The 2023 spring climbing season on Mount Everest has come to an unofficial end, with monsoons and high winds returning to Khumbu Valley in recent days and closing the window of calm weather on the world’s highest peak. Climbers and expedition leaders must now take stock of what is one of the most chaotic and deadly years in the mountain’s history.

As of this story’s publishing, . The current death toll is the fourth-highest in Everest history, (only 2015, 1996, and 2014 had more, with 13, 15 and 16 deaths respectively). If the five missing people are declared dead, then 2023 will have the unhappy distinction as the deadliest year for climbers on the peak at 17. In 2015, a massive earthquake triggered an avalanche that swept through Base Camp—conflicting reports peg the final death count at anywhere from 19 to 24 people. Not all of those killed were climbers, however, as the slide killed camp workers and expedition staff as well.

Climbers over 50 years old took a heavy toll this season. On May 1, American Jonathan Sugarman, 69, climbing with American operator International Mountain Guides (IMG), died at Camp II. On May 18, Chinese climber Xuebin Chen, 52, died near the South Summit with Nepali operator 8K Expeditions. And on May 24, Canadian Dr. Pieter Swart, 63, at the South Col with Madison Mountaineering. Garrett Madison, owner of the guiding company, told șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű that Swart died suddenly. “He died of a rapid onset lung infection/pulmonary edema,” Madison wrote in a message. “We are going to make a statement soon about it. Been very focused on getting his body down and communicating everything with his family.”

It appears that altitude sickness may have contributed to several other deaths this season. On May 16, Phurba Sherpa, who was part of the Nepal Army mountain clean-up campaign, died near Yellow Band above Camp III. Another Nepali climber, Ang Kami Sherpa, working as kitchen staff for outfitter Peak Promotion, died at Camp II when he collapsed near the helicopter pad.

Moldovan climber Victor Brinza died on May 17 at the South Col while climbing with Nepali operator Himalayan Traverse șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű. On May 20, Malaysian Ag Askandar Bin Ampuan Yaacub climbed above South Summit, then became ill and died. He was with Nepali operator Pioneer șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍűs. Australian Jason Bernard Kennison, 40, died on May 21 near the Balcony while climbing with Asian Trekking. Indian Suzanne Leopoldina Jesus, 59, intended to climb Everest but left Base Camp ill and died in Lukla on May 18. She became sick at camp, and according to multiple reports, refused to go lower for help for several days. Three of the 13 deaths occurred simultaneously: On April 12, a section of the Khumbu Icefall collapsed, burying Da Chhiree Sherpa, Tendi Sherpa, and Lakpa Rita Sherpa under tons of ice. They were ferrying ropes and gear to put in the safety lines from Camp II to the summit, and their bodies have not been recovered.

The Himalayan Times, five climbers still missing on the peak. Nepali climbers Ranjit Kumar Shah and Lakpa Nuru were ascending together when they disappeared. Hawari Bin Hashim of Malasia was attempting to become the first hearing-impaired climber from Malaysia to ascend Everest when he went missing after reaching the summit.

Hungarian climber Suhajda Szilard, who was attempting to scale Everest without supplemental oxygen, is presumed dead after climbers found him unresponsive near the summit. , an attempt to rescue him was called off on May 27 due to weather. Shrinivas Sainis Dattatraya of Singapore is also missing and presumed dead. Prior to disappearing, Dattatraya texted his wife saying that he was suffering from high-altitude cerebral edema (HACE), a deadly disorder that happens when a person travels to extreme altitudes without proper acclimatization. Dattatraya’s wife believes her husband will not be found, writing a memorial to her husband on . “He was 39, and in his glorious and rich life, he lived fearlessly and to the fullest. He explored the depth of the sea and scaled the greatest heights of the Earth.”

Frostbite and Rescues

In addition to deaths, mountaineers at Everest told me that climbers saw an uptick in cases of frostbite and calls for mid-mountain rescues this year. Some sources blamed this dynamic on the record number of foreign climbing permits issued by Nepal this year—478 foreign climbers received permits, and approximately 600 climbers reached the top.

Others pointed fingers at inexperienced guides and climber error. However, Nepal government officials and some other climbers say climate change created colder-than-normal conditions on the peak this year, and a tight weather window forced climbers onto the peak earlier than normal. Dr. Yuba Raj Khatiwada, the director of Nepal’s tourism department, told multiple outlets that climate change and the weather were to blame.

“Altogether this year we lost 17 people on the mountain this season—the main cause is the changing in the weather,” he told The Guardian. “This season the weather conditions were not favorable, it was very variable. Climate change is having a big impact in the mountains.”

The reports of colder weather are anecdotal, and Nepali authorities have yet to release temperature data backing up the claims. Chris Tomer of weather forecasting outfit Tomer Weather Solutions said the average temperature on the Everest summit varies from -10 to -20 degrees Fahrenheit during climbing season.ÌęNabin Trital, managing director of guiding company Expedition Himalaya, said that the weather did feel different this year, notably colder than usual. “Compared to the previous years, we have experienced a lot of cases of frostbite. This year snowing occurred only in late March, which is why it was colder in the mountains like winter expeditions,” he said.

Guy Cotter, managing director of expedition company șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Consultants, echoed the sentiment. “It was a very cold season, the coldest my staff and I have ever experienced,” said Cotter, who has been climbing Everest since the early 1990s.Ìę“We had two Sherpas suffer from frostbite, which is the first time in 30 years that we have ever had any of our Sherpas suffer frostbite. Luckily one case was superficial, and the other may lose the end of a finger.”

Multiple sources told me that helicopter rescues were a daily occurrence on Everest this year. Cotter estimated the total number of flights to be around 200 from Base Camp to Camp II at 21,300 feet elevation. “The number of rescues was unprecedented,” he said.

Cotter did note that some of the flights were used to transport gear, and in some cases, even climbers to and from Camp II—a practice the Nepali government explicitly prohibits except for medical resources. “Climbers were regularly flying out from Camp II as opposed to facing the icefall,” Cotter said. “Helicopter activity over Base Camp is continuous from dawn to dusk every fine day.”

Why So Many Deaths?

Just three of the 12 confirmed deaths were related—the Sherpas who died due toÌęfalling ice—and the others were the result of sickness, exhaustion, falls, or climbers getting lost. Some mountaineers and government officials believe this was due to simple numbers—more people ventured onto Everest this year than any year in history. Ang Norbu Sherpa, president of the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association, toldÌęThe Guardian that 478 permits was simply too many.

“The climbing pattern has changed, it used to be hardened climbers but now it is a lot of novice climbers who want to get to the summit of Everest,” he said.

Mountaineers I spoke to echoed his sentiment, telling me there was an uptick in inexperienced climbers working with low-cost expedition companies that offer bare-bones support. Garrett Madison, the founder of Madison Mountaineering, said some operators now take clients with no prior high-altitude experience onto the peak. “We require climbers to have successfully completed several big peaks before joining us for Everest, such as Aconcagua, Denali, Chimborazo, Cho Oyu, etc,” he said. “I’ve seen a trend where companies say, ‘No experience required [and that] anything is possible,’ and I don’t support that model.”

Phil Crampton, the founder of Kathmandu-based Altitude Junkies, said he’s seen some operators allow clients to push for the summit even after a guide has turned back due to sickness. Cotter says some of the deaths likely occurred when climbers encountered a problem—exhaustion or low oxygen levels—but they were working with an outfitter that did not have a backup plan. “The operators supporting those climbers still have a mindset that they are merely providing expedition services and not guiding these people and therefore feel no sense of responsibility for them,” he said.

Lukas Furtenbach, owner of Furtenbach șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍűs, said many of the deaths were preventable. In his opinion, the fatalities were the result of poor planning for oxygen needs, and a lowering of general safety standards. “Apart from the three sherpas in the icefall and the IMG client who probably had a heart attack or stroke, I am convinced that all the other deaths could have been avoided by following safety standards and [having] sufficient oxygen supplies at all times,” he said. “[The deaths] all have a similar pattern.”

Caroline Pemberton, general manager and co-owner of guiding company Climbing the Seven Summits, had 44 clients safely reach the Everest summit. Pemberton believes there’s a different mindset between guiding companies—some view their operations as simply logistics operators for clients hoping to reach the summit, while other outfits are focused more on climber safety.Ìę “There’s a consumer misunderstanding of the options available on Everest,” she said.

Pemberton believes some clients pay a heavy price by working with untested operators that offer a lower price. “Sadly, people lose their lives in an effort to save $10,000. It appears that they do not anticipate that people who are not climbers are incapable of looking after themselves and cannot manage their energy and oxygen levels, and regularly collapse after the [summit] has been reached,” she says. “The incidents occur on the way down. People with little or no experience who book under-resourced expeditions are exposing themselves to huge risks.”

Few Solutions on the Horizon

The sources I spoke to did not feel that the government of Nepal would step in to enforce any changes on the mountain in the coming years. On other popular mountains, governments and agencies restrict who can climb a peak, and they fund full-time safety crews to assist with rescues. Adopting practices from other mountains like Alaska’s Denali or Argentina’s Aconcagua could save lives. On Denali, rangers are stationed on the peak throughout the season to help with rescues. A crew of rangers stationed at the South Col could provide similar support.

In previous years, Nepali officials have proposed experience requirements for Everest hopefuls applying for permits. China requires any Chinese citizen to have summited an 8,000-meter peak before attempting Everest from the Tibet side, though it does not impose a similar requirement for foreigners.

One proposed safety measure would allow helicopters to ferry fixed rope supplies—but not climbers—to Camp II, reducing the number of trips through the Khumbu Icefall for Sherpas. Another option would be to require every client and Sherpa to carry a GPS tracking device that would simplify search and rescue.

Limiting the number of climbing permits would could reduce crowds and make for fewer emergency situations overall, but that would also trim the revenue for the Nepali government, making it an unlikely move. Nepal does require climbers to prior to climbing the peak, but it’s unclear how effective or enforced it is.

Cotter told me that the climbers who flock to the peak each year would benefit from a shift in mindset. Rather than push for the summit at all costs, he said, mountaineers should take a conservative approach, and be prepared to turn back instead of pushing onward at all costs. Ìę“Most of us who have been in this game for a while have seen too many people pass away to forget this tragic and unsavory aspect of our sport,” he said. “It is as if people are interested only in the goal of having climbed Everest and not climbing Everest as a major achievement in their climbing career.”

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The 2023 climbing season on Mount Everest has become a chaotic mess in recent days, with multiple reports of deaths, missing climbers, and high-altitude rescues. An estimated 500 people reached the summit in the last week, taking advantage of a prolonged period of calm weather and clear skies. Amid the rush to the top, ten climbers have died, making 2023 among the deadlier years in recent memory—and the season isn’t over yet.

As of Monday, May 22, the fatalities include four Sherpas and six foreign climbers. On April 12, a collapsing ice tower buried and killed three Sherpa guides in the Khumbu Icefall. The seven other fatalities were all due to sickness, cold, or exhaustion. At time of publishing, several climbers are missing on the mountain, and the death toll could rise in the coming days.

According to data collected from record-keeping website and other accounts, the annual average number of deaths on Mount Everest from 1922 through 2022 is approximately five climbers. The 30-year average from 1993 through 2022 is 6.2 deaths. Thus, the 2023 season is approaching twice that.

Everest’s deadliest season happened inÌę2014 when 16 climbers died—a hanging serac on Everest’s west shoulder collapsed, releasing tons of ice into the Khumbu Icefall, where sherpas were ferrying gear to higher camps. The second deadliestÌęyear was 1996, when 15 climbers died in a season that was chronicled in John Krakauer’s book and classic șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű feature Into Thin Air.Ìę

Among the dead on Everest is Australian Jason Bernard Kennison, 40, who died near the Balcony on his descent on Sunday, May 21. Kennison,who was climbing with Asian Trekking, survived a horrific car crash in 2006, and had to re-learn to walk after sustaining a spinalÌęinjury in the wreck. Kennison was for an Australian nonprofit that helps people with spinal-cord injuries.

“We are so proud of his achievements and we take great solace in knowing he made it to the summit. The highest place on this earth,” his family wrote in a statement online.

The that Dawa Steven Sherpa, of Asian Trekking, said that two Sherpa guides were descending with Kennison after reaching the top when they noticed him acting abnormally. “Sherpa guides brought him to the Balcony area. They ran out of oxygen, and bringing supplement bottles from Camp IV couldn’t be possible due to excessive winds,” Dawa Steven said. Website as saying the guides administered the corticosteroid dexamethasone to the stricken climber and increased his oxygen supply, but the measures did not improve his situation. After seven hours, Dawa Steven told his Sherpas to descend to Camp IV, as their oxygen was also running low. “Jason, who collapsed near the balcony area, refused to move with Sherpa guides, and his body is still in the Balcony area,” he told The Himalayan Times.

On Friday, May 19, a 56-year-old Malaysian climber named Awang Askandar Bin Ampuan Yaacub due to unknown health problems. Local media in Malaysia reported that Askandar was a lieutenant colonel with the Malaysian police, and a father of six children. “Although you were busy with work, there has never been a single day that you ignored us,” his wife wrote online. “You are indeed a father who really loves all his children, always advising them to ‘help mama, listen to mama.’”

The same day another Malaysian climber named Muhammad Hawari Bin Hashim, 33, went missing . Both men were climbing with outfitter Pioneer Expeditions. Hashim, who is hearing-impaired, disappeared after descending from the summit to Camp IV. Pioneer Expeditions executive director Nivesh Karki that his team lost contact with Hashim amid their attempts to locate Askandar. The company founder, Ngaa Tenji Sherpa, for help in finding his client, asking “The situation is critical, and time is running out. We have been searching since the time he went missing. We are pleading with anyone who may have spotted a stranded climber to immediately contact me at the Everest Base Camp (EBC). Every second counts in this race against time!”

Another missing climber, Singaporean , 39, went missing on Friday, May 19th. He to his wife that day saying he had reached the summit of Everest, but he was not likely to make it back down. Sushma Soma, his wife, told The Straits Times, said she last heard from him at 3.30 P.M. on Friday. There has been no word from him since. Soma said: “Through his satellite phone, he told me that he had made it to the summit. But then he followed with bad news, saying he could not make it down.” He was with Seven Summit Treks.

Videos and accounts of the scene on Mount Everest flooded social media over the weekend. One Instagram clip showed veteran guide Gelje Sherpa wrapping an abandoned climber in a tarp and strapping him to his back. “At the Balcony during our summit push around 8,300m, I saw someone in danger. A man who needed rescuing, and no one else was helping. I made the decision to cancel our client’s summit push so that I could bring him down to safety before he died up there alone.” Gelje wrote on Instagram. “I carried him myself all the way down to Camp 4, where a rescue team helped from then on.”

The video captures the desperate scene on the mountain, which was also described to me in a firsthand account from a climber who wished to remain anonymous. “I think there might be one or two more not reported yet. When we were at Camp II, we heard about the Sherpa whose hands froze at Camp IV and died. Just going from Camp III to Camp IV, they were bringing two bodies down, then on the summit push, one clearly dead Chinese, one-half alive but missing a boot,” the climber told me. “When I got back to Camp IV, one new dead on the trail that couldn’t have been more than three hours old because he wasn’t there when my faster teammates made it back. My buddy shook the body and was clearly dead.” The climber said he expects more deaths to be announced in the coming days.

Ten deaths marks a steep uptick from 2022, when three climbers died on the mountain. In 2019, 11 perished—some while waiting in traffic jams to reach the top. There are just eight previous seasons in which the death toll has hit double digits: 1982 (11), 1988 (10), 1996 (15), 2012 (10), 2014 (16), 2015 (13), and 2019 (11).

The climbing season on Everest may come to an end later this week. High winds are forecasted to return to unsafe levels of over 30 miles per hour, according to Chris Tomer of forecasting service . “Jet winds return on the 26th and scrape the summit for several days. Even the 25th is markedly windier,” he told me. “This is most likely the end of the Everest climbing season. A few climbers might try after the 26th but any summit windows look small, brief, and windier.”

A group from Madison Mountaineering may be one of the final groups to reach the top. On Monday, Garrett Madison of Madison Mountaineering reported from Camp III on their summit push that the winds had let up, as predicted. The expedition will spend a full day as planned at the South Col, aiming to summit on Wednesday morning, May 24. Other teams scheduled to summit on Wednesday include Alpine Ascents, șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Consultants, Summit Climb, and several Nepali operators. The climbing season on Everest officially ends when the Icefall Doctors, who maintain the route from base camp to Camp II, remove the ladders across multiple gaping crevasses, which has yet to be scheduled.

Deaths on Mount Everest 2023

April 12: Tenjing Sherpa, Lakpa Sherpa, and Badure Sherpa, all working for Nepali operator Imagine Nepal, died when the upper section of theÌęKhumbu Icefall collapsed

May 1: American Jonathan Sugarman, 69, died at Camp II climbing with American operator International Mountain Guides (IMG)

May 16: Phurba Sherpa died near Yellow Band above Camp III. He was part of the Nepal Army Mountain Cleanup campaign

May 17: Moldovan climber Victor Brinza died at the South Col with Nepali operator Himalayan Traverse șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű

May 18: Chinese Xuebin Chen, 52, died near the South Summit with Nepali operator 8K Expeditions

May 18: Indian Suzanne Leopoldina Jesus, 59, who intended to climb Everest but left Base Camp ill and died in Lukla.

May 20: Malaysian Ag Askandar Bin Ampuan Yaacub got above South Summit, then became ill and died. He was climbing with Nepali operator Pioneer șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍűs

May 21: Australian Jason Bernard Kennison, 40, died near the Balcony. He was with Asian Trekking

Noteworthy Ascents

Amid the deaths and drama, Mount Everest did see multiple historic ascents in recent days. Nepal’s Pasang Dawa Sherpa, 46, . Earlier in the season, Pasang Dawa had tied Kami Rita with 26, only to be surpassed by one several days later. He made it to the top for his second summit of the season. His record could be short-lived, as Kami Rita is expected to make one more attempt before this season ends.

On Friday, May 19, Nepal’s Hari Budha Magar, 43, to climb Everest. Magar, who lives in Kent, England, was a Former British Gurkha soldier, who lost his legs to a bomb blast while serving in Afghanistan. His success comes after Kiwi Mark Inglis paved the way for double amputees with his Everest summit in 2006 from the Tibet side. Inglis’ amputations were below the knee.

Not using oxygen is a rare feat, as less than two percent of the 11,341 summits have been without the benefit of supplemental oxygen. However, Russians Vitaly Lazo and Anton Pugovkin that they summited on Monday, May 22, without oxygen and then skied down.

Scott Lehmann and Shayna Unger, who are both hearing impaired also summited.Ìę, they believe to be the first “profoundly deaf” American couple to summit. They were supported by Seven Summits Treks. They reported, “It was freezing cold and super windy at the summit, our Garmin InReach ran out of battery, and our phones wouldn’t work!”

Another history-making ascent occurred on Wednesday, May 17, when an American surgeon named Dr. Jacob Weasel of Rapid City, South Dakota, reached the top. Dr. Weasel is a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, and according to his Instagram, he believes to summit Everest.

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A window of calm conditions on Mount Everest allowed more than 100 climbers to reach the summit on Wednesday, May 17.

on the successful ascents on the world’s highest peak, which brought the total number of climbers to reach the summit this year to 166. While that number may sound big, the record for Everest summits happened in 2019, when . Last year, .

Multiple expedition operators reported their successes throughout the day, among them 8K Expeditions, Furtenbach șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍűs, Climbing the Seven Summits, Elite Expeditions, and Imagine Nepal.Ìę“Today, our whole Everest expedition team summited Mount Everest in the morning in perfect conditions,” Furtenbach șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍűs .

“26 climbers, guides and Sherpa touched the roof of the world and experienced vistas over the Tibetan Plateau and into the valleys and gorges of Nepal,” Climbing the Seven Summits . “There is no feeling quite like it.”

The day was not without tragedy, however. , Moldovan climber Victor Brinza died at the South Col, becoming the sixth fatality of the year on the mountain. Brinza was climbing alongside Nepali operator Himalayan Traverse șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű, which has not commented on his death or provided information on the cause.

His death came a day after a climber named Phurba Sherpa . According toÌęThe Himalayan Times,ÌęPhurba was participating in a cleanup expedition with the Nepal Army at the time of his death.

Elsewhere on the mountain, climbers had to navigate other challenges, among them a collapsed section the Khumbu Icefall that blocked the route between Base Camp and Camp I.

Guide leader Garrett Madison says the blockage has prevented climbers from reaching high camps, and it could impede those descending from the summit to Base Camp later in the week.

“After leaving Base Camp and just about getting into the icefall, we encountered some climbers coming back down who had tried to go up, and had encountered a collapse in the icefall where the route was broken about half the way up,” Madison wrote in an update. “So, we’re going to rest today and hopefully the icefall doctors can get up there and repair that section of the route that’s broken, and then our plan is to go again tomorrow.”

Earlier in the spring, the Khumbu Icefall was the site of deadly tragedy when a collapsing ice block buried three sherpas. Crews have yet to locate the men.

Among the list of climbers to summit on Wednesday were a handful of Mount Everest celebrities, as well individuals who claimed historic marks for reaching the top. Nepali climber Kami Rita Sherpa, 53, claimed his 27th Everest summit, which places him one ahead of Pasang Dawa Sherpa, who recorded his 26th successful climb on the mountain earlier this week. Kami Rita was guiding a Vietnamese client for expedition company Seven Summit Treks when he reached the top at 8:30 A.M. Nepal time.

“We’re trying to get details. For now it’s 100 percent confirmed that Kami Rita scaled for the 27th time,” Thaneswar Guragai of Seven Summit Treks .

Another Everest veteran, British guide Kenton Cool, 48, on Wednesday, setting a new record for successful climbs by a non-Sherpa mountaineer. Cool, who hails from Gloucestershire, was guiding Richard Walker, the executive chairman of Iceland Foods, when he made the top.

Other climbers to reach the summit , 51, a former deputy minster of defense for Ukraine, and his wife, Oksana,46. A 16-year-old also summitted, from the British Royal Marines named Aldo Kane.

Yandy Martinez Nunez, a Cuban national who lives in Iceland, also reached the summit, and is believed to be to successfully ascend the mountain.

The push for the summit on Wednesday came after high winds delayed climbers for more than a week. Rope-fixing teams affixed lines to the summit on Thursday, May 11, and the first trickle of climbers to the top happened in the ensuing days.

May is the busiest month on Mount Everest, and according to , a website that tracks Himalayan mountaineering, approximately 80 percent of the 11,341 successful Everest summits have occurred between the dates May 15 and 26. Historically, this year’s May 11 date for fixed ropes to reach the top is slightly later than usual, but there have been later first summits on the peak. In 2014, the first climbers didn’t reach the Everest summit until May 24. According the Himalayan Database, May 19 is the date with the most successful Everest climbs, with 13 percent of the total summits; May 21Ìęsecond at 11 percent.

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There’s been an accusation of grand theft on the roof of the world.

On Thursday, May 12, New Zealand climber Guy Cotter of expedition company șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Consultants that valuable climbing gear belonging to him had gone missing at Camp IV, which is located at approximately 26,000 feet on the South Col of Mount Everest. According to Cotter’s post, a cache of tents, stoves, pots, and gas was gone when he arrived. Cotter said he believes the stuff was stolen.

“The thieves do not consider the impacts this might have on the safety of our people when they arrive to find this vital equipment gone,” Cotter wrote, adding that the action may put people’s lives in jeopardy.

What happened to Cotter’s gear? We have yet to read substantive reports of the situation. Cotter wrote in his post that he believes other expedition operators who were looking to cut costs took the items. “This is the work of cheap operators who do not have enough of their own equipment and have to steal to cover the shortfall. I think this may only be the start, we already hear of some of the large cheap operators not having enough oxygen to supply this [to] teams,” he wrote.

șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű reached out to Cotter on Monday, May 15 to get more information about the missing gear but did not hear back.

This isn’t the first time that gear has gone missing——on the world’s highest peak.ÌęIn late April, Dutch climber Roeland van Oss in which he said he saw someone take his gear on the peak. Van Oss said he heard a noise outside his tent during his first acclimatization rotation at Camp II (elevation 21,000 feet) and saw a man “pack the items into his backpack and disappear.” He said his gas stove and cooking set were missing.

Accusations of theft on Mount Everest crop up every few years. In 2019, British guide and climber Tim Mosedale reported hearing of stolen oxygen bottles at a high camp. , Mosedale wrote that in 2017 his team had 14 bottles stolen from his site at Camp IV on Lhotse.

“When it’s one, two or three bottles, you could perhaps put it down to an innocent error. Maybe one climbing Sherpa deposited a load at ‘point x’ on the ropes above Camp III and another collected a different stash from ‘point y’. A simple enough error,” Mosedale wrote. “This team had diligently supplied what they deemed to be a necessary supply of oxygen for their climbers and their climbing Sherpas to safely make their summit bid.”

Losing oxygen can have deadly repercussions on Mount Everest. Few climbers can reach the summit without supplemental oxygen. The , a website thatÌęrecords Himalayan climbing statistics, reports that only 221 of the 11,341 successful summits on EverestÌęwere accomplished without using supplemental oxygen—that’s just 1.95 percent.

The 2017 incident prompted the of oxygen bottle theft on the peak. A guide named Nima Tenji Sherpa told the publication that the uptick in inexperienced climbers and unqualified guides had contributed to increasing instances of thieveryÌęon the mountain. “It is becoming a serious problem up there,” he said. “I kept on hearing from expedition groups that their oxygen bottles had disappeared and that could be life-threatening—particularly when they have used up what they are carrying on their way up and they are still not on the summit yet, or they plan to use the stocked bottles on their way back.”

Actually addressing the crimes is difficult. In 2017 Phurwa Namgyal Sherpa, general secretary of Nepal National Mountain Guide Association, , “There is nothing we can do when oxygen bottles, food items and cooking gas cylinders are stolen by .”

But developments this season may change the decorum on Everest. Earlier this spring, the Nepali government announced it would station officials at Everest Base Camp to help “manage climbing activities” amongst the record number of climbers on the mountain.ÌęYubaraj Khatiwada, director at Nepal’s Department of Tourism, that a “team of doctors and government officials would be stationed at the Everest base camp for the first time to manage climbing activities throughout the season. We are concerned for their safety and are well prepared to cope with the crowd, by spreading summit bids as long as the good weather window provides to ensure the climbing goes smoothly as far as possible.”

Whether the presence of these officials prevents future thievery is yet to be seen.

Climbers Ready For the Early Push

Hundreds of climbers are making their way to the summit of Mount Everest this weekend, after nine Sherpa guides installed fixed safety ropes to the top on Saturday, May 13. The opening of the climbing window is later than normal, and thus far the season has been delayed by high winds that kept climbers pinned down at lower camps for much of the first half of May.

Among the climbers to reach the summit early is Pasang Dawa Sherpa, who on Sunday . He is now tied with Kami Rita Sherpa for most summits on the world’s highest peak.

Weather reports suggest that the jet stream winds will be below the 30-mph threshold through May 20, hopefully allowing climbers to spread out and avoid the massive queues of 2019, which generated international headlines. Another good omen is the lack of typhoon activity in the Bay of Bengal. These storms can bring high winds and snow to Everest, stopping everyone from climbing.

Some teams wrote online that they are targeting Wednesday, May 17th as the day to reach the summit, while other expeditions are waiting. I recently spoke with Garrett Madison of Madison Mountaineering who said, “We’re not going until around May 22-23 onwards. Hopefully, it won’t be too crowded then.”

Nepal issued 467 permits to foreign climbers on Mount Everest, but with the usual attrition of between 20-25 percent, I estimate there are 350 remaining left, supported by approximately 525 Sherpas. My rough estimate is that 875 climbers will attempt to scale Everest over the next two weeks, with about half of that number leaving in the early wave.

These climbers may encounter crowding at the sections of the route that are prone to bottlenecks, such as the narrow ridge between the Balcony and South Summit and Hillary Slope. Reports say the rope fixers installed dual ropes in some spots along this section—one for ascending and one for descending.

A Traditional Summit Schedule

Having written about Everest expeditions for several years now, I’m familiar with the traditional schedule for reaching the peak’s summit. Most teams spend two nights at Camp II (21,000 feet elevation) on their summit push, using it as an Advanced Base Camp. Teams spend additional time there during sudden changes in weather to allow Sherpas to haul tents, oxygen, and other supplies to Camp III (24,000 feet elevation) and Camp IV (26,000 feet elevation) on the South Col.

Should climbers encounter clear skies this week, this is what their schedule will look like:

• Everest Base Camp to Camp II: Six hours (some teams stop at Camp I at 19,900 feet for one night)
• Camp II to Camp III: Six hours (climbers will sleep with supplemental oxygen)
• Camp III to Camp IV: Four hours (some teams sleep at Camp IV, while others head for the summit the same day)
• Camp IV to Mount Everest summit: Between eight and 12 hours (climbers spend 15 minutes to one hour one the summit)
• Mount Everest summit to Camp IV: Between three and five hours (climbers rest for 30 minutes and refuel)
• Camp IV to to Camp II: Between two and four hours (climbers sleep at Camp II)
• Camp II to Everest Base Camp: Between two and four hours, followed by a big celebration

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You’ve probably seen the famous 2019 photo shot by Nirmal “Nims” Purja of a long line of climbers high on Mount Everest, each waiting to set foot on the 29,029-foot summit. The image went viral after Purja published it online, because it showed how traffic jams on the peak can force mountaineers to wait for hours in the so-called “death zone” above 28,000 feet.

What that photo doesn’t tell you is that the long queue was due, in part, to the weather. In 2019, stormy conditions and violent winds in the Himalayas allowed for just three suitable days of climbing on the world’s highest peak. The tight weather window meant that the hundreds of climbers and Sherpas in Base Camp made their respective summit attempts simultaneously on May 22, and people became stuck in bottlenecks that exist along the route.

This doesn’t happen every year. Often, Everest will see two weeks of favorable weather, when winds at the summit drop below 30 miles per hour. In 2022, for example, clear and calm conditions lasted an unprecedented four consecutive weeks—practically the entire month of May. Hundreds of climbers reached the summit and there were few if any complaints of crowds or traffic jams.

This week, the expedition leaders in Base Camp are carefully monitoring the weather reports in the Himalayas, and praying for conditions that mimic those of 2022 and not those from 2019. That’s because there are more climbers and Sherpas on Everest than at any time in history. The latest count is 466 foreign climbers—a new record—and perhaps twice as many Sherpas. Not all of those people will actually make it past Base Camp—guides have told me that about 20 percent of climbers arriving at Everest give up and leave before venturing onto the mountain.

“If the weather allows several summit days, the amount of climbers is manageable. If the weather limits the possible summit day, like in 2019, there will be problems caused by the crowds, especially by slow climbers,” says Austrian guide Lukas Furtenbach of expedition company Furtenbach șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍűs. “There are climbers on the mountain that need 18 hours from Base Camp to Camp I, and another 11 hours from Camp I to Camp II. That is too slow.”

I reached out to Furtenbach and other expedition operators in Base Camp to ask if they are worried about the possibility of deadly crowds, given the soaring number of climbers. The potential for traffic jams , and the record number of permits prompted longtime operator Adrian Ballinger of Alpenglow Expeditions to write a addressing of the dangers. “The South Side of Everest has become overcrowded with inexperienced team members and unqualified guides,” he wrote.

Garrett Madison of Madison Mountaineering told me that while Base Camp feels busier than ever, the climbing route itself still feels empty. “Base Camp feels busy with a lot of tents and a lot of people. But we haven’t seen a lot of people up on the mountain at Camps I, II, and III,” he said. “All we can do is get into position, get our acclimatization done and oxygen to Camp IV, wait for the summit ropes to be put in, and wait for good weather for our summit attempt.”

Like Madison, Pemba Sherpa of Nepali outfitter 8K Expeditions said that his group has mostly finished its acclimatization hikes and is now awaiting favorable conditions to make the climb. Pemba has nearly 200 people under his guidance: 59 climbers for Everest, 22 for 27,940-foot Lhotse, and more than 100 Sherpa support climbers.

“We are concerned with traffic as well,” he said. “We will surely have a meeting between the operators and set the timing for the summit push with a good weather window.”

Pemba plans to reduce traffic jams by staggering his own company’s expedition. The group has been split into nine climbing teams, and the smaller groups will head for the summit on different days.

Furtenbach echoed Pemba’s sentiment that coordination between the expedition leaders can cut down on traffic jams. “The mood among most expedition operators is to make everything safer,” he said. There are other techniques that guides can do to avoid the crowds, he said, like climbing counter-cyclically—which in layman’s terms means waiting for others to start, and then heading up while they are coming down.

“Or you can just let the first window pass and wait patiently for the next one,” he said. “History shows that there areÌę always late summit windows. That was the case in 2019 when the famous pictures of the human traffic jam were taken. The following two days were empty and had good conditions.”

In 2019, an Australian operator called Climbing the Seven Summits reached the top on May 27, which was the final day of the season before the monsoons arrived,Ìęand found the summit empty.

Furtenbach believes Everest is big enough for the growing number of climbers, and thinks that the quantity of permits will continue to grow. In his eyes, the key to preventing danger is better crowd management—which could mean someday taking dramatic steps to spread people out on the peak.

“This can be through reactivating the post-monsoon season on Everest, having two or even more separate routes with fixed ropes in critical sections like the Khumbu Icefall or the Lhotse face,” he said. “Why not two routes through the Khumbu Icefall? Why not explore possibilities for an alternative commercial route on the West Ridge? This is the duty of the responsible authorities in Nepal.”

What Does the Weather Report Say?

So, what does Mother Nature have in store for the Everest climbers? șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű reached out to two experts on Everest weather, Michael Fagan of and Chris Tomer of , on the long-range predictions for the Khumbu area. Both gave the warning that forecasts beyond seven days are of little value.

Tomer and Fagan said that predicting weather on Mount Everest is reliant on whether or not jet stream winds are present on the mountain. In 2018 and 2022, climbers enjoyed lengthy weather windows because the high winds were gone, Tomer said.

So, does Tomer predict another year with no jet stream? “My short answer is ‘No,’” he says. “I think we’re looking at more of a standard season with a powerful early May jet stream, then it weakens and moves off the summit for one to three-day periods after May 10. And I think we’ll also see a very late May window just before the Monsoon kicks in.”

Fagan says the weather models he’s looked at call for high winds this coming week, followed by a period of potential calm—a weather window when climbers may go for the summit. “Many models show the jet stream close to or over Everest at times early next week,” Fagan says. “Thus, some strong summit winds at times. Then by May 12, two key models, European and the U.S.-based GFS models, suggest no jet stream over Everest, thus a reduction in summit winds by Friday, May 12, perhaps several days beyond.”

But there are conflicting models, Fagan says, which could create some disagreement in the predictions. “The U.S. Navy model suggests that the jet stream will still be over Everest on May 12 and probably beyond,” he says. “Many meteorologists do not follow the U.S. Navy model since they think it does not have the same skill as the GFS or European model. I think the U.S. Navy has some skill.”

Tropical storms and cyclones in the Bay of Bengal also impact weather on the peak—sometimes they drive snow and winds toward the mountain, and other times they steer high winds away from it. But predicting how these systems impact the peak presents a challenge.

“Should we worry about tropical systems in the Bay of Bengal? Yes, there is some sign of a tropical disturbance on/after May 12,” Tomer says. “But accurately forecasting the track of these disturbances so far in advance is very challenging. This is the wildcard.”

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The 2023 climbing season on Mount Everest has produced another fatality.

On Monday, May 1, an American named Jonathan Sugarman died in Camp II at approximately 21,000 feet of elevation during an acclimatization ascent on the world’s highest peak.Ìę The death was confirmed to șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű by the U.S. Embassy in Kathmandu. This is the fourth death on Everest in 2023, and the first American fatality.

“Dr. Jonathan Sugarman passed away while climbing Mt. Everest Monday May 1. Our deepest sympathies go out to his family and friends,” read a statement from the embassy. “The embassy is in contact with Dr. Sugarman’s family and with local authorities.”

Sugarman, 69, was part of an expedition led by American company International Mountain Guides (IMG) at the time of his death. In a statement , company founder Eric Simonson acknowledged that one of the expedition’s climbers had died at Camp II, but he did not identify the person in question as Sugarman. “We can confirm that this event was not the result of a climbing accident or route condition that would be of potential impact or safety concern to any other teams on the mountain,” Simonson wrote. “The rest of the IMG climbing team is all doing as well as can be expected given the circumstances.”

When contacted by șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű,ÌęSimonson declined to provide additional details of the death. Website at Everest Base Camp who also confirmed that the deceased climber at Camp II was Sugarman.

Sugarman was a retired medical doctor from Seattle. He had prepared diligently for the expedition and was feeling well, a source familiar with the expedition told șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű. He was chasing the Everest summit after making an expedition to the peak in 2022. During his Everest attempt he turned back after reaching Camp III at 24,000 feet, which had been his goal. During that trip Sugarman summited 20,161-foot Lobuche and 20,210-foot Island Peak.

He arrived in the Khumbu valley alongside the International Mountain Guides expedition in early April, and according to the company’s website, the group reached Everest Base Camp on April 10. According to IMG updates, the group did training on adjacent peaks for a week before venturing onto Everest on April 17 to begin acclimatization hikes to higher camps. On April 29, the group departed Everest Base Camp on another hike to higher elevation—half of the team made it to Camp II while some climbers stayed behind in Camp I. The remaining climbers arrived in Camp II on April 30, and the group planned to take a rest day on May 1 before pushing to Camp III on May 2.

The latest IMG update did not say whether or not the team plans to continue with its acclimatization round. According toÌęEverest Chronicle,Ìęofficials were attempting to bring Sugarman’s body to lower elevations on May 2.

Sugarman was a veteran of international mountaineering expeditions. In August 2022, Sugarman gave an , in which he discussed his history in climbing. He said he had stopped doing the sport in college, only to pick it up again in his fifties.

“I climbed when I was in college, but quit cold turkey when I found myself doing something that had resulted in recent deaths. I realized that I was not appropriately concerned. I dragged around a climbing rope, harness, and rack for years, though,” he said.

Sugarman returned to the sport decades after quitting when a college roommate invited him on a trip to Tanzania to scale 19,341-foot Kilimanjaro. “Although I wasn’t initially inclined, my daughter (then in college) asked if she could come too, and that sealed it. That led me to climb Mount Rainier a short time thereafter, to join the Mountaineers in Seattle, and to take a couple of climbing courses—and then embark on a number of domestic and international climbs,” he told the website.

Sugarman had struggled with high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE)—a potentially fatal illness caused by rapid elevation gain—in the past, and parts of his interview with Uphill Athlete focused on the training regimen he had pursued to overcome the illness. In 2016 he suffered from HAPE while attempting to scale 26,864-foot Cho Oyu and aborted his expedition after reaching Camp 1 at 21,000 feet.

Sugarman had amassed an impressive collection of summits during his career, including an ascent of 22,837-foot Aconcagua in Argentina, and a successful ascent of 20,310-foot Denali in Alaska. According to Uphill Athlete, he took a climbing trip to Ecuador in November 2021, and summited 19,347-foot CotopaxiÌęand reached the upper mountain of 18,99-foot Cayambe and 20,549-foot Chimborazo before turning back due to avalanche danger.

In a post on Facebook, UphillAthlete founder Steve House called Sugarman a “lovely person.”

“I remember Jonathan from his time working with Uphill Athlete in 2021. He was a really interesting and intelligent man,” House wrote. “I admired his humility as well as his willingness to learn. Sending my thoughts to his friends and family and all those involved in this loss.”

He leaves behind his wife, Terese Sullivan, in Seattle and his daughter Maya Sugarman in Los Angeles.

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What had been a successful season on 26,545-foot AnnapurnaÌęturned deadly in recent days days. Now, a veteran mountaineer is dead, another is missing, and multiple others are lucky to be alive after daring high-altitude rescues.

Annapurna is notorious for being among the most dangerous peaks above 8,000 meters, and traditionally it was rarely attempted—and only then by the most skilled mountaineers. Of Nepal’s eight peaks above 8000 meters, Annapurna has the lowest number of successful summits at 395, according to . Mount Everest, by contrast, has more than 10,000. Annapurna also has the highest death rate amongst Nepali 8000ers at 2.99 percent.

But things are changing on the peak, and in recent years, guides have supplied high levels of support and supplemental oxygen to make the peak more accessible to less experienced climbers. Of the 395 total summits, 129 (33 percent) have occurred in the past three years.

The climbers at Annapurna this year pushed for the summit on April 15-16, and approximately 40 climbers reached the top during a narrow weather window. But , the group struggled on the descent—some climbers even got lost. When a violent storm hit the peak, climbers became pinned down at a high camp and some became too sick to descend.

Irish climber, Noel Hanna, 56, died in his tent at Camp 4 at 23,300 feet after summiting without supplemental oxygen. Hanna’s wife, Lynne Hanna, in a post on Facebook on Tuesday.

“He returned to the tent took some hot soup and fell asleep never to awaken again, no drama no big story, it was his time to go and he died in the Himalayas,” she wrote. “What better place
for my Mountain Man sleep well Noel.”

An Indian climber named Anurag Maloo, 34, went missing on Monday, April 17, after reportedly falling into a crevasse below Camp 3. Maloo, who is attempting to climb the highest peaks on all seven continents, had abandoned his summit bid and was returning to Base Camp when he disappeared.

On Thursday, reports from Nepal said that a deep in a crevasse and extricated him from the ice. The Associated Press to a hospital in Pokhara, however his condition is unknown.

Both Maloo and Hanna were climbing with the Nepali operator Seven Summits Treks.

Perhaps the most dramatic situation involved 27-year-old Indian climber Baljeet Kaur, who went missing on Monday, April 17, after reaching the summit and attempting to descend to Camp 4. Kaur rose to fame in 2022 after becoming the first Indian to ascend four 8,000-meter peaks in a single season. Guiding company Pioneer Expeditions posted updates as rescuers searched the mountain for Kaur, and on Tuesday, April 18, announced that searchers in a helicopter had located her on the peak—and she was alive. newspaper The Hindu,ÌęKaur was able to radio for help, and GPS data showed her at 24,193 feet.

On Tuesday, a helicopter team completed a daring long-line rescue and was able to pluck her from the mountain.

“We owe a special debt of gratitude to Captain Cloudy Martin of Kailash Helicopter Services, whose daring and skilled high-altitude helicopter flight made the rescue possible,” wrote . “We also wish to acknowledge the vital role played by our Director, Mingma Dorchi, who accompanied Captain Cloudy on the search and helped locate Baljeet.”

A long-line rescue is a technique that involves a rope attached to a rescuer who is lowered to a person in peril. The rescuer attaches the rope to a rescue harness; then, the person is flown to safety. The method requires low winds and good visibility. The highest long-line rescue was in 2013 at 25,590 feet on Everest.

On Annapurna, a window of good weather appeared on Tuesday, allowing crews to rescue other climbers stuck on the mountain with helicopters. Seven Summits Treks’ Executive Director Chhang Dawa Sherpa that three other climbers in its party needed evacuation from Camp 4 after they became sick during the descent. One evacuee, Pakistani climber Shehroze Kashif, 21, is famous in his home country, along with Sajid Ali Sadpara, both of whom reached the Annapurna summit. Sadpara—who has climbed five peaks above 8,000 meters, is the son of the highly renowned Pakistani climber Ali Sadpara, who died while climbing K2 in 2021. Kashif is known within the mountaineering community by his nickname “Broad Boy,” because he ascended 26,414-foot Broad Peak when he was just 17.

The other climbers rescued included Pakistani Naila Kiani and Indian climber Arjun Vajpai. Kiani is the first Pakistani woman to climb Annapurna.ÌęOn Tuesday, Karrar Haidry of the Alpine Club of Pakistan, confirmed the rescues.

“A helicopter was dispatched from Kathmandu to the higher camps of Annapurna, and the climbers have been safely picked up and taken to Annapurna Base Camp,” Haidry said. “Thank you to all the friends for their support and assistance in this matter.”

A Veteran of Everest Expeditions

A native of Northern Ireland, Hanna was one of his country’s most respected climbers. He had summited Mount Everest on ten occasions, and in 2018 became the first person from the island of Ireland to ascend and descend K2. After his death, tributes to Hanna were published online and in local media.

His sister, Irene Hunter, that Hanna “loved a view and he just loved people.” A fellow guide, Robbie Marsh, told the outlet that Hanna had a major impact on the local climbing community. “Part of his legacy is that inspiration that he has given people,” Marsh said.

Hanna served as a police officer for fifteen years in Northern Ireland before tiring of the role, but he still sought the adrenaline rush he had in policing and took up mountaineering. , Hanna said it was during a 100-mile trek across Nepal in 1999 that he fell in love with the mountains.

In the interview, Hanna tells the story that upon seeing Everest, Lhotse and Cho Oyu, he said to his friend, “Someday, I’ll be on top of those.” His friend replied, “You haven’t even been drinking, and you’re saying things like that.” Smiling, Hanna responded, “I proved him wrong.” Bill Burke, who once held the record for the oldest American to summit Everest, said the Hanna showed amazing strength and courage when in 2017, he led a small Sherpa team to the summit of Burke-Khang, a mountain named after Burke. Hanna and his wife, Lynne, are the only married couple to have summited Everest from the Nepal and Tibet sides.

Officials have yet to publish Hanna’s cause of death, however his sister, Irene, that her brother had phoned her earlier, saying he was not feeling well. According to multiple reports Hanna’s body was removed by officials and flown to Kathmandu.

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Mount Everest’s 2023 springtime season is underway, and already the climbing community has suffered a tragedy. On April 12, three Sherpa climbers who had been ferrying rope to set the line to the summit were buried by house-sized blocks of ice when a section of the collapsed. On April 15, three days after the incident, searchers stopped looking for them and declared them dead. The Sherpas were Dawa Tseri Sherpa, Pemba Tenzing Sherpa and Lakpa Rita Sherpa. All worked for Imagine Nepal, which has the role of setting the upper mountain with safety lines.

“Our hearts are heavy with grief as we mourn the loss of these brave brothers who dedicated their lives to guiding and supporting climbers,” . “We extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to the families and loved ones.”

The setback marks a grim beginning to a year that may see climbing records fall on the world’s highest peak. After several slow years amid the pandemic, the crowds have steadily returned. For 2023, climbers from China and India are showing up in droves after staying away because of travel restrictions during the pandemic. Currently, the Nepal Ministry of Tourism has issued 58 permits to climbers from China and 65 to Indian climbers. Americans still lead the country list with 102 permits thus far.

Sources have told me they expect the Ministry to issue between 400 and 500 climbing permits for Mount Everest, and twice that number for other Himalayan peaks this spring. This would represent a , when the Ministry issued 325 foreign permits for Everest. The large numbers represents a boon for the country’s tourism industry. Nepal now requires each climber and trekker to have a guide, thus employing thousands of people, when you consider guides, hotel and restaurant workers, plus support staff and others.

The Ministry estimates the between 30 and 40 climbing teams will be at Everest this year—these teams vary in size from just two people to more than 100 climbers plus several dozen support staff and guides. Many of these teams are still on the ten-day trek from the remote Nepali village, Luka, to Everest Base Camp. People already in Nepal report crowded trails and teahouses, suggesting the suffering tourism industry is recovering. The dedicated team of climbing Sherpas who manage the safety lines through the Icefall, a.k.a. the Icefall Doctors, have already set the line to Camp 2 at 21,500 feet in the Western Cwm.

Some of these teams have found ways to shave time off of the traditional duration of an Everest expedition—which in years past has ranged up to two months in time. Much of this time is spent climbing up and down the mountain to higher and higher camps to acclimate to the thin air. This process of “climb high, sleep low” causes the body to create more red blood cells essential to fuel muscles in the low-oxygen environment during the summit push.

Today, many climbers are using hypoxic altitude tents at home to simulate sleeping at high altitudes. They arrive at Everest with their bodies adjusted to as high as 23,000 feet, the same altitude as Camp 3. This cuts several rotations from their expedition, thus shortening a trip from two months to as little as three weeks. Also, the use of supplemental oxygen at high flow rates allows these climbers to move fast, contributing to shorter expedition times.

“This way we can have an expedition to Everest in less than three weeks,” Austrian guide Lukas Furtenbach told me earlier this year. “Is it good or bad? It’s what the market is demanding because there are some people who don’t have the time to go on an eight or nine-week expedition.”

There are multiple storylines we are following this year, including the ever-increasing number of women climbing Everest. Using data from the Himalayan Database, from the mid-1900s to last year, the historical average for women reaching the summit was just seven percent. For 2023, women account for 17 percent of climbers who reached the summit, and that number could increase this year. Older climbers are also more prevalent. Since 1953, 17 percent of all summiteers have been under 30 years old. In 2022, that number had dropped to 13 percent, while climbers over 50 increased from the historical average of 14 percent to 22 percent in 2022.

The mountain is also welcoming climbers with disabilities—which represents a shift from previous eras. In 2018, the Ministry of Tourism banned all people with disabilities from climbing Everest. Former Gurkha Hari Budha Magar, who lost both his legs in combat in Afghanistan in 2010, sued, and Nepal’s Supreme Court overturned the ban in 2018. He’s on Everest this year.

Also climbing are deaf mountaineers Scott Lehmann and Shayna Unger, who will aim to be the first American deaf couple and, to their knowledge, the second and third deaf climbers to summit Mount Everest. Unger and Lehmann are attempting to complete the Seven Summits—they would be the first deaf couple to accomplish this task as well.

“Statistically, there are 466 million people out there with hearing loss and 1 in 8 Americans are either deaf or hard of hearing, yet there has been only one deaf person who has summited Everest,” the two wrote on social media. “It makes us wonder if this space has ever been accessible for people like us?”

Then there is Lonnie Bedwell, a blind U.S. Navy veteran, who will attempt Everest and Lhotse. Mexican climber Rafael Jaime Jaramillo, blind since age 18, has set a goal to be the first blind Mexican climber to ascend the world’s highest peak.

There are a number of veteran climbers and Everest celebrities who will also be on the peak this year. Kami Rita Sherpa will most likely extend his Everest summit record with his 27th this season. There are also murmurs that elite mountain runner Kilian Jornet will attempt to link Everest and Lhotse without supplemental oxygen—he has yet to confirm an expedition, however. Jornet did a double summit in six days from the Tibet side in 2018.

Elsewhere in Nepal, climbing teams are preparing to ascend the country’s eight (of 14) mountains that surpass 8,000 meters. Almost all will see attempts this spring. On Saturday, April 16, Annapurna, at 26,545 feet, had the first summits of the season, when a seven-person rope-fixing team with five clients reached the top. Also summiting were Qatari royal family member Sheikha Asma Al Thani with Nirmal Purja. And 21-year-old Pakistani mountaineer Sajid Ali Sadpara summited as well. Nepal issued fifty-four Annapurna climbing permits, including sixteen female climbers, to foreigners this year.

One of the stories I’m following is on 26,795-foot Dhaulagiri, where Spanish climber Carlos Soria, at age 84, will try for the fourteenth time to reach the summit. His goal is to summit all the 8000ers, and after climbing 12 of the peaks he has Dhaulagiri and 26,335-foot Shishapangma remaining. He will climb with his regular partner, Sito Carcavilla, and six Sherpas.

The next milestone for Everest climbers is to arrive at Base Camp, and to then begin the acclimatization process. Once the safety lines reach the summit, and the weather forecast calls for several days of winds under thirty miles per hour, they will begin the ascent. Historically, this weather window appears between May 5 and May 25, with most summits occurring around May 18.

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On March 12, well-known alpinist Willie (Guillermo) Benegas was seriously injured in a large avalanche in Ìęof Big Cottonwood Canyon, about 15 miles from Salt Lake City. The 54-year-old Argentine was co-guiding a group of six women skiers with Winslow Passey, an experienced guide. They had split into two parties, and Benegas was downslope of his two skiers, watching them drop into a gully. The first woman skied her line without incident, but a slab of snow broke loose when the second skier descended.

While his clients skied safely out of the slide path, Benegas was buried beneath six and a half feet of snow. The incident occurred at approximately 12:30 P.M. and it took 23 minutes for the women to locate Benegas, dig him out, and clear his airway.

Benegas has decades of experience on high peaks—including 13 Mount Everest summits—and, alongside his brother, Damian, founded the renowned guide company in 1992.

“In backcountry skiing, we thread the needle all the time,” he says. “We are often lucky, and sometimes we are not.”

Benegas sustained four broken ribs on his left side, two on his right, a bruised lung, and facial lacerations. He expects a full recovery to take at least two months.

According to a report from the Utah Avalanche Center, snow at this site accumulated over facets (angular grains that do not bond well with other snow) from late January through early February, burying the facets about two feet below the surface. The result was Ìęa weak snowpack, particularly touchy in the gully where Benegas was buried. That day, the center had issued a , warning skiers that the snowpack was particularly unstable in northern and central Utah. Eleven avalanches were reported statewide on March 12 alone.

“It has been an extremely difficult year,” Benegas says. “Our snowpack has been challenging to forecast on the micro-terrain assessment aspect.”Ìę

Benegas attributes the accident to overconfidence, as he estimates he has skied that same slope 150 times without incident.

“As we approached the last bench, we put pressure on the slope and nothing happened,” he says. “I was sitting on some rocks on a steep area, watching my clients making turns down the slope. I don’t remember how it broke, but the slab released. I screamed, ‘Avalanche,’ keeping my eyes on my clients. The last thing I remember was seeing my client ski to safety as I started riding the wave. Then everything went blank.”

Benegas says he called for help after he was buried, but then he remembered his survival training.

“I became calm, knowing my teammates would start to search for me. I slowed my breathing, to conserve as much of the oxygen within my small air bubble as I could, and waited,” he says. “As I was trapped, I thought, So this is how I will die. The only way to survive was to shut down, to go into hibernation. I visualized my teammates with probes, and then I guess I became unconscious.”

Fortunately, Passey—who was with the other four skiers, three of whom had avalanche training—was nearby and orchestrated a rescue. She had one skier call 911 and asked two others to affix their skins, should they need to climb to his location. Passey located Benegas but couldn’t get a beacon reading of lower than 1.6 meters (about 5.2 feet), meaning he was buried far beneath the snow’s surface. After a positive probe strike, the women began digging, and they uncovered a boot first: he was facing diagonally downhill, so it took significantly longer to finally remove the snow from around his head and clear his airway.

While they were rescuing Benegas, another party of skiers passed above them in the gully, triggering a small slide as well. Although the slide didn’t reach the women, it served as a reminder that the entire gully was unstable. Passey later in a written reportÌęfor the Utah Avalanche Center.

Benegas was breathing but unconscious. Ski patrollers from nearby Solitude Mountain Resort arrived on the scene just five minutes after he was unburied and helped the group get him out of the gully and into a zone where he could be airlifted to a local hospital; a helicopter arrived at 2:30 P.M.ÌęHe was in critical but stable condition.

Damian Benegas returned to the area the next day, in an effort to understand what caused the avalanche. “I could only see a long, 250-foot-by-70-foot debris field that ended in a small creek at the end of the slope. It was a miracle my brother didn’t hit a tree, as the slide’s base ended in a dense grove of pine trees,” he says.

A campaign has been created to help Willie Benegas continue his recovery and support his family with the daunting expenses.

“Kudos to the ladies,” says Benegas. “I owe them my life.”

The post Willie Benegas on Being Buried in an Avalanche: “So This Is How I Will Die” appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

Climbing Mount Everest brings out a range of emotions—incredulity, awe, envy, and so on—but the most common emotion revolves around money.

I know a thing or two about both Everest and money. I on May 21, 2011, after previous attempts inÌę,Ìę, andÌę, and I have written an edition of “How much does it cost to climb Mount Everest?” for the past ten years.

I often field two popular questions about Everest:

1. How much money is needed? As I’ve said for years, the short comparison is the price of a new car, but the costs have skyrocketed, so now it’s a fancy car. Most people pay between $30,000 and $60,000, and some will pay as much as $220,000! But prices continue to rise, so if you are on a tight climbing budget, go as soon as your skills, experience, and checkbook can support a safe attempt.

2. What are my chances of tagging the summit? Actually, they’re pretty good, assuming you have the appropriate experience and go with a qualified team. Since 2011, 61 percent of people who climbed above Everest Base Camp made the top, according to the Himalayan Database. In recent years, longtime Western operators like Jagged Globe, șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Consultants, Furtenbach șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍűs, Madison Mountaineering, and others regularly put almost every member on the summit. However, those who believe they can show up and be “guided” to the summit by a talented outfitter are often the ones we read about in the obituary column.

That said, there are large variations in cost and expedition structure, so I’ll go into detail below.

Note: The pandemic took a massive toll on global tourism. Thanks to lockdowns and travel restrictions, mountaineering in Nepal and China stalled in 2020. In 2021, China again closed Everest, but Nepal pretended nothing was happening and issued a record number of permits to foreigners. For the 2022 season, I fully expect Nepal to be open and anticipate China to be closed to foreigners for a third year. This decision has not yet been made, however, so I’ll provide contingencies and cost breakdowns for both sides of the mountain.

The Big Picture

In 2022, prices continue to increase from operators on both sides since China has raised permit fees and Nepal is now regulating minimum pay and insurance. The world’s highest mountain is in high demand, with operators catering to an ever-rising supply of clients, especially in Asia.

So, Do You Have to Be Rich to Climb Everest in 2022?

That depends on what “rich” means to you. The Nepali operators have always been willing to negotiate, and given today’s hurting tourism business, Nepalese companies are especially willing to make deals, so take their list prices as an opening bid. I wouldn’t be surprised if you could get on a low-end, essential services–only trip for $30,000. As for dealing with foreign operators, don’t bet on a significant discount. They often offer small discounts to clients who pay in a year in advance, but that’s about it. They fill their teams months before they leave, so they have little incentive to discount.

The following chart breaks down the current median prices by style and route. I’ll go into more detail later in this post, but this shows you how much prices have increased on both sides, for all styles:

Everest 2021 Review and 2022 Outlook

The spring 2021 season on Everest was perhaps the most complicated in history. With COVID-19 out of control in India and Nepal, the virus didn’t take long to reach Everest Base Camp, despite the government’s adamant denials and cover-ups. Unfortunately, some guides also participated in this scandal.

China closed Tibet to all foreigners but allowed one national team to climb. This team, however, canceled their attempt after a few weeks, citing fear of getting COVID-19 from climbers reaching the summit via the Nepal side.

Nepal’s government, meanwhile, issued a record 408 permits to foreigners, but only 190 members summited—a paltry 46 percent success rate when compared to 76 percent in 2019—while an estimated 150 people evacuated Everest Base Camp with COVID-19 symptoms. Continuing the trend of Sherpa success, 2021 saw an astounding 282 Sherpa summits, meaning that almost 1.5 Sherpas summited for every client. Two clients and two Sherpas died during the spring season, which is on the low end of the usual death count on Everest.

Check out the previous issue: “How Much Does it Cost to Climb Everest (2021 Edition)”

Outlook for 2022

I suspect 2022 will look very similar to 2021, with perhaps less drama around COVID-19. It appears that China will keep Tibet closed to foreign climbers for the third straight year. China has also imposed tighter travel restrictions, so there may be fewer or no Chinese nationals climbing on Nepal’s side, a huge change from previous years. There are also rumors that there will be fewer Indian climbers, and the new war in Ukraine is affecting multiple European countries that regularly climb Everest. As a result of all these things, several guides tell me that there may be fewer foreign permits issued this year than the 408 issued in 2021. That said, Everest will still be crowded.

Similar to global trends, cases and deaths from the Omicron variant of COVID-19 are slowing in Nepal. With most climbers arriving in Nepal in late March, this is good news. But as we saw with Delta last year, massive outbreaks in India can quickly spread to Nepal, so the risk from future variants remains a possibility for this spring.

I anticipate the Nepali operators who cater to the Indian, Chinese, and South Asia markets will have a banner year, while the Western operators will see a higher number of clients than last year, though their numbers will remain subdued compared to 2019.

Who’s Climbing and New Rules

In keeping with the past few years, look for more climbers than ever from China and India. As I’ve detailed in the past, China requires all Chinese nationals to have successfully summited another 8,000-meter peak before climbing Everest from China. As a result, many go to Nepal, where there are no experience requirements. As for the Indian climbers, it’s folklore that if you summit Everest, you can leverage that into fame and fortune—a considerable miscalculation. Yet many Nepalese/Indian guide companies meet this market demand, creating a profitable business of running training programs for the under-20 crowd, then taking them to Everest when they’re “ready.” This approach is a deadly gamble that may backfire one day.

Thanks to COVID-19 and turmoil in Nepal’s government, Nepal has announced no new rules—a pleasant change from its recent history of ginning up the climbing community with promises of a cleaner, safer environment with phantom new restrictions. But there are rumors that Nepal will increase permit prices in 2023, perhaps to $15,000 or more for Everest. I’ve heard this rumor for many years, but it feels a bit stronger these days.

The bottom line is that 2022 climbers should triple-check with the evacuation company that you have full coverage—evacuation, medical, and repatriation—and that you’re covered for COVID-19 for the guide service you use. Also, get vaccinated.

Where Does My Money Go?

There are four major cost components for an Everest climb: travel cost, permits/insurance, supplies/gear, and guides. For 2022, there are no significant changes to this cost structure.

The following discussion breaks down the expenses as if an individual wanted to climb without joining a team, but almost no one does this—it’s just too expensive and risky. I know individuals who’ve climbed on the cheap in decades past, but this is increasingly uncommon. I usually get a reply to this article saying, “Alan, you’re crazy. I climbed Everest and spent $5,000.” Congratulations if that’s true, but chances are it was in the past century, was illegal (no permit), or took place on the north side of the mountain before China raised prices and put in team size minimums.

1. Travel: $500 to $10,125

Most people use Thai, Turkish, Qatar, Air India, or China Eastern to reach Nepal, with fares costing between a few hundred dollars to over $7,000, depending on where you live and the class of travel. Once in Kathmandu, most people fly to Lukla, Namche, or Lhasa and then start the journey to base camp, which adds a few hundred dollars, but if you want to save a little money, you can take a bus to Jiri and trek five days to Lukla, then continue on to Everest Base Camp.

From Lukla, the weeklong trek to base camp can cost between $400 and $1,000 per person for food and lodging, but depending on your travel style and how many beers you buy, you can save money. Remember that everything becomes more expensive the closer you get to base camp, so buy batteries, toilet paper, and other necessities in Kathmandu, Lukla, or Namche.

Teahouses have dramatically increased their prices in the Khumbu. You can still find the $5 per night room, but expect to pay $5 to $10 for each meal. Of course, climbers can always camp in tents and cook their meals to save money. However, if you decide to camp but still want to eat in the teahouse, expect to pay four times the price for the meal.

You have to get yourself and all of your gear—tents, food, oxygen, etc.—to base camp using porters and yaks, which cost at least $20 per day per load (and usually higher), totaling more than $1,000. Large operators generally hire helicopters and bundle the expense into the overall price.

On the Tibet side, the climbing permit includes all transportation. In addition, a China Mountaineering Association (CMA) representative will meet you wherever you arrive in China and never leave you for the entire expedition.

Getting to Nepal: $2,450 to $8,350

• Airfare: $1,500 toÌę$7,000, depending on class and routing and excess baggage
• Transportation from Kathmandu to Lukla: $350 round-trip per person
• Hotel and food in Kathmandu: $300 toÌę$700, depending on delays and quality level
• Nepal visa: $100
• Immunizations: $200

Getting to Base Camp: $1,240 to $1,800

• Yaks to and from base camp: $40 per yak per day, carrying 120 pounds (four yaks for four days minimum or $640)
• Extra yak in China: $300 per yak
• Porters to and from base camp: $20 per porter per day carrying 60 pounds (three porters for six days minimum or $360)
• Teahouses and food on trek to base camp: $20 to $100 per person per day; seven days, $140 to $700
• Park fee: $100 per team

2. Permits and Insurance: $9,950 to $29,500

Costs from Nepal

Nepal’s permit fee is $11,000 per individual. This permit simply allows a climber to climb and does not come with other perks that permits come with elsewhere. (Permits to climb Aconcagua in Argentina or Denali in Alaska, which cost $800 or $365 per permit, respectively, help fund high-altitude ranger camps, hire seasonal staff, provide mountaineering information, and keep the mountain environment clean. On Denali, the permit includes helicopter evacuation in the case of life or limb but not for low-level sickness.)

Nepal requires using a local company to organize your permit, which costs $2,500 for the team, plus a refundable trash deposit of $4,000 per permit, and a liaison officer costing an additional $3,000 per team. These total $9,500 in addition to the $11,000 per person climbing permit. So, before you hire guides, yaks, food, or gear, you must first spend almost $20,000 to climb from the Nepal side.

Sherpa Guides

In 2013, Nepal implemented a new rule that requires every foreign climber to hire a local Sherpa guide, which adds a minimum of $4,000 to the absolute lowest-cost ascent of the mountain. This rule is still in place for the 2022 season, but the policy is unevenly enforced.

Insurance

Most guides on the Nepal side also require evacuation insurance and medical coverage. One of the best investments you can make is to add trip cancellation to the evacuation insurance policy. In both 2014 and 2015, when the Everest season ended early, those with trip cancellation/interruption coverage had 100 percent of their trip expenses reimbursed—some as high as $45,000. Travelex is a popular choice, but it’s expensive. To save money, join the American Alpine Club, which provides evacuation coverage through Global Rescue. Redpoint’s Ripcord Rescue Travel Protection program is another popular evacuation company.

With all these policies, you must follow their rules strictly, or you will not be covered—and I mean precisely. One misstep and you’re not covered. Also, most do not cover searches, and those that do have low limits. Finally, Nepal requires COVID-19 insurance but may drop that requirement before the season starts. However, many of the traditional evacuation insurance companies will not cover you if COVID-19 is involved, so once again, double-check the policy and get everything in writing.

Costs from Tibet

I expect China to be closed this year, but if I’m wrong, fees will look as follows:

The Chinese have recently increased climbing permits for Everest, which effectively eliminates a low-cost, single-person climb from Tibet for under $20,000 and forces climbers to team up with at least three other members. This three-person requirement is not a big deal for independent climbers: many guides will gladly put you on their permit in exchange for a small fee—though, of course, you’d have to pay for full guiding services if you want any further support.

China charges between $15,800 and $18,000 per person for a four-person team permit. This price includes transportation from the entry point in China (usually Lhasa or Zhangmu/Kodari) to base camp, plus hotels, a liaison officer, a trash fee, five yaks per member for the journey to base camp, and four yaks per member for the journey out. In addition, there is an extra charge of $200 per person per day spent in Lhasa. And if you want a Nepali Sherpa to climb with you in Tibet, budget an additional $4,500 for each Sherpa’s “work permit,” required by the CTMA, plus their salary of $5,000.

Insurance

Evacuation insurance is more complicated on the Tibet side, because a centralized team performs all on-mountain rescues, which means that each rescued climber is on the hook for an unspecified and unlimited fee. Currently, helicopters are not allowed to participate in rescues, but they may begin operation in the next few years, maybe by 2023. It would be wise to double-check everything with your provider to understand the details if you want to climb in China.

Climbing Fees: $20,600 to $25,650

• Nepal’s agency fee: $2,500 per team (usually included in the total price from a guide)
• Nepalese liaison officer: $3,000 per team (usually included in the total price from a guide)
• South base camp medical support from Everest ER: $100/person
• Nepal permit: $11,000 for each climber regardless of team size
• Nepal garbage and human waste deposit: $4,000 per team permit (refundable but not always)
• Icefall doctors to fix route: $2,500 per team or $600 per climber
• Chinese permit: $15,800 to 18,000 per person for teams of four or more; $4,500 for each Nepali Sherpa
• Tibet garbage and human waste deposit: $4,000 per team permit (refundable but not always)
• Contribution to fixed ropes higher on mountain: $200 per climber; higher on the Tibet side
• Weather forecast: $0 to $1,000
• Puja: $300

Insurance: $70 to $3,000

• Evacuation insurance: $70 (American Alpine Club) to about $500 (Global Rescue/Travelex)
• Medical only: $500
• Rescue insurance for any reason with medical insurance and trip cancellation coverage: $3,000 to $5,000 (Travelex)
• Private-pay helicopter evacuation from Everest South: $5,000 to $20,000, depending on start and end locations. (Not available on the Tibetan side, but planned.)
• Note: All insurance figures are representative and vary widely with age, length of trip, and total cost.

3. Supplies and Gear: $800 to $29,450

You will need to eat and stay warm. You can cook your food, but most people use a cook and helpers at base camp and budget about $800 per person for six weeks of food and fuel.

Ninety-seven percent of Everest’s summiteers use supplemental oxygen, which runs about $550 per bottle. A minimum of five bottles totals $2,750. You will also need a mask ($450) and a regulator ($450). You can carry your extra oxygen to the high camps yourself, but most people pay Sherpas to cache them at the high camps. When hiring a personal Sherpa, the standard is for the Sherpa to climb on oxygen, albeit at a lower flow rate than you probably will, and this means an additional $2,000 in oxygen costs.

Finally, you will need climbing gear, including boots, a down suit, clothing layers, gloves, sleeping bags, packs, and more. These items will cost at least $7,000 if you buy everything new. High-altitude boots from La Sportiva or Millet go for $1,000; a full down suit from Feathered Friends or Mountain Hardwear is more than $1,000; a sleeping bag rated to minus 20 Fahrenheit is at least $600. But you can often find lightly used climbing gear on eBay or GearTrade.com.

Miscellaneous Costs: $7,750 to $17,000

• Full medical kit: $500 to $1,000. (Add $2,000 for a Gamow Bag.)
• Sherpas, cook tips, and bonus: $250 to $2,000-plus per individual, depending on performance and summit
• Personal gear (down suit, high-altitude boots, sleeping bags, etc.): roughly $7,000
• Satellite phone: $1,000 to $3,000 depending on usage
• Gear allowance for Sherpas: $2,000

Everest Base Camp and High Camps: $3,800 to $8,800

• Tents: $3,000 new (sleeping, cooking, toilet, storage at four camps for three people)
• Cooks: $5,000 per cook and assistant for six weeks
• Food and fuel: $800 per person for six weeks

Climbing Support: $3,650 to $8,650

• Oxygen: $550 per bottle (five bottles) for a total of $2,750. (This doesn’t include costs to take them to high camps.)
• Oxygen mask (summit oxygen): $450
• Oxygen regulator: $450
• Climbing Sherpa: $5,000 per personal Sherpa, with oxygen at $2,000

4. Logistics Support (Professional Guides): $30,000 toÌę$85,000

Managing all these costs can be overwhelming—but don’t despair!

You can join a fully supported or guided team that takes care of everything. For decades, Western operators like șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Consultants, Alpine Ascents (AAI), Jagged Globe, Himalayan Experience (Himex), International Mountain Guides (IMG), and others have guided on Everest for prices ranging from $40,000 to $65,000, all-inclusive.

But the dominance of Western guides is changing. There has been intense competition from Nepali-owned and -operated companies in the past few years. With many Sherpas having ten or more Everest summits, they advertise themselves as Everest guides and eliminate the traditional Western guide (each of whom typically earns between $10,000 and $25,000 for the season). This cost savings is passed through to clients. In 2022, however, Sherpas are earning salaries similar to Westerners, so the price gap is much narrower than it used to be.

Many lead Sherpas now have a subset (no ski qualification, for example) of the IFMGA certification and have more summits than many Western guides. This certification allows the Sherpas to earn up to $10,000 per season versus the $4,000 to $5,000 they previously made. The cost of the Nepalese companies is rising as more and more Sherpas become certified. But some Nepali operators still have a practice of underpaying their staff and then charging clients half as much as traditional Western operators. (In 2021, for instance, Seven Summits Treks reportedly offered its Everest expedition for as low as $28,000 per climber.) Also, bartering is more widely accepted among Nepali guides, who sometimes privately negotiate and provide discounts—something that few foreign operators will do.

2022 Expedition Price Chart

Drawing on this background information and information available on public websites, I have compiled a list of 2022 Everest fees from the major Everest guide companies. Calculating summit successes, I looked back at their 2019 and 2021 summit rates, their websites, and the Himalayan Database. (Remember, there were virtually no climbers on Everest in 2020 and none on the Chinese side in 2021.)

Note: This list is not comprehensive; some guides are not included, and I did not look at smaller operators or operators who don’t run climbs every year. I’m not making endorsements by including or excluding a company from the list. It should be used for initial reference only. For confirmation, details, or questions, please consult each operator directly. Also, the term “member” here is used to describe paying clients.

What has changed since 2021? Almost all guides increased their prices for the 2022 season, but non-Nepali guides operating with Western companies on the Tibet side have increased their fees by an average of 6 percent —a change primarily driven by new Chinese cost increases and rules. Operators on the Nepal side increased their fees by 7 percent. Prices usually include full logistics support, gear, food, personal Sherpas, oxygen, mask, and regulator.

Types of Guided Expeditions

There are no requirements to call yourself a guide in Nepal. Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism calls every Sherpa a Sherpa guide, regardless of their training or experience. However, this is slowly changing as more Sherpas take basic climbing and first aid courses at the .

There are three options for supported climbs: 1) a Sherpa-supported expedition, 2) a Sherpa-guided expedition, or 3) a Western (foreign)-guided commercial expedition.

Note: Almost every foreign guiding company now offers multiple options, ranging from Sherpa-guided/supported to Western-guided to private climbs. Most companies also offer climbs just to Camp Two or the North Col for climbers who are less interested in making the summit than just being on the mountain.

Sherpa-Supported Expedition

Note: The term “Sherpa-supported” does not constitute a guided expedition, which is what most Nepali-owned companies offer.

For about $45,000, you can climb on a Sherpa-supported expedition. That cost is about 5 percent higher than last year. The company organizes all the logistics: food, group gear, transportation, and Sherpa support, but it does not provide Western guides or, in some cases, even a lead Sherpa guide. The Sherpas may or may not speak English very well and will most likely let you make on-mountain decisions about when to push forward or turn back. In other words, you are fully responsible for your safety and life.

You must be extremely careful when selecting among these companies. Some are excellent, while others are lacking. A Sherpa will climb with you on summit night, but you might be on your own or with random teammates throughout the rest of the acclimatization climbing process, including preparing meals at the high camps. It is pretty common to find yourself climbing only with a Sherpa or even by yourself. The Sherpas may have attended a climbing school, like the Khumbu Climbing Center, which is excellent, but they will usually lack basic medical training and may not be capable of offering significant help in a health crisis other than getting you lower—a step that, of course, is substantial and often lifesaving.

Expect to pay between $35,000 and $45,000 for this option, which is suitable for climbers with significant high-altitude experience. It is absolutely not for novices or for climbers embarking on their first 8,000-meter peak.

Sherpa-Guided Expedition

Note: This is Sherpa-guided, not Sherpa-supported.

International Mountain Guides’ (IMG) is a Sherpa-guided expedition in which an experienced Sherpa leads climbers throughout the route. IMG charges $49,500 for this model. offers a similar program for $48,000. Both companies have increased their prices for 2022. Only a few years ago, IMG charged $40,000, but it has passed rising fees and costs on to its clients. Usually, this model uses highly experienced senior Sherpa—also known as a Sirdar—to make big decisions, such as when to go for the summit or turn around. Meanwhile, these companies often have a Westerner overseer who stays at base camp.

A further option is to hire a personal Sherpa for an additional $5,000 to $10,000 (plus 5 percent to 20 percent for tips and bonuses). These Sherpas have significant experience and training in dealing one-to-one with Western climbers, and their English skills are usually excellent. While they will not carry all your gear, they may offload some of your items on occasion. They will be with you exclusively on your summit night, even if you decide to turn around before the summit. As with the Sherpas on Sherpa-supported expeditions, these personal Sherpas may lack medical training, but you will never climb alone.

This style is appropriate for climbers with previous 8,000-meter experience and strong climbing skills, but it is not for novices. I used this model with IMG and Kami Sherpa in 2011 for my successful summit bid and was very pleased.

Western Commercial Guides

The Western-guided expeditions are full-service trips and are most appropriate for first-time Everest climbers or anyone looking for maximum levels of support. The cost varies widely, ranging from $65,000 to $100,000. The fee includes all the services of a Sherpa-guided climb plus sharing one or more Western guides. If you want a personal Western guide, expect to pay at least $120,000 plus tips and bonuses, which adds up to nearly $175,000.

The primary point of this approach is that you are climbing close to a Western guide who has probably summited Everest several times. There is no language barrier, and the guide will have some wilderness medical training. The guide will make all the decisions about turnaround times, weather, and emergency management.

On these higher-end expeditions, you will also have high-quality food, ranging from well-prepared to exotic. (One service likes to promote its sushi; another has a five-star chef.) Then there are espresso machines and open bars. The sky is the limit, but it all comes at a cost. The most expensive guide companies—șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Consultants, AAI, Alpenglow, Furtenbach, CTSS, Madison, etc.—always come with several Western guides, and you never climb alone.

Luxury Guides

Seven Summits Treks: Catering to the China market, Seven Summits Treks has raised the luxury bar with its new . For the royal price of $130,000, the expedition includes private camp facilities (luxurious dining, communication, medical dome tent, Wi-Fi-enabled workspace, sleeping tent with a king-size bed, kitchen, hot shower, and toilet at base camp); a helicopter that supplies fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, mineral water, and other food items almost every day; a two-hour helicopter flight around Mount Everest for filming and panoramic views; 12 bottles of supplementary oxygen per member; a rescue team of Sherpas standing by at Camp II for emergency and rescue purposes; and a documentary movie of the entire trip.

Furtenbach șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍűs Signature Everest Expedition: Another top-end option is from Austrian-based Furtenbach șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍűs. In addition to its typical high-service standard trip, clients of the (who pay €200,000 or $222,000) get full support, from the expedition’s preparation phase to the summit, including “private mentoring from Lukas Furtenbach,” a “personalized training plan put together by a professional sports physiologist,” a “personalized nutrition plan,” support from two personal climbing Sherpas, an unlimited supply of oxygen, and an 80-square-meter heated tent with a private bathroom in base camp, among other amenities.

Climbing the Seven Summits Everest Executive Domes Upgrade: As part of its suite of climbing services, Climbing the Seven Summits gives its clients the (paid) option to live in kitted out with heaters, queen-size beds, “windows with curtains to take in the epic views,” private Wi-Fi-enabled workspaces, and “morning beverage service.”

Rapid Climbs

A relatively new option offered by many foreign guides and a few Nepali ones is a fast climb, which takes two to four weeks. The primary market is people who can spend more than $100,000 but cannot be away from work for more than a month. Alpenglow and Furtenbach have been the most aggressive with this model, but others offer it as well.

The idea is that by minimizing your time on the mountain, you conserve energy and risk of illness. After using an altitude tent for 30 days before leaving home, you arrive at base camp acclimatized to 17,000 feet, thus eliminating one or more acclimatization rotations and increasing your chances of summiting.

The package usually includes preacclimatizing in an altitude tent, an AMGA/IFMGA guide, virtually unlimited oxygen flowing up to eight liters per minute in some cases, and plenty of Sherpa support. Unfortunately, all of this extra support drives the price up.

Common Everest Questions

Do I Have to Take One of the Standard Routes?

No. You can get a permit to climb any of the 20 named routes on Everest or make up your own. If you want to traverse from Nepal to Tibet or the other way, you will need to get permits from both countries; however, China has refused to issue permission from its side for many years now. In 2017, a climber illegally made the traverse and was deported and banned for five years. He claimed it was a medical emergency.

Can I Climb Everest Alone?

Officially, no. Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism requires every climber to hire a Sherpa guide. The CMA has a similar requirement. But like everything around Everest, there are exceptions, and most rules are never enforced.

What Is the Minimum I Can Spend to Climb Everest?

As previously addressed, it is almost impossible to climb Everest entirely alone on the standard route. You can, however, climb independently with no oxygen, Sherpa, or cook support but using ladders and ropes on the south side. For one person, this would cost at least $25,000. Even splitting group expenses, the base costs add up to $26,000 per person for a seven-person team. When you add in oxygen and base camp support, a one-person climb with Sherpa support approaches $45,000, but a seven-person team leveraging the group costs comes in at $37,000.

What’s the Difference Between a $30,000 and a $65,000 Everest Climb?

There is a real difference in offerings with some companies and very little with others, so it’s up to the climber to shop wisely.

The general rule is that the lower the price, the larger the team. At the high end, profit, overhead, and the number of Western guides drive up the price, as well as how many services are bundled into one price versus offered as options. The lower-cost outfits promote a low price but charge for other not-so-optional “options,” such as oxygen, Sherpa support, and food above base camp.

Another common practice is to pay support staff the absolute minimum, whereas the guide companies pay a livable wage for their entire team.

One well-known low-cost operator had all its tents destroyed one year, had no backup tents, and had to beg other operators for spares. It also ran out of food.

One example of price confusion is a Sherpa’s bonuses. A low-cost service may not include a bonus, whereas another may. For instance, one Nepalese company asks the climber to pay their Sherpa $1,500 if they reach the South Col and another $500 if they leave for the summit. These tips are in addition to the base price. But a different company includes these bonuses in its overall package. It is customary to tip your guides, both Sherpa and Western.

How Many People Have Summited Everest?

The Himalayan Database reports that through December 2021, there have been 10,656 summits (5,351 clients and 5,305 hired guides) on Everest by all routes by 6,098 different people; 1,410 people, including 990 Sherpas, have summited multiple times for 4,642 total summits. There have been 756 summits by women.

The Nepal side is more popular than the Tibet side, with 7,023 summits versus 3,633 summits. A total of 216 climbers, about 2.1 percent, have summited without supplemental oxygen. Thirty-five climbers have traversed from one side to the other. Sixty-two percent of all expeditions have put at least one member on the summit; 621 climbers have summited from both Nepal and Tibet; 135 climbers have summited more than once in a single season, including 67 who summited within seven days of their first summit that season.

Between 1924 and December 2021, 305 people (186 Westerners and 119 Sherpas) died on Everest—about 3.5 percent of the summiteers. Of those, 86 (roughly 28 percent) died descending from their summit bid. Thirteen women have died. The Nepal side of the mountain has had 195 deaths (2.9 percent of climbers). The Tibet side has had 112 deaths (3 percent). Most of the bodies are still on the mountain, but China has removed many from sight on their side. The top causes of death are avalanches (77), falls (71), altitude sickness (35), and exposure (26).

In 2021, there were 472 summits, all from the Nepal side and all using supplemental oxygen. There were four deaths. There were none from Tibet as it was closed.

How Safe Is Everest?

Of the 8,000-meter peaks, Everest has the highest absolute number of deaths at 305 but ranks near the bottom with a death rate of 0.9. Annapurna is the deadliest 8,000-meter peak, with one death for every four summits. Cho Oyu is the safest, with 4,038 summits and 52 deaths.

People die on both sides of Everest. But the mountain is getting safer, even as it gets more crowded. From 1923 to 1999, there were 1,169 summits and 170 deaths—a 14.5 percent death rate. Between 2000 and 2021, however, there were 9,571 summits and 135 deaths—a 1.4 percent death rate. A disproportionate number of those deaths occurred in three years, skewing the rates (17 people died 2014, 14 in 2015, and 11 in 2019). The reduction in deaths is primarily due to better gear, improved weather forecasting, and a greater percentage of people climbing with commercial operations.

Most deaths are due to inexperience, not who was selected as the guide. That said, choosing a competent guide could save your life. The 11 deaths in 2019 tragically demonstrated what happens when inexperienced people go with the lowest-cost guide companies.

Which Side of Everest Should I Climb: North or South?

Both sides have a lot to offer, and both are historic: the Mallory and Irvine mystery in 1924 gives mystique to the Tibetan side, while Nepal was the route taken by the first summiteers, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, in 1953.

The comparison between sides is pretty simple. The north is colder, windier, and dustier, and it may be technically harder since you climb on more exposed rock. The south has the Khumbu Icefall, which many people (justifiably) find terrifying. But the Nepal side is more popular.

When choosing sides, keep in mind that as of 2022, China does not allow helicopter rescues. That might change as the country is building a massive at base camp to cater to tourists and said it will start helicopter rescues as part of the center.

You can cherry-pick the numbers to prove almost any point on which side is safer, but the bottom line is that death happens on both sides of Everest, and it often comes down to being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Should I Use Supplemental Oxygen?

It is rare to summit Everest without using supplemental oxygen; only 216 people have, and most of them were very experienced on 8,000-meter peaks.

Supplemental oxygen gives the body a 3,000-foot advantage. In other words, when the climber is at 28,000 feet, the body feels like it is at 25,000 feet. The main benefit of supplemental oxygen is that you feel warmer, thus allowing the heart to pump blood and oxygen to the fingers and toes, thus reducing the risk of frostbite.

Digging deep into the data reveals that of the 305 people who’ve died on the mountain, 167 were not using oxygen when they perished—but this statistic is a bit misleading because many of the deaths (121, to be precise) were doing route preparation, a role primarily filled by Sherpas, and most would not have been using oxygen because they were low on the mountain. Case in point: both the 2014 ice serac release and the 2015 earthquake (events that together killed 31 people) took place below Camp I, where no one would have been using oxygen.

If we look at climbing in modern times—that is, after 1990 to 2021—we can see that 133 non-Sherpa climbers summited without supplemental oxygen and 39 died—a death rate of 30 percent. Meanwhile, 5,132 climbers summited with oxygen and 133 died—a rate of 2.5 percent.

While climbing without oxygen is a meaningful accomplishment, it is not for everyone. Many try, few succeed.

Why Climb Everest in the First Place?

It is trendy to criticize anyone who has or is planning a climb. Jon Krakauer’s bookÌęInto Thin AirÌęset a negative tone and profiled climbers as rich, inexperienced, and selfish after his one climb in 1996. In my experience—six climbs on Everest or Lhotse—the opposite is today’s reality.

To be fair, in recent years the marketing of low-cost expeditions is attracting inexperienced climbers. This price move is all about supply and demand. All the puffery from Nepal’s government about making Everest safer will have zero impact on this, because everyone involved—government officials, guide companies, and the guides themselves—benefits.

If you want to attempt the world’s highest peak, do the work: get the properÌę, train your body to be in , and prepare your mind to push yourself harder than you ever thought possible. Earn the right to climb Everest—don’t just expect money to be sufficient. that matches your experience, be smart, be humble, and savor every moment.

Alan Arnette is the oldest American to summitÌę in 2014 and has six expeditions on Everest or Lhotse, with a summit ofÌę in 2011. He climbs to raise money for and awareness of Ìędisease.

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