Chinese Mount Everest expedition|ascent of the peak from the North Ridge]] on 25 May 1960.<ref name=NorthRidge/> The first American to climb Everest, [[Jim Whittaker]], joined by [[Nawang Gombu]], reached the summit on 1 May 1963 on the [[1963 American Mount Everest expedition|American Mount Everest expedition]] and on 22 May on the same expedition [[Tom Hornbein]] and [[Willi Unsoeld]] were the first the traverse the mountain by climbing via the [[North Face (Everest)|North Face]] and descending via the [[South Col]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.everesthistory.com/climbers/whittaker.htm |title=Jim Whittaker |publisher=EverestHistory.com |access-date=13 February 2010 |archive-date=13 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190513193901/http://www.everesthistory.com/climbers/whittaker.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="test">{{cite journal|url=http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2007/1/2007_1_58.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203164307/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2007/1/2007_1_58.shtml| archive-date=3 December 2008|first=Maurice|last=Isserman|title=Highest Adventure|journal=American Heritage|date=February–March 2007}}</ref>
===1970s===
{{see also|1970 Mount Everest disaster}}
In 1970, Japanese mountaineers conducted a major expedition. The centrepiece was a large "siege"-style expedition led by [[Saburo Matsukata]], working on finding a new route up the southwest face.{{sfnp|Unsworth|2000|p=594}} Another element of the expedition was an attempt to ski Mount Everest.<ref name="japtimes"/> Despite a staff of over one hundred people and a decade of planning work, the expedition suffered eight deaths and failed to summit via the planned routes.<ref name=japtimes/> However, Japanese expeditions did enjoy some successes. For example, [[Yuichiro Miura]] became the first man to ski down Everest from the South Col—he descended nearly {{convert|4,200|ft|m|order=flip|adj=pre| vertical }} from the South Col before falling with extreme injuries. Another success was an expedition that put four on the summit via the South Col route.<ref name=japtimes/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/|title=The HJ/31/8 The Japanese Mount Everest Expedition, 1969–1970|website=himalayanclub.org|access-date=29 January 2016|archive-date=27 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240327025245/https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.everesthistory.com/everestsummits/summits70.htm |title=Everest Summits in the 1970s |website=EverestHistory.com |access-date=25 May 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091014112932/http://www.everesthistory.com/everestsummits/summits70.htm |archive-date=14 October 2009}}</ref> Miura's exploits became the subject of film, and he went on to become the oldest person to summit Mount Everest in 2003 at age 70 and again in 2013 at the age of 80.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/9303665/japan-yuichiro-miura-80-oldest-reach-top-mount-everest |title=Yuichiro Miura, 80, scales Everest |agency=Associated Press |date=23 May 2013 |website=ESPN}}</ref>
In 1975, [[Junko Tabei]] became the first woman to summit Mount Everest.<ref name=japtimes/>{{clear}}
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===1979/1980: Winter Himalaism===
[[File:Mount Everest winter 1980 cert.jpg|thumb|Confirmation of the summit obtained by [[Nepal Tourism Board|Nepal's Ministry of Tourism]]]]
The Polish climber [[Andrzej Zawada]] headed the first winter ascent of Mount Everest, the first winter ascent of an eight-thousander. The team of 20 Polish climbers and 4 Sherpas established a base camp on [[Khumbu Glacier]] in early January 1980. On 15 January, the team managed to set up Camp III at 7150 metres above sea level, but further action was stopped by hurricane-force winds. The weather improved after 11 February, when [[Leszek Cichy]], Walenty Fiut and [[Krzysztof Wielicki]] set up camp IV on [[South Col]] (7906 m). Cichy and Wielicki started the final ascent at 6:50{{nbsp}}am on 17 February. At 2:40{{nbsp}}pm [[Andrzej Zawada]] at base camp heard the climbers' voices over the radio – "We are on the summit! The strong wind blows all the time. It is unimaginably cold."<ref>[https://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_1984_files/AJ%201984%2050-59%20Zawada%20Everest.pdf Mount Everest the first winter ascent] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114174254/https://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_1984_files/AJ%201984%2050-59%20Zawada%20Everest.pdf |date=14 November 2021 }} Andrzej Zawada ''www.alpinejournal.org.uk'', accessed 12 December 2020</ref><ref name="theclymb.com">{{cite web|url=http://blog.theclymb.com/passions/history-2/ice-warriors-polands-golden-alpine-generation/|title=The Ice Warriors: Poland's Golden Alpine Generation|date=30 March 2016|access-date=31 March 2018|archive-date=17 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917104446/https://blog.theclymb.com/passions/history-2/ice-warriors-polands-golden-alpine-generation/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://winterclimb.com/articles/item/111-mount-everest-first-winter-ascent-1980|title=The first winter ascent of Mount Everest
===Lho La tragedy, 1989===
In May 1989, Polish climbers under the leadership of Eugeniusz Chrobak organised an international expedition to Mount Everest on a difficult western ridge. Ten Poles and nine foreigners participated, but ultimately only the Poles remained in the attempt for the summit. On 24 May, Chrobak and Andrzej Marciniak, starting from camp V at 8,200 m, overcame the ridge and reached the summit. But on 27 May, during an avalanche from the side of [[Khumbutse]] near the [[Lho La]] pass, four Polish climbers were killed: Mirosław Dąsal, Mirosław Gardzielewski, [[Zygmunt Andrzej Heinrich]] and Wacław Otręba. The following day, due to his injuries, Chrobak also died. Marciniak, who was also injured, was saved by a rescue expedition in which [[Artur Hajzer]] and New Zealanders [[Gary Ball]] and [[Rob Hall]] took part. In the organisation of the rescue expedition they took part, inter alia [[Reinhold Messner]], [[Elizabeth Hawley]], [[Carlos Carsolio]] and the US consul.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/zgineli-bo-byli-najlepsi-134200|title=Zginęli, bo byli najlepsi|date=9 June 2009|website=www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl|access-date=30 May 2019|archive-date=26 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326072830/https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/zgineli-bo-byli-najlepsi-134200|url-status=live}}</ref>
===1996 disaster===
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On 10 and 11 May 1996, eight climbers died after several guided expeditions were caught in a blizzard high up on the mountain during a summit attempt on 10 May. During the 1996 season, 15 people died while climbing on Mount Everest. These were the highest death tolls for a single weather event, and for a single season, until the sixteen deaths in the [[2014 Mount Everest avalanche]]. The guiding disaster gained wide publicity and raised questions about the commercialisation of climbing and the safety of guiding clients on Mount Everest.
Journalist [[Jon Krakauer]], on assignment from ''[[Outside (magazine)|Outside]]'' magazine, was in one of the affected guided parties, and afterward published the bestseller ''[[Into Thin Air]]'', which related his experience. Krakauer was critical of guide [[Anatoli Boukreev]] in his recollection of the expedition.<ref name="Washington Post">{{cite news |last1=Baechtel |first1=Mark |title=Review: Above the Clouds: The Diaries of a High-Altitude Mountaineer |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/2001/11/18/for-anyone-with-even-a-passing/a4f154e5-c22b-4fc9-bea3-93c794d34814/ |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=16 April 2021 |archive-date=12 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412050721/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/2001/11/18/for-anyone-with-even-a-passing/a4f154e5-c22b-4fc9-bea3-93c794d34814/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Russia Beyond" /> A year later, Boukreev co-authored ''[[The Climb (book)|The Climb]]'', in part as a rebuttal of Krakauer's portrayal.<ref name="New York Times Review The Climb">{{cite news |last=Parfit |first=Michael |title=Breathless |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/12/07/reviews/971207.07parfitt.html |work=[[New York Times]] |date=7 December 1997 |access-date=16 April 2021 |archive-date=16 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416171415/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/12/07/reviews/971207.07parfitt.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The dispute sparked a debate within the climbing community.<!-- sentence regarding Krakauer as a personna non grata removed until someone cites a source --> Boukreev was later awarded The American Alpine Club's David Sowles Award for his rescue efforts on the expedition.<ref name="Russia Beyond">{{cite web |last1=Zubacheva |first1=Ksenia |title=How a Russian rescued U.S. alpinists on top of Mt. Everest |url=https://www.rbth.com/history/327642-boukreev-everest-tragedy |website=Russia Beyond |date=21 February 2018 |access-date=21 February 2018 |archive-date=9 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409015544/https://www.rbth.com/history/327642-boukreev-everest-tragedy |url-status=live }}</ref>
In May 2004, physicist Kent Moore and surgeon John L. Semple, both researchers from the [[University of Toronto]], told ''[[New Scientist]]'' magazine that an analysis of weather conditions on 11 May suggested that weather caused oxygen levels to plunge about 14 per cent.<ref name="NewScientist">{{cite journal| title = The day the sky fell on Everest| journal = New Scientist| issue = 2449| page = 15| date = 29 May 2004| url = http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/mg18224492.200-the-day-the-sky-fell-on-everest.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070703183045/http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/mg18224492.200-the-day-the-sky-fell-on-everest.html| archive-date = 3 July 2007| access-date = 11 December 2006}}</ref><ref name="BioEd Online">{{cite web| url=http://www.bioedonline.org/news/news.cfm?art=986| title=High winds suck oxygen from Everest. Predicting pressure lows could protect climbers| access-date=11 December 2006| last=Peplow| first=Mark| date=25 May 2004| publisher=BioEd Online| quote=Moore explains that these jet streaks can drag a huge draught of air up the side of the mountain, lowering the air pressure. He calculates that this typically reduces the partial pressure of oxygen in the air by about 6%, which translates to a 14% reduction in oxygen uptake for the climbers. Air at that altitude already contains only one third as much oxygen as sea-level air.| archive-date=4 October 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004221206/http://www.bioedonline.org/news/news.cfm?art=986| url-status=live}}</ref>
One of the survivors was [[Beck Weathers]], left for dead about 275 metres (900 feet) from Camp 4 at 7,950 metres (26,085 feet). After spending a night on the mountain, Weathers managed to make it back to Camp 4 with massive frostbite and vision impaired due to snow blindness.<ref name="badassoftheweek.com">{{cite web|title=Beck Weathers|url=http://www.badassoftheweek.com/weathers.html|website=Badass of the Week|access-date=25 June 2016|archive-date=9 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409072833/http://www.badassoftheweek.com/weathers.html|url-status=live}}</ref> When he arrived at Camp 4, fellow climbers considered his condition terminal and left him in a tent to die overnight.<ref name="DMag">{{cite journal|last1=Weathers|first1=Beck|title=My Journey Home From Everest|journal=D Magazine|date=May 2000|url=http://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2000/may/my-journey-home-from-everest/|access-date=31 January 2017|quote=They left me alone in [[Scott Fischer]]'s tent that night, expecting me to die. On a couple of occasions, I heard the others referring to "a dead guy" in the tent. Who could that be? I wondered as I slipped in and out of wakefulness.|archive-date=20 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020002916/https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2000/may/my-journey-home-from-everest/|url-status=live}}</ref> Weathers was lowered to Camp 2 and eventually a helicopter rescue was organised thanks to the Nepali Army.<ref name="badassoftheweek.com"/><ref name="DMag"/>
The storm's impact on climbers on the North Ridge of Everest, where several climbers also died, was detailed in a first-hand account by British filmmaker and writer [[Matt Dickinson]] in his book ''The Other Side of Everest''. Sixteen-year-old Mark Pfetzer was on the climb and wrote about it in his account, ''Within Reach: My Everest Story''.
The 2015 feature film ''[[Everest (2015 film)|Everest]]'', directed by [[Baltasar Kormákur]], is based on the events of this guiding disaster.<ref name=Baltasar>{{cite news|last=Hopewell|first=John|title='2 Guns' Helmer Kormakur Set to Climb 'Everest'|url=https://variety.com/2013/film/international/2-guns-kormakur-set-to-climb-everest-1200574821/|access-date=17 January 2014|newspaper=Variety|date=6 August 2013|archive-date=1 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201091929/http://variety.com/2013/film/international/2-guns-kormakur-set-to-climb-everest-1200574821/|url-status=live}}</ref>
===2006 mountaineering season===
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! style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|2006 fatalities
|-
!Deaths<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/cold-mountain-death-on-everest-620716.html|title=Cold mountain: Death on Everest|work=The Independent|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=3 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603191716/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/cold-mountain-death-on-everest-620716.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
!Nation<ref name="himalayandatabase2006">{{cite web|url=http://www.himalayandatabase.com/2006%20Season%20Lists/2006%20Spring%20A17.html|title=Himalayan Database Expedition Archives of Elizabeth Hawley|website=himalayandatabase.com|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=11 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811160236/http://www.himalayandatabase.com/2006%20Season%20Lists/2006%20Spring%20A17.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|Tuk Bahadur Thapa Masa
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====David Sharp ethics controversy, 2006====
There was an international controversy about the death of a solo British climber [[David Sharp (mountaineer)|David Sharp]], who attempted to climb Mount Everest in 2006 but died in his attempt. The story broke out of the mountaineering community into popular media, with a series of interviews, allegations, and critiques. The question was whether climbers that season had left a man to die and whether he could have been saved. He was said to have attempted to summit Mount Everest by himself with no Sherpa or guide and fewer oxygen bottles than considered normal.<ref name=top>{{cite web|url=http://www.outsideonline.com/1909966/over-top|title=Over the Top|website=Outside Online|access-date=20 September 2015|date=15 August 2006|archive-date=10 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230710045042/https://www.outsideonline.com/1909966/over-top|url-status=live}}</ref> He went with a low-budget Nepali guide firm that only provides support up to Base Camp, after which climbers go as a "loose group", offering a high degree of independence. The manager at Sharp's guide support said Sharp did not take enough oxygen for his summit attempt and did not have a Sherpa guide.<ref name="washingtontimes.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2006/may/22/20060522-110420-9433r/|title=Everest climber left to die alone|website=The Washington Times|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=3 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220703171200/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2006/may/22/20060522-110420-9433r/|url-status=live}}</ref> It is less clear who knew Sharp was in trouble, and if they did know, whether they were qualified or capable of helping him.<ref name=top/>
Double-amputee climber [[Mark Inglis]] said in an interview that his climbing party, and many others, had passed Sharp, on 15 May, sheltering under a rock overhang {{convert|450|m|ft}} below the summit, without attempting a rescue.<ref name=abcnews052006>{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1645603.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060823184345/http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1645603.htm|archive-date=23 August 2006|title=Everest climber defends leaving dying Briton|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=23 May 2006}}</ref> Inglis said 40 people had passed by Sharp, but he might have been overlooked as climbers assumed Sharp was the corpse nicknamed "[[Green Boots]]",<ref name=Sharp>{{cite news |last1=Breed |first1=Allen G. |last2=Gurubacharya |first2=Binaj |url=http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?menu=c10400&no=305837&rel_no=1 |title=Part II: Near top of Everest, he waves off fellow climbers: 'I just want to sleep' |date=18 July 2006 |work=Oh My News |access-date=7 December 2016 |archive-date=24 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424133320/http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?menu=c10400&no=305837&rel_no=1 |url-status=dead }}</ref> but Inglis was not aware that Turkish climbers had tried to help Sharp despite being in the process of helping an injured woman down (a Turkish woman, [[Burçak Özoğlu Poçan|Burçak Poçan]]). There has also been some discussion about [[Himex]] in the commentary on Inglis and Sharp. In regards to Inglis's initial comments, he later revised certain details because he had been interviewed while he was "physically and mentally exhausted, and in a lot of pain. He had suffered severe frostbite – he later had five fingertips amputated."<ref name=thefever>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3662508/Summit-fever.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3662508/Summit-fever.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Summit fever|author=Ed Douglas|date=13 January 2007|website=Telegraph.co.uk|access-date=20 September 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> It was estimated on 14 May that Sharp summited Mount Everest and began his descent down, but 15 May he was in trouble but being passed by climbers on their way up and down.<ref name=change/> On 15 May 2006 it is believed he was suffering from hypoxia and was about {{convert|1000|ft|m|order=flip|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} from the summit on the North Side route.<ref name=change/>
{{blockquote|Dawa from Arun Treks also gave oxygen to David and tried to help him move, repeatedly, for perhaps an hour. But he could not get David to stand alone or even stand to rest on his shoulders, and crying, Dawa had to leave him too. Even with two Sherpas, it was not going to be possible to get David down the tricky sections below.|Jamie McGuiness<ref name=jamie>{{cite web|url=http://www.explorersweb.com/everest_k2/news.php?id=2112|title=Everest K2 News ExplorersWeb – Jamie McGuiness about David Sharp: "Crying, Dawa had to leave him"|website=explorersweb.com|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=19 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919023358/http://www.explorersweb.com/everest_k2/news.php?id=2112|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|''The Tribune'' of Chandigarh, India]] quoted someone who described what happened to Sharp as "the most shameful act in the history of mountaineering".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20061210/spectrum/main6.htm |title=The High and Low of Everest |department=Spectrum |website=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Sunday Tribune]] |location=Chandigarh, India |access-date=24 November 2021 |archive-date=19 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019222801/https://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20061210/spectrum/main6.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> In addition to Sharp's death, at least nine other climbers perished that year, including multiple Sherpas working for various guiding companies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.explorersweb.com/everest_k2/news.php?id=7925|title=Everest K2 News ExplorersWeb – Un-named Everest Sherpa gets a name – and fatality details|website=explorersweb.com|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=4 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220704232734/https://explorersweb.com/everest_k2/news.php?id=7925|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Much of this controversy was captured by the ''[[Discovery Channel]]'' while filming the television program ''[[Everest: Beyond the Limit]]''. A crucial decision affecting the fate of Sharp is shown in the program, where an early returning climber, Lebanese adventurer [[Maxim Chaya]], is descending from the summit and radios to his base camp manager ([[Russell Brice]]) that he has found a frostbitten and unconscious climber in distress. Chaya is unable to identify Sharp, who had chosen to climb solo without any support and so did not identify himself to other climbers. The base camp manager assumes that Sharp is part of a group that has already calculated that they must abandon him, and informs his lone climber that there is no chance of him being able to help Sharp by himself. As Sharp's condition deteriorates through the day and other descending climbers pass him, his opportunities for rescue diminish: his legs and feet curl from [[frostbite]], preventing him from walking; the later descending climbers are lower on oxygen and lack the strength to offer aid; time runs out for any Sherpas to return and rescue him.
David Sharp's body remained just below the summit on the Chinese side next to "Green Boots"; they shared a space in a small rock cave that was an ad hoc tomb for them.<ref name="change">{{cite book|author1=D. Savage|author2=B. Torgler|title=The Times They Are A Changin': The Effect of Institutional Change on Cooperative Behaviour at 26,000 ft over Sixty Years|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=49DKBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA5|year=2015|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-137-52515-4|pages=5–|access-date=22 July 2015|archive-date=5 October 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241005160807/https://books.google.com/books?id=49DKBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA5#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> Sharp's body was removed from the cave in 2007, according to the BBC,<ref name=britb>{{cite web | url=http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20151008-the-graveyard-in-the-clouds-everests-200-dead-bodies | title=Death in the Clouds: The problem with Everest's 200+ bodies | access-date=10 October 2015 | archive-date=3 July 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703160700/http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20151008-the-graveyard-in-the-clouds-everests-200-dead-bodies | url-status=live }}</ref> and since 2014, Green Boots has been missing, presumably removed or buried.<ref name="Nuwer"/>
====Lincoln Hall rescue, 2006====
As the Sharp debate kicked off on 26 May 2006, Australian climber [[Lincoln Hall (climber)|Lincoln Hall]] was found alive after being left for dead the day before.<ref name=":2" /> He was found by a party of four climbers ([[Dan Mazur]], Andrew Brash, Myles Osborne and Jangbu Sherpa) who, giving up their own summit attempt, stayed with Hall and descended with him and a party of 11 Sherpas sent up to carry him down. Hall later fully recovered. His team assumed he had died from cerebral edema, and they were instructed to cover him with rocks.<ref name=":2">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/nepal/1519597/Climber-declared-dead-on-Everest-is-brought-down-alive.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/nepal/1519597/Climber-declared-dead-on-Everest-is-brought-down-alive.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Climber declared dead on Everest is brought down alive |last=Squires|first=Nick |work=Daily Telegraph |location=United Kingdom |access-date=16 May 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> There were no rocks around to do this and he was abandoned.<ref name=":3">{{cite news |last=Weber |first=Bruce |date=24 March 2012 |title=Lincoln Hall, Australian Mountaineer, Dies at 56 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/world/asia/lincoln-hall-australian-mountaineer-dies-at-56.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=16 May 2017 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=26 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326113345/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/world/asia/lincoln-hall-australian-mountaineer-dies-at-56.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The erroneous information of his death was passed on to his family. The next day he was discovered alive by another party.<ref name=":3" />
===2007===
On 21 May 2007, Canadian climber [[Meagan McGrath]] initiated the successful high-altitude rescue of [[Nepal]]i Usha Bista. Major McGrath was selected as a 2011 recipient of the [[Edmund Hillary|Sir Edmund Hillary]] Foundation of Canada Humanitarian Award, which recognises a Canadian who has personally or administratively contributed a significant service or act in the Himalayan Region of Nepal.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thesiredmundhillaryfoundation.ca/ |title=Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation of Canada |publisher=Thesiredmundhillaryfoundation.ca |access-date=15 May 2012 |archive-date=20 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220720161417/https://thesiredmundhillaryfoundation.ca/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Ascent statistics up to 2010 season===
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There have been 219 fatalities recorded on Mount Everest from the [[1922 British Mount Everest Expedition]] through the end of 2010, a rate of 4.3 fatalities for every 100 summits (this is a general rate, and includes fatalities amongst support climbers, those who turned back before the peak, those who died en route to the peak and those who died while descending from the peak). Of the 219 fatalities, 58 (26.5 per cent) were climbers who had summited but did not complete their descent.<ref name=8000ers /> Though the rate of fatalities has decreased since the year 2000 (1.4 fatalities for every 100 summits, with 3938 summits since 2000), the significant increase in the total number of climbers still means 54 fatalities since 2000: 33 on the northeast ridge, 17 on the southeast ridge, 2 on the southwest face, and 2 on the north face.<ref name=8000ers />
Nearly all attempts at the summit are done using one of the two main routes. The traffic seen by each route varies from year to year. In 2005–07, more than half of all climbers elected to use the more challenging, but cheaper northeast route. In 2008, the northeast route was closed by the Chinese government for the entire climbing season, and the only people able to reach the summit from the north that year were athletes responsible for [[2008 Summer Olympics summit of Mt. Everest|carrying the Olympic torch]] for the [[2008 Summer Olympics]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/15/world/asia/15nepal.html|title=Nepal Puts Everest Off Limits During China's Olympic Torch Relay in May
===2010s===
{{main|Mount Everest in 2012|Mount Everest in 2013}}
[[File:Andreas Breitfuss Mt Everest Summit.jpg|thumb|Selfie on the summit, 2012]]
The 2010s were a time of new highs and lows for the mountain, with back-to-back disasters in 2013 and 2014 causing record deaths. In 2015 there were no summits for the first time in decades. However, other years set records for numbers of summits – 2013's record number of summiters, around 667, was surpassed in 2018 with around 800 summiting the peak,<ref name=":0x">{{Cite web|url=http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2018/05/24/everest-2018-season-summary-record-weather-record-summits/|title=Everest 2018: Season Summary – Record Weather, Record Summits|date=25 May 2018|website=The Blog on alanarnette.com|access-date=22 January 2019|archive-date=15 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220215003422/https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2018/05/24/everest-2018-season-summary-record-weather-record-summits/|url-status=live}}</ref> and a subsequent record was set in 2019 with over 890 summiters.<ref name="time5604758">{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/5604758/mount-everest-deaths/|title=Greed, Weather and Inexperience: See How Mount Everest's Deadly Season Compares to Past Years|author1=Emily Barone
{| class="wikitable" style="float:left; margin-right: 0; margin-left: 1em;"
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|[[Mount Everest in 2013|2013]]
|658<!--aa-->–670<!--times-->
|<ref name="alanarnette">{{cite web|url=http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2013/06/03/everest-2013-season-recap/|title=Everest 2013: Season Recap: Summits, Records and Fights|work=alanarnette.com|access-date=29 May 2016|archive-date=27 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220227184527/https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2013/06/03/everest-2013-season-recap/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="time5604758"/>
|-
|2014
|106
|<ref name="alanarnette2">{{cite web|url=http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2014/06/09/everest-2014-season-summary-nepal-tragedy/|title=Everest 2014: Season Summary – A Nepal Tragedy|work=alanarnette.com|access-date=29 May 2016|archive-date=4 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804212024/https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2014/06/09/everest-2014-season-summary-nepal-tragedy/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|- style="background:#efefef;"
|2015
|0
|<ref name="washingtonpost">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/01/12/for-the-first-time-in-42-years-nobody-made-it-to-the-top-of-mount-everest-last-year/
|-
|[[Mount Everest in 2016|2016]]
|641
|<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2016/12/30/everest-by-the-numbers-2017-edition/|title=Everest by the Numbers: 2017 Edition|date=30 December 2016|work=alanarnette.com|access-date=24 May 2017|archive-date=30 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170930001528/http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2016/12/30/everest-by-the-numbers-2017-edition/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| [[Mount Everest in 2017|2017]]
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[[File:Mt Everest.jpg|thumb|Mount Everest, 2014]]
On 18 April 2014, an avalanche hit the area just below Base Camp 2.<ref name=BBC>{{cite news |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-27075638 |title= Everest avalanche kills at least 12 Sherpa guides |work= BBC News |date= 18 April 2014 |access-date= 18 April 2014 |archive-date= 6 August 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220806161427/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-27075638 |url-status= live }}</ref> Sixteen people were killed (all Nepali guides) and nine more were injured.<ref name=NYr>{{cite news |last= Krakauer |first= Jon |title= Death and Anger on Everest |url= https://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2014/04/everest-sherpas-death-and-anger.html |access-date= 22 April 2014 |magazine= [[The New Yorker]] |date= 21 April 2014 |quote= Of the twenty-five men hit by the falling ice, sixteen were killed, all of them Nepalis working for guided climbing teams. |archive-date= 21 July 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140721000827/https://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2014/04/everest-sherpas-death-and-anger.html |url-status= live }}</ref> In response to the tragedy, numerous Sherpa climbing guides walked off the job and most climbing companies pulled out in respect for the Sherpa people mourning the loss.<ref name=npr>{{cite news
During the season, 13-year-old Malavath Purna reached the summit, becoming the youngest female climber to do so.<ref name="Times of India">{{cite news |url= http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/13-year-old-Andhra-teen-becomes-youngest-woman-to-scale-Everest/articleshow/35598021.cms |
{{anchor|Jing Wang}}
[[File:Everest3d qbd 2014116.jpg|thumb|upright 1.5|left|The location of the fatal ice avalanche on the 2014 route, and the revised 2015 route through the Khumbu]]<!-- this non-standard image needs to be this large to read text-->
{{clear}}
Over 100 people summited Everest from China (Tibet region), and six from Nepal in the 2014 season.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2014/06/09/everest-2014-season-summary-nepal-tragedy/ |title= Everest 2014: Season Summary – A Nepal Tragedy |website= alanarnette.com |format= Blog |access-date= 20 September 2015 |archive-date= 4 August 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220804212024/https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2014/06/09/everest-2014-season-summary-nepal-tragedy/ |url-status= live }}</ref> This included 72-year-old Bill Burke, the Indian teenage girl, and a Chinese woman Jing Wang.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2014/05/23/everest-2014-first-summits/ |title= Everest 2014: Summits – Update 6 |website= alanarnette.com |format= Blog |access-date= 18 May 2016 |archive-date= 4 August 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220804212241/https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2014/05/23/everest-2014-first-summits/ |url-status= live }}</ref> Another teen girl summiter was [[Ming Kipa]] Sherpa who summited with her elder sister [[Lhakpa Sherpa]] in 2003, and who had achieved the most times for woman to the summit of Mount Everest at that time.<ref>{{cite web |
===2015 avalanche, earthquake, season===
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[[File:Everest from Kalatop April 2015.jpg|thumb|Everest, April 2015]]
2015 was set to be a record-breaking season of climbs, with hundreds of permits issued in Nepal and many additional permits in Tibet (China). However, on 25 April 2015, an [[April 2015 Nepal earthquake|earthquake measuring 7.8]] [[Moment magnitude scale|M<sub>w</sub>]] triggered an avalanche that hit [[Everest Base Camp]],<ref>{{cite news |title= Everest Climbers Are Killed as Nepal Quake Sets Off Avalanche |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/world/asia/everest-climbers-killed-as-nepal-quake-sets-off-avalanche.html |author= Gardiner Harris |work= [[The New York Times]] |date= 25 April 2015 |access-date= 23 December 2015 |archive-date= 14 November 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171114202007/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/world/asia/everest-climbers-killed-as-nepal-quake-sets-off-avalanche.html |url-status= live }}</ref> effectively shutting down the Everest climbing season.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2015/05/06/everest-2015-season-summary-summits-dont-matter-2/ |title=
The quakes trapped hundreds of climbers above the Khumbu icefall, and they had to be evacuated by helicopter as they ran low on supplies.<ref name="supplies">{{cite news
On 24 August 2015, Nepal re-opened Everest to tourism including mountain climbers.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.dw.com/en/mount-everest-opens-for-business/a-18668065 |title= Mount Everest opens for business |website= Deutsche Welle |access-date= 20 September 2015 |archive-date= 26 March 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220326072824/https://www.dw.com/en/mount-everest-opens-for-business/a-18668065 |url-status= live }}</ref> The only climber permit for the autumn season was awarded to Japanese climber Nobukazu Kuriki, who had tried four times previously to summit Everest without success. He made his fifth attempt in October, but had to give up just {{cvt|700|m}} from the summit due to "strong winds and deep snow".<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/08/japanese-climber-with-no-fingertips-abandons-bid-to-scale-everest |title= Japanese climber with no fingertips abandons bid to scale Everest |website= The Guardian |date= 8 October 2015 |access-date= 12 December 2016 |archive-date= 14 May 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220514081833/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/08/japanese-climber-with-no-fingertips-abandons-bid-to-scale-everest |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= http://time.com/4007494/nepal-everest-climbers/ |title= Everest Reopened to Climbers |author= Tanya Basu |magazine= Time |access-date= 20 September 2015 |archive-date= 26 March 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220326072826/https://time.com/4007494/nepal-everest-climbers/ |url-status= live }}</ref>
Some sections of the trail from Lukla to Everest Base Camp (Nepal) were damaged in the earthquakes earlier in the year and needed repairs to handle trekkers.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/08/07/4-sections-trekking-route-to-mount-everest-were-damaged-by-earthquake/ |title= 4 sections of trekking route to Mount Everest were damaged by earthquake, assessment finds |website= Fox News |access-date= 20 September 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150924191426/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/08/07/4-sections-trekking-route-to-mount-everest-were-damaged-by-earthquake/ |archive-date= 24 September 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
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===2016 season===
{{main|Mount Everest in 2016}}
Hawley's database records 641 made it to the summit in early 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.himalayandatabase.com/2016%20Season%20Lists/2016%20Spring%20A16.html|title=Himalayan Database Expedition Archives of Elizabeth Hawley|website=www.himalayandatabase.com|access-date=16 April 2019|archive-date=26 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326113550/http://www.himalayandatabase.com/2016%20Season%20Lists/2016%20Spring%20A16.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
===2017 season===
{{main|Mount Everest in 2017}}
2017 was the biggest season yet, permit-wise, yielding hundreds of summiters and a handful of deaths.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2017/05/25/everest-2017-south-col-dead-body-report-wrong/ |title=Everest 2017: South Col Dead Body Report was Wrong |date=25 May 2017 |website=Alanarnette |access-date=23 October 2017 |archive-date=27 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927165359/https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2017/05/25/everest-2017-south-col-dead-body-report-wrong/ |url-status=live }}</ref> On 27 May 2017, [[Kami Rita]] made his 21st climb to the summit with the Alpine Ascents Everest Expedition, one of three people in the World along with [[Apa Sherpa]] and [[Phurba Tashi|Phurba Tashi Sherpa]] to make it to the summit of Mount Everest 21 times.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/kami-rita-sherpa-scales-mt-everest-21-times/ |title=Kami Rita Sherpa scales Mt Everest 21 times |newspaper=[[The Himalayan Times]] |access-date=27 May 2017 |date=27 May 2017 |first=Rajan |last=Pokhrel |archive-date=8 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508131331/https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/kami-rita-sherpa-scales-mt-everest-21-times/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/nepalese-sherpa-scales-everest-for-record-21-times/article18589634.ece |title=Nepalese Sherpa scales Everest for record 21 times |last=PTI |newspaper=[[The Hindu]] |access-date=27 May 2017 |date=27 May 2017 |archive-date=12 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112002729/https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/nepalese-sherpa-scales-everest-for-record-21-times/article18589634.ece |url-status=live }}</ref> The season had a tragic start with the death of [[Ueli Steck]] of Switzerland, who died from a fall during a warm-up climb.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/05/01/ueli-steck-famed-swiss-mountain-climber-dead-after-plunging-3280-feet-near-mt-everest/ |title=Ueli Steck, famed Swiss mountain climber, dead after plunging 3,280 feet near Mount Everest |first=Katie |last=Mettler |date=1 May 2017 |access-date=23 October 2017 |newspaper=[[Washington Post]] |archive-date=26 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026105041/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/05/01/ueli-steck-famed-swiss-mountain-climber-dead-after-plunging-3280-feet-near-mt-everest/ |url-status=live }}</ref> There was a continued discussion about the nature of possible changes to the [[Hillary Step]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-22/mount-everest-hillary-step-collapses/8546086 |title=Mount Everest's famed Hillary Step collapses |date=22 May 2017 |website=[[ABC Online]] |access-date=23 October 2017 |publisher=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]] |archive-date=6 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806161456/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-22/mount-everest-hillary-step-collapses/8546086 |url-status=live }}</ref> Total summiters for 2017 was tallied up to be 648.<ref name="telegraph.co.uk1"/> 449 summited via Nepal (from the South) and 120 from Chinese Tibet (North side).<ref name="indiatimes.com">{{cite news |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/first-climbers-of-2018-reach-mount-everest-summit/articleshow/64148121.cms |title=First climbers of 2018 reach Mount Everest summit |newspaper=[[Times of India]] |publisher=[[Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.]] |author=AFP |author-link=American Free Press |date=13 May 2018 |access-date=25 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180514185642/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com//world/south-asia/first-climbers-of-2018-reach-mount-everest-summit/articleshow/64148121.cms |archive-date=14 May 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref>
===2018===
{{main|Mount Everest in 2018}}
[[File:Nepal 2018-03-27 (40012222680).jpg|thumb|Mount Everest in the upper left (March 2018)]]
807 climbers summited Mount Everest in 2018,<ref name=":4" /> including 563 on the Nepal side and 240 from the Chinese Tibet side.<ref name=":0x"/> This broke the previous record for total summits in year from which was 667 in 2013, and one factor that aided in this was an especially long and clear weather window of 11 days during the critical spring climbing season.<ref name=":0x"/><ref name="auto5">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2018/jun/04/peak-climbing-everest-awful-chris-bonington|title=Is climbing Everest today as 'awful' as Chris Bonington says?|last=Douglas|first=Ed|date=4 June 2018|work=The Guardian|access-date=22 January 2019|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=14 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220514081833/https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2018/jun/04/peak-climbing-everest-awful-chris-bonington|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.outsideonline.com/2393183/mount-everest-2019-preview|title=What to Watch for on Everest This Year|last=Arnette|first=Alan|date=4 April 2019|website=Outside Online|access-date=10 April 2019|archive-date=10 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230710045637/https://www.outsideonline.com/2393183/mount-everest-2019-preview|url-status=live}}</ref> Various records were broken, including a summit by double-amputee [[Xia Boyu]], who undertook his climb after winning a court case in the Nepali Supreme Court.<ref name=":0x"/> There were no major disasters, but seven climbers including sherpas as well as international climbers, died in various situations.<ref name=":0x"/> Although record numbers of climbers reached the summit, old-time summiters that made expeditions in the 1980s lamented the crowding, feces, and cost.<ref name="auto5"/>
Figures for the number of permits issued by Nepal range from 347<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/everest/reference/climbing-mount-everest/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190205233431/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/everest/reference/climbing-mount-everest/|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 February 2019|title=Want to climb Mount Everest? Here's what you need to know|first=Freddie|last=Wilkinson|date=22 January 2019|publisher=National Geographic|access-date=11 June 2023}}</ref> to 375.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2018-04-11/2018-everest-season-starts-with-fresh-hopes-dreams.html|title=2018 Everest season starts with fresh hopes, dreams|newspaper=Kathmandu Post|first=Sangam|last=Prasain|date=11 April 2018|access-date=30 May 2019|archive-date=30 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530004455/https://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2018-04-11/2018-everest-season-starts-with-fresh-hopes-dreams.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
===2019===
{| class="wikitable collapsible sortable floatright collapsed" style="font-size: 90%; "
|-
! style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|2019 fatalities<ref name="upi.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2019/05/27/Mount-Everest-death-toll-increases-to-11-after-American-dies/5961558993369/|title=Mount Everest death toll increases to 11 after American dies|website=UPI|access-date=28 May 2019|archive-date=26 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326154856/https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2019/05/27/Mount-Everest-death-toll-increases-to-11-after-American-dies/5961558993369/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
![[List of people who died climbing Mount Everest|Fatalities]]
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| Séamus Lawless*<ref name="Slater">{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/memorial-service-to-be-held-for-everest-climber-shay-lawless-1.3904626|title=Memorial service to be held for Everest climber Shay Lawless|last=Slater|first=Sarah|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=29 May 2019|archive-date=26 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326072829/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/memorial-service-to-be-held-for-everest-climber-shay-lawless-1.3904626|url-status=live}}</ref>
|{{Flagcountry|Ireland}}
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The spring or pre-monsoon window for 2019 witnessed the deaths of a number of climbers. Worldwide publication of images of hundreds of mountaineers queuing to reach the summit and sensational media reports of climbers stepping over dead bodies dismayed people around the world.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://theconversation.com/death-on-everest-the-boom-in-climbing-tourism-is-dangerous-and-unsustainable-114033|title=Death on Everest: the boom in climbing tourism is dangerous and unsustainable|first=Yana|last=Wengel|website=The Conversation|date=7 June 2019|access-date=7 June 2019|archive-date=13 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220513154218/https://theconversation.com/death-on-everest-the-boom-in-climbing-tourism-is-dangerous-and-unsustainable-114033|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://coloradosun.com/2019/06/06/peter-lowry-colorado-mount-everest-deaths/|title=Colorado climber stepped over newly dead bodies to summit Everest. He's still wrestling with what it all means.|date=6 June 2019|website=The Colorado Sun|access-date=7 June 2019|archive-date=26 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326072850/https://coloradosun.com/2019/06/06/peter-lowry-colorado-mount-everest-deaths/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mount-everest-deaths-climber-describes-traffic-jams-and-corpses/|title=Climber describes scene in Everest's "death zone": Traffic jams and corpses|website=www.cbsnews.com|date=28 May 2019|access-date=7 June 2019|archive-date=13 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220713161346/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mount-everest-deaths-climber-describes-traffic-jams-and-corpses/|url-status=live}}</ref>
There were reports of various winter expeditions in the Himalayas, including K2, Nanga Parbat, and Meru with the buzz for the Everest 2019 beginning just 14 weeks to the weather window.<ref name="auto6">{{Cite web|url=http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2019/01/06/2018-19-winter-climbs-k2-climbers-en-route-nanga-climbers-climbing/|title=2018/19 Winter Climbs: K2 Climbers en route, Nanga Climbers Climbing, New Everest Route?|date=7 January 2019|website=The Blog on alanarnette.com|access-date=23 January 2019|archive-date=27 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927163646/https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2019/01/06/2018-19-winter-climbs-k2-climbers-en-route-nanga-climbers-climbing/|url-status=live}}</ref> Noted climber Cory Richards announced on Twitter that he was hoping to establish a new climbing route to the summit in 2019.<ref name="auto6"/> Also announced was an expedition to re-measure the height of Everest, particularly in light of the 2015 earthquakes.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/04/09/nepalese-team-measure-mount-everest-amid-concerns-peak-has-shrunk/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/04/09/nepalese-team-measure-mount-everest-amid-concerns-peak-has-shrunk/ |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Nepalese team to measure Mount Everest amid concerns it has shrunk following earthquake|last=Wallen|first=Joe|date=9 April 2019|work=The Telegraph|access-date=10 April 2019|issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=http://time.com/5566400/nepalese-climbers-remeasuring-everest/|title=Nepalese Climbers to Remeasure Mount Everest|magazine=Time|access-date=10 April 2019|archive-date=27 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227180150/https://time.com/5566400/nepalese-climbers-remeasuring-everest/|url-status=live}}</ref> China closed the base-camp to those without climbing permits in February 2019 on the northern side of Mount Everest.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-47249141|title=China closes Everest base camp to tourists|date=15 February 2019|access-date=24 May 2019|archive-date=9 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809161240/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-47249141|url-status=live}}</ref> By early April, climbing teams from around the world were arriving for the 2019 spring climbing season.<ref name=":0" /> Among the teams was a scientific expedition with a planned study of pollution, and how things like snow and vegetation influence the availability of food and water in the region.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/american-scientists-to-climb-mount-everest-to-study-pollution/2019/03/27/9e56172c-41c8-11e9-922c-64d6b7840b82_story.html|title=American scientists to climb Mount Everest to study pollution|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=10 April 2019|archive-date=26 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126234525/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/american-scientists-to-climb-mount-everest-to-study-pollution/2019/03/27/9e56172c-41c8-11e9-922c-64d6b7840b82_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 2019 spring mountaineering season, there were roughly 40 teams with almost 400 climbers and several hundred guides attempting to summit on the Nepali side.<ref name="nbcrita">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/sherpa-guide-kami-rita-climbs-mount-everest-24th-time-extends-n1008186|title=Mountaineer extends record by climbing Everest for 24th time|website=NBC News|date=21 May 2019
In May 2019, Nepali mountaineering guide Kami Rita summited Mount Everest twice within a week, his 23rd and 24th ascents, making international news headlines.<ref name=":1">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/05/21/sherpa-climbs-everest-twice-week-breaks-his-record-with-his-th-ascent/|title=Sherpa climbs Everest twice in a week, breaks his record with his 24th ascent|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=22 May 2019|archive-date=18 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220418081121/https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/05/21/sherpa-climbs-everest-twice-week-breaks-his-record-with-his-th-ascent/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="nbcrita"/><ref name="cnnrita"/> He first summited Everest in 1994, and has summited several other extremely high mountains, such as K2 and Lhotse.<ref name="nbcrita"/><ref name="cnnrita"/><ref name="bbcrita"/><ref name=":1"/>
By 23 May 2019, about seven people had died, possibly due to crowding leading to delays high on the mountain, and shorter weather windows.<ref name=":4" /> One 19-year-old who summited previously noted that when the weather window opens, long lines form as everyone rushes to get the top and back down.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/four-reasons-why-things-have-turned-horrific-on-mt-everest/news-story/ab1786ea070a1d0a8ccf75befb9aa1d0|title = Aussie climber says Nepal needs to act after horror season on Everest|date = 29 May 2019|access-date = 30 May 2019|archive-date = 25 October 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211025053042/https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/four-reasons-why-things-have-turned-horrific-on-mt-everest/news-story/ab1786ea070a1d0a8ccf75befb9aa1d0|url-status = live}}</ref> In Chinese Tibet, one Austrian climber died from a fall,<ref name=":4" /> and by 26 May 2019 the overall number of deaths for the spring climbing season rose to 10.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/great-outdoors/british-climber-dies-on-mount-everest-death-toll-reaches-10|title=British climber dies on Mount Everest; death toll reaches 10|last=Aaro|first=David|date=25 May 2019|website=Fox News|access-date=26 May 2019|archive-date=26 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326113614/https://www.foxnews.com/great-outdoors/british-climber-dies-on-mount-everest-death-toll-reaches-10|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/25/world/asia/everest-death-traffic-jam.html|title=British Climber Dies on Everest as Traffic Jam's Toll Rises to 10|last1=Sharma|first1=Bhadra|date=25 May 2019|work=The New York Times|access-date=26 May 2019|last2=Mashal|first2=Mujib|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=12 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220712072323/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/25/world/asia/everest-death-traffic-jam.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/26/asia/mount-everest-warning-scli-intl-gbr/index.html Everest mountaineer warned of overcrowding before dying on climb] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809185110/https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/26/asia/mount-everest-warning-scli-intl-gbr/index.html |date=9 August 2022 }} ''www.cnn.com'', accessed 12 December 2020</ref> By 28 May, the death toll increased to 11 when a climber died at about {{convert|26,000|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}} during the descent,<ref name="upi.com"/> and a 12th climber missing and presumed dead.<ref name="Slater"/> Despite the number of deaths, reports indicated that a record 891 climbers summited in the spring 2019 climbing season.<ref name=":6" /><ref name="time5604758"/>
Although China has had various permit restrictions, and Nepal requires a doctor to sign off on climbing permits,<ref name=":6">{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/05/29/mount-everest-deaths-traffic-jam-blame-why-such-deadly-season/1258092001/|title=What's causing Mount Everest's deadly season? Overcrowding, inexperience and a long line to the top|website=USA Today|access-date=29 May 2019|archive-date=21 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220821023947/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/05/29/mount-everest-deaths-traffic-jam-blame-why-such-deadly-season/1258092001/|url-status=live}}</ref> the natural dangers of climbing such as falls and avalanches combined with medical issues aggravated by Everest's extreme altitude led to 2019 being a year with a comparatively high death toll.<ref name=":6" />
=== 2020s ===
Both Nepal and China prohibited foreign climbing groups during the 2020 season, due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. 2020 was the third year in this decade after 2014 and 2015 which saw no summits from the Nepal (South) Side.<ref>{{Cite web|date=13 March 2020|title=COVID-19 shuts down Everest|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/2020/03/will-coronavirus-shut-down-everest/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200314191538/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/2020/03/will-coronavirus-shut-down-everest/|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 March 2020|access-date=19 September 2020|website=Adventure}}</ref>
A team of Chinese surveyors climbed Mt. Everest from the North side during April–May 2020, becoming the only climbers to summit the world's highest peak during the pandemic, at least through May. The team was there to re-measure the height of Mount Everest.<ref>{{cite news|last=Khadka|first=Navin Singh|date=27 May 2020|title=Chinese team scale Everest during pandemic|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52819738|access-date=31 January 2021|archive-date=31 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531185450/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52819738|url-status=live}}</ref>
On 12 May 2022, the first all-Black team summited Mt. Everest. Seven men and two women climbers from the U.S. and Kenya, guided by eight sherpas, comprised the expedition.<ref>{{cite web | last=Cluff | first=Jilli | title=Mt. Everest History: First All-Black Expedition Team Summits World's Highest Peak | website=GearJunkie | date=12 May 2022 | url=https://gearjunkie.com/climbing/full-circle-everest-all-black-summit | access-date=13 May 2022 | archive-date=12 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412051401/https://gearjunkie.com/climbing/full-circle-everest-all-black-summit | url-status=live }}</ref>
==Climbing==
[[File:Hillary Step near Everest top (retouched).jpg|thumb|Looking up along the southern ridgeline, the face of the [[Hillary Step]] is visible. The top of the South-West face is on the left in shadow, and in the light to the right is the top of the East/Kangshung face. In 2016 and 2017 there were serious reports that the Hillary Step was changed, which triggered a big discussion in the climbing community. (2010 photo)]]
{| class="wikitable" style="width:20%; float:right;"
|+ Typical Nepal Camp Altitudes<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mounteverest.net/expguide/route.htm|title=The route – climbers guide to Everest|website=www.mounteverest.net|access-date=24 May 2017|archive-date=31 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531063921/https://www.mounteverest.net/expguide/route.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
! scope="col" | Location
! scope="col" colspan="2" | Altitude (km)
Line 575 ⟶ 570:
===Permits===
In 2014, Nepal issued 334 climbing permits, which were extended until 2019 due to the closure.<ref name="ekantipur1"/> In 2015, Nepal issued 357 permits, but the mountain was closed again because of the avalanche and earthquake, and these permits were given a two-year extension to 2017.<ref name="kathmandupost.ekantipur.com">{{cite web|url=http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2017-05-11/everest-expeditions-likely-to-be-delayed-by-bad-weather.html|title=Everest expeditions likely to be delayed by bad weather|website=ekantipur.com|access-date=23 October 2017|archive-date=24 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424053705/http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2017-05-11/everest-expeditions-likely-to-be-delayed-by-bad-weather.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ekantipur1">{{cite web |author=Sangam Prasain |url=http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2016-02-20/everest-permits-to-be-extended.html |title=Kathmandu Post- Everest permits to be extended |publisher=Kathmandupost.ekantipur.com |access-date=17 June 2016 |archive-date=19 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919203745/http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2016-02-20/everest-permits-to-be-extended.html |url-status=live }}</ref>{{clarify|date=June 2016}}
In 2017, a person who tried to climb Everest without the $11,000 permit was caught after he made it past the Khumbu icefall. He faced, among other penalties, a $22,000 fine and a possible four years in jail. In the end, he was allowed to return home but banned from mountaineering in Nepal for 10 years.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/17/world/asia/mount-everest-climber-arrested-permit.html Mt. Everest Beckoned, So He Climbed Without a Permit. Now He's Under Arrest] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220827015551/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/17/world/asia/mount-everest-climber-arrested-permit.html |date=27 August 2022 }} ''www.nytimes.com'' accessed 12 December 2020</ref>
The number of permits issued each year by Nepal is:<ref name="kathmandupost.ekantipur.com"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/climbers-did-not-die-due-to-congestion-on-mount-everest-says-nepal-2052554|title=Climbers Did Not Die Due To Congestion on Mount Everest, Says Nepal|work=NDTV|access-date=13 June 2019|archive-date=26 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220826202811/https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/climbers-did-not-die-due-to-congestion-on-mount-everest-says-nepal-2052554|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2008: 160
* 2009: 220
Line 593 ⟶ 588:
* 2019: 381
*2020: 0 (no permits issued during the pandemic)
*2021: 408 (current record)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Everest Climbing Season Was Like No Other|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/south-central-asia_everest-climbing-season-was-no-other/6206664.html|access-date=30 October 2021|website=VOA|date=5 June 2021
The Chinese side in Tibet is also managed with permits for summiting Everest.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.outsideonline.com/2168681/everest-2017-new-routes-new-records-and-lots-climbers|title=Everest Will Be More Crowded Than Ever This Year|first=Devon|last=O'Neil|date=3 April 2017|website=outsideonline.com|access-date=23 October 2017|archive-date=12 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512105907/https://www.outsideonline.com/2168681/everest-2017-new-routes-new-records-and-lots-climbers|url-status=live}}</ref> They did not issue permits in 2008, due to the [[2008 Summer Olympics summit of Mt. Everest|Olympic torch relay being taken to the summit of Mount Everest.]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/15/world/asia/15nepal.html|title=Nepal Puts Everest Off Limits During China's Olympic Torch Relay in May|first=Somini|last=Sengupta|date=15 March 2008|access-date=23 October 2017|newspaper=The New York Times|archive-date=12 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512190159/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/15/world/asia/15nepal.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
In March 2020, the governments of China and Nepal cancelled all climbing permits for Mount Everest due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/mount-everest-china-cancel-permit-12531116|title=China shuts down Everest over coronavirus|date=12 March 2020|access-date=13 March 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200313050922/https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/mount-everest-china-cancel-permit-12531116|archive-date=13 March 2020|publisher=[[CNA (news channel)|CNA]]|agency=[[Agence France-Presse]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51866342|title=Mount Everest: Nepal's government shuts off mountain amid virus outbreak|date=13 March 2020|access-date=13 March 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200313034815/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51866342|archive-date=13 March 2020|work=[[BBC News]]}}</ref> In April 2020, a group of Chinese mountaineers began an expedition from the Chinese side. The mountain remained closed on the Chinese side to all foreign climbers.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Khadka |first1=Navin |title=Coronavirus: Chinese explorers start Everest climb amid pandemic |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-52157968 |access-date=3 April 2020 |work=BBC |date=3 April 2020 |archive-date=3 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200403223121/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-52157968 |url-status=live }}</ref> On 10 May 2021, a separation line was announced by Chinese authorities to prevent the spread of coronavirus from climbers ascending Nepal's side.<ref>{{cite news|title=China to draw 'separation line' on peak of Mount Everest|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-china-to-draw-separation-line-on-peak-of-mount-everest-2/|access-date=10 May 2021|archive-date=10 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510123751/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-china-to-draw-separation-line-on-peak-of-mount-everest-2/|url-status=live}}</ref>
===Commercial climbing===
[[File:The World’s Tallest Mountain (15473492788).jpg|thumb|Top down view showing the location of the summit, and its three main faces/sides]]
[[File:Everest Base Camp on a Stormy Day.jpg|thumb|[[Everest base camps|Everest Base Camp]]]]
[[File:Gorakshep, Everest Zone, Nepal.jpg|thumb|[[Gorakshep|Gorak Shep]] is about a three-hour walk to South EBC (Everest Base Camp).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.himalayas-trekking-pictures.com/everest9.htm|title=Gorak Shep to Everest Base Camp and return|website=www.himalayas-trekking-pictures.com|access-date=5 August 2022|archive-date=5 October 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241005160713/https://www.himalayas-trekking-pictures.com/everest9.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>]]
According to [[Jon Krakauer]], the era of [[commercialization|commercialisation]] of Everest started in 1985, when the summit was reached by a guided expedition led by [[David Breashears]] that included [[Richard Bass]], a wealthy 55-year-old businessman and an amateur mountain climber with four years of climbing experience.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-05-02-mn-20109-story.html|title=Conquers Mt. Everest to Fulfill Dream: Millionaire First to Climb Summits of All Continents|journal=Los Angeles Times|first=Bill|last=Stall|date=2 May 1985|access-date=14 August 2024|archive-date=17 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181017205614/http://articles.latimes.com/1985-05-02/news/mn-20109_1_climbed-mt-everest|url-status=live}}</ref> By the early-1990s, several companies were offering guided tours to the mountain. [[Rob Hall]], one of the mountaineers who died in the [[1996 Mount Everest disaster|1996 disaster]], had successfully guided 39 clients to the summit before that incident.<ref name=Krakauer-1997/>{{RP|24, 42}}
By 2016, most guiding services cost between US$35,000 and US$200,000.<ref name="heraldsun.com.au">{{cite web|date=28 May 2016|title=Mt Everest 'summit fever': Why climbers make poor decisions near peak|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/mt-everest-summit-fever-why-climbers-make-poor-decisions-near-peak/news-story/3502b64dc81a65fec0466bf1983efff5|url-access=subscription|access-date=17 June 2016|website=Herald Sun|location=[[Melbourne]], Australia}}</ref> Going with a "celebrity guide", usually a well-known mountaineer typically with decades of climbing experience and perhaps several Everest summits, can cost over £100,000 as of 2015.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Stadlen|first1=Matthew|date=11 August 2015|title=Kenton Cool: my journey from a wheelchair to the peak of Mount Everest|website=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/11794351/Kenton-Cool-my-journey-from-a-wheelchair-to-the-peak-of-Mount-Everest.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/11794351/Kenton-Cool-my-journey-from-a-wheelchair-to-the-peak-of-Mount-Everest.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=20 September 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> However, the services offered vary widely and it is "buyer beware" when doing deals in Nepal, one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world.<ref name="heraldsun.com.au"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://developingworldconnections.org/destination/nepal/ |title=Nepal |publisher=Developing World Connections |date=25 April 2015 |access-date=17 June 2016 |archive-date=16 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416232208/https://developingworldconnections.org/destination/nepal/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Tourism contributed 7.9 per cent of the [[gross domestic product]] (GDP) in 2019<ref>{{Cite web|title=Nepal tourism generated Rs240b and supported 1m jobs last year: Report|url=https://kathmandupost.com/money/2019/05/26/nepal-tourism-generated-rs240b-and-supported-1m-jobs-last-year-report|access-date=22 November 2021|website=kathmandupost.com|language=English|archive-date=30 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730002145/https://kathmandupost.com/money/2019/05/26/nepal-tourism-generated-rs240b-and-supported-1m-jobs-last-year-report|url-status=live}}</ref> in a country with high unemployment,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Nepal's unemployment rate estimated at 11.4 percent|url=https://kathmandupost.com/money/2019/04/27/nepals-unemployment-rate-estimated-at-114-percent|access-date=22 November 2021|website=kathmandupost.com|language=English|archive-date=2 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202212944/https://kathmandupost.com/money/2019/04/27/nepals-unemployment-rate-estimated-at-114-percent|url-status=live}}</ref> but an Everest porter can make nearly double the nation's average wage in a region in which other sources of income are lacking.<ref>{{cite web |last=Conger |first=Cristen |url=http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/outdoor-activities/climbing/mt-everest-tourism.htm |title=How has Mount Everest tourism affected Nepal? | HowStuffWorks |publisher=Adventure.howstuffworks.com |date=1 April 2008 |access-date=17 June 2016 |archive-date=16 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516074456/https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/outdoor-activities/climbing/mt-everest-tourism.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
Costs beyond the guiding service can vary widely. It is technically possible to reach the summit with minimal additional expenses, and there are "budget" travel agencies that offer logistical support for such trips. A limited support service, offering only some meals at base camp and bureaucratic overhead like a permit, can cost as little as US$7,000 as of 2007.<ref name="thefever" /> However, this is considered difficult and dangerous (as illustrated by the case of [[David Sharp (mountaineer)|David Sharp]]).{{Cn|date=August 2024}}
Climbing gear required to reach the summit may cost in excess of US$8,000, and most climbers also use [[Bottled oxygen (climbing)|bottled oxygen]], which adds around US$3,000.<ref name="ClimbingMagazineCost">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.climbing.com/news/how-much-does-it-cost-to-climb-everest-2021-edition/|title=How Much Does It Cost to Climb Everest? 2021 Edition|first=Alan|last=Arnette|magazine=[[Climbing (magazine)|Climbing]]|date=20 April 2021|access-date=9 May 2021|archive-date=20 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420203256/https://www.climbing.com/news/how-much-does-it-cost-to-climb-everest-2021-edition/|url-status=live}}</ref> The permit to enter the Everest area from the south via Nepal costs US$10,000 to US$30,000 per person, depending on the size of the team.<ref name="ClimbingMagazineCost" /> The ascent typically starts at one of the [[Everest base camps|two base camps]] near the mountain, both of which are approximately {{convert|100|km|mi|-1}} from [[Kathmandu]] and {{convert|300|km|mi}} from [[Lhasa]] (the two nearest cities with major airports). Transferring one's equipment from the airport to the base camp may add as much as US$2,000.<ref name="ClimbingMagazineCost" />
Many climbers hire "full service" guide companies, which provide a wide spectrum of services, including the acquisition of permits, transportation to/from base camp, food, tents, [[fixed ropes]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mounteverest.net/expguide/ropes.htm|title=Fixed ropes – climbers guide to Everest|website=www.mounteverest.net|access-date=18 October 2011|archive-date=6 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206114729/http://mounteverest.net/expguide/ropes.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> medical assistance while on the mountain, an experienced mountaineer guide, and even personal porters to carry one's backpack and cook one's meals. The cost of such a guide service may range from US$40,000 to $80,000 per person.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://outdoors.whatitcosts.com/mt-everest-pg3.htm|title=What It Costs To Climb Mount Everest|date=2 May 2016|access-date=12 October 2011|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304105115/http://outdoors.whatitcosts.com/mt-everest-pg3.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Since most equipment is moved by [[Sherpa people|Sherpas]], clients of full-service guide companies can often keep their backpack weights under {{convert|10|kg}}, or hire a Sherpa to carry their backpack for them. By contrast, climbers attempting less commercialised peaks, like [[Denali]], are often expected to carry backpacks over {{convert|30|kg}} and, occasionally, to tow a [[sled]] with {{convert|35|kg}} of gear and food.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.alpineinstitute.com/articles/expert-tips/how-difficult-is-climbing-denalis-west-buttress/|title=How Hard is Denali? | American Alpine Institute|website=www.alpineinstitute.com|access-date=5 August 2022|archive-date=28 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128052837/https://www.alpineinstitute.com/articles/expert-tips/how-difficult-is-climbing-denalis-west-buttress/|url-status=live}}</ref>
The degree of commercialisation of Mount Everest is a frequent subject of criticism.<ref name="NG-20130600">{{cite news|last1=Jenkins|first1=Mark|title=Maxed Out on Everest|url=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/06/125-everest-maxed-out/jenkins-text|access-date=31 January 2017 |work=National Geographic|date=June 2013|archive-date=26 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226100239/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/06/125-everest-maxed-out/jenkins-text}}</ref> [[Jamling Tenzing Norgay]], the son of [[Tenzing Norgay]], said in a 2003 interview that his late father would have been shocked to discover that rich thrill-seekers with no climbing experience were now routinely reaching the summit, "You still have to climb this mountain yourself with your feet. But the spirit of adventure is not there any more. It is lost. There are people going up there who have no idea how to put on [[crampons]]. They are climbing because they have paid someone $65,000. It is very selfish. It endangers the lives of others."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/guardianweekly/story/0,12674,961195,00.html |title=Everest's decline blamed on trail of rich tourists |work=The Guardian |
One example of this is [[Shriya Shah-Klorfine]], who had to be taught how to put on crampons during her summit attempt in 2012.<ref>{{cite news|title=Canadian Everest victim used inexperienced company, lacked oxygen|work=CBC|date=13 September 2012|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/exclusive-canadian-everest-victim-used-inexperienced-company-lacked-oxygen-1.1195149|access-date=24 January 2021|archive-date=18 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130918072953/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/exclusive-canadian-everest-victim-used-inexperienced-company-lacked-oxygen-1.1195149|url-status=live}}</ref> She paid at least US$40,000 to a new guiding company for the trip, and died when she ran out of oxygen during the descent after climbing for 27 hours straight.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Mount Everest : Into the Death Zone – the fifth estate|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEcHBFs-qME |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/QEcHBFs-qME| archive-date=11 December 2021 |url-status=live|access-date=24 January 2021|website=www.youtube.com| date=20 August 2016 }}{{cbignore}}</ref>
[[Reinhold Messner]] concurred in 2004: <blockquote>You could die in each climb and that meant you were responsible for yourself. We were real mountaineers: careful, aware and even afraid. By climbing mountains we were not learning how big we were. We were finding out how breakable, how weak and how full of fear we are. You can only get this if you expose yourself to high danger. I have always said that a mountain without danger is not a mountain....High altitude alpinism has become tourism and show. These commercial trips to Everest, they are still dangerous. But the guides and organisers tell clients, 'Don't worry, it's all organised.' The route is prepared by hundreds of Sherpas. Extra oxygen is available in all camps, right up to the summit. People will cook for you and lay out your beds. Clients feel safe and don't care about the risks.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,1315445,00.html |title=Home on the range |work=The Guardian |
By 2015, Nepal was considering requiring that climbers have some experience, hoping this would both make the mountain safer and increase revenue.<ref>{{cite news|author=Jason Burke|date=28 September 2015|title=Mount Everest to be declared off-limits to inexperienced climbers, says Nepal|newspaper=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/28/mount-everest-to-be-declared-off-limits-to-inexperienced-climbers|access-date=17 June 2016|archive-date=18 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818210237/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/28/mount-everest-to-be-declared-off-limits-to-inexperienced-climbers|url-status=live}}</ref> One barrier to this is that low-budget firms make money ''not'' taking inexperienced climbers to the summit.<ref name="heraldsun.com.au" /> Those turned away by Western firms can often find another firm willing to take them for a price—that they return home soon after arriving after base camp, or part way up the mountain.<ref name="heraldsun.com.au" />
However, not all opinions on the subject among prominent mountaineers have been strictly negative. For example, [[Edmund Hillary]] stated in 2003 that while "Having people pay $65,000 and then be led up the mountain by a couple of experienced guides...isn't really mountaineering at all",<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2938596.stm |title=Hillary laments Everest changes |work=BBC News |
One of the early guided summiters, Richard Bass (of [[Seven Summits]] fame) stated in 2003 that "Climbers should have high altitude experience before they attempt the really big mountains. People don't realise the difference between a {{convert|20000|ft|m|adj=on|disp=sqbr}} mountain and {{convert|29000|ft|m|adj=on|disp=sqbr}}. It's not just arithmetic. The reduction of oxygen in the air is proportionate to the altitude alright, but the effect on the human body is disproportionate—an exponential curve. People climb Denali [{{convert|20,320|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on|disp=or}}] or Aconcagua [{{convert|22,834|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on|disp=or}}] and think, 'Heck, I feel great up here, I'm going to try Everest.' But it's not like that."<ref name=bass>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/2003/11/12/cz_jc_1112sport.html|title=The Adventurer: Dick Bass' Many Summits|author=James Clash|date=12 November 2003|website=Forbes|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=11 May 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040511035411/http://www.forbes.com/2003/11/12/cz_jc_1112sport.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
===Routes===
Line 631 ⟶ 626:
Mount Everest has two main climbing routes, the southeast ridge from [[Nepal]] and the north ridge from [[Tibet]], as well as many other less frequently climbed routes.<ref name=evhist>{{cite web|url=http://www.everesthistory.com/routes.htm |title=Ascent Routes on Everest |publisher=EverestHistory.com |access-date=21 January 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080115161830/http://www.everesthistory.com/routes.htm |archive-date=15 January 2008}}</ref> Of the two main routes, the southeast ridge is technically easier and more frequently used. It was the route used by [[Edmund Hillary]] and [[Tenzing Norgay]] in 1953 and the first recognised of 15 routes to the top by 1996.<ref name=evhist/> This was, however, a route decision dictated more by politics than by design, as the Chinese border was closed to the western world in the 1950s, after the People's Republic of China [[Invasion of Tibet (1950)|invaded Tibet]].<ref name=ngetl>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/04/0401_030401_everesttimeline.html| title=Everest Time Line: 80 Years of Triumph and Tragedy|publisher=National Geographic Society|last=Thompson|first=Kalee|date=2 April 2003|access-date=28 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325032404/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/04/0401_030401_everesttimeline.html|archive-date=25 March 2009}}</ref>
Most attempts are made during May, before the summer [[monsoon]] season. As the monsoon season approaches, the [[jet stream]] shifts northward, thereby reducing the average wind speeds high on the mountain.<ref name=nytimes>{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E01EFDD1E38F93AA25756C0A961958260|title=
====Southeast ridge====
Line 642 ⟶ 637:
Above the icefall is Camp I at {{convert|6065|m|ft|-1}}.
[[File:Inside Khumbu-Icefall.jpg|thumb|Climber traversing Khumbu Icefall]]
From Camp I, climbers make their way up the [[Western Cwm]] to the base of the [[Lhotse]] face, where Camp II or Advanced Base Camp (ABC) is established at {{convert|6500|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}. The Western Cwm is a flat, gently rising glacial valley, marked by huge lateral crevasses in the centre, which prevent direct access to the upper reaches of the Cwm. Climbers are forced to cross on the far right, near the base of [[Nuptse]], to a small passageway known as the "Nuptse corner". The Western Cwm is also called the "Valley of Silence" as the topography of the area generally cuts off wind from the climbing route. The [[high altitude]] and a clear, windless day can make the Western Cwm unbearably hot for climbers.<ref name=nova-climb>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/climb/waytosummitsou.html|title=The Way to the Summit|publisher=Public Broadcasting Corporation|website=NOVA Online|year=2000|access-date=28 March 2008|archive-date=30 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930100116/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/climb/waytosummitsou.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
From Camp II, climbers ascend the Lhotse face on [[fixed rope]]s, up to Camp III, located on a small ledge at {{convert|7470|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}. From there, it is another 500 metres to Camp IV on the [[South Col]] at {{convert|7920|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}.
Line 652 ⟶ 647:
From Camp IV, climbers begin their summit push around midnight, with hopes of reaching the summit (still another 1,000 metres above) within 10 to 12 hours. Climbers first reach "The Balcony" at {{convert|8400|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}, a small platform where they can rest and gaze at peaks to the south and east in the early light of dawn. Continuing up the ridge, climbers are then faced with a series of imposing rock steps which usually forces them to the east into the waist-deep snow, a serious [[avalanche]] hazard. At {{convert|8750|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}, a small table-sized dome of ice and snow marks the [[South Summit (Everest)|South Summit]].<ref name=nova-climb/>
From the South Summit, climbers follow the knife-edge southeast ridge along what is known as the "Cornice traverse", where snow clings to intermittent rock. This is the most exposed section of the climb, and a misstep to the left would send one {{convert|2400|m|ft|abbr=on}} down the southwest face, while to the immediate right is the {{convert|3050|m|ft|abbr=on}} [[Kangshung Face]]. At the end of this traverse is an imposing {{convert|12|m|ft|abbr=on}} rock wall, the [[Hillary Step]], at {{convert|8790|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qJjIBFOMsQsC&q=hillary+step&pg=PT111|title=On Top of World: My Everest Adventure|last=Vajpai|first=Arjun|date=2010|publisher=Penguin UK|isbn=978-81-8475-304-2|access-date=10 November 2020|archive-date=5 October 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241005161248/https://books.google.com/books?id=qJjIBFOMsQsC&q=hillary+step&pg=PT111#v=snippet&q=hillary%20step&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>
Hillary and Tenzing were the first climbers to ascend this step, and they did so using primitive ice climbing equipment and ropes. Nowadays, climbers ascend this step using fixed ropes previously set up by Sherpas. Once above the step, it is a comparatively easy climb to the top on moderately angled snow slopes—though the [[exposure (heights)|exposure]] on the ridge is extreme, especially while traversing large cornices of snow. With increasing numbers of people climbing the mountain in recent{{When|date=May 2021}} years, the Step has frequently become a bottleneck, with climbers forced to wait significant amounts of time for their turn on the ropes, leading to problems in getting climbers efficiently up and down the mountain.{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}
Line 663 ⟶ 658:
The north ridge route begins from the north side of Everest, in [[Tibet]]. Expeditions trek to the [[Rongbuk Glacier]], setting up base camp at {{convert|5180|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}} on a gravel plain just below the glacier. To reach Camp II, climbers ascend the medial moraine of the east Rongbuk Glacier up to the base of [[Changtse]], at around {{convert|6100|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}. Camp III (ABC{{snd}}Advanced Base Camp) is situated below the [[North Col]] at {{convert|6500|m|ft|abbr=on}}. To reach Camp IV on the North Col, climbers ascend the glacier to the foot of the col where fixed ropes are used to reach the North Col at {{convert|7010|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}. From the North Col, climbers ascend the rocky north ridge to set up Camp V at around {{convert|7775|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}. The route crosses the North Face in a diagonal climb to the base of the Yellow Band, reaching the site of Camp VI at {{convert|8230|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}. From Camp VI, climbers make their final summit push.
Climbers face a treacherous traverse from the base of the First Step: ascending from {{convert|8501|to|8534|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}}, to the crux of the climb, the Second Step, ascending from {{convert|8577|to|8626|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}}. (The Second Step includes a climbing aid called the "Chinese ladder", a metal ladder placed semi-permanently in 1975 by a party of Chinese climbers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.affimer.org/hemmleb7.html|publisher=Affirmer.org |title=Chinese ladder|access-date=16 January 2014|archive-date=16 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116101043/http://www.affimer.org/hemmleb7.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> It has been almost continuously in place since, and ladders have been used by virtually all climbers on the route.) Once above the Second Step the inconsequential Third Step is clambered over, ascending from {{convert|8690|to|8800|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}}. Once above these steps, the summit pyramid is climbed by a snow slope of 50 degrees, to the final summit ridge along which the top is reached.<ref name=NOVA_wtsn>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/climb/waytosummitnor.html|title=The Way to the Summit (North)|publisher=Public Broadcasting Corporation|website=NOVA Online|year=2000|access-date=28 March 2008|archive-date=20 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110920124802/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/climb/waytosummitnor.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
===Summit===
[[File:Amanecer desde la cima del Everest por Carlos Pauner.JPG|thumb|left|A view from the summit of Mount Everest in May 2013]]
The summit of Everest has been described as "the size of a dining room table".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/local/9046854.Swindon_explorer_on_top_of_the_world/|title=Swindon explorer on top of the world|website=Swindon Advertiser|date=25 May 2011
Below the summit, there is an area known as "rainbow valley", filled with dead bodies still wearing brightly coloured winter gear. Down to about {{Convert|8,000|m|ft|abbr=on}} is an area commonly called the "death zone", due to the high danger and low oxygen because of the low pressure.<ref name=dz/>
Line 681 ⟶ 676:
Another significant [[Breathing#Effects of ambient air pressure|threat to climbers is low atmospheric pressure]]. The atmospheric pressure at the top of Everest is about a third of sea level pressure or {{convert|0.333|atm|mbar}}, resulting in the availability of only about a third as much oxygen to breathe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.altitude.org/calculators/air_pressure.php |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120729214053/http://www.altitude.org/calculators/air_pressure.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 July 2012 |title=Online high altitude oxygen calculator |publisher=altitude.org |access-date=15 August 2007}}</ref>
Debilitating effects of the death zone are so great that it takes most climbers up to 12 hours to walk the distance of {{convert|1.72|km|mi}} from South Col to the summit.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.alanarnette.com/everest/everestsouthroutes.php|title=Mount Everest South Col Route Maps|publisher=alanarnette.com|access-date=15 August 2013|archive-date=19 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181219105351/http://www.alanarnette.com/everest/everestsouthroutes.php|url-status=live}}</ref> Achieving even this level of performance requires prolonged altitude acclimatisation, which takes 40–60 days for a typical expedition. A sea-level dweller exposed to the atmospheric conditions at the altitude above {{convert|8500|m|abbr=on}} without acclimatisation would likely lose consciousness within two to three minutes.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.semae.es/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/climbers-on-mt-everest-.pdf|title=Arterial Blood Gases and Oxygen Content in Climbers on Mount Everest|journal=The New England Journal of Medicine|year=2009|first=Michael P.W.|last=Grocott|doi=10.1056/NEJMoa0801581|volume=360|issue=2|pages=140–9|pmid=19129527|display-authors=etal|access-date=29 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304102433/http://www.semae.es/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/climbers-on-mt-everest-.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In May 2007, the Caudwell Xtreme Everest undertook a medical study of oxygen levels in human blood at extreme altitude. Over 200 volunteers climbed to Everest Base Camp where various medical tests were performed to examine blood oxygen levels. A small team also performed tests on the way to the summit.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.xtreme-everest.co.uk/news_detail.php?article=196|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080606065437/http://www.xtreme-everest.co.uk/news_detail.php?article=196|archive-date=6 June 2008|title=Everest 2007|publisher=Caudwell Xtreme Everest 2007}}</ref> Even at base camp, the low [[partial pressure]] of oxygen had direct effect on blood oxygen saturation levels. At sea level, [[Oxygen saturation (medicine)#Definition|blood oxygen saturation]] is generally 98 to 99 per cent. At base camp, blood saturation fell to between 85 and 87 per cent. Blood samples taken at the summit indicated very low oxygen levels in the blood. A side effect of low blood oxygen is a greatly increased breathing rate, often 80–90 breaths per minute as opposed to a more typical 20–30. Exhaustion can occur merely by attempting to breathe.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.altitude.org/oxygen_levels.php |title=Altitude physiology |publisher=altitude.org |access-date=6 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616140234/http://www.altitude.org/oxygen_levels.php |archive-date=16 June 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
Line 689 ⟶ 684:
{{Blockquote|Debilitating symptoms consistent with high altitude cerebral oedema commonly present during descent from the summit of Mount Everest. Profound fatigue and late times in reaching the summit are early features associated with subsequent death.|Mortality on Mount Everest, 1921–2006: descriptive study<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1136/bmj.a2654 |pmid=19074222 |pmc=2602730 |title=Mortality on Mount Everest, 1921-2006: Descriptive study |journal=BMJ |volume=337 |pages=a2654 |year=2008 |last1=Firth |first1=P.G |last2=Zheng |first2=H |last3=Windsor |first3=J. S |last4=Sutherland |first4=A.I |last5=Imray |first5=C.H |last6=Moore |first6=G W K |last7=Semple |first7=J.L |last8=Roach |first8=R.C |last9=Salisbury |first9=R.A|issue=dec11 1 }}</ref> }}
A 2008 study noted that the "death zone" is indeed where most Everest deaths occur, but also noted that most deaths occur during descent from the summit.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.climbing.com/climber/climbing-everest-who-makes-it-to-the-top/|title=Climbing Everest: Who Makes It to the Top?|website=Climbing|date=23 November 2009|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=18 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151218082432/http://www.climbing.com/climber/climbing-everest-who-makes-it-to-the-top/|url-status=live}}</ref> A 2014 article in ''[[The Atlantic]]'' about deaths on Everest noted that while falling is one of the greatest dangers the death zone presents for all 8000ers, avalanches are a more common cause of death at lower altitudes.<ref name=atlan>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/04/mortality-on-mount-everest/360927/|title=Charting Deaths on Mount Everest|author=Svati Kirsten Narula|website=The Atlantic|access-date=20 September 2015|date=21 April 2014|archive-date=14 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220514081833/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/04/mortality-on-mount-everest/360927/|url-status=live}}</ref>
Despite this, Everest is safer for climbers than a number of peaks by some measurements, but it depends on the period.<ref name=safer>{{cite web|url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/30757/5-mountains-deadlier-everest |title=5 Mountains Deadlier Than Everest |website=Mental Floss |access-date=20 September 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923175946/http://mentalfloss.com/article/30757/5-mountains-deadlier-everest |archive-date=23 September 2015}}</ref> Some examples are [[Kangchenjunga]], [[K2]], [[Annapurna Massif|Annapurna]], [[Nanga Parbat]], and the [[Eiger]] (especially the ''<abbr title="north wall">nordwand</abbr>'').<ref name=safer/> Some factors that affect total mountain lethality include the level of popularity of the mountain, the skill of those climbing, and the difficulty of the climb.<ref name=killermountains>{{cite web|url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/everest-anniversary--world-s-five-deadliest-mountain-ranges-siula-grande-k2-mont-blanc-annapunna-155951170.html#9eTWTzo|title=Everest anniversary: World's five deadliest mountains|date=28 May 2013|website=Yahoo News UK|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=14 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220514072501/https://uk.news.yahoo.com/everest-anniversary--world-s-five-deadliest-mountain-ranges-siula-grande-k2-mont-blanc-annapunna-155951170.html#9eTWTzo|url-status=live}}</ref>
Another health hazard is [[retinal haemorrhage]]s, which can damage eyesight and cause blindness.<ref name=eyes>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/everest-team-forced-to-leave-sick-british-climber-to-die-1988979.html|title=Everest team forced to leave sick British climber to die|work=The Independent|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=19 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819162222/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/everest-team-forced-to-leave-sick-british-climber-to-die-1988979.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Up to a quarter of Everest climbers can experience retinal haemorrhages, and although they usually heal within weeks of returning to lower altitudes, in 2010 a climber went blind and died in the death zone.<ref name=eyes/>
{{Blockquote|At one o'clock in the afternoon, the British climber Peter Kinloch was on the roof of the world, in bright sunlight, taking photographs of the Himalayas below, "elated, cheery and bubbly". But Mount Everest is now his grave, because only minutes later, he suddenly went blind and had to be abandoned to die from the cold.|A. McSmith<ref name=eyes/>}}
The team made a huge effort for the next 12 hours to try to get him down the mountain, but to no avail, as they were unsuccessful in getting him through the difficult sections.<ref name="theweek1">{{cite web |author=Peter Gillman |url=http://www.theweek.co.uk/politics/14247/what-killed-peter-kinloch-%E2%80%98left-die%E2%80%99-everest |title=What killed Peter Kinloch, 'left to die' on Everest |work=The Week UK |date=2 June 2010 |access-date=17 June 2016 |archive-date=2 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170402234654/http://www.theweek.co.uk/politics/14247/what-killed-peter-kinloch-%E2%80%98left-die%E2%80%99-everest |url-status=dead}}</ref> Even for the able, the Everest North-East ridge is recognised as a challenge. It is hard to rescue someone who has become incapacitated and it can be beyond the ability of rescuers to save ''anyone'' in such a difficult spot.<ref name="theweek1"/> One way around this situation was pioneered by two Nepali men in 2011, who had intended to paraglide off the summit. They had no choice and were forced to go through with their plan anyway, because they had run out of bottled oxygen and supplies.<ref name="abcnews1">{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Travel/paragliding-everests-peak-kayaking-indian-ocean/story?id=21097292 |title=Paragliding From Everest's Peak, Then Kayaking to Indian Ocean |publisher=ABC News |date=5 December 2013 |access-date=17 June 2016 |archive-date=5 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241005161214/https://abcnews.go.com/Travel/paragliding-everests-peak-kayaking-indian-ocean/story?id=21097292 |url-status=live }}</ref> They successfully launched off the summit and para-glided down to [[Namche Bazaar]] in just 42 minutes, without having to climb down the mountain.<ref name="abcnews1"/>
===Supplemental oxygen===
Line 717 ⟶ 712:
The 1996 disaster also introduced the issue of the guide's role in using bottled oxygen.<ref name="salon">{{cite web |url=http://www.salon.com/wlust/feature/1998/08/07featurea.html|title=Everest controversy continues| website=Salon|date=7 August 1998|access-date=17 June 2016|author=DeWalt, Weston|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514043017/http://www.salon.com/wlust/feature/1998/08/07featurea.html | archive-date=14 May 2011}}</ref>
Guide [[Anatoli Boukreev]]'s decision not to use bottled oxygen was sharply criticised by Jon Krakauer. Boukreev's supporters (who include G. Weston DeWalt, who co-wrote ''[[The Climb (book)|The Climb]]'') state that using bottled oxygen gives a false sense of security.<ref>{{cite web
The low oxygen can cause a mental fog-like impairment of cognitive abilities described as "delayed and lethargic thought process, clinically defined as bradypsychia" even after returning to lower altitudes.<ref name=altitude>{{cite web|url=http://www.boulderweekly.com/article-8924-this-is-your-brain-this-is-your-brain-at-altitude.html|title=This is your brain. This is your brain at altitude|website=Boulder Weekly|access-date=20 September 2015|date=14 June 2012}}</ref> In severe cases, climbers can experience hallucinations. Some studies have found that high-altitude climbers, including Everest climbers, experience altered brain structure.<ref name=altitude/> The effects of high altitude on the brain, particularly if it can cause permanent brain damage, continue to be studied.<ref name=altitude/>
Line 724 ⟶ 719:
[[File:Mount Everest as seen from Drukair.jpg|thumb|Everest in September 2006]]
Although generally less popular than spring, Mount Everest has also been climbed in the autumn (also called the "post-monsoon season").<ref name="autumn" /><ref name=fall>{{cite web|url=http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2010/10/22/money/first-everest-ascent-in-autumn-in-10-yrs/214039/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721191741/http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2010/10/22/money/first-everest-ascent-in-autumn-in-10-yrs/214039/|archive-date=21 July 2015|title=The Kathmandu Post |website=ekantipur.com|access-date=20 September 2015}}</ref> For example, in 2010 Eric Larsen and five Nepali guides summited Everest in the autumn for the first time in ten years.<ref name=fall/> The autumn season, when the monsoon ends, is regarded as more dangerous because there is typically a lot of new snow which can be unstable.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/window-of-opportunity-everest/64450|title=Window of Opportunity: Everest Climbing Season Underway|website=AccuWeather|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=1 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160901215435/http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/window-of-opportunity-everest/64450|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, this increased snow can make it more popular with certain winter sports like skiing and snowboarding.<ref name="autumn" /> Two Japanese climbers also summited in October 1973.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.everesthistory.com/everestsummits/japanese.htm|publisher=Everest History.com|title=Japanese summits|access-date=18 July 2015|archive-date=22 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722113220/http://www.everesthistory.com/everestsummits/japanese.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
Chris Chandler and Bob Cormack summited Everest in October 1976 as part of the American Bicentennial Everest Expedition that year, the first Americans to make an autumn ascent of Mount Everest according to the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-27-mn-9683-story.html|title=U.S. Climber Chris Chandler Dies on Nepal Peak|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=20 September 2015|date=27 January 1985|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224123106/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-27-mn-9683-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> By the 21st century, summer and autumn can be more popular with skiing and snowboard attempts on Mount Everest.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12200440601/Asia-Nepal-Malahangur-Asia-Nepal-Khumbu-Everest-Summer-and-Autumn-Attempts-with-Ski-and-Snowboard|title=Asia, Nepal, Malahangur Asia, Nepal (Khumbu), Everest, Summer and Autumn Attempts with Ski and Snowboard|website=americanalpineclub.org|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=26 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326072919/http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12200440601/Asia-Nepal-Malahangur-Asia-Nepal-Khumbu-Everest-Summer-and-Autumn-Attempts-with-Ski-and-Snowboard|url-status=live}}</ref> During the 1980s, climbing in autumn was actually more popular than in spring.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://faculty.washington.edu/hueyrb/pdfs/AAJEverest2003.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://faculty.washington.edu/hueyrb/pdfs/AAJEverest2003.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=Success & death on Everest|first1=RB|last1=Huey|first2=R|last2=Salisbury|journal=American Alpine Journal|year=2003}}</ref> U.S. astronaut [[Karl Gordon Henize]] died in October 1993 on an autumn expedition, conducting an experiment on radiation. The amount of [[background radiation]] increases with higher altitudes.<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1088/0952-4746/21/1/003 |bibcode=2001JRP....21....5T |title=Invited Editorial: Radiation exposures of aircrew in high altitude flight |journal=Journal of Radiological Protection |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=5–8 |last1=Townsend |first1=Lawrence W |year=2001 |pmid=11281530|s2cid=250794441 }}</ref>
The mountain has also been climbed in the winter, but that is not popular because of the combination of cold high winds and shorter days.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/environment-nepal-everest-fees-dc-idUSDEL6351120070822|title=Nepal to cut fees for off-season Everest climbers|newspaper=Reuters|access-date=20 September 2015|date=22 August 2007|archive-date=12 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212200321/https://www.reuters.com/article/environment-nepal-everest-fees-dc-idUSDEL6351120070822|url-status=live}}</ref> By January the peak is typically battered by {{convert|170|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} winds and the average temperature of the summit is around −33 °F (−36 °C).<ref name="autumn" />
===Thefts and crime===
Some climbers have reported life-threatening thefts from supply caches. In May 2006, [[Vitor Negrete]], the first Brazilian to climb Everest without oxygen and part of David Sharp's party, died during his descent, and theft of gear and food from his high-altitude camp may have contributed.<ref>{{cite web|title=Everest fatality silence mystery solved: British David Sharp left to die by 40 climbers|url=http://www.explorersweb.com/everest_k2/news.php?id=2092|website=Explorersweb.com|access-date=18 April 2014|archive-date=16 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216235000/https://explorersweb.com/everest_k2/news.php?id=2092|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Brazilian Vitor Negrete lost on Everest after a no O2 summit|url=http://www.explorersweb.com/everest_k2/news.php?id=2069|website=Explorersweb.com|access-date=18 April 2014|archive-date=28 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128083956/https://explorersweb.com/everest_k2/news.php?id=2069|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition to theft, Michael Kodas describes in his book, ''High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed'' (2008):<ref>{{cite book|author=Kodas, Michael|title=High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed |date=2008|publisher=Hyperion|isbn= 978-1-4013-0273-3}}</ref> unethical guides and Sherpas, [[Prostitution in Tibet|prostitution]] and gambling at the Tibet Base Camp, fraud related to the sale of oxygen bottles, and climbers collecting donations under the pretense of removing trash from the mountain.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.motherjones.com/arts/books/2008/02/go-sell-it-on-the-mountain.html|title=Go Sell It on the Mountain|website=Mother Jones|date=1 February 2008|access-date=5 July 2018|archive-date=14 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114072152/http://www.motherjones.com/arts/books/2008/02/go-sell-it-on-the-mountain.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Bristow|first=Michael|title=Everest base camp a 'wild-west town'|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6897591.stm|date=13 July 2007|access-date=31 March 2010|archive-date=13 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220513154218/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6897591.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>
The Chinese side of Everest in Tibet was described as "out of control" in 2007 after one Canadian had all his gear stolen and was abandoned by his Sherpa.<ref name=stolen>{{cite web|url=http://www.explorersweb.com/everest_k2/news.php?id=15994|title=Manny Pizarro robbed and abandoned by Sherpa after summiting Everest – being helped down by DCXP's sirdar|website=Explorersweb.com|author=Chessell, Duncan|access-date=15 July 2015|archive-date=11 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211211200628/https://explorersweb.com/everest_k2/news.php?id=15994|url-status=live}}</ref> Another Sherpa helped the victim get off the mountain safely and gave him some spare gear. Other climbers have also reported missing oxygen bottles, which can be worth hundreds of dollars each. Hundreds of climbers pass by people's tents, making it hard to safeguard against theft.<ref name=stolen/> In the late 2010s, the reports of theft of oxygen bottles from camps became more common.<ref name="nationalgeographic.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/features/everest/cory-richards-adrian-ballinger-climbers-mount-everest-unfiltered-expedition-2017/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170515222514/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/features/everest/cory-richards-adrian-ballinger-climbers-mount-everest-unfiltered-expedition-2017/|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 May 2017|title=Two Climbers Return to Everest to Snapchat the Summit|date=14 April 2017|website=nationalgeographic.com|access-date=11 June 2023}}</ref>
===Selected climbing records===
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