Mount Everest#Southeast ridge

File:"Papers relating to the Himalaya and Mount Everest" in Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London, Vol. I (1857), p. 346.jpg

Mount Everest's Nepali/Sanskrit name is Sagarmāthā (IAST transcription) or Sagar-Matha{{cite web |title=Sagar-Matha: Nepal |url=http://www.geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-1507822&fid=4445&c=nepal |access-date=18 April 2014 |website=Geographical Names |archive-date=26 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326070315/https://geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-1507822&fid=4445&c=nepal |url-status=live }} (सगर-माथा, {{IPA|ne|sʌɡʌrmatʰa|}}, lit. "goddess of the sky"{{cite book |last1=Krakauer |first1=Jon |title=Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster |date=1997 |publisher=Villard |isbn=978-0-679-45752-7 |location=New York}}),{{cite book |last=Unsworth |first=Walt |title=Everest – The Mountaineering History |publisher=Bâton Wicks |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-898573-40-1 |edition=3rd |page=584}} which means "the head in the great blue sky", being derived from सगर (sagar), meaning "sky", and माथा (māthā), meaning "head".{{cite web |title=Mt. Everest 1857 |url=http://www.harappa.com/engr/darjeeling.html#everest |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226022726/http://www.harappa.com/engr/darjeeling.html |archive-date=26 December 2007 |access-date=23 January 2008 |publisher=harappa.com}}

The Tibetan name for Everest is Qomolangma ({{lang|bo|{{linktext|ཇོ་མོ་གླང་མ}}}}, lit. "holy mother"). The name was first recorded (in a Chinese transcription) in the 1721 Kangxi Atlas, issued during the reign of Qing Emperor Kangxi; it first appeared in the West in 1733 as Tchoumour Lancma, on a map prepared by the French geographer D'Anville and based on Kangxi Atlas.{{Cite book|last=Storti|first=Craig|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f34jEAAAQBAJ|title=The Hunt for Mount Everest|year=2021|publisher=Quercus|isbn=978-1-5293-6629-7|language=en|access-date=24 October 2021|archive-date=5 October 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241005160709/https://books.google.com/books?id=f34jEAAAQBAJ|url-status=live}} The Tibetan name is also popularly romanised as Chomolungma and (in Wylie) as Jo-mo-glang-ma.{{refn|Other variants include "Jomo Langma", "Chomo-lungma", "Djomo-lungma", "Jolmo Lungma", and "Chomolongma".{{cite web |url=http://www.geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-1506571&fid=4444&c=nepal |title=Chomo-lungma: Nepal |website=Geographical Names |access-date=18 April 2014 |archive-date=20 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320212724/https://www.geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-1506571&fid=4444&c=nepal |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-1506699&fid=4445&c=nepal |title=Djomo-lungma: Nepal |website=Geographical Names |access-date=18 April 2014 |archive-date=20 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320212729/https://www.geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-1506699&fid=4445&c=nepal |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-1506569&fid=4444&c=nepal |title=Chomolongma: Nepal |website=Geographical Names |access-date=18 April 2014 |archive-date=20 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320212734/https://www.geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-1506569&fid=4444&c=nepal |url-status=live }}{{cite web |url=http://www.geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-1506970&fid=4445&c=nepal |title=Mount Jolmo Lungma: Nepal |website=Geographical Names |access-date=18 April 2014 |archive-date=20 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210320212739/https://www.geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-1506970&fid=4445&c=nepal |url-status=live }}}}

The official Chinese transcription is {{nowrap|{{lang|zh|{{linktext|珠穆朗玛峰}}}}}} {{nowrap|(t {{lang|zh|{{linktext|珠穆朗瑪峰}}}}),}} or Zhūmùlǎngmǎ Fēng in pinyin. While other Chinese names have been used historically, including Shèngmǔ Fēng {{nowrap|(t {{lang|zh|{{linktext|聖母峰}}}},}} {{nowrap|s {{lang|zh|{{linktext|圣母峰}}}},}} lit. "holy mother peak"), these names were largely phased out after the Chinese Ministry of Internal Affairs issued a decree to adopt a sole name in May 1952.{{cite news|title=TIBET: Call It Chomolungma|date=16 June 1952|work=Time magazine|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,859710,00.html|access-date=12 December 2020|archive-date=24 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170724103053/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,859710,00.html|url-status=live}}

The British geographic survey of 1849 attempted to preserve local names when possible (e.g., Kangchenjunga and Dhaulagiri.) However, Andrew Waugh, the British Surveyor General of India, claimed that he could not find a commonly used local name, and that his search for one had been hampered by the Nepalese and Tibetan policy of exclusion of foreigners. Waugh argued that – because there were many local names – it would be difficult to favour one name over all others; he therefore decided that Peak XV should be named after British surveyor Sir George Everest, his predecessor as Surveyor General of India.{{cite news|work= The Times |title=India and China|date=4 October 1856|page=8|issue=22490}}{{cite journal | title=Papers relating to the Himalaya and Mount Everest | journal=Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London | date=April–May 1857 | volume=IX | pages=345–351}} Everest himself opposed the honour, and told the Royal Geographical Society in 1857 that "Everest" could neither be written in Hindi nor pronounced by "the native of India". Despite Everest's objections, Waugh's proposed name prevailed, and the Royal Geographical Society officially adopted the name "Mount Everest" in 1865.{{cite journal|title=Papers relating to the Himalaya and Mount Everest|journal=Proceedings of the London Royal Geographical Society of London|date=April–May 1857|volume=IX|pages=345–351}} The modern pronunciation of Everest ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɛ|v|ər|ᵻ|s|t}}){{cite web|title=Mount Everest|website=Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)|publisher=Random House, Inc.|access-date=22 July 2009|url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/everest|archive-date=26 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326070314/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/everest|url-status=live}} is different from Sir George's pronunciation of his surname ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|iː|v|r|ᵻ|s|t}} {{respell|EEV|rist}}).{{cite book |last1=Olausson |first1=Lena |last2=Sangster |first2=Catherine M. |title=Oxford BBC guide to pronunciation: the essential handbook of the spoken word |date=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-280710-6 |page=124}}

In the late 19th century, many European cartographers incorrectly believed that a native name for the mountain was Gaurishankar, a mountain between Kathmandu and Everest.{{cite journal|first=LA|last=Waddell|title=The Environs and Native Names of Mount Everest|journal=The Geographical Journal|volume=12|number=6|date=December 1898|pages=564–569|jstor=1774275|doi=10.2307/1774275|bibcode=1898GeogJ..12..564W|url=https://zenodo.org/record/1449200|issn=0016-7398|access-date=13 September 2019|archive-date=31 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531080813/https://zenodo.org/record/1449200|url-status=live}}

File:Gaurisankar 1890.jpg

• "Peak XV" (temporary, assigned by British Imperial Survey)
• "Deodungha"{{cite web |url=http://www.historyextra.com/facts/5-facts-about%E2%80%A6-mount-everest |title=5 Everest facts |publisher=historyextra.com |access-date=1 June 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160406051156/http://www.historyextra.com/facts/5-facts-about%E2%80%A6-mount-everest |archive-date=6 April 2016}} (Old Darjeeling)
• "Gauri Shankar", "Gaurishankar", or "Gaurisankar" (misattribution; used occasionally until about 1900. In modern times the name is used for a different peak about {{convert|30|mi|km|abbr=off}} away.{{cite book |author=H.P.S. Ahluwalia |title=Faces of Everest |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EK-CAAAAMAAJ |year=1978 |publisher=Vikas Publishing House |isbn=978-0-7069-0563-2 |access-date=11 July 2016 |archive-date=5 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241005160711/https://books.google.com/books?id=EK-CAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }})

File:MountEverestRelief.png]]

File:Tibetan Plateau and Mount Everest.png

In 1802, the British began the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India to fix the locations, heights, and names of the world's highest mountains. Starting in southern India, the survey teams moved northward using giant theodolites, each weighing {{convert|500|kg|lb|abbr=on}} and requiring 12 men to carry, to measure heights as accurately as possible. They reached the Himalayan foothills by the 1830s, but Nepal was unwilling to allow the British to enter the country due to suspicions of their intentions. Several requests by the surveyors to enter Nepal were denied.{{cite book |title= Everest – The Best Writing and Pictures from Seventy Years of Human Endeavour |editor=Peter Gillman| year=1993 |publisher=Little, Brown and Company|isbn=978-0-316-90489-6 |pages=10–13}}

The British were forced to continue their observations from Terai, a region south of Nepal which is parallel to the Himalayas. Conditions in Terai were difficult because of torrential rains and malaria. Three survey officers died from malaria while two others had to retire because of failing health.

Nonetheless, in 1847, the British continued the survey and began detailed observations of the Himalayan peaks from observation stations up to {{convert|240|km|mi|abbr=on}} distant. Weather restricted work to the last three months of the year. In November 1847, Andrew Scott Waugh, the British Surveyor General of India, made several observations from the Sawajpore station at the east end of the Himalayas. Kangchenjunga was then considered the highest peak in the world, and with interest, he noted a peak beyond it, about {{convert|230|km|mi|abbr=on}} away. John Armstrong, one of Waugh's subordinates, also saw the peak from a site farther west and called it peak "b". Waugh would later write that the observations indicated that peak "b" was higher than Kangchenjunga, but closer observations were required for verification. The following year, Waugh sent a survey official back to Terai to make closer observations of peak "b", but clouds thwarted his attempts.

In 1849, Waugh dispatched James Nicolson to the area, who made two observations from Jirol, {{convert|190|km|mi|abbr=on}} away. Nicolson then took the largest theodolite and headed east, obtaining over 30 observations from five different locations, with the closest being {{convert|174|km|mi|abbr=on}} from the peak.

Nicolson retreated to Patna on the Ganges to perform the necessary calculations based on his observations. His raw data gave an average height of {{convert|9200|m|ft|abbr=on}} for peak "b", but this did not consider light refraction, which distorts heights. However, the number clearly indicated that peak "b" was higher than Kangchenjunga. Nicolson contracted malaria and was forced to return home without finishing his calculations. Michael Hennessy, one of Waugh's assistants, had begun designating peaks based on Roman numerals, with Kangchenjunga named Peak IX. Peak "b" now became known as Peak XV.

In 1852, stationed at the survey headquarters in Dehradun, Radhanath Sikdar, an Indian mathematician and surveyor from Bengal was the first to identify Everest as the world's highest peak, using trigonometric calculations based on Nicolson's measurements.{{cite news|title=The man who "discovered" Everest|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3193576.stm|work=BBC News|date=20 October 2003|access-date=11 April 2008|first=Soutik|last=Biswas|archive-date=15 April 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080415093207/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3193576.stm|url-status=live}} An official announcement that Peak XV was the highest was delayed for several years as the calculations were repeatedly verified. Waugh began work on Nicolson's data in 1854, and along with his staff spent almost two years working on the numbers, having to deal with the problems of light refraction, barometric pressure, and temperature over the vast distances of the observations. Finally, in March 1856 he announced his findings in a letter to his deputy in Calcutta. Kangchenjunga was declared to be {{convert|28156|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}}, while Peak XV was given the height of {{convert|29002|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}}. Waugh concluded that Peak XV was "most probably the highest in the world". Peak XV (measured in feet) was calculated to be exactly {{convert|29000|ft|m|abbr=on|sigfig=5|}} high, but was publicly declared to be {{convert|29002|ft|m|abbr=on|sigfig=5|}} in order to avoid the impression that an exact height of {{convert|29000|ft|m|sigfig=5|}} was nothing more than a rounded estimate.{{cite journal|title=Letters to the Editor|journal=The American Statistician|volume=36|number=1|date=February 1982|pages=64–67|jstor=2684102|doi=10.1080/00031305.1982.10482782|last1=Stegman|first1=Charles E|last2=Bellhouse|first2=David|last3=Ehrenberg|first3=A.S. C|last4=Mantel|first4=Nathan|last5=Proschan|first5=Frank|last6=Gianola|first6=Daniel|last7=Searle|first7=S.R|last8=Speed|first8=F.M|last9=Milliken|first9=G.A}} Waugh is sometimes playfully credited with being "the first person to put two feet on top of Mount Everest".{{cite book|title=The Pendulum Paradigm: Variations on a Theme and the Measure of Heaven and Earth|page=267| author=Beech, Martin|year=2014| publisher=Universal-Publishers}}

File:CH-NP 79-80 Bdy Map50.jpg, this is Map 50 of the 57 map set at 1:50,000 scale "attached to the main text on the First Joint Inspection Survey, 1979–80, Nepal-China border." At the top centre, a boundary line, identified as separating "China" and "Nepal", passes through the summit contour. The boundary here and for much of the China–Nepal border follows the main Himalayan watershed divide.]]

File:ISS004E8852 everest.jpg as seen from orbit]]

In 1856, Andrew Waugh announced Everest (then known as Peak XV) as {{convert|29002|ft|m|abbr=on|order=flip}} high, after several years of calculations based on observations made by the Great Trigonometrical Survey.{{Cite book|last=Krakauer|first=Jon|title=Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster|publisher=Anchor Books|year=1997|isbn=978-0-385-49478-6|edition=First|location=New York|pages=15–16|oclc=36130642}}

From 1952 to 1954, the Survey of India, using triangulation methods, determined that the height of Everest was {{convert|8847.73|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}.{{cite web |url=https://archive.org/details/Everest_201304 |title=Technical Paper No. 8, The Height of Mount Everest a New Determination (1952–1954) |last=Gulatee |first=Bihari Lal |publication-date=10 May 1955 |publisher=Indian Agricultural Research Institute |location=New Delhi, India |access-date=2 June 2023}} In 1975 it was subsequently reaffirmed by a Chinese measurement of {{convert|8848.13|m|ft|2|abbr=on}}. In both cases the snow cap, not the rock head, was measured.

The {{convert|8848|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} height given was officially recognised by Nepal and China.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8608913.stm |title=Nepal and China agree on Mount Everest's height |work=BBC News |date=8 April 2010 |access-date=22 August 2010 |archive-date=3 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303133522/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8608913.stm |url-status=live }} Nepal planned a new survey in 2019 to determine if the April 2015 Nepal earthquake affected the height of the mountain.{{cite news |last1=Daley |first1=Jason |title=Nepalese Expedition Seeks to Find Out if an Earthquake Shrunk Mount Everest Read |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/nepalese-expedtion-wants-find-out-if-earthquake-shrunk-mount-everest-180971963/ |work=Smithsonian.com |publisher=Smithsonian Magazine |date=15 April 2019 |access-date=28 August 2019 |archive-date=31 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531075731/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/nepalese-expedtion-wants-find-out-if-earthquake-shrunk-mount-everest-180971963/ |url-status=live }}

In May 1999, an American Everest expedition directed by Bradford Washburn anchored a GPS unit into the highest bedrock. A rock head elevation of {{convert|8850|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}, and a snow/ice elevation {{convert|1|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} higher, were obtained via this device.{{cite web|url=http://www.alpineresearch.ch/alpine/en/presse1.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070103165811/http://www.alpineresearch.ch/alpine/en/presse1.html|archive-date=3 January 2007|title=Elevation of Mount Everest newly defined|publisher=Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research|date=12 November 1999|access-date=1 April 2007}} Although as of 2001, it has not been officially recognised by Nepal,{{cite web|url=http://www.nepalgov.gov.np/countryprofile.php|title=Country Profile|publisher=Government of Nepal|year=2001|access-date=1 April 2007|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070314011131/http://www.nepalgov.gov.np/countryprofile.php |archive-date = 14 March 2007}} this figure is widely quoted. Geoid uncertainty casts doubt upon the accuracy claimed by both the 1999 and 2005 (see § 21st-century surveys) surveys.{{Cite web|last=US Department of Commerce|first=NOAA|title=GEOID18 Technical Details {{!}} GEOID18 {{!}} National Geodetic Survey|url=https://geodesy.noaa.gov/GEOID/GEOID18/geoid18_tech_details.shtml|access-date=9 March 2021|website=geodesy.noaa.gov}}

In 1955, a detailed photogrammetric map (at a scale of 1:50,000) of the Khumbu region, including the south side of Mount Everest, was made by Erwin Schneider as part of the 1955 International Himalayan Expedition, which also attempted Lhotse.

In the late 1980s, an even more detailed topographic map of the Everest area was made under the direction of Bradford Washburn, using extensive aerial photography.

On 9 October 2005, after several months of measurement and calculation, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping announced the height of Everest as {{convert|8844.43|m|ft|2|abbr=on}} with accuracy of ±{{convert|0.21|m|in|1|abbr=on}}, claiming it was the most accurate and precise measurement to date.{{cite journal | last1=Junyong | first1=Chen | last2=Yanping | first2=Zhang | last3=Janli | first3=Yuan | last4=Chunxi | first4=Guo | last5=Peng | first5=Zhang | title=Height Determination of Qomolangma Feng (MT. Everest) in 2005 | journal=Survey Review | publisher=Informa UK Limited | volume=42 | issue=316 | year=2010 | issn=0039-6265 | doi=10.1179/003962610x12572516251565 | pages=122–131| bibcode=2010SurRv..42..122J | s2cid=129376174}} This height is based on the highest point of rock and not the snow and ice covering it. The Chinese team measured a snow-ice depth of {{convert|3.5|m|ft|0|abbr=on}},{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/enviro/EnviroRepublish_1478658.htm|title=Everest not as tall as thought|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|website=News in Science|date=5 October 2005|access-date=1 April 2007|archive-date=11 May 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511184616/http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/enviro/EnviroRepublish_1478658.htm|url-status=live}} which is in agreement with a net elevation of {{convert|8848|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}. An argument arose between China and Nepal as to whether the official height should be the rock height (8,844 m, China) or the snow height (8,848 m, Nepal). In 2010, both sides agreed that the height of Everest is 8,848 m, and Nepal recognises China's claim that the rock height of Everest is 8,844 m.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8608913.stm|title=Official height for Everest set|date=8 April 2010|work=BBC|access-date=16 August 2016|archive-date=31 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531063403/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8608913.stm|url-status=live}} On 8 December 2020, it was jointly announced by the two countries that the new official height is {{convert|8848.86|m}}.{{cite news|title=Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, officially just got a little bit higher|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mount-everest-height-agreed-china-nepal-worlds-highest-mountain-even-taller/?ftag=CNM-00-10aab7e&linkId=106576647|publisher=CBS|date=8 December 2020|access-date=8 December 2020}}{{cite news|publisher=BBC|title=Mt Everest grows by nearly a metre to new height|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55218443|date=8 December 2020|author=Navin Singh Khadka|access-date=8 December 2020|archive-date=25 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211225034126/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55218443|url-status=live}}

It is thought that the plate tectonics of the Main Himalayan Thrust and related faults, which form the convergent boundary between the Eurasian Plate and Indian Plate, are adding to the height and moving the summit northeastwards. Two accounts suggest the rates of change are {{convert|4|mm|in|abbr=on}} per year vertically and {{convert|3|to|6|mm|in|2|abbr=on}} per year horizontally,{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/99/everest/roof_content.html|title=Roof of the World|publisher=National Geographic Society|year=1999|access-date=1 April 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070712170109/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/99/everest/roof_content.html|archive-date=12 July 2007}} but another account mentions more lateral movement ({{convert|27|mm|in|abbr=on|disp=or}}),{{cite web|url=http://www.mos.org/Everest/exhibit/platetectonics.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061108172757/http://www.mos.org/Everest/exhibit/platetectonics.htm|archive-date=8 November 2006|title=Everest: Plate Tectonics|publisher=Museum of Science|year=1998}} and even shrinkage has been suggested.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4204539.stm|title=China fears Everest is shrinking|work=BBC News|date=25 January 2005|access-date=1 April 2007|first=Louisa|last=Lim|archive-date=3 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211003102716/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4204539.stm|url-status=live}}

{{Main list|List of highest mountains on Earth}}

The summit of Everest is the point at which Earth's surface reaches the greatest distance above sea level. Several other mountains are sometimes claimed to be the "tallest mountains on Earth". Mauna Kea in Hawaii is tallest when measured from its base;{{NoteTag|name=base|The "base" of a mountain is a problematic notion in general with no universally accepted definition. However, for a peak rising out of relatively flat terrain, such as Mauna Kea or Denali, an "approximate" height above "base" can be calculated. Everest is more complicated since it only rises above relatively flat terrain on its north (Tibetan Plateau) side. Hence the concept of "base" has even less meaning for Everest than for Mauna Kea or Denali, and the range of numbers for "height above base" is wider. In general, comparisons based on "height above base" are somewhat suspect.}} it rises over {{convert|10200|m|ft|1|abbr=on}} from its base on the mid-ocean floor, but only attains {{convert|4205|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} above sea level.

By the same measure of base to summit, Denali, in Alaska, federally designated as Mount McKinley, is taller than Everest as well.{{NoteTag|name=base}} Despite its height above sea level of only {{convert|6190|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}, Denali sits atop a sloping plain with elevations from {{convert|300|to|900|m|ft|abbr=on}}, yielding a height above base in the range of {{convert|5300|to|5900|m|ft|abbr=on}}; a commonly quoted figure is {{convert|5600|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}.{{cite web |url = https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/denali/expedition/mission.html |title = Surviving Denali, The Mission |publisher = Public Broadcasting Service |website = PBS.org |year = 2000 |access-date = 7 June 2007 |archive-date = 20 November 2010 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101120103239/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/denali/expedition/mission.html |url-status = live }}{{cite news |url = http://www.upi.com/blog/2013/09/12/Mount-McKinley-83-feet-shorter-than-thought-new-data-show/4061379016741/ |title = Mount McKinley 83 feet shorter than thought, new data show |work = United Press International |access-date = 18 March 2014 |archive-date = 26 March 2022 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220326072757/https://www.upi.com/blog/2013/09/12/Mount-McKinley-83-feet-shorter-than-thought-new-data-show/4061379016741/ |url-status = live }} By comparison, reasonable base elevations for Everest range from {{convert|4200|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}} on the south side to {{convert|5200|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}} on the Tibetan Plateau, yielding a height above base in the range of {{convert|3650|to|4650|m|ft|abbr=on}}.Mount Everest (1:50,000 scale map), prepared under the direction of Bradford Washburn for the Boston Museum of Science, the Swiss Foundation for Alpine Research, and the National Geographic Society, 1991, {{ISBN|3-85515-105-9}}.

The summit of Chimborazo in Ecuador is {{convert|2168|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} farther from Earth's centre ({{convert|6384.4|km|mi|1|abbr=on|disp=comma}}) than that of Everest ({{convert|6382.3|km|mi|1|abbr=on|disp=comma}}), because the Earth bulges at the equator.{{cite web |url = https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9428163 |title = The 'Highest' Spot on Earth? |date = 7 April 2007 |website = NPR.org |publisher = National Public Radio |first = Robert |last = Krulwich |access-date = 4 April 2018 |archive-date = 30 January 2013 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130130164111/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9428163 |url-status = live }} This is despite Chimborazo having a peak of {{convert|6268|m|ft|1|abbr=on}} above sea level versus Mount Everest's {{convert|8848|m|ft|1|abbr=on}}.

{{wide image|File:Everest-3D-Map-Type-EN.jpg|800px|3D rendering of Mount Everest and surrounding terrain}}

Nearby peaks include Lhotse, {{convert|8516|m|ft|abbr=on}}; Nuptse, {{convert|7855|m|ft|abbr=on}}, and Changtse, {{convert|7580|m|ft|abbr=on}} among others. Another nearby peak is Khumbutse, and many of the highest mountains in the world are near Mount Everest. On the southwest side, a major feature in the lower areas is the Khumbu icefall and glacier, an obstacle to climbers on those routes but also to the base camps.

{{Himalaya annotated imagemap|width=600|caption=Southern and northern climbing routes as seen from the International Space Station (The names on the photo are links to corresponding pages.)}}

File:EverestfromKalarPatarcrop.JPG

Geologists have subdivided the rocks comprising Mount Everest into three units called formations.Yin, C.-H., and S.-T. Kuo. 1978. "Stratigraphy of the Mount Jolmo Langma and its north slope." Scientia Sinica. v. 5, pp. 630–644Sakai, H., M. Sawada, Y. Takigami, Y. Orihashi, T. Danhara, H. Iwano, Y. Kuwahara, Q. Dong, H. Cai, and J. Li. 2005. "Geology of the summit limestone of Mount Qomolangma (Everest) and cooling history of the Yellow Band under the Qomolangma detachment." Island Arc. v. 14 no. 4 pp. 297–310. Each formation is separated from the other by low-angle faults, called detachments, along which they have been thrust southward over each other. From the summit of Mount Everest to its base these rock units are the Qomolangma Formation, the North Col Formation, and the Rongbuk Formation.

The Qomolangma Formation, also known as the Jolmo Lungama Formation, runs from the summit to the top of the Yellow Band, about {{convert|8600|m|ft|abbr=on}} above sea level. It consists of greyish to dark grey or white, parallel laminated and bedded, Ordovician limestone interlayered with subordinate beds of recrystallised dolomite with argillaceous laminae and siltstone. Gansser first reported finding microscopic fragments of crinoids in this limestone.Gansser, A. 1964. Geology of the Himalayas, John Wiley Interscience, London, 1964 289 pp.{{cite web |last=Rosenberg |first=Matt |url=http://geology.about.com/library/bl/peaks/bleverest.htm |title=A site which uses this dramatic fact first used in illustration of "deep time" in John McPhee's book Basin and Range |publisher=Geology.about.com |access-date=17 June 2016 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232401/http://geology.about.com/library/bl/peaks/bleverest.htm |url-status=dead }} Later petrographic analysis of samples of the limestone from near the summit revealed them to be composed of carbonate pellets and finely fragmented remains of trilobites, crinoids, and ostracods. Other samples were so badly sheared and recrystallised that their original constituents could not be determined. A thick, white-weathering thrombolite bed that is {{convert|60|m|ft|abbr=on}} thick comprises the foot of the "Third Step", and base of the summit pyramid of Everest. This bed, which crops out starting about {{convert|70|m|ft|abbr=on}} below the summit of Mount Everest, consists of sediments trapped, bound, and cemented by the biofilms of micro-organisms, especially cyanobacteria, in shallow marine waters. The Qomolangma Formation is broken up by several high-angle faults that terminate at the low angle normal fault, the Qomolangma Detachment. This detachment separates it from the underlying Yellow Band. The lower five metres of the Qomolangma Formation overlying this detachment are very highly deformed.Myrow, P.M., N.C. Hughes, M.P. Searle, C.M. Fanning, S.-C. Peng, and S.K. Parcha, 2009, "Stratigraphic correlation of Cambrian Ordovician deposits along the Himalaya: Implications for the age and nature of rocks in the Mount Everest region". Geological Society of America Bulletin. v. 121, no. 3–4, pp. 323–332.

The bulk of Mount Everest, between {{convert|7000|and|8,600|m|ft|abbr=on}}, consists of the North Col Formation, of which the Yellow Band forms the upper part between {{convert|8200|to|8,600|m|ft|abbr=on}}. The Yellow Band consists of intercalated beds of Middle Cambrian diopside-epidote-bearing marble, which weathers a distinctive yellowish brown, and muscovite-biotite phyllite and semischist. Petrographic analysis of marble collected from about {{convert|8300|m|ft|abbr=on}} found it to consist as much as five per cent of the ghosts of recrystallised crinoid ossicles. The upper five metres of the Yellow Band lying adjacent to the Qomolangma Detachment is badly deformed. A {{convert|5|–|40|cm|in|abbr=on}} thick fault breccia separates it from the overlying Qomolangma Formation.

The remainder of the North Col Formation, exposed between {{convert|7000|to|8,200|m|ft|abbr=on}} on Mount Everest, consists of interlayered and deformed schist, phyllite, and minor marble. Between {{convert|7600|and|8,200|m|ft|abbr=on}}, the North Col Formation consists chiefly of biotite-quartz phyllite and chlorite-biotite phyllite intercalated with minor amounts of biotite-sericite-quartz schist. Between {{convert|7000|and|7,600|m|ft|abbr=on}}, the lower part of the North Col Formation consists of biotite-quartz schist intercalated with epidote-quartz schist, biotite-calcite-quartz schist, and thin layers of quartzose marble. These metamorphic rocks appear to be the result of the metamorphism of Middle to Early Cambrian deep sea flysch composed of interbedded, mudstone, shale, clayey sandstone, calcareous sandstone, graywacke, and sandy limestone. The base of the North Col Formation is a regional low-angle normal fault called the "Lhotse detachment".

Below 7,000 m (23,000 ft), the Rongbuk Formation underlies the North Col Formation and forms the base of Mount Everest. It consists of sillimanite-K-feldspar grade schist and gneiss intruded by numerous sills and dikes of leucogranite ranging in thickness from 1 cm to 1,500 m (0.4 in to 4,900 ft).Searle, M.P. (1999) "Emplacement of Himalayan leucogranites by magma injection along giant sill complexes: examples from the Cho Oyu, Gyachung Kang and Everest leucogranites (Nepal Himalaya)". Journal of Asian Earth Sciences. v. 17, no. 5–6, pp. 773–783. These leucogranites are part of a belt of Late Oligocene–Miocene intrusive rocks known as the Higher Himalayan leucogranite. They formed as the result of partial melting of Paleoproterozoic to Ordovician high-grade metasedimentary rocks of the Higher Himalayan Sequence about 20 to 24 million years ago during the subduction of the Indian Plate.Guo, Z., and M. Wilson (2012) "The Himalayan leucogranites: Constraints on the nature of their crustal source region and geodynamic setting." Gondwana Research. v. 22, no. 2, pp. 360–376.

Mount Everest consists of sedimentary and metamorphic rocks that have been faulted southward over continental crust composed of Archean granulites of the Indian Plate during the Cenozoic collision of India with Asia.{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/the-himalayas-tectonic-motion-making-the-himalayas/6342/|title=Tectonic Motion: Making the Himalayas|date=11 February 2011|website=Nature on PBS|access-date=6 February 2016|archive-date=12 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512085808/https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/the-himalayas-tectonic-motion-making-the-himalayas/6342/|url-status=live}}{{cite web | url = http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/himalaya.html | title = The Himalayas: Two continents collide | publisher = USGS | date = 5 May 1999 | access-date = 6 February 2016 | archive-date = 10 May 2020 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200510204755/https://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/himalaya.html | url-status = live }}{{Cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/pr/95/18688.html|title=Press Release: An Earth Plate Is Breaking in Two|website=www.columbia.edu|access-date=6 February 2016|archive-date=18 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170518041545/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/pr/95/18688.html|url-status=live}} Current interpretations argue that the Qomolangma and North Col formations consist of marine sediments that accumulated within the continental shelf of the northern passive continental margin of India before it collided with Asia. The Cenozoic collision of India with Asia subsequently deformed and metamorphosed these strata as it thrust them southward and upward.Myrow, P.M., N.C. Hughes, T.S. Paulsen, I.S. Williams, S.K. Parcha, K.R. Thompson, S.A. Bowring, S.-C. Peng, and A.D. Ahluwalia. 2003. "Integrated tectonostratigraphic reconstruction of the Himalaya and implications for its tectonic reconstruction." Earth and Planetary Science Letters. vol. 212, pp. 433–441.Myrow, P.M., N.C. Hughes, J.W. Goodge, C.M. Fanning, I.S. Williams, S.-C. Peng, O.N. Bhargava, S.K. Tangri, S.K. Parcha, and K.R. Pogue. 2010. "Extraordinary transport and mixing of sediment across Himalayan central Gondwanaland during the Cambrian-Ordovician." Geological Society of America Bulletin. vol. 122, pp. 1660–1670. The Rongbuk Formation consists of a sequence of high-grade metamorphic and granitic rocks that were derived from the alteration of high-grade metasedimentary rocks. During the collision of India with Asia, these rocks were thrust downward and to the north as they were overridden by other strata; heated, metamorphosed, and partially melted at depths of over {{convert|15 to 20|km|mi}} below sea level; and then forced upward to surface by thrusting towards the south between two major detachments.Searle, M. 2012. Colliding Continents: A geological exploration of the Himalaya, Karakoram, & Tibet. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 464 pp. {{ISBN|978-0-19-965300-3}} Mount Everest is rising by about 2 mm per year.Han, X., Dai, J.G., Smith, A.G., Xu, S.Y., Liu, B.R., Wang, C.S., and Fox, M., 2024. "Recent uplift of Chomolungma enhanced by river drainage piracy." ''Nature Geoscience. published online September 30, 2024, pp.1-7.

In respect of the recognition of the "highest rocks on the planet" as fossiliferous, marine limestone, the Ordovician Rocks of Mount Everest were included by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) in its assemblage of 100 geological heritage sites around the world in a listing published in October 2022. The organisation defines an IUGS Geological Heritage Site as "a key place with geological elements and/or processes of international scientific relevance, used as a reference, and/or with a substantial contribution to the development of geological sciences through history."{{cite web |title=The First 100 IUGS Geological Heritage Sites |url=https://iugs-geoheritage.org/videos-pdfs/iugs_first_100_book_v2.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027114156/https://iugs-geoheritage.org/videos-pdfs/iugs_first_100_book_v2.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-27 |url-status=live |website=IUGS International Commission on Geoheritage |publisher=IUGS |access-date=10 November 2022}}

File:Yak at third lake in Gokyo.jpg

There is very little native flora or fauna on Everest. A type of moss grows at {{convert|6480|m}} on Mount Everest and it may be the highest altitude plant species.{{cite web|url=http://www.adventureandscience.org/high-plants.html|title=High altitude plants|website=Adventure Scientists|access-date=15 May 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425233903/http://www.adventureandscience.org/high-plants.html|archive-date=25 April 2012|url-status=dead}} An alpine cushion plant called Arenaria is known to grow below {{convert|18000|ft|m|order=flip}} in the region.{{cite book|author=Ann Heinrichs|title=Mount Everest|url=https://archive.org/details/mounteverest0000hein|url-access=registration|year=2009|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|isbn=978-0-7614-4649-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/mounteverest0000hein/page/25 25]}} According to the study based on satellite data from 1993 to 2018, vegetation is expanding in the Everest region. Researchers have found plants in areas that were previously deemed bare.{{Cite journal|title=Vegetation expansion in the subnival Hindu Kush Himalaya|date=9 January 2020|doi=10.1111/gcb.14919|last1=Anderson|first1=Karen|last2=Fawcett|first2=Dominic|last3=Cugulliere|first3=Anthony|last4=Benford|first4=Sophie|last5=Jones|first5=Darren|last6=Leng|first6=Ruolin|journal=Global Change Biology|volume=26|issue=3|pages=1608–1625|pmid=31918454|pmc=7078945|bibcode=2020GCBio..26.1608A}}

A minute black jumping spider of the genus Euophrys has been found at elevations as high as {{convert|6700|m|ft|-2}},{{Cite journal |title=Spiders of the family Salticidae from the upper slopes of Everest and Makalu |journal=Bulletin of the British Arachnological Society |url=https://britishspiders.org.uk/system/files/library/030505.pdf |last=Wanless |first=F. R. |date=1975 |issue=5 |volume=3 |pages=132–136 |ref=wanless |author-link=Fred Wanless |access-date=2023-09-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708174745/https://britishspiders.org.uk/system/files/library/030505.pdf |archive-date=2023-07-08 |url-status=live}} possibly making it the highest confirmed non-microscopic permanent resident on Earth. Another Euophrys species, E. everestensis, has been found at {{convert|5030|m|ft|-2}}, and may feed on insects that have been blown there by the wind. There is a high likelihood of microscopic life at even higher altitudes.

The bar-headed goose migrates over the Himalayas and have been seen flying at the higher altitudes of the mountain.{{cite web|url=http://www.history.com/news/7-things-you-should-know-about-mount-everest|title=7 Things You Should Know About Mount Everest|author=Jesse Greenspan|website=History.com|date=29 May 2013 |access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=2 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602021529/https://www.history.com/news/7-things-you-should-know-about-mount-everest|url-status=live}} In 1953, George Lowe (part of the expedition of Tenzing and Hillary) said that he saw bar-headed geese flying over Everest's summit.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30799436|title=Bar-headed geese: Highest bird migration tracked|work=BBC News|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=13 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220513161923/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30799436|url-status=live}} Another bird species, the chough, have been spotted as high as the South Col at {{convert|7920|m}}The Ascent of Everest by John Hunt (Hodder & Stoughton, 1953) In chapter 14, Hunt describes seeing a chough on the South Col; meanwhile Charles Evans saw some unidentified birds fly over the col and yellow-billed choughs have been seen as high as {{convert|26000|ft|m|order=flip}}.

Yaks are often used to haul gear for Mount Everest climbs. They can haul around 100 kg (220 pounds), have thick fur and large lungs. Other animals in the region include the Himalayan tahr, which is sometimes the prey of the snow leopard.{{cite web|url=http://www.carnivoreconservation.org/files/thesis/ale_2007_phd.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.carnivoreconservation.org/files/thesis/ale_2007_phd.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=Ale, Som B. "Ecology of the Snow Leopard and the Himalayan Tahr in Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park, Nepal." University of Illinois, 2007}} The Himalayan black bear can be found up to about {{convert|14000|ft|m|order=flip}} and the red panda is also present in the region.{{cite web|url=https://animals.mom.me/list-animals-mount-everest-7481.html|title=List of Animals on Mount Everest|website=Pets on mom.me|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=4 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804074007/https://animals.mom.me/list-animals-mount-everest-7481.html|url-status=live}} One expedition found a surprising range of species in the region including a pika and ten new species of ants.{{cite web|url=http://www.livescience.com/4037-everest-expedition-uncovers-exotic-species.html|title=Everest Expedition Uncovers Exotic Species|website=LiveScience.com|date=7 April 2006|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=26 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326072759/https://www.livescience.com/4037-everest-expedition-uncovers-exotic-species.html|url-status=live}}

From the Nepalese side, Everest is protected as part of Sagarmatha National Park,{{Cite web |title=Sagarmatha National Park |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/120/ |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=whc.unesco.org}} while from the Chinese side the mountain is protected as part of Qomolangma National Nature Reserve.{{Cite web |title=Mount Everest National Nature Reserve: Facts, Geography & Location |url=https://www.topchinatravel.com/mount-everest/mount-everest-national-nature-reserve.htm |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=www.topchinatravel.com}}

Mount Everest has an ice cap climate (Köppen EF) with all months averaging well below freezing.{{NoteTag|In the table below, the temperature given is the average lowest temperature recorded in that month. So, in an average year, the lowest recorded July temperature will be -18 degrees Celsius, and the lowest recorded January temperature will be -36 degrees Celsius.}}

{{Weather box

| collapsed =

| open =

| width = auto !-- Width parameter for wikitable, default width=90%. Leave blank for wikitable with no width defined. Set width=auto to fit the table in the next available space automatically. -->

| metric first = yes

| single line = yes

| location = Mount Everest (Summit)

| Jan avg record low C = -36

| Feb avg record low C = -35

| Mar avg record low C = -32

| Apr avg record low C = -31

| May avg record low C = -25

| Jun avg record low C = -20

| Jul avg record low C = -18

| Aug avg record low C = -18

| Sep avg record low C = -21

| Oct avg record low C = -27

| Nov avg record low C = -30

| Dec avg record low C = -34

| source 1 = {{Cite web |url= http://www.topchinatravel.com/mount-everest/the-climate-of-mount-everest.htm |title= Monthly Average Coldest temperature on Everest Summit |publisher= topchinatravel.com |access-date= 16 August 2015 |archive-date= 5 October 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20241005160710/https://www.topchinatravel.com/mount-everest/the-climate-of-mount-everest.htm |url-status= live }}

| source 2 =

| source =

}}

The base camp for Everest expeditions based out of Nepal is located by Khumbu Glacier, which is rapidly thinning and destabilizing due to climate change, making it unsafe for climbers. As recommended by the committee formed by Nepal's government to facilitate and monitor mountaineering in the Everest region, Taranath Adhikari—the director general of Nepal's tourism department—said they have plans to move the base camp to a lower altitude. This would mean a longer distance for climbers between the base camp and Camp 1. However, the present base camp is still useful and could still serve its purpose for three to four years. The move may happen by 2024, per officials.{{Cite news |date=17 June 2022 |title=Nepal to move Everest base camp from melting glacier |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61828753 |access-date=17 June 2022 |archive-date=17 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230717222537/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-61828753 |url-status=live }}

In 2008, a new weather station at about {{convert|8000|m|ft|abbr=on}} elevation went online.{{cite web|url=http://www.theuiaa.org/news_86_Everest-weather-station-goes-online|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105213822/http://www.theuiaa.org/news_86_Everest-weather-station-goes-online|archive-date=5 January 2009|title=Everest weather station goes online |publisher=UIAA| date=16 June 2008|access-date=15 May 2012}} The project was orchestrated by Stations at High Altitude for Research on the Environment (SHARE), which also placed the Mount Everest webcam in 2011.{{cite news|title=Mount Everest webcam gives new meaning to high-def|first=Claire|last=Connelly|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/technology/aint-no-mountain-high-enough-webcam-streams-video-from-top-of-mount-everest/story-fn7celvh-1226153560068|newspaper=Herald Sun|date=30 September 2011|access-date=30 September 2011|archive-date=4 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211104074827/https://www.heraldsun.com.au/technology/aint-no-mountain-high-enough-webcam-streams-video-from-top-of-mount-everest/story-fn7celvh-1226153560068/|url-status=dead}} The solar-powered weather station is on the South Col.{{cite web|url=http://gewex.org/2009Conf_gewex_posters/Vuillermoz_GP1-20.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111119173246/http://gewex.org/2009Conf_gewex_posters/Vuillermoz_GP1-20.pdf|archive-date=19 November 2011|first1=Agostino|last1=da Polenza|first2=Elisa|last2=Vuillermoz|first3=Gian Pietro|last3=Verza|first4=Alberto|last4=Cortinovis|publisher=Ev-K2-CNR Committee|location=Italy|title=SHARE: Everest Automatic Weather Station: South Col, Mt. Everest, Nepal}}

Mount Everest extends into the upper troposphere and penetrates the stratosphere.{{cite web |author=godhead/v |title=The Open Graveyard of Mt. Everest's 'Death Zone' |url=https://gizmodo.com/5755875/abandoned-on-mt-everest |access-date=20 September 2015 |website=Gizmodo |date=10 February 2011 |publisher=Gawker Media |archive-date=23 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181023040829/https://gizmodo.com/5755875/abandoned-on-mt-everest |url-status=dead }} The air pressure at the summit is generally about one-third what it is at sea level. The altitude can expose the summit to the fast and freezing winds of the jet stream.{{cite journal |doi=10.1038/news040524-2 |title=High winds suck oxygen from Everest |first1=Mark |last1=Peplow |date=25 May 2004 |journal=Nature}} Winds commonly attain {{convert|100|mph|km/h|abbr=on|order=flip}};{{cite news |title=The deadly odds of climbing Mount Everest: By the numbers |work=The Week |url=https://theweek.com/articles/475353/deadly-odds-climbing-mount-everest-by-numbers |access-date=20 February 2020 |archive-date=3 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230603173923/https://theweek.com/articles/475353/deadly-odds-climbing-mount-everest-by-numbers |url-status=live }} in February 2004, a wind speed of {{convert|175|mph|km/h|abbr=on|-1|order=flip}} was recorded at the summit.

These winds can hamper or endanger climbers, by blowing them into chasms or (by Bernoulli's principle) by lowering the air pressure further, reducing available oxygen by up to 14 percent.{{cite web| url=https://www.thetech.org/exhibits/online/everest/about/physiology.htm| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713003833/https://www.thetech.org/exhibits/online/everest/about/physiology.htm|archive-date=13 July 2015|title=The Physiological Effects of Altitude|website=TheTech|access-date=20 September 2015}} To avoid the harshest winds, climbers typically aim for a 7- to 10-day window in the spring and fall when the Asian monsoon season is starting up or ending.

Mount Everest hosts several weather stations that collect important data on high-altitude weather conditions. Among them is the Balcony Station, the highest weather station on the planet, located at about 8,430 meters (27,657 feet) above sea level. Set up by climate scientists Tom Matthews and Baker Perry in 2019, this station is positioned just below the summit of Everest, which is the highest point on Earth.{{Cite web |title=Weather Stations on Mount Everest |url=https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/weather-stations-mount-everest/ |access-date=2024-08-28 |website=nationalgeographic.com |archive-date=28 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240828200932/https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/weather-stations-mount-everest/ |url-status=live }}

As of January 20, 2020, the Balcony Station ceased transmitting data.{{Cite web|title=Highest Weather Station Installed on Mount Everest|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/mount-everest-highest-weather-station-perpetual-planet|access-date=2024-08-28|website=nationalgeographic.com|date=13 June 2019 |archive-date=28 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240828200932/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/mount-everest-highest-weather-station-perpetual-planet|url-status=live}}

{{recentism section|date=July 2022}}

File:Climbing through the Yellow Band, Mt. Everest, -May 2007 a.jpg]]

File:1963 reunion of the 1953 Everest-climbing expedition.jpg

{{see also|List of people who died climbing Mount Everest}}

Because Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world, it has attracted considerable attention and climbing attempts. Whether the mountain was climbed in ancient times is unknown. It may have been climbed in 1924, although this has never been confirmed, as neither of the men making the attempt returned. Several climbing routes have been established over several decades of climbing expeditions to the mountain.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mounteverest.net/expguide/route.htm|title=The route – climbers guide to Everest|website=www.mounteverest.net|access-date=23 February 2020|archive-date=31 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531063921/https://www.mounteverest.net/expguide/route.htm|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=https://alpenglowexpeditions.com/blog/mount-everest-routes/|title=Mount Everest: The Routes|date=4 May 2017|website=Alpenglow|access-date=23 February 2020|archive-date=4 August 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230804184834/http://alpenglowexpeditions.com/blog/mount-everest-routes|url-status=live}}{{Better source needed|date=February 2020|reason=Sources are self-published and may not comply with WP:ABOUTSELF. This template footnote may be removed if the preceding sources do comply with WP:ABOUTSELF.}}

Everest's summit is first known to have been reached by a human in 1953, and interest from climbers increased thereafter.{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-01-04-mn-1935-story.html|title=Mt. Everest's Popularity Is Still Climbing|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=20 September 2015}} Despite the effort and attention poured into expeditions, only about 200 people had summited by 1987. Everest remained a difficult climb for decades, even for serious attempts by professional climbers and large national expeditions, which were the norm until the commercial era began in the 1990s.{{cite news|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/05/27/general/japans-everest-timeline/#.VZ6oDfBdgnd|last1=James|first1=Victoria|title=Japan's Everest timeline|date=27 May 2012|newspaper=The Japan Times Online|access-date=20 February 2016|archive-date=20 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020001301/https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/05/27/general/japans-everest-timeline/#.VZ6oDfBdgnd|url-status=live}} By March 2012, Everest had been climbed 5,656 times with 223 deaths.{{cite web|url=http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=82578|title=The World's Tallest Mountain|date=2 January 2014|website=Earth Observatory|publisher=NASA|access-date=12 January 2014|archive-date=4 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504074915/https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=82578|url-status=live}} By 2013, The Himalayan Database recorded 6,871 summits by 4,042 different people.{{cite web|url=http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2014/02/20/everest-numbers-latest-summit-stats/|title=Everest by the Numbers: The Latest Summit Stats|website=alanarnette.com|format=Blog|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=1 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201030515/http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2014/02/20/everest-numbers-latest-summit-stats/|url-status=live}}

Although lower mountains have longer or steeper climbs, Everest is so high the jet stream can hit it. Climbers can be faced with winds beyond {{convert|200|mph|km/h|abbr=on|order=flip}} when the weather shifts.{{Cite web|url=http://www.alanarnette.com/kids/everestfacts.php|title=Everest Facts for Kids|website=www.alanarnette.com|access-date=23 January 2014|archive-date=12 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190112120740/http://alanarnette.com/kids/everestfacts.php|url-status=live}} At certain times of the year the jet stream shifts north, providing periods of relative calm at the mountain.{{cite web|url=http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/window-of-opportunity-everest/64450|title=Window of Opportunity: Everest Climbing Season Underway|website=Accuweather|access-date=23 January 2014|archive-date=1 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160901215435/http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/window-of-opportunity-everest/64450|url-status=dead}} Other dangers include blizzards and avalanches.

In 1885, Clinton Thomas Dent, president of the Alpine Club, suggested that climbing Mount Everest was possible in his book Above the Snow Line.{{cite book|url=http://www.billbuxton.com/everest.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.billbuxton.com/everest.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=From First Sight to Summit: A Guide to the Literature on Everest up to the 1953 Ascent |date=5 October 2015|access-date=31 January 2017 |author=William Buxton}}

The northern approach to the mountain was discovered by George Mallory and Guy Bullock on the initial 1921 British Reconnaissance Expedition. It was an exploratory expedition not equipped for a serious attempt to climb the mountain. With Mallory leading (and thus becoming the first European to set foot on Everest's flanks) they climbed the North Col to an altitude of {{convert|7005|m|ft|0}}. From there, Mallory espied a route to the top, but the party was unprepared to climb any further and descended.

The British returned for a 1922 expedition. George Finch climbed using oxygen for the first time. He ascended at a remarkable speed—{{convert|290|m|ft|0}} per hour—and reached an altitude of {{convert|8320|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}}, the first time a human reported to climb higher than 8,000 m. Mallory and Col. Felix Norton made a second unsuccessful attempt.

The next expedition was in 1924. The initial attempt by Mallory and Geoffrey Bruce was aborted when weather conditions prevented the establishment of Camp VI. The next attempt was that of Norton and Somervell, who climbed without oxygen and in perfect weather, traversing the North Face into the Great Couloir. Norton managed to reach {{convert|8550|m|ft|abbr=on}}, though he ascended only {{convert|30|m|ft|abbr=on}} or so in the last hour. Mallory rustled up oxygen equipment for a last-ditch effort. He chose young Andrew Irvine as his partner.{{Cite journal |last=Norton |first=E.F. |date=1924 |title=The Climb with Mr. Sommerville to 28,000 feet |url= |journal=The Geographical Journal |volume=64 |issue=6 |pages=451–455|doi=10.2307/1781918 |jstor=1781918 |bibcode=1924GeogJ..64..451N }}

File:Condor Films 1952.jpg

On 8 June 1924, George Mallory and Andrew Irvine made an attempt on the summit via the North Col-North Ridge-Northeast Ridge route from which they never returned. On 1 May 1999, the Mallory and Irvine Research Expedition found Mallory's body on the North Face in a snow basin below and to the west of the traditional site of Camp VI. Controversy has raged in the mountaineering community whether one or both of them reached the summit 29 years before the confirmed ascent and safe descent of Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953. Irvine's detached foot, still in boot and sock, was found in September 2024.

In 1933, Lady Houston, a British millionairess, funded the Houston Everest Flight of 1933, which saw a formation of two aeroplanes led by the Marquess of Clydesdale fly over the Everest summit.{{Cite book|last=Crompton|first=Teresa|title=Adventuress: The Life and Loves of Lucy, Lady Houston|publisher=The History Press|year=2020}}{{cite web|url=http://www.flymicro.com/everest/index.cfm?page=docs%2FHistory%2FAeroplanes.htm|title=Aeroplane expeditions to Everest|publisher=flymicro.com|access-date=28 March 2008|archive-date=4 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220104062122/http://www.flymicro.com/everest/index.cfm?page=docs%2FHistory%2FAeroplanes.htm|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=http://www.k2news.com/wingsover.htm|title=Wings Over Everest 2003|publisher=Everestnews.com|year=2002|access-date=28 March 2008|archive-date=3 January 2013|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130103172008/http://www.k2news.com/wingsover.htm|url-status=live}}{{cite journal|title=Flying Over World's Highest Peak|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8ScDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA20|issue=5|journal=Popular Science|volume=122|date=May 1933|page=20|publisher=Bonnier Corporation|access-date=17 June 2015|archive-date=5 October 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241005160710/https://books.google.com/books?id=8ScDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA20#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}

Early expeditions—such as Charles Bruce's in the 1920s and Hugh Ruttledge's two unsuccessful attempts in 1933 and 1936—tried to ascend the mountain from Tibet, via the North Face. Access was closed from the north to Western expeditions in 1950 after China took control of Tibet. In 1950, Bill Tilman and a small party which included Charles Houston, Oscar Houston, and Betsy Cowles undertook an exploratory expedition to Everest through Nepal along the route which has now become the standard approach to Everest from the south.{{cite web|url=http://www.everesthistory.com/time3.htm |title=Everest History Time Line |website=Everest History |year=2003 |access-date=17 June 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100526185812/http://www.everesthistory.com/time3.htm |archive-date=26 May 2010}}

The 1952 Swiss Mount Everest Expedition, led by Edouard Wyss-Dunant, was granted permission to attempt a climb from Nepal. It established a route through the Khumbu icefall and ascended to the South Col at an elevation of {{convert|7986|m|ft|abbr=on}}. Raymond Lambert and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay were able to reach an elevation of about {{convert|8595|m|ft|abbr=on}} on the southeast ridge, setting a new climbing altitude record. Tenzing's experience was useful when he was hired to be part of the British expedition in 1953.{{cite web|url=http://imagingeverest.rgs.org/Concepts/Virtual_Everest/-116.html |title=Tenzing Norgay GM |website=Imagining Everest |publisher=The Royal Geographical Society |access-date=21 June 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070414143647/http://imagingeverest.rgs.org/Concepts/Virtual_Everest/-116.html |archive-date=14 April 2007}} The Swiss decided to make another post-monsoon attempt in the autumn; they made it to the South Col but were driven back by winter winds and severe cold.Ullman, Tenzing Man of Everest{{cite book |last= Hunt |first= John |title= The Ascent of Everest |year= 1953 |publisher= Hodder & Stoughton |location= London |pages= 51, 52}}

{{Main|1953 British Mount Everest expedition}}

File:Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.jpg and Tenzing Norgay]]

In 1953, a ninth British expedition, led by John Hunt, returned to Nepal. Hunt selected two climbing pairs to attempt to reach the summit. The first pair, Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans, came within {{convert|100|m|ft|abbr=on}} of the summit on 26 May 1953, but turned back after running into oxygen problems. As planned, their work in route finding and breaking trail and their oxygen caches were of great aid to the following pair. Two days later, the expedition made its second assault on the summit with the second climbing pair: the New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, a Nepali Sherpa climber. They reached the summit at 11:30{{nbsp}}am local time on 29 May 1953 via the South Col route. At the time, both acknowledged it as a team effort by the whole expedition, but Tenzing revealed a few years later that Hillary had put his foot on the summit first. They paused at the summit to take photographs and buried a few sweets and a small cross in the snow before descending.{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}

On 23 May 1956, Ernst Schmied and Juerg Marmet ascended. This was followed by Dölf Reist and Hans-Rudolf von Gunten on 24 May 1957.{{cite web|url=http://www.everesthistory.com/climbers/schmied.htm|title=Ernst Schmied|publisher=EverestHistory.com|access-date=10 April 2010|archive-date=14 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314055704/http://www.everesthistory.com/climbers/schmied.htm|url-status=live}} Wang Fuzhou, Gonpo and Qu Yinhua of China made the first reported ascent of the peak from the North Ridge on 25 May 1960. The first American to climb Everest, Jim Whittaker, joined by Nawang Gombu, reached the summit on 1 May 1963 on the American Mount Everest expedition and on 22 May on the same expedition Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld were the first the traverse the mountain by climbing via the North Face and descending via the South Col.{{cite web |url=http://www.everesthistory.com/climbers/whittaker.htm |title=Jim Whittaker |publisher=EverestHistory.com |access-date=13 February 2010 |archive-date=13 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190513193901/http://www.everesthistory.com/climbers/whittaker.htm |url-status=live }}{{cite journal|url=http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2007/1/2007_1_58.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081203164307/http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/2007/1/2007_1_58.shtml| archive-date=3 December 2008|first=Maurice|last=Isserman|title=Highest Adventure|journal=American Heritage|date=February–March 2007}}

{{see also|1970 Mount Everest disaster}}

In 1970, Japanese mountaineers conducted a major expedition. The centrepiece was a large "siege"-style expedition led by Saburo Matsukata, working on finding a new route up the southwest face.{{sfnp|Unsworth|2000|p=594}} Another element of the expedition was an attempt to ski Mount Everest. Despite a staff of over one hundred people and a decade of planning work, the expedition suffered eight deaths and failed to summit via the planned routes. However, Japanese expeditions did enjoy some successes. For example, Yuichiro Miura became the first man to ski down Everest from the South Col—he descended nearly {{convert|4,200|ft|m|order=flip|adj=pre| vertical }} from the South Col before falling with extreme injuries. Another success was an expedition that put four on the summit via the South Col route.{{Cite web|url=https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/|title=The HJ/31/8 The Japanese Mount Everest Expedition, 1969–1970|website=himalayanclub.org|access-date=29 January 2016|archive-date=27 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240327025245/https://www.himalayanclub.org/hj/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.everesthistory.com/everestsummits/summits70.htm |title=Everest Summits in the 1970s |website=EverestHistory.com |access-date=25 May 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091014112932/http://www.everesthistory.com/everestsummits/summits70.htm |archive-date=14 October 2009}} Miura's exploits became the subject of film, and he went on to become the oldest person to summit Mount Everest in 2003 at age 70 and again in 2013 at the age of 80.{{cite web |url=https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/9303665/japan-yuichiro-miura-80-oldest-reach-top-mount-everest |title=Yuichiro Miura, 80, scales Everest |agency=Associated Press |date=23 May 2013 |website=ESPN}}

In 1975, Junko Tabei became the first woman to summit Mount Everest.{{clear}}

The 1975 British Mount Everest Southwest Face expedition led and organised by Chris Bonington made the first ascent of the south west face of Everest from the Western Cwm.

The 1976 British and Nepalese Army Expedition to Everest led by Tony Streather put Bronco Lane and Brummy Stokes on the summit by the normal route.

In 1978, Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler made the first ascent of Everest without supplemental oxygen.

File:Mount Everest winter 1980 cert.jpg]]

The Polish climber Andrzej Zawada headed the first winter ascent of Mount Everest, the first winter ascent of an eight-thousander. The team of 20 Polish climbers and 4 Sherpas established a base camp on Khumbu Glacier in early January 1980. On 15 January, the team managed to set up Camp III at 7150 metres above sea level, but further action was stopped by hurricane-force winds. The weather improved after 11 February, when Leszek Cichy, Walenty Fiut and Krzysztof Wielicki set up camp IV on South Col (7906 m). Cichy and Wielicki started the final ascent at 6:50{{nbsp}}am on 17 February. At 2:40{{nbsp}}pm Andrzej Zawada at base camp heard the climbers' voices over the radio – "We are on the summit! The strong wind blows all the time. It is unimaginably cold."[https://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_1984_files/AJ%201984%2050-59%20Zawada%20Everest.pdf Mount Everest the first winter ascent] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114174254/https://www.alpinejournal.org.uk/Contents/Contents_1984_files/AJ%201984%2050-59%20Zawada%20Everest.pdf |date=14 November 2021 }} Andrzej Zawada www.alpinejournal.org.uk, accessed 12 December 2020{{cite web|url=http://blog.theclymb.com/passions/history-2/ice-warriors-polands-golden-alpine-generation/|title=The Ice Warriors: Poland's Golden Alpine Generation|date=30 March 2016|access-date=31 March 2018|archive-date=17 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917104446/https://blog.theclymb.com/passions/history-2/ice-warriors-polands-golden-alpine-generation/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://winterclimb.com/articles/item/111-mount-everest-first-winter-ascent-1980|title=The first winter ascent of Mount Everest|first=Damian|last=Granowski|access-date=30 March 2018|archive-date=26 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326072827/https://winterclimb.com/articles/item/111-mount-everest-first-winter-ascent-1980|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://himalman.wordpress.com/2007/11/13/krzysztof-wielicki-polish-winter-expedition-1980-part-1/|title=Krzysztof Wielicki – Polish Winter Expedition 1980 – part 1|date=13 November 2007|access-date=30 March 2018|archive-date=26 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326072826/https://himalman.wordpress.com/2007/11/13/krzysztof-wielicki-polish-winter-expedition-1980-part-1/|url-status=live}} The successful winter ascent of Mount Everest started a new decade of Winter Himalaism, which became a Polish specialisation. After 1980 Poles did ten first winter ascents on 8000 metre peaks, which earned Polish climbers a reputation of "Ice Warriors".{{cite web|url=http://www.adventurestats.com/tables/8000erwinter.shtml|title=Adventurestats.com|website=www.adventurestats.com|access-date=26 March 2018|archive-date=23 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191023050813/http://www.adventurestats.com/tables/8000erwinter.shtml|url-status=usurped}}{{cite web|url=http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web11w/wfeature-polish-winter/2|title=Golden Decade: The Birth of 8000m Winter Climbing|website=www.alpinist.com|access-date=4 January 2018|archive-date=15 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220615125022/http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web11w/wfeature-polish-winter/2|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2102469/how-polands-ice-warriors-aim-become-first-team-summit-k2-savage|title=Poland's 'ice warriors' risk life and limb to be first to summit K2 in winter|date=13 July 2017|access-date=30 March 2018|archive-date=28 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220428114017/https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2102469/how-polands-ice-warriors-aim-become-first-team-summit-k2-savage|url-status=live}}

In May 1989, Polish climbers under the leadership of Eugeniusz Chrobak organised an international expedition to Mount Everest on a difficult western ridge. Ten Poles and nine foreigners participated, but ultimately only the Poles remained in the attempt for the summit. On 24 May, Chrobak and Andrzej Marciniak, starting from camp V at 8,200 m, overcame the ridge and reached the summit. But on 27 May, during an avalanche from the side of Khumbutse near the Lho La pass, four Polish climbers were killed: Mirosław Dąsal, Mirosław Gardzielewski, Zygmunt Andrzej Heinrich and Wacław Otręba. The following day, due to his injuries, Chrobak also died. Marciniak, who was also injured, was saved by a rescue expedition in which Artur Hajzer and New Zealanders Gary Ball and Rob Hall took part. In the organisation of the rescue expedition they took part, inter alia Reinhold Messner, Elizabeth Hawley, Carlos Carsolio and the US consul.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/zgineli-bo-byli-najlepsi-134200|title=Zginęli, bo byli najlepsi|date=9 June 2009|website=www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl|access-date=30 May 2019|archive-date=26 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326072830/https://www.tygodnikpowszechny.pl/zgineli-bo-byli-najlepsi-134200|url-status=live}}

{{main|1996 Mount Everest disaster}}

On 10 and 11 May 1996, eight climbers died after several guided expeditions were caught in a blizzard high up on the mountain during a summit attempt on 10 May. During the 1996 season, 15 people died while climbing on Mount Everest. These were the highest death tolls for a single weather event, and for a single season, until the sixteen deaths in the 2014 Mount Everest avalanche. The guiding disaster gained wide publicity and raised questions about the commercialisation of climbing and the safety of guiding clients on Mount Everest.

Journalist Jon Krakauer, on assignment from Outside magazine, was in one of the affected guided parties, and afterward published the bestseller Into Thin Air, which related his experience. Krakauer was critical of guide Anatoli Boukreev in his recollection of the expedition.{{cite news |last1=Baechtel |first1=Mark |title=Review: Above the Clouds: The Diaries of a High-Altitude Mountaineer |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/2001/11/18/for-anyone-with-even-a-passing/a4f154e5-c22b-4fc9-bea3-93c794d34814/ |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=16 April 2021 |archive-date=12 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412050721/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/2001/11/18/for-anyone-with-even-a-passing/a4f154e5-c22b-4fc9-bea3-93c794d34814/ |url-status=live }} A year later, Boukreev co-authored The Climb, in part as a rebuttal of Krakauer's portrayal.{{cite news |last=Parfit |first=Michael |title=Breathless |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/12/07/reviews/971207.07parfitt.html |work=New York Times |date=7 December 1997 |access-date=16 April 2021 |archive-date=16 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416171415/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/12/07/reviews/971207.07parfitt.html |url-status=live }} The dispute sparked a debate within the climbing community. Boukreev was later awarded The American Alpine Club's David Sowles Award for his rescue efforts on the expedition.{{cite web |last1=Zubacheva |first1=Ksenia |title=How a Russian rescued U.S. alpinists on top of Mt. Everest |url=https://www.rbth.com/history/327642-boukreev-everest-tragedy |website=Russia Beyond |date=21 February 2018 |access-date=21 February 2018 |archive-date=9 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409015544/https://www.rbth.com/history/327642-boukreev-everest-tragedy |url-status=live }}

In May 2004, physicist Kent Moore and surgeon John L. Semple, both researchers from the University of Toronto, told New Scientist magazine that an analysis of weather conditions on 11 May suggested that weather caused oxygen levels to plunge about 14 per cent.{{cite journal| title = The day the sky fell on Everest| journal = New Scientist| issue = 2449| page = 15| date = 29 May 2004| url = http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/mg18224492.200-the-day-the-sky-fell-on-everest.html| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070703183045/http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/mg18224492.200-the-day-the-sky-fell-on-everest.html| archive-date = 3 July 2007| access-date = 11 December 2006}}{{cite web| url=http://www.bioedonline.org/news/news.cfm?art=986| title=High winds suck oxygen from Everest. Predicting pressure lows could protect climbers| access-date=11 December 2006| last=Peplow| first=Mark| date=25 May 2004| publisher=BioEd Online| quote=Moore explains that these jet streaks can drag a huge draught of air up the side of the mountain, lowering the air pressure. He calculates that this typically reduces the partial pressure of oxygen in the air by about 6%, which translates to a 14% reduction in oxygen uptake for the climbers. Air at that altitude already contains only one third as much oxygen as sea-level air.| archive-date=4 October 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201004221206/http://www.bioedonline.org/news/news.cfm?art=986| url-status=live}}

One of the survivors was Beck Weathers, left for dead about 275 metres (900 feet) from Camp 4 at 7,950 metres (26,085 feet). After spending a night on the mountain, Weathers managed to make it back to Camp 4 with massive frostbite and vision impaired due to snow blindness.{{cite web|title=Beck Weathers|url=http://www.badassoftheweek.com/weathers.html|website=Badass of the Week|access-date=25 June 2016|archive-date=9 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409072833/http://www.badassoftheweek.com/weathers.html|url-status=live}} When he arrived at Camp 4, fellow climbers considered his condition terminal and left him in a tent to die overnight.{{cite journal|last1=Weathers|first1=Beck|title=My Journey Home From Everest|journal=D Magazine|date=May 2000|url=http://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2000/may/my-journey-home-from-everest/|access-date=31 January 2017|quote=They left me alone in Scott Fischer's tent that night, expecting me to die. On a couple of occasions, I heard the others referring to "a dead guy" in the tent. Who could that be? I wondered as I slipped in and out of wakefulness.|archive-date=20 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020002916/https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2000/may/my-journey-home-from-everest/|url-status=live}} Weathers was lowered to Camp 2 and eventually a helicopter rescue was organised thanks to the Nepali Army.

The storm's impact on climbers on the North Ridge of Everest, where several climbers also died, was detailed in a first-hand account by British filmmaker and writer Matt Dickinson in his book The Other Side of Everest. Sixteen-year-old Mark Pfetzer was on the climb and wrote about it in his account, Within Reach: My Everest Story.

The 2015 feature film Everest, directed by Baltasar Kormákur, is based on the events of this guiding disaster.{{cite news|last=Hopewell|first=John|title='2 Guns' Helmer Kormakur Set to Climb 'Everest'|url=https://variety.com/2013/film/international/2-guns-kormakur-set-to-climb-everest-1200574821/|access-date=17 January 2014|newspaper=Variety|date=6 August 2013|archive-date=1 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201091929/http://variety.com/2013/film/international/2-guns-kormakur-set-to-climb-everest-1200574821/|url-status=live}}

File:Avalanche on Everest.JPG

In 2006, 12 people died. One death in particular (see below) triggered an international debate and years of discussion about climbing ethics.{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/25/travel/everest-2012-anniversary/|title=Striving for Everest: World's highest battle|last=Strickland | first=Ashley |date=25 May 2013|work=CNN|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170625120045/http://www.cnn.com/travel/article/everest-2012-anniversary/index.html |archive-date=2017-06-25 |url-status=live}} The season was also remembered for the rescue of Lincoln Hall who had been left by his climbing team and declared dead, but was later discovered alive and survived being helped off the mountain.

There was an international controversy about the death of a solo British climber David Sharp, who attempted to climb Mount Everest in 2006 but died in his attempt. The story broke out of the mountaineering community into popular media, with a series of interviews, allegations, and critiques. The question was whether climbers that season had left a man to die and whether he could have been saved. He was said to have attempted to summit Mount Everest by himself with no Sherpa or guide and fewer oxygen bottles than considered normal.{{cite web|url=http://www.outsideonline.com/1909966/over-top|title=Over the Top|website=Outside Online|access-date=20 September 2015|date=15 August 2006|archive-date=10 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230710045042/https://www.outsideonline.com/1909966/over-top|url-status=live}} He went with a low-budget Nepali guide firm that only provides support up to Base Camp, after which climbers go as a "loose group", offering a high degree of independence. The manager at Sharp's guide support said Sharp did not take enough oxygen for his summit attempt and did not have a Sherpa guide.{{cite web|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2006/may/22/20060522-110420-9433r/|title=Everest climber left to die alone|website=The Washington Times|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=3 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220703171200/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2006/may/22/20060522-110420-9433r/|url-status=live}} It is less clear who knew Sharp was in trouble, and if they did know, whether they were qualified or capable of helping him.

Double-amputee climber Mark Inglis said in an interview that on 15 May his climbing party, and many others, had passed Sharp, sheltering under a rock overhang {{convert|450|m|ft}} below the summit, without attempting a rescue.{{cite web|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1645603.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060823184345/http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200605/s1645603.htm|archive-date=23 August 2006|title=Everest climber defends leaving dying Briton|publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation|date=23 May 2006}} Inglis said 40 people had passed by Sharp, but he might have been overlooked as climbers assumed Sharp was the corpse nicknamed "Green Boots",{{cite news |last1=Breed |first1=Allen G. |last2=Gurubacharya |first2=Binaj |url=http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?menu=c10400&no=305837&rel_no=1 |title=Part II: Near top of Everest, he waves off fellow climbers: 'I just want to sleep' |date=18 July 2006 |work=Oh My News |access-date=7 December 2016 |archive-date=24 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424133320/http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?menu=c10400&no=305837&rel_no=1 |url-status=dead }} but Inglis was not aware that Turkish climbers had tried to help Sharp despite being in the process of helping an injured woman down (a Turkish woman, Burçak Poçan). There has also been some discussion about Himex in the commentary on Inglis and Sharp. In regard to Inglis's initial comments, he later revised certain details because he had been interviewed while he was "physically and mentally exhausted, and in a lot of pain. He had suffered severe frostbite – he later had five fingertips amputated."{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3662508/Summit-fever.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3662508/Summit-fever.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Summit fever|author=Ed Douglas|date=13 January 2007|website=Telegraph.co.uk|access-date=20 September 2015}}{{cbignore}} It was estimated that Sharp summited Mount Everest on 14 May and began his descent down, but on 15 May he was in trouble and being passed by climbers on their way up and down. It is believed he was suffering from hypoxia and was about {{convert|1000|ft|m|order=flip|sigfig=1|abbr=on}} from the summit on the North Side route.

{{blockquote|Dawa from Arun Treks also gave oxygen to David and tried to help him move, repeatedly, for perhaps an hour. But he could not get David to stand alone or even stand to rest on his shoulders, and crying, Dawa had to leave him too. Even with two Sherpas, it was not going to be possible to get David down the tricky sections below.|Jamie McGuiness{{cite web|url=http://www.explorersweb.com/everest_k2/news.php?id=2112|title=Everest K2 News ExplorersWeb – Jamie McGuiness about David Sharp: "Crying, Dawa had to leave him"|website=explorersweb.com|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=19 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919023358/http://www.explorersweb.com/everest_k2/news.php?id=2112|url-status=live}}}}

The Tribune of Chandigarh, India quoted someone who described what happened to Sharp as "the most shameful act in the history of mountaineering".{{cite web |url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20061210/spectrum/main6.htm |title=The High and Low of Everest |department=Spectrum |website=The Sunday Tribune |location=Chandigarh, India |access-date=24 November 2021 |archive-date=19 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019222801/https://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20061210/spectrum/main6.htm |url-status=live }} In addition to Sharp's death, at least nine other climbers perished that year, including multiple Sherpas working for various guiding companies.{{cite web|url=http://www.explorersweb.com/everest_k2/news.php?id=7925|title=Everest K2 News ExplorersWeb – Un-named Everest Sherpa gets a name – and fatality details|website=explorersweb.com|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=4 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220704232734/https://explorersweb.com/everest_k2/news.php?id=7925|url-status=dead}}

Much of this controversy was captured by the Discovery Channel while filming the television program Everest: Beyond the Limit. A crucial decision affecting the fate of Sharp is shown in the program, where an early returning climber, Lebanese adventurer Maxim Chaya, is descending from the summit and radios to his base camp manager (Russell Brice) that he has found a frostbitten and unconscious climber in distress. Chaya is unable to identify Sharp, who had chosen to climb solo without any support and so did not identify himself to other climbers. The base camp manager assumes that Sharp is part of a group that has already calculated that they must abandon him, and informs his lone climber that there is no chance of him being able to help Sharp by himself. As Sharp's condition deteriorates through the day and other descending climbers pass him, his opportunities for rescue diminish: his legs and feet curl from frostbite, preventing him from walking; the later descending climbers are lower on oxygen and lack the strength to offer aid; time runs out for any Sherpas to return and rescue him.

David Sharp's body remained just below the summit on the Chinese side next to "Green Boots"; they shared a space in a small rock cave that was an ad hoc tomb for them.{{cite book|author1=D. Savage|author2=B. Torgler|title=The Times They Are A Changin': The Effect of Institutional Change on Cooperative Behaviour at 26,000 ft over Sixty Years|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=49DKBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA5|year=2015|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-137-52515-4|pages=5–|access-date=22 July 2015|archive-date=5 October 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241005160807/https://books.google.com/books?id=49DKBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA5#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}} Sharp's body was removed from the cave in 2007, according to the BBC,{{cite web | url=http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20151008-the-graveyard-in-the-clouds-everests-200-dead-bodies | title=Death in the Clouds: The problem with Everest's 200+ bodies | date=9 October 2015 | access-date=10 October 2015 | archive-date=3 July 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703160700/http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20151008-the-graveyard-in-the-clouds-everests-200-dead-bodies | url-status=live }} and since 2014, Green Boots has been missing, presumably removed or buried.

As the Sharp debate kicked off on 26 May 2006, Australian climber Lincoln Hall was found alive after being left for dead the day before. He was found by a party of four climbers (Dan Mazur, Andrew Brash, Myles Osborne and Jangbu Sherpa) who, giving up their own summit attempt, stayed with Hall and descended with him and a party of 11 Sherpas sent up to carry him down. Hall later fully recovered. His team assumed he had died from cerebral edema, and they were instructed to cover him with rocks.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/nepal/1519597/Climber-declared-dead-on-Everest-is-brought-down-alive.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/nepal/1519597/Climber-declared-dead-on-Everest-is-brought-down-alive.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Climber declared dead on Everest is brought down alive |last=Squires|first=Nick |work=Daily Telegraph |location=United Kingdom |access-date=16 May 2017}}{{cbignore}} There were no rocks around to do this and he was abandoned.{{cite news |last=Weber |first=Bruce |date=24 March 2012 |title=Lincoln Hall, Australian Mountaineer, Dies at 56 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/world/asia/lincoln-hall-australian-mountaineer-dies-at-56.html |work=The New York Times |access-date=16 May 2017 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=26 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326113345/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/world/asia/lincoln-hall-australian-mountaineer-dies-at-56.html |url-status=live }} The erroneous information of his death was passed on to his family. The next day he was discovered alive by another party.

On 21 May 2007, Canadian climber Meagan McGrath initiated the successful high-altitude rescue of Nepali Usha Bista. Major McGrath was selected as a 2011 recipient of the Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation of Canada Humanitarian Award, which recognises a Canadian who has personally or administratively contributed a significant service or act in the Himalayan Region of Nepal.{{cite web |url=http://www.thesiredmundhillaryfoundation.ca/ |title=Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation of Canada |publisher=Thesiredmundhillaryfoundation.ca |access-date=15 May 2012 |archive-date=20 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220720161417/https://thesiredmundhillaryfoundation.ca/ |url-status=live }}

File:EverestAscents.svg

File:Sunrise over Everest.jpg

By the end of the 2010 climbing season, there had been 5,104 ascents to the summit by about 3,142 individuals, with 77 per cent of these ascents being accomplished since 2000. The summit was achieved in 7 of the 22 years from 1953 to 1974 and was not missed between 1975 and 2014. In 2007, the record number of 633 ascents was recorded, by 350 climbers and 253 sherpas.

An illustration of the explosion of popularity of Everest is provided by the numbers of daily ascents. Analysis of the 1996 Mount Everest disaster shows that part of the blame was on the bottleneck caused by a large number of climbers (33 to 36) attempting to summit on the same day; this was considered unusually high at the time. By comparison, on 23 May 2010, the summit of Mount Everest was reached by 169 climbers – more summits in a single day than in the cumulative 31 years from the first successful summit in 1953 through 1983.

There have been 219 fatalities recorded on Mount Everest from the 1922 British Mount Everest Expedition through the end of 2010, a rate of 4.3 fatalities for every 100 summits (this is a general rate, and includes fatalities amongst support climbers, those who turned back before the peak, those who died en route to the peak and those who died while descending from the peak). Of the 219 fatalities, 58 (26.5 per cent) were climbers who had summited but did not complete their descent. Though the rate of fatalities has decreased since the year 2000 (1.4 fatalities for every 100 summits, with 3938 summits since 2000), the significant increase in the total number of climbers still means 54 fatalities since 2000: 33 on the northeast ridge, 17 on the southeast ridge, 2 on the southwest face, and 2 on the north face.

Nearly all attempts at the summit are done using one of the two main routes. The traffic seen by each route varies from year to year. In 2005–07, more than half of all climbers elected to use the more challenging, but cheaper northeast route. In 2008, the northeast route was closed by the Chinese government for the entire climbing season, and the only people able to reach the summit from the north that year were athletes responsible for carrying the Olympic torch for the 2008 Summer Olympics.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/15/world/asia/15nepal.html|title=Nepal Puts Everest Off Limits During China's Olympic Torch Relay in May|work=The New York Times|first=Somini|last=Sengupta|date=15 March 2008|access-date=17 February 2017|archive-date=12 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512190159/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/15/world/asia/15nepal.html|url-status=live}} The route was closed to foreigners once again in 2009 in the run-up to the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama's exile.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/4806464/China-closes-Tibetan-side-of-Everest-to-climbers-ahead-of-anniversary-of-Dalai-Lamas-exile.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/4806464/China-closes-Tibetan-side-of-Everest-to-climbers-ahead-of-anniversary-of-Dalai-Lamas-exile.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=China closes Tibetan side of Everest to climbers ahead of anniversary of Dalai Lama's exile | work=The Daily Telegraph | first=Malcolm|last=Moore|date=25 February 2009|location=London}}{{cbignore}} These closures led to declining interest in the north route, and, in 2010, two-thirds of the climbers reached the summit from the south.

{{main|Mount Everest in 2012|Mount Everest in 2013}}

File:Andreas Breitfuss Mt Everest Summit.jpg

The 2010s were a time of new highs and lows for the mountain, with back-to-back disasters in 2013 and 2014 causing record deaths. In 2015 there were no summits for the first time in decades. However, other years set records for numbers of summits – 2013's record number of summiters, around 667, was surpassed in 2018 with around 800 summiting the peak,{{Cite web|url=http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2018/05/24/everest-2018-season-summary-record-weather-record-summits/|title=Everest 2018: Season Summary – Record Weather, Record Summits|date=25 May 2018|website=The Blog on alanarnette.com|access-date=22 January 2019|archive-date=15 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220215003422/https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2018/05/24/everest-2018-season-summary-record-weather-record-summits/|url-status=live}} and a subsequent record was set in 2019 with over 890 summiters.{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/5604758/mount-everest-deaths/|title=Greed, Weather and Inexperience: See How Mount Everest's Deadly Season Compares to Past Years|author1=Emily Barone|author2=Lon Tweeten|magazine=Time|access-date=12 June 2019|archive-date=4 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804181156/https://time.com/5604758/mount-everest-deaths/|url-status=live}}

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{{main|2014 Mount Everest avalanche}}

File:Mt Everest.jpg

On 18 April 2014, an avalanche hit the area just below Base Camp 2.{{cite news |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-27075638 |title= Everest avalanche kills at least 12 Sherpa guides |work= BBC News |date= 18 April 2014 |access-date= 18 April 2014 |archive-date= 6 August 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220806161427/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-27075638 |url-status= live }} Sixteen people were killed (all Nepali guides) and nine more were injured.{{cite news |last= Krakauer |first= Jon |title= Death and Anger on Everest |url= https://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2014/04/everest-sherpas-death-and-anger.html |access-date= 22 April 2014 |magazine= The New Yorker |date= 21 April 2014 |quote= Of the twenty-five men hit by the falling ice, sixteen were killed, all of them Nepalis working for guided climbing teams. |archive-date= 21 July 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140721000827/https://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2014/04/everest-sherpas-death-and-anger.html |url-status= live }} In response to the tragedy, numerous Sherpa climbing guides walked off the job and most climbing companies pulled out in respect for the Sherpa people mourning the loss.{{cite news|work=NPR|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/04/24/306390312/injured-sherpa-explains-why-hell-never-climb-mount-everest-again|title=Sherpas Walk Off The Job After Deadly Avalanche|author=McCarthy, Julie|date=24 April 2014|access-date=26 April 2014|archive-date=26 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526072154/http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/04/24/306390312/injured-sherpa-explains-why-hell-never-climb-mount-everest-again|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=Sherpas Consider Boycott After Everest Disaster|agency=Associated Press|work=NPR|date=21 April 2014|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=305178526|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140421083304/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=305178526|archive-date=21 April 2014|access-date=26 April 2014}}

During the season, 13-year-old Malavath Purna reached the summit, becoming the youngest female climber to do so.{{cite news |url= http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/13-year-old-Andhra-teen-becomes-youngest-woman-to-scale-Everest/articleshow/35598021.cms |work= Times of India |title= 13-year-old Andhra teen becomes the youngest woman to scale Everest |access-date= 25 May 2014 |archive-date= 7 June 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220607160304/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/13-year-old-Andhra-teen-becomes-youngest-woman-to-scale-Everest/articleshow/35598021.cms |url-status= live }} One team used a helicopter to fly from South base camp to Camp 2 to avoid the Khumbu Icefall, then reached the Everest summit. This team had to use the south side because the Chinese had denied them a permit to climb. A team member (Jing Wang) donated US$30,000 to a local hospital. She was named the Nepali "International Mountaineer of the Year".{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/140805-mount-everest-sherpa-mountain-climbing-jing-wang-avalanche |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225165537/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/140805-mount-everest-sherpa-mountain-climbing-jing-wang-avalanche |url-status=dead |archive-date=25 February 2021 |title= Woman Whose Post-Avalanche Everest Ascent Sparked Outrage Defends Her Feat |website= National Geographic |date= 6 August 2014 |access-date=20 September 2015}}

{{anchor|Jing Wang}}

File:Everest3d qbd 2014116.jpg

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Over 100 people summited Everest from China (Tibet region), and six from Nepal in the 2014 season.{{cite web |url= http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2014/06/09/everest-2014-season-summary-nepal-tragedy/ |title= Everest 2014: Season Summary – A Nepal Tragedy |website= alanarnette.com |format= Blog |access-date= 20 September 2015 |archive-date= 4 August 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220804212024/https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2014/06/09/everest-2014-season-summary-nepal-tragedy/ |url-status= live }} This included 72-year-old Bill Burke, the Indian teenage girl, and a Chinese woman Jing Wang.{{cite web |url= http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2014/05/23/everest-2014-first-summits/ |title= Everest 2014: Summits – Update 6 |website= alanarnette.com |format= Blog |access-date= 18 May 2016 |archive-date= 4 August 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220804212241/https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2014/05/23/everest-2014-first-summits/ |url-status= live }} Another teen girl summiter was Ming Kipa Sherpa who summited with her elder sister Lhakpa Sherpa in 2003, and who had achieved the most times for woman to the summit of Mount Everest at that time.{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/may/25/everest.nepal |title=Teenage girl conquers Everest, 50 years on |author=Luke Harding |website=The Guardian |date=25 May 2003 |access-date=17 June 2016 |archive-date=3 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203121448/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/may/25/everest.nepal |url-status=live }} (see also Santosh Yadav)

{{main|2015 Mount Everest avalanches}}

File:Everest from Kalatop April 2015.jpg

2015 was set to be a record-breaking season of climbs, with hundreds of permits issued in Nepal and many additional permits in Tibet (China). However, on 25 April 2015, an earthquake measuring 7.8 M_w triggered an avalanche that hit Everest Base Camp,{{cite news |title= Everest Climbers Are Killed as Nepal Quake Sets Off Avalanche |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/world/asia/everest-climbers-killed-as-nepal-quake-sets-off-avalanche.html |author= Gardiner Harris |work= The New York Times |date= 25 April 2015 |access-date= 23 December 2015 |archive-date= 14 November 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171114202007/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/26/world/asia/everest-climbers-killed-as-nepal-quake-sets-off-avalanche.html |url-status= live }} effectively shutting down the Everest climbing season.{{cite web |url=http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2015/05/06/everest-2015-season-summary-summits-dont-matter-2/ |title=Everest 2015: Season Summary – Summits Don't Matter |website=alanarnette.com |format=Blog |access-date=20 September 2015 |archive-date=4 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804205212/https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2015/05/06/everest-2015-season-summary-summits-dont-matter-2/ |url-status=live }} 18 bodies were recovered from Mount Everest by the Indian Army mountaineering team.{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Avalanche-triggered-by-quake-kills-18-on-Mount-Everest/articleshow/47055195.cms|website=The Times of India|title=Avalanche triggered by quake kills 18 on Mount Everest|access-date=26 April 2015|archive-date=28 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150428194807/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Avalanche-triggered-by-quake-kills-18-on-Mount-Everest/articleshow/47055195.cms|url-status=live}} The avalanche began on Pumori,{{cite magazine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224201012/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/150425-everest-earthquake-basecamp-nepal-himalaya-climbing-sherpa|archive-date=24 February 2021|url= https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/04/150425-everest-earthquake-basecamp-nepal-himalaya-climbing-sherpa/ |title= Everest Base Camp a 'War Zone' After Earthquake Triggers Avalanches |magazine= National Geographic |access-date= 26 April 2015}} moved through the Khumbu Icefall on the southwest side of Mount Everest, and slammed into the South Base Camp.{{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2015/04/25/cfa47ee6-eb95-11e4-9a6a-c1ab95a0600b_story.html?hpid=z2 |title= 10 confirmed dead in Mount Everest avalanche, but toll expected to rise |date= 25 April 2015 |newspaper= The Washington Post |access-date= 25 April 2015 |archive-date= 2 April 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190402144807/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2015/04/25/cfa47ee6-eb95-11e4-9a6a-c1ab95a0600b_story.html?hpid=z2 |url-status= live }} 2015 was the first time since 1974 with no spring summits, as all climbing teams pulled out after the quakes and avalanche.{{cite web |url= http://snowbrains.com/everest-will-not-be-climbed-for-first-time-since-1974/ |title= Mt. Everest Will Not Be Climbed for First Time Since 1974 |website= snowbrains.com |date= 5 May 2015 |access-date= 20 September 2015 |archive-date= 19 May 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220519143653/https://snowbrains.com/everest-will-not-be-climbed-for-first-time-since-1974/ |url-status= live }} One of the reasons for this was the high probability of aftershocks (over 50 per cent according to the United States Geological Survey).{{cite web |url= http://snowbrains.com/no-one-will-climb-everest-this-year/ |title= No One Will Climb Everest This Year – The Last Team Pulls Out |website= snowbrains.com |date= 2 May 2015 |format= Blog |access-date= 20 September 2015 |archive-date= 28 April 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220428111912/https://snowbrains.com/no-one-will-climb-everest-this-year/ |url-status= live }} Just weeks after the first quake, the region was rattled again by a 7.3 magnitude quake and there were also many considerable aftershocks.{{cite web |url= http://theconversation.com/nepal-earthquake-such-huge-aftershocks-are-rare-41833 |title= Nepal earthquake: such huge aftershocks are rare |author= Nick Rawlinson |date= 15 May 2015 |website= The Conversation |access-date= 20 September 2015 |archive-date= 3 June 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230603173739/https://theconversation.com/nepal-earthquake-such-huge-aftershocks-are-rare-41833 |url-status= live }}

The quakes trapped hundreds of climbers above the Khumbu icefall, and they had to be evacuated by helicopter as they ran low on supplies.{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/trapped-at-20000-feet-hundreds-of-everest-climbers-await-choppers-as-supplies-run-low/|work=Fox News|title=Trapped at 20,000 feet: Hundreds of Everest climbers await choppers as supplies run low|access-date=20 June 2015|archive-date=11 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151211092708/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/04/26/8-dead-as-quake-triggered-avalanche-sweeps-everest-in-nepal/|url-status=live}} The quake shifted the route through the ice fall, making it essentially impassable to climbers. Bad weather also made helicopter evacuation difficult. The Everest tragedy was small compared to the impact overall on Nepal, with almost nine thousand dead{{cite web |url= http://drrportal.gov.np/ |website= Nepal Disaster Risk Reduction Portal, drrportal.gov.np |title= Incident Report of Earthquake 2015 |access-date= 28 May 2015 |archive-date= 24 October 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211024022604/http://drrportal.gov.np/ |url-status= live }}{{cite web |url= http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Nepal-earthquake-death-toll-rises-to-8413/articleshow/47187088.cms |title= Nepal earthquake death toll rises to 8,413 |date= 7 May 2015 |website= The Times of India |access-date= 9 May 2015 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150509190440/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/Nepal-earthquake-death-toll-rises-to-8413/articleshow/47187088.cms |archive-date= 9 May 2015 |df= dmy-all }} and about 22,000 injured. In Tibet, by 28 April at least 25 had died, and 117 were injured.{{cite news |url= http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/tibet-quake-toll-rises-to-25-117-injured-115042800106_1.html |title= Nepal quake: Death toll rises to 25 in Tibet; 117 injured |agency= Press Trust of India |date= 28 April 2015 |work= Business Standard |access-date= 17 June 2016 |archive-date= 28 February 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210228040012/http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/tibet-quake-toll-rises-to-25-117-injured-115042800106_1.html |url-status= live }} By 29 April 2015, the Tibet Mountaineering Association (North/Chinese side) closed Everest and other peaks to climbing, stranding 25 teams and about 300 people on the north side of Everest.{{cite web |url= http://www.outsideonline.com/1974091/breaking-north-side-everest-closing |title= North Side of Everest Closing |website= Outside |date= 29 April 2015 |access-date= 20 September 2015 |archive-date= 25 February 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210225094452/https://www.outsideonline.com/1974091/breaking-north-side-everest-closing |url-status= live }} On the south side, helicopters evacuated 180 people trapped at Camps 1 and 2.{{cite web |url= https://www.smh.com.au/world/nepal-earthquake-hopes-fade-for-survivors-180-rescued-on-mount-everest-20150427-1mungw.html |title= Nepal earthquake: Hopes fade for survivors; 180 rescued on Mount Everest |website= The Sydney Morning Herald |date= 27 April 2015 |access-date= 20 September 2015 |archive-date= 25 September 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150925022839/http://www.smh.com.au/world/nepal-earthquake-hopes-fade-for-survivors-180-rescued-on-mount-everest-20150427-1mungw.html |url-status= live }}

On 24 August 2015, Nepal re-opened Everest to tourism including mountain climbers.{{cite web |url= http://www.dw.com/en/mount-everest-opens-for-business/a-18668065 |title= Mount Everest opens for business |website= Deutsche Welle |access-date= 20 September 2015 |archive-date= 26 March 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220326072824/https://www.dw.com/en/mount-everest-opens-for-business/a-18668065 |url-status= live }} The only climber permit for the autumn season was awarded to Japanese climber Nobukazu Kuriki, who had tried four times previously to summit Everest without success. He made his fifth attempt in October, but had to give up just {{cvt|700|m}} from the summit due to "strong winds and deep snow".{{cite web |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/08/japanese-climber-with-no-fingertips-abandons-bid-to-scale-everest |title= Japanese climber with no fingertips abandons bid to scale Everest |website= The Guardian |date= 8 October 2015 |access-date= 12 December 2016 |archive-date= 14 May 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220514081833/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/08/japanese-climber-with-no-fingertips-abandons-bid-to-scale-everest |url-status= live }}{{cite news |url= https://time.com/4007494/nepal-everest-climbers/ |title= Everest Reopened to Climbers |author= Tanya Basu |magazine= Time |access-date= 20 September 2015 |archive-date= 26 March 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220326072826/https://time.com/4007494/nepal-everest-climbers/ |url-status= live }}

Some sections of the trail from Lukla to Everest Base Camp (Nepal) were damaged in the earthquakes earlier in the year and needed repairs to handle trekkers.{{cite web |url= https://www.foxnews.com/world/4-sections-of-trekking-route-to-mount-everest-were-damaged-by-earthquake-assessment-finds/ |title= 4 sections of trekking route to Mount Everest were damaged by earthquake, assessment finds |website= Fox News |date= 7 August 2015 |access-date= 20 September 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150924191426/http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/08/07/4-sections-trekking-route-to-mount-everest-were-damaged-by-earthquake/ |archive-date= 24 September 2015 |url-status=live}}

{{main|Mount Everest in 2016}}

Hawley's database records 641 made it to the summit in early 2016.{{Cite web|url=http://www.himalayandatabase.com/2016%20Season%20Lists/2016%20Spring%20A16.html|title=Himalayan Database Expedition Archives of Elizabeth Hawley|website=www.himalayandatabase.com|access-date=16 April 2019|archive-date=26 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326113550/http://www.himalayandatabase.com/2016%20Season%20Lists/2016%20Spring%20A16.html|url-status=live}}

{{main|Mount Everest in 2017}}

2017 was the biggest season yet, permit-wise, yielding hundreds of summiters and a handful of deaths.{{cite web |url=http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2017/05/25/everest-2017-south-col-dead-body-report-wrong/ |title=Everest 2017: South Col Dead Body Report was Wrong |date=25 May 2017 |website=Alanarnette |access-date=23 October 2017 |archive-date=27 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927165359/https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2017/05/25/everest-2017-south-col-dead-body-report-wrong/ |url-status=live }} On 27 May 2017, Kami Rita made his 21st climb to the summit with the Alpine Ascents Everest Expedition, one of three people in the World along with Apa Sherpa and Phurba Tashi Sherpa to make it to the summit of Mount Everest 21 times.{{cite news |url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/kami-rita-sherpa-scales-mt-everest-21-times/ |title=Kami Rita Sherpa scales Mt Everest 21 times |newspaper=The Himalayan Times |access-date=27 May 2017 |date=27 May 2017 |first=Rajan |last=Pokhrel |archive-date=8 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210508131331/https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/kami-rita-sherpa-scales-mt-everest-21-times/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/nepalese-sherpa-scales-everest-for-record-21-times/article18589634.ece |title=Nepalese Sherpa scales Everest for record 21 times |last=PTI |newspaper=The Hindu |access-date=27 May 2017 |date=27 May 2017 |archive-date=12 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112002729/https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/nepalese-sherpa-scales-everest-for-record-21-times/article18589634.ece |url-status=live }} The season had a tragic start with the death of Ueli Steck of Switzerland, who died from a fall during a warm-up climb.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/05/01/ueli-steck-famed-swiss-mountain-climber-dead-after-plunging-3280-feet-near-mt-everest/ |title=Ueli Steck, famed Swiss mountain climber, dead after plunging 3,280 feet near Mount Everest |first=Katie |last=Mettler |date=1 May 2017 |access-date=23 October 2017 |newspaper=Washington Post |archive-date=26 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026105041/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/05/01/ueli-steck-famed-swiss-mountain-climber-dead-after-plunging-3280-feet-near-mt-everest/ |url-status=live }} There was a continued discussion about the nature of possible changes to the Hillary Step.{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-22/mount-everest-hillary-step-collapses/8546086 |title=Mount Everest's famed Hillary Step collapses |date=22 May 2017 |website=ABC Online |access-date=23 October 2017 |publisher=ABC News |archive-date=6 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220806161456/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-22/mount-everest-hillary-step-collapses/8546086 |url-status=live }} Total summiters for 2017 was tallied up to be 648. 449 summited via Nepal (from the South) and 120 from Chinese Tibet (North side).{{cite news |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/first-climbers-of-2018-reach-mount-everest-summit/articleshow/64148121.cms |title=First climbers of 2018 reach Mount Everest summit |newspaper=Times of India |publisher=Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. |author=AFP |author-link=American Free Press |date=13 May 2018 |access-date=25 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180514185642/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com//world/south-asia/first-climbers-of-2018-reach-mount-everest-summit/articleshow/64148121.cms |archive-date=14 May 2018 |url-status=live}}

{{main|Mount Everest in 2018}}

File:Nepal 2018-03-27 (40012222680).jpg

807 climbers summited Mount Everest in 2018, including 563 on the Nepal side and 240 from the Chinese Tibet side. This broke the previous record for total summits in year from which was 667 in 2013, and one factor that aided in this was an especially long and clear weather window of 11 days during the critical spring climbing season.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2018/jun/04/peak-climbing-everest-awful-chris-bonington|title=Is climbing Everest today as 'awful' as Chris Bonington says?|last=Douglas|first=Ed|date=4 June 2018|work=The Guardian|access-date=22 January 2019|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=14 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220514081833/https://www.theguardian.com/world/shortcuts/2018/jun/04/peak-climbing-everest-awful-chris-bonington|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.outsideonline.com/2393183/mount-everest-2019-preview|title=What to Watch for on Everest This Year|last=Arnette|first=Alan|date=4 April 2019|website=Outside Online|access-date=10 April 2019|archive-date=10 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230710045637/https://www.outsideonline.com/2393183/mount-everest-2019-preview|url-status=live}} Various records were broken, including a summit by double-amputee Xia Boyu, who undertook his climb after winning a court case in the Nepali Supreme Court. There were no major disasters, but seven climbers including sherpas as well as international climbers, died in various situations. Although record numbers of climbers reached the summit, old-time summiters that made expeditions in the 1980s lamented the crowding, feces, and cost.

Figures for the number of permits issued by Nepal range from 347{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/everest/reference/climbing-mount-everest/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190205233431/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/everest/reference/climbing-mount-everest/|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 February 2019|title=Want to climb Mount Everest? Here's what you need to know|first=Freddie|last=Wilkinson|date=22 January 2019|publisher=National Geographic|access-date=11 June 2023}} to 375.{{cite news|url=https://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2018-04-11/2018-everest-season-starts-with-fresh-hopes-dreams.html|title=2018 Everest season starts with fresh hopes, dreams|newspaper=Kathmandu Post|first=Sangam|last=Prasain|date=11 April 2018|access-date=30 May 2019|archive-date=30 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530004455/https://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2018-04-11/2018-everest-season-starts-with-fresh-hopes-dreams.html|url-status=live}}

The spring or pre-monsoon window for 2019 witnessed the deaths of a number of climbers. Worldwide publication of images of hundreds of mountaineers queuing to reach the summit and sensational media reports of climbers stepping over dead bodies dismayed people around the world.{{Cite web|url=http://theconversation.com/death-on-everest-the-boom-in-climbing-tourism-is-dangerous-and-unsustainable-114033|title=Death on Everest: the boom in climbing tourism is dangerous and unsustainable|first=Yana|last=Wengel|website=The Conversation|date=7 June 2019|access-date=7 June 2019|archive-date=13 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220513154218/https://theconversation.com/death-on-everest-the-boom-in-climbing-tourism-is-dangerous-and-unsustainable-114033|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://coloradosun.com/2019/06/06/peter-lowry-colorado-mount-everest-deaths/|title=Colorado climber stepped over newly dead bodies to summit Everest. He's still wrestling with what it all means.|date=6 June 2019|website=The Colorado Sun|access-date=7 June 2019|archive-date=26 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326072850/https://coloradosun.com/2019/06/06/peter-lowry-colorado-mount-everest-deaths/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mount-everest-deaths-climber-describes-traffic-jams-and-corpses/|title=Climber describes scene in Everest's "death zone": Traffic jams and corpses|website=www.cbsnews.com|date=28 May 2019|access-date=7 June 2019|archive-date=13 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220713161346/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mount-everest-deaths-climber-describes-traffic-jams-and-corpses/|url-status=live}}

There were reports of various winter expeditions in the Himalayas, including K2, Nanga Parbat, and Meru with the buzz for the Everest 2019 beginning just 14 weeks to the weather window.{{Cite web|url=http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2019/01/06/2018-19-winter-climbs-k2-climbers-en-route-nanga-climbers-climbing/|title=2018/19 Winter Climbs: K2 Climbers en route, Nanga Climbers Climbing, New Everest Route?|date=7 January 2019|website=The Blog on alanarnette.com|access-date=23 January 2019|archive-date=27 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927163646/https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2019/01/06/2018-19-winter-climbs-k2-climbers-en-route-nanga-climbers-climbing/|url-status=live}} Noted climber Cory Richards announced on Twitter that he was hoping to establish a new climbing route to the summit in 2019. Also announced was an expedition to re-measure the height of Everest, particularly in light of the 2015 earthquakes.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/04/09/nepalese-team-measure-mount-everest-amid-concerns-peak-has-shrunk/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/04/09/nepalese-team-measure-mount-everest-amid-concerns-peak-has-shrunk/ |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Nepalese team to measure Mount Everest amid concerns it has shrunk following earthquake|last=Wallen|first=Joe|date=9 April 2019|work=The Telegraph|access-date=10 April 2019|issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite magazine|url=https://time.com/5566400/nepalese-climbers-remeasuring-everest/|title=Nepalese Climbers to Remeasure Mount Everest|magazine=Time|access-date=10 April 2019|archive-date=27 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227180150/https://time.com/5566400/nepalese-climbers-remeasuring-everest/|url-status=live}} China closed the base-camp to those without climbing permits in February 2019 on the northern side of Mount Everest.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-47249141|title=China closes Everest base camp to tourists|date=15 February 2019|access-date=24 May 2019|archive-date=9 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809161240/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-47249141|url-status=live}} By early April, climbing teams from around the world were arriving for the 2019 spring climbing season. Among the teams was a scientific expedition with a planned study of pollution, and how things like snow and vegetation influence the availability of food and water in the region.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/american-scientists-to-climb-mount-everest-to-study-pollution/2019/03/27/9e56172c-41c8-11e9-922c-64d6b7840b82_story.html|title=American scientists to climb Mount Everest to study pollution|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=10 April 2019|archive-date=26 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126234525/https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/american-scientists-to-climb-mount-everest-to-study-pollution/2019/03/27/9e56172c-41c8-11e9-922c-64d6b7840b82_story.html|url-status=live}} In the 2019 spring mountaineering season, there were roughly 40 teams with almost 400 climbers and several hundred guides attempting to summit on the Nepali side.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/sherpa-guide-kami-rita-climbs-mount-everest-24th-time-extends-n1008186|title=Mountaineer extends record by climbing Everest for 24th time|website=NBC News|date=21 May 2019|access-date=22 May 2019|archive-date=26 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220826202812/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/sherpa-guide-kami-rita-climbs-mount-everest-24th-time-extends-n1008186|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/21/asia/nepal-everest-record-scli-intl/index.html|title=Sherpa summits Everest a record 24th time|author=Emily Dixon and Sugam Pokharel|website=CNN|date=21 May 2019|access-date=22 May 2019|archive-date=29 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220629082340/https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/21/asia/nepal-everest-record-scli-intl/index.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48346341|title=Sherpa sets record with 24th Everest summit|date=21 May 2019|work=BBC News|access-date=22 May 2019|archive-date=26 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326113614/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48346341|url-status=live}} Nepal issued 381 climbing permits for 2019.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48395241|title=Three more die on Everest amid overcrowding|work=BBC News|date=24 May 2019|access-date=24 May 2019|archive-date=15 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815192224/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48395241|url-status=live}} For the northern routes in Chinese Tibet, several hundred more permits were issued for climbing by authorities there.{{Cite web|url=https://rockandice.com/climbing-news/chinese-everest-permits-slashed-by-33/|title=Chinese Everest Permits Slashed By 33%|website=Rock and Ice|date=28 January 2019|access-date=26 May 2019|archive-date=26 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326113633/https://www.rockandice.com/climbing-news/chinese-everest-permits-slashed-by-33/|url-status=live}}

In May 2019, Nepali mountaineering guide Kami Rita summited Mount Everest twice within a week, his 23rd and 24th ascents, making international news headlines.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/05/21/sherpa-climbs-everest-twice-week-breaks-his-record-with-his-th-ascent/|title=Sherpa climbs Everest twice in a week, breaks his record with his 24th ascent|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=22 May 2019|archive-date=18 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220418081121/https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/05/21/sherpa-climbs-everest-twice-week-breaks-his-record-with-his-th-ascent/|url-status=live}} He first summited Everest in 1994, and has summited several other extremely high mountains, such as K2 and Lhotse.

By 23 May 2019, about seven people had died, possibly due to crowding leading to delays high on the mountain, and shorter weather windows. One 19-year-old who summited previously noted that when the weather window opens, long lines form as everyone rushes to get the top and back down.{{Cite web|url = https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/four-reasons-why-things-have-turned-horrific-on-mt-everest/news-story/ab1786ea070a1d0a8ccf75befb9aa1d0|title = Aussie climber says Nepal needs to act after horror season on Everest| work=news |date = 29 May 2019|access-date = 30 May 2019|archive-date = 25 October 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211025053042/https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/incidents/four-reasons-why-things-have-turned-horrific-on-mt-everest/news-story/ab1786ea070a1d0a8ccf75befb9aa1d0|url-status = live}} In Chinese Tibet, one Austrian climber died from a fall, and by 26 May 2019 the overall number of deaths for the spring climbing season rose to 10.{{Cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/great-outdoors/british-climber-dies-on-mount-everest-death-toll-reaches-10|title=British climber dies on Mount Everest; death toll reaches 10|last=Aaro|first=David|date=25 May 2019|website=Fox News|access-date=26 May 2019|archive-date=26 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326113614/https://www.foxnews.com/great-outdoors/british-climber-dies-on-mount-everest-death-toll-reaches-10|url-status=live}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/25/world/asia/everest-death-traffic-jam.html|title=British Climber Dies on Everest as Traffic Jam's Toll Rises to 10|last1=Sharma|first1=Bhadra|date=25 May 2019|work=The New York Times|access-date=26 May 2019|last2=Mashal|first2=Mujib|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=12 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220712072323/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/25/world/asia/everest-death-traffic-jam.html|url-status=live}}[https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/26/asia/mount-everest-warning-scli-intl-gbr/index.html Everest mountaineer warned of overcrowding before dying on climb] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809185110/https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/26/asia/mount-everest-warning-scli-intl-gbr/index.html |date=9 August 2022 }} www.cnn.com, accessed 12 December 2020 By 28 May, the death toll increased to 11 when a climber died at about {{convert|26,000|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}} during the descent, and a 12th climber missing and presumed dead. Despite the number of deaths, reports indicated that a record 891 climbers summited in the spring 2019 climbing season.

Although China has had various permit restrictions, and Nepal requires a doctor to sign off on climbing permits,{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/05/29/mount-everest-deaths-traffic-jam-blame-why-such-deadly-season/1258092001/|title=What's causing Mount Everest's deadly season? Overcrowding, inexperience and a long line to the top|website=USA Today|access-date=29 May 2019|archive-date=21 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220821023947/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/05/29/mount-everest-deaths-traffic-jam-blame-why-such-deadly-season/1258092001/|url-status=live}} the natural dangers of climbing such as falls and avalanches combined with medical issues aggravated by Everest's extreme altitude led to 2019 being a year with a comparatively high death toll.

Both Nepal and China prohibited foreign climbing groups during the 2020 season, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2020 was the third year in this decade after 2014 and 2015 which saw no summits from the Nepal (South) Side.{{Cite web|date=13 March 2020|title=COVID-19 shuts down Everest|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/2020/03/will-coronavirus-shut-down-everest/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200314191538/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/2020/03/will-coronavirus-shut-down-everest/|url-status=dead|archive-date=14 March 2020|access-date=19 September 2020|website=Adventure}}

A team of Chinese surveyors climbed Mt. Everest from the North side during April–May 2020, becoming the only climbers to summit the world's highest peak during the pandemic, at least through May. The team was there to re-measure the height of Mount Everest.{{cite news|last=Khadka|first=Navin Singh|date=27 May 2020|title=Chinese team scale Everest during pandemic|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52819738|access-date=31 January 2021|archive-date=31 May 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531185450/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52819738|url-status=live}}

On 12 May 2022, the first all-Black team summited Mt. Everest. Seven men and two women climbers from the U.S. and Kenya, guided by eight sherpas, comprised the expedition.{{cite web | last=Cluff | first=Jilli | title=Mt. Everest History: First All-Black Expedition Team Summits World's Highest Peak | website=GearJunkie | date=12 May 2022 | url=https://gearjunkie.com/climbing/full-circle-everest-all-black-summit | access-date=13 May 2022 | archive-date=12 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412051401/https://gearjunkie.com/climbing/full-circle-everest-all-black-summit | url-status=live }}

File:Hillary Step near Everest top (retouched).jpg is visible. The top of the South-West face is on the left in shadow, and in the light to the right is the top of the East/Kangshung face. In 2016 and 2017 there were serious reports that the Hillary Step was changed, which triggered a big discussion in the climbing community. (2010 photo)]]

In 2014, Nepal issued 334 climbing permits, which were extended until 2019 due to the closure. In 2015, Nepal issued 357 permits, but the mountain was closed again because of the avalanche and earthquake, and these permits were given a two-year extension to 2017.{{cite web|url=http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2017-05-11/everest-expeditions-likely-to-be-delayed-by-bad-weather.html|title=Everest expeditions likely to be delayed by bad weather|website=ekantipur.com|access-date=23 October 2017|archive-date=24 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424053705/http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2017-05-11/everest-expeditions-likely-to-be-delayed-by-bad-weather.html|url-status=live}}{{cite web |author=Sangam Prasain |url=http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2016-02-20/everest-permits-to-be-extended.html |title=Kathmandu Post- Everest permits to be extended |publisher=Kathmandupost.ekantipur.com |access-date=17 June 2016 |archive-date=19 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919203745/http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2016-02-20/everest-permits-to-be-extended.html |url-status=live }}{{clarify|date=June 2016}}

In 2017, a person who tried to climb Everest without the $11,000 permit was caught after he made it past the Khumbu icefall. He faced, among other penalties, a $22,000 fine and a possible four years in jail. In the end, he was allowed to return home but banned from mountaineering in Nepal for 10 years.[https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/17/world/asia/mount-everest-climber-arrested-permit.html Mt. Everest Beckoned, So He Climbed Without a Permit. Now He's Under Arrest] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220827015551/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/17/world/asia/mount-everest-climber-arrested-permit.html |date=27 August 2022 }} www.nytimes.com accessed 12 December 2020

The number of permits issued each year by Nepal is:{{cite news|url=https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/climbers-did-not-die-due-to-congestion-on-mount-everest-says-nepal-2052554|title=Climbers Did Not Die Due To Congestion on Mount Everest, Says Nepal|work=NDTV|access-date=13 June 2019|archive-date=26 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220826202811/https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/climbers-did-not-die-due-to-congestion-on-mount-everest-says-nepal-2052554|url-status=live}}

• 2008: 160
• 2009: 220
• 2010: 209
• 2011: 225
• 2012: 208
• 2013: 316
• 2014: 326 (extended for use through 2019)
• 2015: 356 (extended for use through 2017)
• 2016: 289
• 2017: 366 to 373
• 2018: 346
• 2019: 381
• 2020: 0 (no permits issued during the pandemic)
• 2021: 408 (current record){{Cite web|title=Everest Climbing Season Was Like No Other|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/south-central-asia_everest-climbing-season-was-no-other/6206664.html|access-date=30 October 2021|website=VOA|date=5 June 2021|language=en|archive-date=12 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412051449/https://www.voanews.com/a/south-central-asia_everest-climbing-season-was-no-other/6206664.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last1=Ledur|first1=Júlia|last2=Galocha|first2=Artur|title=Covid reached Everest base camp. Now climbers are trying to prevent its spread amid a record season.|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2021/mount-everest-basecamp-coronavirus-nepal/|access-date=30 October 2021|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en|archive-date=12 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412055902/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2021/mount-everest-basecamp-coronavirus-nepal/|url-status=live}}

The Chinese side in Tibet is also managed with permits for summiting Everest.{{cite web|url=https://www.outsideonline.com/2168681/everest-2017-new-routes-new-records-and-lots-climbers|title=Everest Will Be More Crowded Than Ever This Year|first=Devon|last=O'Neil|date=3 April 2017|website=outsideonline.com|access-date=23 October 2017|archive-date=12 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512105907/https://www.outsideonline.com/2168681/everest-2017-new-routes-new-records-and-lots-climbers|url-status=live}} They did not issue permits in 2008, due to the Olympic torch relay being taken to the summit of Mount Everest.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/15/world/asia/15nepal.html|title=Nepal Puts Everest Off Limits During China's Olympic Torch Relay in May|first=Somini|last=Sengupta|date=15 March 2008|access-date=23 October 2017|newspaper=The New York Times|archive-date=12 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220512190159/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/15/world/asia/15nepal.html|url-status=live}}

In March 2020, the governments of China and Nepal cancelled all climbing permits for Mount Everest due to the COVID-19 pandemic.{{cite news|url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/mount-everest-china-cancel-permit-12531116|title=China shuts down Everest over coronavirus|date=12 March 2020|access-date=13 March 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200313050922/https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/mount-everest-china-cancel-permit-12531116|archive-date=13 March 2020|publisher=CNA|agency=Agence France-Presse}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51866342|title=Mount Everest: Nepal's government shuts off mountain amid virus outbreak|date=13 March 2020|access-date=13 March 2020|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200313034815/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51866342|archive-date=13 March 2020|work=BBC News}} In April 2020, a group of Chinese mountaineers began an expedition from the Chinese side. The mountain remained closed on the Chinese side to all foreign climbers.{{cite news |last1=Khadka |first1=Navin |title=Coronavirus: Chinese explorers start Everest climb amid pandemic |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-52157968 |access-date=3 April 2020 |work=BBC |date=3 April 2020 |archive-date=3 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200403223121/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-52157968 |url-status=live }} On 10 May 2021, a separation line was announced by Chinese authorities to prevent the spread of coronavirus from climbers ascending Nepal's side.{{cite news|title=China to draw 'separation line' on peak of Mount Everest|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-china-to-draw-separation-line-on-peak-of-mount-everest-2/|access-date=10 May 2021|archive-date=10 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210510123751/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/article-china-to-draw-separation-line-on-peak-of-mount-everest-2/|url-status=live}}

File:The World’s Tallest Mountain (15473492788).jpg

File:Everest Base Camp on a Stormy Day.jpg]]

File:Gorakshep, Everest Zone, Nepal.jpg is about a three-hour walk to South EBC (Everest Base Camp).{{Cite web|url=https://www.himalayas-trekking-pictures.com/everest9.htm|title=Gorak Shep to Everest Base Camp and return|website=www.himalayas-trekking-pictures.com|access-date=5 August 2022|archive-date=5 October 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241005160713/https://www.himalayas-trekking-pictures.com/everest9.htm|url-status=live}}]]

According to Jon Krakauer, the era of commercialisation of Everest started in 1985, when the summit was reached by a guided expedition led by David Breashears that included Richard Bass, a wealthy 55-year-old businessman and an amateur mountain climber with four years of climbing experience.{{cite journal|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-05-02-mn-20109-story.html|title=Conquers Mt. Everest to Fulfill Dream: Millionaire First to Climb Summits of All Continents|journal=Los Angeles Times|first=Bill|last=Stall|date=2 May 1985|access-date=14 August 2024|archive-date=17 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181017205614/http://articles.latimes.com/1985-05-02/news/mn-20109_1_climbed-mt-everest|url-status=live}} By the early-1990s, several companies were offering guided tours to the mountain. Rob Hall, one of the mountaineers who died in the 1996 disaster, had successfully guided 39 clients to the summit before that incident.{{RP|24, 42}}

By 2016, most guiding services cost between US$35,000 and US$200,000.{{cite web|date=28 May 2016|title=Mt Everest 'summit fever': Why climbers make poor decisions near peak|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/mt-everest-summit-fever-why-climbers-make-poor-decisions-near-peak/news-story/3502b64dc81a65fec0466bf1983efff5|url-access=subscription|access-date=17 June 2016|website=Herald Sun|location=Melbourne, Australia}} Going with a "celebrity guide", usually a well-known mountaineer typically with decades of climbing experience and perhaps several Everest summits, can cost over £100,000 as of 2015.{{cite news|last1=Stadlen|first1=Matthew|date=11 August 2015|title=Kenton Cool: my journey from a wheelchair to the peak of Mount Everest|website=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/11794351/Kenton-Cool-my-journey-from-a-wheelchair-to-the-peak-of-Mount-Everest.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/active/11794351/Kenton-Cool-my-journey-from-a-wheelchair-to-the-peak-of-Mount-Everest.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=20 September 2015}}{{cbignore}} However, the services offered vary widely and it is "buyer beware" when doing deals in Nepal, one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world.{{cite web |url=https://developingworldconnections.org/destination/nepal/ |title=Nepal |publisher=Developing World Connections |date=25 April 2015 |access-date=17 June 2016 |archive-date=16 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416232208/https://developingworldconnections.org/destination/nepal/ |url-status=live }} Tourism contributed 7.9 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019{{Cite web|title=Nepal tourism generated Rs240b and supported 1m jobs last year: Report|url=https://kathmandupost.com/money/2019/05/26/nepal-tourism-generated-rs240b-and-supported-1m-jobs-last-year-report|access-date=22 November 2021|website=kathmandupost.com|language=English|archive-date=30 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730002145/https://kathmandupost.com/money/2019/05/26/nepal-tourism-generated-rs240b-and-supported-1m-jobs-last-year-report|url-status=live}} in a country with high unemployment,{{Cite web|title=Nepal's unemployment rate estimated at 11.4 percent|url=https://kathmandupost.com/money/2019/04/27/nepals-unemployment-rate-estimated-at-114-percent|access-date=22 November 2021|website=kathmandupost.com|language=English|archive-date=2 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191202212944/https://kathmandupost.com/money/2019/04/27/nepals-unemployment-rate-estimated-at-114-percent|url-status=live}} but an Everest porter can make nearly double the nation's average wage in a region in which other sources of income are lacking.{{cite web |last=Conger |first=Cristen |url=http://adventure.howstuffworks.com/outdoor-activities/climbing/mt-everest-tourism.htm |title=How has Mount Everest tourism affected Nepal? | HowStuffWorks |publisher=Adventure.howstuffworks.com |date=1 April 2008 |access-date=17 June 2016 |archive-date=16 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220516074456/https://adventure.howstuffworks.com/outdoor-activities/climbing/mt-everest-tourism.htm |url-status=live }}

Costs beyond the guiding service can vary widely. It is technically possible to reach the summit with minimal additional expenses, and there are "budget" travel agencies that offer logistical support for such trips. A limited support service, offering only some meals at base camp and bureaucratic overhead like a permit, can cost as little as US$7,000 as of 2007. However, this is considered difficult and dangerous (as illustrated by the case of David Sharp).{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

Climbing gear required to reach the summit may cost in excess of US$8,000, and most climbers also use bottled oxygen, which adds around US$3,000.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.climbing.com/news/how-much-does-it-cost-to-climb-everest-2021-edition/|title=How Much Does It Cost to Climb Everest? 2021 Edition|first=Alan|last=Arnette|magazine=Climbing|date=20 April 2021|access-date=9 May 2021|archive-date=20 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420203256/https://www.climbing.com/news/how-much-does-it-cost-to-climb-everest-2021-edition/|url-status=live}} The permit to enter the Everest area from the south via Nepal costs US$10,000 to US$30,000 per person, depending on the size of the team. The ascent typically starts at one of the two base camps near the mountain, both of which are approximately {{convert|100|km|mi|-1}} from Kathmandu and {{convert|300|km|mi}} from Lhasa (the two nearest cities with major airports). Transferring one's equipment from the airport to the base camp may add as much as US$2,000.

Many climbers hire "full service" guide companies, which provide a wide spectrum of services, including the acquisition of permits, transportation to/from base camp, food, tents, fixed ropes,{{Cite web|url=http://www.mounteverest.net/expguide/ropes.htm|title=Fixed ropes – climbers guide to Everest|website=www.mounteverest.net|access-date=18 October 2011|archive-date=6 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206114729/http://mounteverest.net/expguide/ropes.htm|url-status=live}} medical assistance while on the mountain, an experienced mountaineer guide, and even personal porters to carry one's backpack and cook one's meals. The cost of such a guide service may range from US$40,000 to $80,000 per person.{{cite web|url=http://outdoors.whatitcosts.com/mt-everest-pg3.htm|title=What It Costs To Climb Mount Everest|date=2 May 2016|access-date=12 October 2011|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304105115/http://outdoors.whatitcosts.com/mt-everest-pg3.htm|url-status=live}} Since most equipment is moved by Sherpas, clients of full-service guide companies can often keep their backpack weights under {{convert|10|kg}}, or hire a Sherpa to carry their backpack for them. By contrast, climbers attempting less commercialised peaks, like Denali, are often expected to carry backpacks over {{convert|30|kg}} and, occasionally, to tow a sled with {{convert|35|kg}} of gear and food.{{Cite web|url=https://www.alpineinstitute.com/articles/expert-tips/how-difficult-is-climbing-denalis-west-buttress/|title=How Hard is Denali? | American Alpine Institute|website=www.alpineinstitute.com|access-date=5 August 2022|archive-date=28 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160128052837/https://www.alpineinstitute.com/articles/expert-tips/how-difficult-is-climbing-denalis-west-buttress/|url-status=live}}

The degree of commercialisation of Mount Everest is a frequent subject of criticism.{{cite news|last1=Jenkins|first1=Mark|title=Maxed Out on Everest|url=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/06/125-everest-maxed-out/jenkins-text|access-date=31 January 2017 |work=National Geographic|date=June 2013|archive-date=26 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226100239/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/06/125-everest-maxed-out/jenkins-text}} Jamling Tenzing Norgay, the son of Tenzing Norgay, said in a 2003 interview that his late father would have been shocked to discover that rich thrill-seekers with no climbing experience were now routinely reaching the summit, "You still have to climb this mountain yourself with your feet. But the spirit of adventure is not there any more. It is lost. There are people going up there who have no idea how to put on crampons. They are climbing because they have paid someone $65,000. It is very selfish. It endangers the lives of others."{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/guardianweekly/story/0,12674,961195,00.html |title=Everest's decline blamed on trail of rich tourists |work=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=12 December 2016 |archive-date=19 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819075342/https://www.theguardian.com/guardianweekly/story/0,12674,961195,00.html |url-status=live }}

One example of this is Shriya Shah-Klorfine, who had to be taught how to put on crampons during her summit attempt in 2012.{{cite news|title=Canadian Everest victim used inexperienced company, lacked oxygen|work=CBC|date=13 September 2012|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/exclusive-canadian-everest-victim-used-inexperienced-company-lacked-oxygen-1.1195149|access-date=24 January 2021|archive-date=18 September 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130918072953/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/exclusive-canadian-everest-victim-used-inexperienced-company-lacked-oxygen-1.1195149|url-status=live}} She paid at least US$40,000 to a new guiding company for the trip, and died when she ran out of oxygen during the descent after climbing for 27 hours straight.{{Cite web|title=Mount Everest : Into the Death Zone – the fifth estate|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEcHBFs-qME |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/QEcHBFs-qME| archive-date=11 December 2021 |url-status=live|access-date=24 January 2021|website=www.youtube.com| date=20 August 2016 }}{{cbignore}}

Reinhold Messner concurred in 2004:

You could die in each climb and that meant you were responsible for yourself. We were real mountaineers: careful, aware and even afraid. By climbing mountains we were not learning how big we were. We were finding out how breakable, how weak and how full of fear we are. You can only get this if you expose yourself to high danger. I have always said that a mountain without danger is not a mountain....High altitude alpinism has become tourism and show. These commercial trips to Everest, they are still dangerous. But the guides and organisers tell clients, 'Don't worry, it's all organised.' The route is prepared by hundreds of Sherpas. Extra oxygen is available in all camps, right up to the summit. People will cook for you and lay out your beds. Clients feel safe and don't care about the risks.{{cite news |url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,1315445,00.html |title=Home on the range |work=The Guardian |location=London |access-date=12 October 2011 |archive-date=16 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111116171405/http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,1315445,00.html |url-status=live }}

By 2015, Nepal was considering requiring that climbers have some experience, hoping this would both make the mountain safer and increase revenue.{{cite news|author=Jason Burke|date=28 September 2015|title=Mount Everest to be declared off-limits to inexperienced climbers, says Nepal|newspaper=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/28/mount-everest-to-be-declared-off-limits-to-inexperienced-climbers|access-date=17 June 2016|archive-date=18 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220818210237/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/28/mount-everest-to-be-declared-off-limits-to-inexperienced-climbers|url-status=live}} One barrier to this is that low-budget firms make money not taking inexperienced climbers to the summit. Those turned away by Western firms can often find another firm willing to take them for a price—that they return home soon after arriving after base camp, or part way up the mountain.

However, not all opinions on the subject among prominent mountaineers have been strictly negative. For example, Edmund Hillary stated in 2003 that while "Having people pay $65,000 and then be led up the mountain by a couple of experienced guides...isn't really mountaineering at all",{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2938596.stm |title=Hillary laments Everest changes |work=BBC News |date=26 May 2003 |access-date=13 October 2011 |archive-date=1 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220501091300/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2938596.stm |url-status=live }} he was pleased by the changes brought to Everest area by Westerners:

I don't have any regrets because I worked very hard indeed to improve the condition for the local people. When we first went in there they didn't have any schools, they didn't have any medical facilities, all over the years we have established 27 schools, we have two hospitals and a dozen medical clinics and then we've built bridges over wild mountain rivers and put in fresh water pipelines so in cooperation with the Sherpas we've done a lot to benefit them.{{cite web|last=Bradford|first=Gillian|date=29 April 2003|title=Interview with Sir Edmund Hillary|url=http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/stories/s843061.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114194558/https://www.abc.net.au/foreign/stories/s843061.htm|archive-date=14 November 2013|access-date=26 April 2014|website=Foreign Correspondent|publisher=ABC}}

One of the early guided summiters, Richard Bass (of Seven Summits fame) stated in 2003 that "Climbers should have high altitude experience before they attempt the really big mountains. People don't realise the difference between a {{convert|20000|ft|m|adj=on|disp=sqbr}} mountain and {{convert|29000|ft|m|adj=on|disp=sqbr}}. It's not just arithmetic. The reduction of oxygen in the air is proportionate to the altitude alright, but the effect on the human body is disproportionate—an exponential curve. People climb Denali [{{convert|20,320|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on|disp=or}}] or Aconcagua [{{convert|22,834|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on|disp=or}}] and think, 'Heck, I feel great up here, I'm going to try Everest.' But it's not like that."{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/2003/11/12/cz_jc_1112sport.html|title=The Adventurer: Dick Bass' Many Summits|author=James Clash|date=12 November 2003|website=Forbes|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=11 May 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040511035411/http://www.forbes.com/2003/11/12/cz_jc_1112sport.html|url-status=live}}

File:STS058-101-12 2.JPG

Mount Everest has two main climbing routes, the southeast ridge from Nepal and the north ridge from Tibet, as well as many other less frequently climbed routes.{{cite web|url=http://www.everesthistory.com/routes.htm |title=Ascent Routes on Everest |publisher=EverestHistory.com |access-date=21 January 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080115161830/http://www.everesthistory.com/routes.htm |archive-date=15 January 2008}} Of the two main routes, the southeast ridge is technically easier and more frequently used. It was the route used by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953 and the first recognised of 15 routes to the top by 1996. This was, however, a route decision dictated more by politics than by design, as the Chinese border was closed to the western world in the 1950s, after Annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China.{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/04/0401_030401_everesttimeline.html| title=Everest Time Line: 80 Years of Triumph and Tragedy|publisher=National Geographic Society|last=Thompson|first=Kalee|date=2 April 2003|access-date=28 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325032404/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/04/0401_030401_everesttimeline.html|archive-date=25 March 2009}}

Most attempts are made during May, before the summer monsoon season. As the monsoon season approaches, the jet stream shifts northward, thereby reducing the average wind speeds high on the mountain.{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E01EFDD1E38F93AA25756C0A961958260|title=Climbing Mount Everest|work=The New York Times|date=19 May 1997|access-date=24 October 2008|archive-date=6 February 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090206223111/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E01EFDD1E38F93AA25756C0A961958260|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.teameverest03.org/everest_info/index.html|title=Mt. Everest Information|author=Team Everest 03|access-date=24 October 2008|archive-date=11 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100211140355/http://www.teameverest03.org/everest_info/index.html|url-status=dead}} While attempts are sometimes made in September and October, after the monsoons, when the jet stream is again temporarily pushed northward, the additional snow deposited by the monsoons and the less stable weather patterns at the monsoons' tail end makes climbing extremely difficult.

The ascent via the southeast ridge begins with a trek to Base Camp at {{convert|5380|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}} on the south side of Everest, in Nepal. Expeditions usually fly into Lukla (2,860 m) from Kathmandu and pass through Namche Bazaar. Climbers then hike to Base Camp, which usually takes six to eight days, allowing for proper altitude acclimatisation in order to prevent altitude sickness.{{cite journal |author1=Muza, SR |author2=Fulco, CS |author3=Cymerman, A |title=Altitude Acclimatization Guide |journal=US Army Research Inst. Of Environmental Medicine Thermal and Mountain Medicine Division Technical Report |issue=USARIEM–TN–04–05 |year=2004 |url=http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/7616 |access-date=5 March 2009 |archive-date=23 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090423042451/http://archive.rubicon-foundation.org/7616 |url-status=usurped}} Climbing equipment and supplies are carried by yaks, dzopkyos (yak-cow hybrids), and human porters to Base Camp on the Khumbu Glacier. When Hillary and Tenzing climbed Everest in 1953, the British expedition they were part of (comprising over 400 climbers, porters, and Sherpas at that point) started from the Kathmandu Valley, as there were no roads further east at that time.

Climbers spend a couple of weeks in Base Camp, acclimatising to the altitude. During that time, Sherpas and some expedition climbers set up ropes and ladders in the treacherous Khumbu Icefall.

Seracs, crevasses, and shifting blocks of ice make the icefall one of the most dangerous sections of the route. Many climbers and Sherpas have been killed in this section. To reduce the hazard, climbers usually begin their ascent well before dawn, when the freezing temperatures glue ice blocks in place.

Above the icefall is Camp I at {{convert|6065|m|ft|-1}}.

File:Inside Khumbu-Icefall.jpg

From Camp I, climbers make their way up the Western Cwm to the base of the Lhotse face, where Camp II or Advanced Base Camp (ABC) is established at {{convert|6500|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}. The Western Cwm is a flat, gently rising glacial valley, marked by huge lateral crevasses in the centre, which prevent direct access to the upper reaches of the Cwm. Climbers are forced to cross on the far right, near the base of Nuptse, to a small passageway known as the "Nuptse corner". The Western Cwm is also called the "Valley of Silence" as the topography of the area generally cuts off wind from the climbing route. The high altitude and a clear, windless day can make the Western Cwm unbearably hot for climbers.{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/climb/waytosummitsou.html|title=The Way to the Summit|publisher=Public Broadcasting Corporation|website=NOVA Online|year=2000|access-date=28 March 2008|archive-date=30 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930100116/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/climb/waytosummitsou.html|url-status=live}}

From Camp II, climbers ascend the Lhotse face on fixed ropes, up to Camp III, located on a small ledge at {{convert|7470|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}. From there, it is another 500 metres to Camp IV on the South Col at {{convert|7920|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}.

From Camp III to Camp IV, climbers are faced with two additional challenges: the Geneva Spur and the Yellow Band. The Geneva Spur is an anvil-shaped rib of black rock named by the 1952 Swiss expedition. Fixed ropes assist climbers in scrambling over this snow-covered rock band. The Yellow Band is a section of interlayered marble, phyllite, and semischist, which also requires about 100 metres of rope for traversing it.

On the South Col, climbers enter the death zone. Climbers making summit bids typically can endure no more than two or three days at this altitude. If the weather is not clear with low winds during these short few days, climbers are forced to descend, many all the way back down to Base Camp.

From Camp IV, climbers begin their summit push around midnight, with hopes of reaching the summit (still another 1,000 metres above) within 10 to 12 hours. Climbers first reach "The Balcony" at {{convert|8400|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}, a small platform where they can rest and gaze at peaks to the south and east in the early light of dawn. Continuing up the ridge, climbers are then faced with a series of imposing rock steps which usually forces them to the east into the waist-deep snow, a serious avalanche hazard. At {{convert|8750|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}, a small table-sized dome of ice and snow marks the South Summit.

From the South Summit, climbers follow the knife-edge southeast ridge along what is known as the "Cornice traverse", where snow clings to intermittent rock. This is the most exposed section of the climb, and a misstep to the left would send one {{convert|2400|m|ft|abbr=on}} down the southwest face, while to the immediate right is the {{convert|3050|m|ft|abbr=on}} Kangshung Face. At the end of this traverse is an imposing {{convert|12|m|ft|abbr=on}} rock wall, the Hillary Step, at {{convert|8790|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}}.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qJjIBFOMsQsC&q=hillary+step&pg=PT111|title=On Top of World: My Everest Adventure|last=Vajpai|first=Arjun|date=2010|publisher=Penguin UK|isbn=978-81-8475-304-2|access-date=10 November 2020|archive-date=5 October 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241005161248/https://books.google.com/books?id=qJjIBFOMsQsC&q=hillary+step&pg=PT111#v=snippet&q=hillary%20step&f=false|url-status=live}}

Hillary and Tenzing were the first climbers to ascend this step, and they did so using primitive ice climbing equipment and ropes. Nowadays, climbers ascend this step using fixed ropes previously set up by Sherpas. Once above the step, it is a comparatively easy climb to the top on moderately angled snow slopes—though the exposure on the ridge is extreme, especially while traversing large cornices of snow. With increasing numbers of people climbing the mountain in recent{{When|date=May 2021}} years, the Step has frequently become a bottleneck, with climbers forced to wait significant amounts of time for their turn on the ropes, leading to problems in getting climbers efficiently up and down the mountain.{{Citation needed|date=May 2021}}

After the Hillary Step, climbers also must traverse a loose and rocky section that has a large entanglement of fixed ropes that can be troublesome in bad weather. Climbers typically spend less than half an hour at the summit to allow time to descend to Camp IV before darkness sets in, to avoid serious problems with afternoon weather, or because supplemental oxygen tanks run out.

{{see also|Three Steps}}

File:Mount Everest North Face.jpg in Tibet]]

The north ridge route begins from the north side of Everest, in Tibet. Expeditions trek to the Rongbuk Glacier, setting up base camp at {{convert|5180|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}} on a gravel plain just below the glacier. To reach Camp II, climbers ascend the medial moraine of the east Rongbuk Glacier up to the base of Changtse, at around {{convert|6100|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}. Camp III (ABC{{snd}}Advanced Base Camp) is situated below the North Col at {{convert|6500|m|ft|abbr=on}}. To reach Camp IV on the North Col, climbers ascend the glacier to the foot of the col where fixed ropes are used to reach the North Col at {{convert|7010|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}. From the North Col, climbers ascend the rocky north ridge to set up Camp V at around {{convert|7775|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}. The route crosses the North Face in a diagonal climb to the base of the Yellow Band, reaching the site of Camp VI at {{convert|8230|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}. From Camp VI, climbers make their final summit push.

Climbers face a treacherous traverse from the base of the First Step: ascending from {{convert|8501|to|8534|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}}, to the crux of the climb, the Second Step, ascending from {{convert|8577|to|8626|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}}. (The Second Step includes a climbing aid called the "Chinese ladder", a metal ladder placed semi-permanently in 1975 by a party of Chinese climbers.{{cite web|url=http://www.affimer.org/hemmleb7.html|publisher=Affirmer.org |title=Chinese ladder|access-date=16 January 2014|archive-date=16 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116101043/http://www.affimer.org/hemmleb7.html|url-status=dead}} It has been almost continuously in place since, and ladders have been used by virtually all climbers on the route.) Once above the Second Step the inconsequential Third Step is clambered over, ascending from {{convert|8690|to|8800|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}}. Once above these steps, the summit pyramid is climbed by a snow slope of 50 degrees, to the final summit ridge along which the top is reached.{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/climb/waytosummitnor.html|title=The Way to the Summit (North)|publisher=Public Broadcasting Corporation|website=NOVA Online|year=2000|access-date=28 March 2008|archive-date=20 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110920124802/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/climb/waytosummitnor.html|url-status=live}}

File:Amanecer desde la cima del Everest por Carlos Pauner.JPG

The summit of Everest has been described as "the size of a dining room table".{{cite web|url=http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/local/9046854.Swindon_explorer_on_top_of_the_world/|title=Swindon explorer on top of the world|website=Swindon Advertiser|date=25 May 2011|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=28 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180828221322/http://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/news/local/9046854.Swindon_explorer_on_top_of_the_world/|url-status=live}} The summit is capped with snow over ice over rock, and the layer of snow varies from year to year.{{cite web|url=http://www.extremescience.com/everest.htm|title=Highest Mountain – Everest|website=extremescience.com|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=7 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907150557/http://www.extremescience.com/everest.htm|url-status=live}} The rock summit is made of Ordovician limestone and is a low-grade metamorphic rock.{{cite web |url=http://www.montana.edu/everest/facts/morefacts/ff06.htm |title=Montana State University – Everest Education Expedition – Everest Facts |publisher=Montana.edu |access-date=17 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305013250/http://www.montana.edu/everest/facts/morefacts/ff06.htm |archive-date=5 March 2016 |url-status=dead}} (See the Surveys section for more on its height and about the Everest rock summit.)

Below the summit, there is an area known as "rainbow valley", filled with dead bodies still wearing brightly coloured winter gear. Down to about {{Convert|8,000|m|ft|abbr=on}} is an area commonly called the "death zone", due to the high danger and low oxygen because of the low pressure.

Below the summit the mountain slopes downward to the three main sides, or faces, of Mount Everest: the North Face, the South-West Face, and the East/Kangshung Face.{{cite web|url=http://www.everest1953.co.uk/Facts.php |title=Everest Facts |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150509045702/http://www.everest1953.co.uk/Facts.php |archive-date=9 May 2015}}{{Better source needed|date=February 2021|reason=According to this website's 'About' page, this is a person website run by a fan of Everest expeditions and therefore does not constitute a reliable source.}}

{{See also|Effects of high altitude on humans}}

File:Everest Peace Project - Everest summit.jpg

File:Everest-fromKalarPatar.jpg, Nepal]]

At the higher regions of Mount Everest, climbers seeking the summit typically spend substantial time within the death zone (altitudes higher than {{convert|8000|m|ft}}), and face significant challenges to survival. Temperatures can dip to very low levels, resulting in frostbite of any body part exposed to the air. Since temperatures are so low, snow is well-frozen in certain areas and death or injury by slipping and falling can occur. High winds at these altitudes on Everest are also a potential threat to climbers.

Another significant threat to climbers is low atmospheric pressure. The atmospheric pressure at the top of Everest is about a third of sea level pressure or {{convert|0.333|atm|mbar}}, resulting in the availability of only about a third as much oxygen to breathe.{{cite web|url=http://www.altitude.org/calculators/air_pressure.php |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120729214053/http://www.altitude.org/calculators/air_pressure.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 July 2012 |title=Online high altitude oxygen calculator |publisher=altitude.org |access-date=15 August 2007}}

Debilitating effects of the death zone are so great that it takes most climbers up to 12 hours to walk the distance of {{convert|1.72|km|mi}} from South Col to the summit.{{cite web|url=http://www.alanarnette.com/everest/everestsouthroutes.php|title=Mount Everest South Col Route Maps|publisher=alanarnette.com|access-date=15 August 2013|archive-date=19 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181219105351/http://www.alanarnette.com/everest/everestsouthroutes.php|url-status=live}} Achieving even this level of performance requires prolonged altitude acclimatisation, which takes 40–60 days for a typical expedition. A sea-level dweller exposed to the atmospheric conditions at the altitude above {{convert|8500|m|abbr=on}} without acclimatisation would likely lose consciousness within two to three minutes.{{cite journal|url=http://www.semae.es/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/climbers-on-mt-everest-.pdf|title=Arterial Blood Gases and Oxygen Content in Climbers on Mount Everest|journal=The New England Journal of Medicine|year=2009|first=Michael P.W.|last=Grocott|doi=10.1056/NEJMoa0801581|volume=360|issue=2|pages=140–9|pmid=19129527|display-authors=etal|access-date=29 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304102433/http://www.semae.es/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/climbers-on-mt-everest-.pdf|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}

In May 2007, the Caudwell Xtreme Everest undertook a medical study of oxygen levels in human blood at extreme altitude. Over 200 volunteers climbed to Everest Base Camp where various medical tests were performed to examine blood oxygen levels. A small team also performed tests on the way to the summit.{{cite web|url=http://www.xtreme-everest.co.uk/news_detail.php?article=196|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080606065437/http://www.xtreme-everest.co.uk/news_detail.php?article=196|archive-date=6 June 2008|title=Everest 2007|publisher=Caudwell Xtreme Everest 2007}} Even at base camp, the low partial pressure of oxygen had direct effect on blood oxygen saturation levels. At sea level, blood oxygen saturation is generally 98 to 99 per cent. At base camp, blood saturation fell to between 85 and 87 per cent. Blood samples taken at the summit indicated very low oxygen levels in the blood. A side effect of low blood oxygen is a greatly increased breathing rate, often 80–90 breaths per minute as opposed to a more typical 20–30. Exhaustion can occur merely by attempting to breathe.{{cite web |url=http://www.altitude.org/oxygen_levels.php |title=Altitude physiology |publisher=altitude.org |access-date=6 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616140234/http://www.altitude.org/oxygen_levels.php |archive-date=16 June 2018 |url-status=dead}}

Lack of oxygen, exhaustion, extreme cold, and climbing hazards all contribute to the death toll. An injured person who cannot walk is in serious trouble, since rescue by helicopter is generally impractical and carrying the person off the mountain is very risky. People who die during the climb are typically left behind. As of 2015, over 200 bodies remain on the mountain.

{{Blockquote|Debilitating symptoms consistent with high altitude cerebral oedema commonly present during descent from the summit of Mount Everest. Profound fatigue and late times in reaching the summit are early features associated with subsequent death.|Mortality on Mount Everest, 1921–2006: descriptive study{{cite journal |doi=10.1136/bmj.a2654 |pmid=19074222 |pmc=2602730 |title=Mortality on Mount Everest, 1921-2006: Descriptive study |journal=BMJ |volume=337 |pages=a2654 |year=2008 |last1=Firth |first1=P.G |last2=Zheng |first2=H |last3=Windsor |first3=J. S |last4=Sutherland |first4=A.I |last5=Imray |first5=C.H |last6=Moore |first6=G W K |last7=Semple |first7=J.L |last8=Roach |first8=R.C |last9=Salisbury |first9=R.A|issue=dec11 1 }} }}

A 2008 study noted that the "death zone" is indeed where most Everest deaths occur, but also noted that most deaths occur during descent from the summit.{{cite web|url=http://www.climbing.com/climber/climbing-everest-who-makes-it-to-the-top/|title=Climbing Everest: Who Makes It to the Top?|website=Climbing|date=23 November 2009|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=18 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151218082432/http://www.climbing.com/climber/climbing-everest-who-makes-it-to-the-top/|url-status=live}} A 2014 article in The Atlantic about deaths on Everest noted that while falling is one of the greatest dangers the death zone presents for all 8000ers, avalanches are a more common cause of death at lower altitudes.{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/04/mortality-on-mount-everest/360927/|title=Charting Deaths on Mount Everest|author=Svati Kirsten Narula|website=The Atlantic|access-date=20 September 2015|date=21 April 2014|archive-date=14 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220514081833/https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/04/mortality-on-mount-everest/360927/|url-status=live}}

Despite this, Everest is safer for climbers than a number of peaks by some measurements, but it depends on the period.{{cite web|url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/30757/5-mountains-deadlier-everest |title=5 Mountains Deadlier Than Everest |website=Mental Floss |access-date=20 September 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923175946/http://mentalfloss.com/article/30757/5-mountains-deadlier-everest |archive-date=23 September 2015}} Some examples are Kangchenjunga, K2, Annapurna, Nanga Parbat, and the Eiger (especially the nordwand). Some factors that affect total mountain lethality include the level of popularity of the mountain, the skill of those climbing, and the difficulty of the climb.{{cite web|url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/everest-anniversary--world-s-five-deadliest-mountain-ranges-siula-grande-k2-mont-blanc-annapunna-155951170.html#9eTWTzo|title=Everest anniversary: World's five deadliest mountains|date=28 May 2013|website=Yahoo News UK|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=14 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220514072501/https://uk.news.yahoo.com/everest-anniversary--world-s-five-deadliest-mountain-ranges-siula-grande-k2-mont-blanc-annapunna-155951170.html#9eTWTzo|url-status=live}}

Another health hazard is retinal haemorrhages, which can damage eyesight and cause blindness.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/everest-team-forced-to-leave-sick-british-climber-to-die-1988979.html|title=Everest team forced to leave sick British climber to die|work=The Independent|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=19 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220819162222/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/everest-team-forced-to-leave-sick-british-climber-to-die-1988979.html|url-status=live}} Up to a quarter of Everest climbers can experience retinal haemorrhages, and although they usually heal within weeks of returning to lower altitudes, in 2010 a climber went blind and died in the death zone.

{{Blockquote|At one o'clock in the afternoon, the British climber Peter Kinloch was on the roof of the world, in bright sunlight, taking photographs of the Himalayas below, "elated, cheery and bubbly". But Mount Everest is now his grave, because only minutes later, he suddenly went blind and had to be abandoned to die from the cold.|A. McSmith}}

The team made a huge effort for the next 12 hours to try to get him down the mountain, but to no avail, as they were unsuccessful in getting him through the difficult sections.{{cite web |author=Peter Gillman |url=http://www.theweek.co.uk/politics/14247/what-killed-peter-kinloch-%E2%80%98left-die%E2%80%99-everest |title=What killed Peter Kinloch, 'left to die' on Everest |work=The Week UK |date=2 June 2010 |access-date=17 June 2016 |archive-date=2 April 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170402234654/http://www.theweek.co.uk/politics/14247/what-killed-peter-kinloch-%E2%80%98left-die%E2%80%99-everest |url-status=dead}} Even for the able, the Everest North-East ridge is recognised as a challenge. It is hard to rescue someone who has become incapacitated and it can be beyond the ability of rescuers to save anyone in such a difficult spot. One way around this situation was pioneered by two Nepali men in 2011, who had intended to paraglide off the summit. They had no choice and were forced to go through with their plan anyway, because they had run out of bottled oxygen and supplies.{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Travel/paragliding-everests-peak-kayaking-indian-ocean/story?id=21097292 |title=Paragliding From Everest's Peak, Then Kayaking to Indian Ocean |publisher=ABC News |date=5 December 2013 |access-date=17 June 2016 |archive-date=5 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241005161214/https://abcnews.go.com/Travel/paragliding-everests-peak-kayaking-indian-ocean/story?id=21097292 |url-status=live }} They successfully launched off the summit and para-glided down to Namche Bazaar in just 42 minutes, without having to climb down the mountain.

File:Iván Ernesto Gómez Carrasco en la cima del Monte Everest.jpg

File:Everest Oxygen Graph.jpg

Most expeditions use oxygen masks and tanks above {{convert|8000|m|ft|abbr=on}}.{{cite web|url=http://classic.mountainzone.com/everest/98/climb5-21oxygen.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20000822075357/http://classic.mountainzone.com/everest/98/climb5-21oxygen.html|archive-date=22 August 2000|title=Chamber of Horrors: The Oxygen Mask|publisher=MountainZone.com|date=21 May 1998|access-date=1 April 2007}} Everest can be climbed without supplementary oxygen, but only by the most accomplished mountaineers and at increased risk. Humans' ability to think clearly is hindered with low oxygen, and the combination of extreme weather, low temperatures, and steep slopes often requires quick, accurate decisions. While about 95 per cent of climbers who reach the summit use bottled oxygen in order to reach the top, about five per cent of climbers have summited Everest without supplemental oxygen. The death rate is double for those who attempt to reach the summit without supplemental oxygen.{{cite news |title =Field Test on Everest: To Os or not to Os| work=National Geographic| date =18 May 2012| url =http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/everest/blog/2012-05-18/to-os-or-not-to-os| access-date = 11 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228111038/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com:80/everest/blog/2012-05-18/to-os-or-not-to-os|archive-date=28 December 2017}} Travelling above {{convert|8,000|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}} altitude is a factor in cerebral hypoxia. One study found that Mount Everest may be the highest an acclimatised human could go, but also found that climbers may suffer permanent neurological damage despite returning to lower altitudes.

The use of bottled oxygen to ascend Mount Everest has been controversial. It was first used on the 1922 British Mount Everest Expedition by George Finch and Geoffrey Bruce who climbed up to {{convert|7800|m|ft|abbr=on}} at a spectacular speed of {{convert|1000|ft|m|order=flip|adj=pre| vertical }} per hour. Pinned down by a fierce storm, they escaped death by breathing oxygen from a jury-rigged set-up during the night. The next day they climbed to {{convert|8100|m|ft|abbr=on}} at {{convert|900|ft/h|m/h|order=flip|abbr=on}} – nearly three times as fast as non-oxygen users. Yet the use of oxygen was considered so unsportsmanlike that none of the rest of the Alpine world recognised this high ascent rate.{{Citation needed|date=June 2011}}

George Mallory described the use of such oxygen as unsportsmanlike, but he later concluded that it would be impossible for him to summit without it and consequently used it on his final attempt in 1924.{{cite book|author1=Tom Holzel|author2=Audrey Salkeld|title=The Mystery of Mallory & Irvine|year=1986}} When Tenzing and Hillary made the first successful summit in 1953, they also used open-circuit bottled oxygen sets, with the expedition's physiologist Griffith Pugh referring to the oxygen debate as a "futile controversy", noting that oxygen "greatly increases subjective appreciation of the surroundings, which after all is one of the chief reasons for climbing."{{cite book|title=The Ascent of Everest|first=John|last=Hunt|publisher=Hodder & Stoughton|year=1953|chapter=Appendix VII}} For the next twenty-five years, bottled oxygen was considered standard for any successful summit.

{{blockquote|...although an acclimatised lowlander can survive for a time on the summit of Everest without supplemental oxygen, one is so close to the limit that even a modicum of excess exertion may impair brain function.|Thomas F. Hornbein in The high-altitude brain{{cite journal|url=http://jeb.biologists.org/content/204/18/3129.full|title=The high-altitude brain|issue=18|pages=3129–3132|journal=Journal of Experimental Biology|volume=204|access-date=20 September 2015|date=15 September 2001|last1=Hornbein|first1=Thomas F.|doi=10.1242/jeb.204.18.3129|pmid=11581326|doi-access=free|bibcode=2001JExpB.204.3129H }}}}

Reinhold Messner was the first climber to break the bottled oxygen tradition and in 1978, with Peter Habeler, made the first successful climb without it. In 1980, Messner summited the mountain solo, without supplemental oxygen or any porters or climbing partners, on the more difficult northwest route. Once the climbing community was satisfied that the mountain could be climbed without supplemental oxygen, many purists then took the next logical step of insisting that is how it should be climbed.{{cite book|last1=Krakauer|first1=Jon|title=Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster|date=1997|publisher=Villard|location=New York|isbn=978-0-679-45752-7}}{{RP|154}}

The aftermath of the 1996 disaster further intensified the debate. Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air (1997) expressed the author's personal criticisms of the use of bottled oxygen. Krakauer wrote that the use of bottled oxygen allowed otherwise unqualified climbers to attempt to summit, leading to dangerous situations and more deaths. The disaster was partially caused by the sheer number of climbers (34 on that day) attempting to ascend, causing bottlenecks at the Hillary Step and delaying many climbers, most of whom summited after the usual 14:00 turnaround time. He proposed banning bottled oxygen except for emergency cases, arguing that this would both decrease the growing pollution on Everest—many bottles have accumulated on its slopes—and keep marginally qualified climbers off the mountain.

The 1996 disaster also introduced the issue of the guide's role in using bottled oxygen.{{cite web |url=http://www.salon.com/wlust/feature/1998/08/07featurea.html|title=Everest controversy continues| website=Salon|date=7 August 1998|access-date=17 June 2016|author=DeWalt, Weston|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514043017/http://www.salon.com/wlust/feature/1998/08/07featurea.html | archive-date=14 May 2011}}

Guide Anatoli Boukreev's decision not to use bottled oxygen was sharply criticised by Jon Krakauer. Boukreev's supporters (who include G. Weston DeWalt, who co-wrote The Climb) state that using bottled oxygen gives a false sense of security.{{cite web|url=http://www.boukreev.org/The%20Oxygen%20Illusion.htm|title=The Oxygen Illusion|publisher=The Anatoli Boukreev Memorial Fund|access-date=24 June 2010|archive-date=30 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730093801/http://www.boukreev.org/The%20Oxygen%20Illusion.htm|url-status=live}} Krakauer and his supporters point out that, without bottled oxygen, Boukreev could not directly help his clients descend.{{cite news|url=http://www.salon.com/wlust/feature/1998/08/cov_03feature3.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000303032319/http://www.salon.com/wlust/feature/1998/08/cov_03feature3.html|archive-date=3 March 2000|title=Coming Down|page=3|first=Dwight|last=Garner|work=Salon|date=August 1998}}

The low oxygen can cause a mental fog-like impairment of cognitive abilities described as "delayed and lethargic thought process, clinically defined as bradypsychia" even after returning to lower altitudes.{{cite web|url=http://www.boulderweekly.com/article-8924-this-is-your-brain-this-is-your-brain-at-altitude.html|title=This is your brain. This is your brain at altitude|website=Boulder Weekly|access-date=20 September 2015|date=14 June 2012}} In severe cases, climbers can experience hallucinations. Some studies have found that high-altitude climbers, including Everest climbers, experience altered brain structure.

File:Mount Everest as seen from Drukair.jpg

Although generally less popular than spring, Mount Everest has also been climbed in the autumn (also called the "post-monsoon season").{{cite web|url=http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2010/10/22/money/first-everest-ascent-in-autumn-in-10-yrs/214039/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150721191741/http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2010/10/22/money/first-everest-ascent-in-autumn-in-10-yrs/214039/|archive-date=21 July 2015|title=The Kathmandu Post |website=ekantipur.com|access-date=20 September 2015}} For example, in 2010 Eric Larsen and five Nepali guides summited Everest in the autumn for the first time in ten years. The autumn season, when the monsoon ends, is regarded as more dangerous because there is typically a lot of new snow which can be unstable. However, this increased snow can make it more popular with certain winter sports like skiing and snowboarding. Two Japanese climbers also summited in October 1973.{{cite web|url=http://www.everesthistory.com/everestsummits/japanese.htm|publisher=Everest History.com|title=Japanese summits|access-date=18 July 2015|archive-date=22 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722113220/http://www.everesthistory.com/everestsummits/japanese.htm|url-status=live}}

Chris Chandler and Bob Cormack summited Everest in October 1976 as part of the American Bicentennial Everest Expedition that year, the first Americans to make an autumn ascent of Mount Everest according to the Los Angeles Times.{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-27-mn-9683-story.html|title=U.S. Climber Chris Chandler Dies on Nepal Peak|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=20 September 2015|date=27 January 1985|archive-date=24 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224123106/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-27-mn-9683-story.html|url-status=live}} By the 21st century, summer and autumn can be more popular with skiing and snowboard attempts on Mount Everest.{{cite web|url=http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12200440601/Asia-Nepal-Malahangur-Asia-Nepal-Khumbu-Everest-Summer-and-Autumn-Attempts-with-Ski-and-Snowboard|title=Asia, Nepal, Malahangur Asia, Nepal (Khumbu), Everest, Summer and Autumn Attempts with Ski and Snowboard|website=americanalpineclub.org|access-date=20 September 2015|archive-date=26 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220326072919/http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/12200440601/Asia-Nepal-Malahangur-Asia-Nepal-Khumbu-Everest-Summer-and-Autumn-Attempts-with-Ski-and-Snowboard|url-status=live}} During the 1980s, climbing in autumn was actually more popular than in spring.{{cite journal|url=http://faculty.washington.edu/hueyrb/pdfs/AAJEverest2003.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://faculty.washington.edu/hueyrb/pdfs/AAJEverest2003.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=Success & death on Everest|first1=RB|last1=Huey|first2=R|last2=Salisbury|journal=American Alpine Journal|year=2003}} U.S. astronaut Karl Gordon Henize died in October 1993 on an autumn expedition, conducting an experiment on radiation. The amount of background radiation increases with higher altitudes.{{cite journal |doi=10.1088/0952-4746/21/1/003 |bibcode=2001JRP....21....5T |title=Invited Editorial: Radiation exposures of aircrew in high altitude flight |journal=Journal of Radiological Protection |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=5–8 |last1=Townsend |first1=Lawrence W |year=2001 |pmid=11281530|s2cid=250794441 }}

The mountain has also been climbed in the winter, but that is not popular because of the combination of cold high winds and shorter days.{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/environment-nepal-everest-fees-dc-idUSDEL6351120070822|title=Nepal to cut fees for off-season Everest climbers|newspaper=Reuters|access-date=20 September 2015|date=22 August 2007|archive-date=12 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212200321/https://www.reuters.com/article/environment-nepal-everest-fees-dc-idUSDEL6351120070822|url-status=live}} By January the peak is typically battered by {{convert|170|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} winds and the average temperature of the summit is around −33 °F (−36 °C).

Some climbers have reported life-threatening thefts from supply caches. In May 2006, Vitor Negrete, the first Brazilian to climb Everest without oxygen and part of David Sharp's party, died during his descent, and theft of gear and food from his high-altitude camp may have contributed.{{cite web|title=Everest fatality silence mystery solved: British David Sharp left to die by 40 climbers|url=http://www.explorersweb.com/everest_k2/news.php?id=2092|website=Explorersweb.com|access-date=18 April 2014|archive-date=16 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211216235000/https://explorersweb.com/everest_k2/news.php?id=2092|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Brazilian Vitor Negrete lost on Everest after a no O2 summit|url=http://www.explorersweb.com/everest_k2/news.php?id=2069|website=Explorersweb.com|access-date=18 April 2014|archive-date=28 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220128083956/https://explorersweb.com/everest_k2/news.php?id=2069|url-status=live}} In addition to theft, Michael Kodas describes in his book, High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed (2008):{{cite book|author=Kodas, Michael|title=High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed |date=2008|publisher=Hyperion|isbn= 978-1-4013-0273-3}} unethical guides and Sherpas, prostitution and gambling at the Tibet Base Camp, fraud related to the sale of oxygen bottles, and climbers collecting donations under the pretense of removing trash from the mountain.{{cite web|url=https://www.motherjones.com/arts/books/2008/02/go-sell-it-on-the-mountain.html|title=Go Sell It on the Mountain|website=Mother Jones|date=1 February 2008|access-date=5 July 2018|archive-date=14 January 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114072152/http://www.motherjones.com/arts/books/2008/02/go-sell-it-on-the-mountain.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Bristow|first=Michael|title=Everest base camp a 'wild-west town'|work=BBC News|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6897591.stm|date=13 July 2007|access-date=31 March 2010|archive-date=13 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220513154218/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6897591.stm|url-status=live}}

The Chinese side of Everest in Tibet was described as "out of control" in 2007 after one Canadian had all his gear stolen and was abandoned by his Sherpa.{{cite web|url=http://www.explorersweb.com/everest_k2/news.php?id=15994|title=Manny Pizarro robbed and abandoned by Sherpa after summiting Everest – being helped down by DCXP's sirdar|website=Explorersweb.com|author=Chessell, Duncan|access-date=15 July 2015|archive-date=11 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211211200628/https://explorersweb.com/everest_k2/news.php?id=15994|url-status=live}} Another Sherpa helped the victim get off the mountain safely and gave him some spare gear. Other climbers have also reported missing oxygen bottles, which can be worth hundreds of dollars each. Hundreds of climbers pass by people's tents, making it hard to safeguard against theft. In the late 2010s, the reports of theft of oxygen bottles from camps became more common.{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/features/everest/cory-richards-adrian-ballinger-climbers-mount-everest-unfiltered-expedition-2017/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170515222514/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/features/everest/cory-richards-adrian-ballinger-climbers-mount-everest-unfiltered-expedition-2017/|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 May 2017|title=Two Climbers Return to Everest to Snapchat the Summit|date=14 April 2017|website=nationalgeographic.com|access-date=11 June 2023}}

{{main|Timeline of climbing Mount Everest}}

File:KhumbuIcefall.jpg

File:Western Cwm - 14th May 2011.jpg to the right]]

By the end of the 2010 climbing season, there had been 5,104 ascents to the summit by about 3,142 individuals.{{cite web|url=http://www.8000ers.com/cms/de/everest-general-info-185.html|title=Full list of all ascents of Everest up to and including 2010|publisher=8000ers.com|date=24 September 2011|access-date=28 September 2011}} Some notable "firsts" by climbers include:

• 1922: First climb to {{convert|8000|m|ft|0}}, by George Finch and Captain Geoffrey Bruce
• 1952: First climb to South Col by 1952 Swiss Mount Everest expedition
• 1953: First ascent, by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary on 1953 British Mount Everest expedition
• 1960: First reported ascent from the North Ridge by Wang Fuzhou, Gonpo and Qu Yinhua of China.
• 1975: First female ascent, by Junko Tabei (16 May).
• 1975: First female ascent from the North Ridge, by Phanthog, deputy head of the second Chinese Everest expedition that sent nine climbers to the summit (27 May).{{cite book|author=Reinhold Messner|title=Everest: Expedition to the Ultimate|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5IVrBgAAQBAJ&pg=PT283|year=2014|publisher=Vertebrate Graphics Limited|isbn=978-1-910240-21-2|page=283}}{{cite book|author=John B West|title=High Life: A History of High-Altitude Physiology and Medicine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o0rhBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA487|year=2013|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-4614-7573-6|page=487}}{{cite news | url=http://xz.people.com.cn/GB/139204/155208/ | title=Pāndēng zhū fēng chuánqí | newspaper=People's Daily | language=zh | trans-title=Everest Legend | script-title=zh:攀登珠峰传奇 | access-date=16 October 2015 | archive-date=4 March 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304042135/http://xz.people.com.cn/GB/139204/155208/ | url-status=dead }}
• 1978: First ascent without supplemental oxygen by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/history/firstwoo2.html|title=Everest – First without oxygen|publisher=PBS|website=NOVA Online|year=2000|access-date=28 March 2008}}
• 1978: First solo ascent, by Franz Oppurg{{cite web |url=https://tirol.orf.at/v2/news/stories/2933228/ |first=Helena |last=Fröhlich |title=Der vergessene Everest-Solist |date=14 September 2018 |language=de |publisher=ORF |accessdate=25 December 2021}}
• 1980: First winter ascent, by Polish National Expedition Winter 1979/1980 (Leszek Cichy and Krzysztof Wielicki{{cite web|url=http://www.alpinist.com/doc/web11w/wfeature-polish-winter|title=Golden Decade: The Birth of 8000m Winter Climbing|website=Alpinist.com|date=18 March 2011|access-date=28 May 2013|author=Starr, Daniel}}{{cite web|url=http://www.mnteverest.net/history.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990508005314/http://www.mnteverest.net/history.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 May 1999 |title=Mt Everest History and facts |website=Mnteverest.net |access-date=17 June 2016}})
• 1980: Second solo ascent, and the first without supplemental oxygen, by Reinhold Messner
• 1981: Third solo ascent, by Peter Hackett{{cite book |last=West |first=John B. |title=Everest: The Testing Place |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nmfxsroNQ70C&pg=PA184 |location=New York |publisher=McGraw-Hill |year=1985 |isbn=0070695024}}
• 1988: First "cross-over" climb by Chinese, Japanese and Nepali teams which ascended the peak simultaneously from both the North and South sides of the mountain and descended down the other side.{{cite news|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2012/05/27/general/japans-everest-timeline/#.ViEy9fmqqkq|last=Victoria|first=James|title=Japan's Everest timeline|newspaper=Japan Times|date=27 May 2012}} The cross-over climb was also the first to be recorded on live broadcast television.
• 1988: First descent by paraglider, by Jean-Marc Boivin
• 1988: First female ascent without supplemental oxygen by Lydia Bradey{{cite web|url=http://www.everesthistory.com/firsts.htm|title=Firsts|work=Everest History.com|access-date=8 February 2014}}
• 1998: Fastest to reach the summit via the southeast ridge (South Col), without supplemental oxygen, by Kazi Sherpa, in 20 hours and 24 minutes.{{cite web|url=http://classic.mountainzone.com/news/everestspeed.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20121116233333/http://classic.mountainzone.com/news/everestspeed.html|archive-date=16 November 2012|title=Sherpa Attempts Everest Speed Climbing Record|work=Classic.mountainzone.com|access-date=24 October 2012}}{{cite web|url=http://www.everestsummiteersassociation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=24&Itemid=27|title=New/Old Records Record|work=everestsummiteersassociation.org|access-date=30 April 2013}}{{cite book|title=1999 American Alpine Journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UhmT3_I_xU4C&q=everest,+south+col/southeast+ridge,+speed+ascent&pg=PA374|access-date=25 April 2015|publisher=American Alpine Club Press|isbn=978-1-933056-46-3|page=374}}
• 2000: First descent by ski by Davo Karničar{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/the-man-who-skied-down-everest-637610.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130622111343/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/the-man-who-skied-down-everest-637610.html|archive-date=22 June 2013|title=The man who skied down Everest|newspaper=The Independent | location=London|first=Julia|last=Stuart|date=10 October 2000}}
• 2001: First ascent by a blind climber, Erik Weihenmayer{{cite news|last=Greenfeld|first=Karl|title=Adventure: Blind To Failure|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1000120,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070505060841/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1000120,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 May 2007|access-date=7 May 2013|newspaper=Time Magazine|date=18 June 2001}}
• 2001: Lhakpa Sherpa becomes first Nepali woman to summit Everest and survive.{{cite web|url=http://www.sawnet.org/whoswho/?Sherpa+Lhakpa|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050220231600/http://sawnet.org/whoswho/?Sherpa+Lhakpa|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 February 2005|title=SAWNET: Who's Who: Lhakpa Sherpa}}
• 2004: Fastest to reach the summit via the southeast ridge (South Col), with supplemental oxygen, by Pemba Dorje, in 8 hours and 10 minutes.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3734931.stm|work=BBC News|title=Sherpa sets record Everest time|date=21 May 2004}}
• 2006: Lhakpa Sherpa summits for the 6th time, breaking her own record for most successful female Everest climber.{{cite web|url=http://www.outsideonline.com/2078361/most-successful-female-everest-climber-all-time-housekeeper-hartford-connecticut|title=The Most Successful Female Everest Climber of All Time Is a Housekeeper in Hartford, Connecticut|author=Grayson Schaffer|website=Outside Online|date=10 May 2016}}
• 2007: Fastest to reach the summit via the northeast ridge, without supplemental oxygen, by Christian Stangl, in 16 hours, 42 minutes.{{cite news|url=http://www.sueddeutsche.de/leben/weltrekord-geglueckt-stunden-minuten-1.788421|title=58 Stunden, 45 Minuten|newspaper=Süddeutsche Zeitung|date=10 December 2007|language=de}}{{cite web | url=http://www.bergsteigen.com/news/16-stunden-auf-den-mount-everest | title=In 16 Stunden auf den Mount Everest | publisher=bergsteigen.com | date=30 May 2006 | access-date=16 June 2016 | language=de | trans-title=In 16 hours to Mount Everest}}
• 2010: Youngest male to reach the summit, by Jordan Romero (13 years and 10 months old){{cite web|url=http://explorersweb.com/everest_k2/news.php?id=19380|title=Everest K2 News Explorersweb – the pioneers checkpoint|publisher=Explorersweb.com|date=21 May 2010|access-date=22 August 2010}}
• 2011: Most times to reach the summit, Apa Sherpa (21 times; 10 May 1990 – 11 May 2011){{Cite web|date=27 October 2018|title=Weekend Warm-Up: Loved by All – The Story of Apa Sherpa|url=https://explorersweb.com/2018/10/27/weekend-warm-up-loved-by-all-the-story-of-apa-sherpa/|access-date=27 May 2021|website=Explorersweb}}
• 2013: Apa Sherpa tied for most times to reach the summit by Phurba Tashi (21 times; 1999–2013)
• 2013: Melissa Arnot, American, summits for the fifth time, breaking her own record for most successful summits by any non-Sherpa woman.{{cite web|last=O'Neil |first=Devon |url=https://www.espn.com/espnw/athletes-life/story/_/id/9966961/espnw-melissa-arnot-conquered-mount-everest-five-times-american-hailed-hero-playing-peacemaker-mountain-slopes |title=espnW – Melissa Arnot has conquered Mount Everest five times, but American is hailed as hero for playing peacemaker on mountain's slopes |publisher=Espn.go.com |date=14 November 2013 |access-date=17 June 2016}}
• 2014: Youngest female to reach the summit, by Malavath Purna (13 years and 11 months old)
• 2017: Kami Rita Sherpa of Alpine Ascents reaches 21 ascents to the summit.{{cite web|url=http://www.india.com/news/agencies/nepals-kami-rita-becomes-third-person-to-scale-mt-everest-21-times-2176292/|title=Nepal's Kami Rita becomes third person to scale Mt. Everest 21 times|first=IANS|last=Feeds|date=27 May 2017|website=india.com|access-date=23 October 2017}}{{cite web|url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/viral-and-trending/270517/nepalese-creates-record-by-scaling-mount-everest-21-times.html|title=Nepalese creates record by scaling Mount Everest 21 times|date=27 May 2017|website=Deccan Chronicle|access-date=23 October 2017}}
• 2019: Kami Rita Sherpa reaches 24 ascents to the summit.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/21/nepali-kami-rita-sherpa-scales-everest-record-24-times-with-one-more-to-go|title=Nepalese climber scales Everest record 24 times – with one more to go|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=24 May 2019|date=21 May 2019}}
• 2021: Kami Rita Sherpa reaches 25 ascents to the summit.{{cite web|url=https://www.outsideonline.com/2423782/kami-rita-sherpa-just-broke-his-own-everest-record|title=Kami Rita Sherpa Just Broke His Own Everest Record|website=Outside Online|author=Alan Arnette|date=12 May 2021}}{{cite web | website=AP News | date=7 May 2021 | title=Sherpa guide scales Mount Everest for record 25th time | url=https://apnews.com/article/health-coronavirus-pandemic-7c4c68078db4b0dd16c19a5abbb9e209 | access-date=4 July 2022}}
• 2022: Kami Rita Sherpa reaches 26 ascents to the summit,{{cite news|url=https://newsonair.gov.in/News?title=Nepal%26%2339%3Bs-Kami-Rita-Sherpa-climbs-Mount-Everest-for-26th-time-to-set-new-world-record&id=440522 |title=Nepal's Kami Rita Sherpa climbs Mount Everest for 26th time to set new world record |publisher=newsonair.gov.in |date=8 May 2022 |access-date=4 July 2022}} and Pasang Dawa Sherpa reaches 25 ascents to the summit.{{cite web |url=https://nepalnews.com/s/travel-and-tourism/nepali-climber-who-climbed-everest-25-times |title=Nepali climber who climbed Everest 25 times |author=Raju Silwal |publisher=nepalnews.com |date=22 May 2022 |access-date=4 July 2022}}{{cite web |url=https://www.desnivel.com/expediciones/pasang-dawa-sherpa-y-ngima-nuru-sherpa-acechan-el-record-de-cimas-en-el-everest/ |title=Pasang Dawa Sherpa y Ngima Nuru Sherpa acechan el récord de cimas en el Everest |author= Isaac Fernández |work=desnivel.com |language=es|date=27 May 2022 |access-date=4 July 2022}}
• 2023: Kami Rita Sherpa reaches 28 ascents to the summit.{{Cite news |first=Binaj |last=Gurubacharya |url=https://apnews.com/article/everest-record-climber-sherpa-guide-kami-rita-be5fff33229553bac11f34598e56a1d1 |title=Sherpa guide Kami Rita scales Mount Everest for a record 28th time |date=May 23, 2023 |publisher=AP News |access-date=May 23, 2023}}
• 2024: Kami Rita Sherpa reaches 30 ascents to the summit.{{cite news|url=https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240522-nepali-reaches-summit-of-everest-for-record-30th-time |title=Nepal's 'Everest Man' claims record 30th summit |publisher=france24.com |date=22 May 2024 |access-date=22 May 2024}}{{cite news|title=Kami Rita Sherpa scales Mt Everest for 30th time breaking own record|url=https://thehimalayantimes.com/ampArticle/1027140 |date=22 May 2024 |access-date=22 May 2024|work=The Himalayan Times}}

Summiting Everest with disabilities such as amputations and diseases has become popular in the 21st century, with stories like that of Sudarshan Gautam, a man with no arms who made it to the top in 2013.{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/canadian-double-amputee-summits-mount-everest-1.1322725 |title=Canadian double-amputee summits Mount Everest |date=30 May 2013 |access-date=31 May 2013 |work=CBC News |publisher=CBC/Radio-Canada |via=CBC.ca}} A teenager with Down syndrome made it to Base camp, which has become a substitute for more extreme record-breaking because it carries many of the same thrills including the trip to the Himalayas and rustic scenery.{{cite news |url=https://www.foxnews.com/health/teen-with-down-syndrome-becomes-first-ever-to-reach-mt-everest-base-camp/ |title=Teen with Down syndrome becomes first ever to reach Mt. Everest base camp |work=Fox News |access-date=20 September 2015 |date=1 April 2013 |publisher=FOX}} Danger lurks even at base camp though, which was the site where dozens were killed in the 2015 Mount Everest avalanches. Others that have climbed Everest with amputations include Mark Inglis (no legs), Hari Budha Magar (no legs), Paul Hockey (one arm only), and Arunima Sinha (one leg only).

In 2001, Erik Weihenmayer became the first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest while blind.

{{Main|Houston–Mount Everest flight expedition}}

Lucy, Lady Houston, a British millionaire former showgirl, funded the Houston Everest Flight of 1933. A formation of airplanes led by the Marquess of Clydesdale flew over the summit in an effort to photograph the unknown terrain.{{cite web |url=http://www.flymicro.com/everest/index.cfm?page=docs%2FHistory%2FAeroplanes.htm |title=Aeroplane expeditions to Everest |publisher=FlyMicro.com |access-date=13 February 2010}}

On 26 September 1988, having climbed the mountain via the south-east ridge, Jean-Marc Boivin made the first paraglider descent of Everest,{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/6334653.stm|title=A view from the top of the world|work=BBC News|date=15 February 2007|access-date=6 October 2010}} in the process creating the record for the fastest descent of the mountain and the highest paraglider flight. Boivin said: "I was tired when I reached the top because I had broken much of the trail, and to run at this altitude was quite hard."{{cite journal|first=John|last=Harlin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w-QDAAAAMBAJ&q=boivin%20everest&pg=PA1|title=Get Down|journal=Backpacker Magazine|date=May 1989|page=11}} Boivin ran {{convert|60|ft|abbr=on|order=flip}} from below the summit on 40-degree slopes to launch his paraglider, reaching Camp II at {{convert|19400|ft|abbr=on|order=flip}} in 12 minutes (some sources say 11 minutes).{{cite web|url=http://www.flymicro.com/everest/index.cfm?page=docs%2FHistory%2FHang_gliders_and_Paragliders.htm#_1986|title=Hang glider and Paraglider expeditions to Everest|publisher=flymicro.com|access-date=2 October 2010}} Boivin would not repeat this feat, as he was killed two years later in 1990, BASE jumping off Venezuela's Angel Falls.{{cite web | url=http://www.blincmagazine.com/forum/wiki/Jean-Marc_Boivin | title=BASE Fatality List – Jean-Marc Boivin | publisher=blincmagazine.com | date=23 January 2016 | access-date=17 June 2016}}

In 1991, four men in two balloons achieved the first hot-air balloon flight over Mount Everest.{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-03/a-hot-air-balloon-ride-over-mt-everest-will-cost-you-2-6-million.html|title=A Hot-Air Balloon Ride Over Mt. Everest Will Cost You $2.6 Million|website=Bloomberg News}} In one balloon were Andy Elson and Eric Jones (cameraman), and in the other balloon Chris Dewhirst and Leo Dickinson (cameraman).{{cite web|url=http://www.andyelson.com/Everest.htm |title=Andy Elson goes over the top |website=andyelson.com |access-date=20 September 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030458/http://www.andyelson.com/Everest.htm |archive-date=4 March 2016}} Dickinson went on to write a book about the adventure called Ballooning Over Everest. The hot-air balloons were modified to function at up to {{convert|40000|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}} altitude. Reinhold Messner called one of Dickinson's panoramic views of Everest, captured on the now discontinued Kodak Kodachrome film, the "best snap on Earth", according to UK newspaper The Telegraph.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/5886994/Spectacular-panorama-captured-of-the-Himalayas-from-hot-air-balloon.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/5886994/Spectacular-panorama-captured-of-the-Himalayas-from-hot-air-balloon.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Spectacular panorama captured of the Himalayas from hot air balloon|date=22 July 2009|website=Telegraph.co.uk|access-date=20 September 2015}}{{cbignore}} Dewhirst has offered to take passengers on a repeat of this feat for US$2.6 million per passenger.

File:Eurocopter AS-350B-3 Ecureuil AN0980259.jpg

In May 2005, pilot Didier Delsalle of France landed a Eurocopter AS350 B3 helicopter on the summit of Mount Everest.{{cite web|url=http://www-t.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0510/0509/whats_new/helicopter_everest.html|title=Landing on Air|publisher=National Geographic Adventure|date=1 September 2005|access-date=24 June 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160706033814/http://www-t.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0510/0509/whats_new/helicopter_everest.html|archive-date=6 July 2016}} He needed to land for two minutes to set the {{lang|fr|Fédération Aéronautique Internationale|italic=no}} (FAI) official record, but he stayed for about four minutes, twice. In this type of landing the rotors stay engaged, which avoids relying on the snow to fully support the aircraft. The flight set rotorcraft world records, for highest of both landing and take-off.

Some press reports suggested that the report of the summit landing was a misunderstanding of a South Col landing, but he had also landed on South Col two days earlier,{{cite web|url=http://www.mounteverest.net/story/FrenchEverestMysteryChoppersUtopiasummit-VIDEOMay272005.shtml|title=French Everest Mystery Chopper's Utopia summit|publisher=MountEverest.net|date=27 May 2005|access-date=20 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113192323/http://www.mounteverest.net/story/FrenchEverestMysteryChoppersUtopiasummit-VIDEOMay272005.shtml|archive-date=13 January 2015|url-status=dead}} with this landing and the Everest records confirmed by the FAI.{{cite web|url=http://records.fai.org/rotorcraft/history.asp?id1=112&id2=80&id3=1&id4=2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202045947/http://records.fai.org/rotorcraft/history.asp?id1=112&id2=80&id3=1&id4=2|archive-date=2 December 2008|title=Rotorcraft World Records|publisher=FAI}} Delsalle also rescued two Japanese climbers at {{convert|16000|ft|m|-1|abbr=on|order=flip}} while he was there. One climber noted that the new record meant a better chance of rescue.

On 21 May 2011, Nepalis Lakpa Tsheri Sherpa and Sano Bapu Sunuwar paraglided from Everest's summit to Namche Bazaar in 42 minutes.{{cite news|url=https://xcmag.com/news/60-years-of-everest-paragliding-and-hang-gliding-on-the-worlds-highest-peak/ |title=60 Years of Everest: Paragliding and Hang Gliding on the World's Highest Peak|date=29 May 2013 |author=Ed Ewing |publisher=Cross Country Magazine}} After the flight they hiked, biked, and kayaked to the Indian Ocean, reaching the Bay of Bengal by 27 June 2011, thereby becoming the first persons to complete a continuous summit-to-sea descent from Everest.{{cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/sanobabu-sunuwar-lakpa-tsheri-sherpa |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210731103625/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/sanobabu-sunuwar-lakpa-tsheri-sherpa |url-status=dead |archive-date=31 July 2021 |title=Ultimate Descent: Lakpa Tsheri Sherpa and Sano Babu Sunuwar |publisher=nationalgeographic.com |date=9 November 2011 |access-date=19 March 2021}} They accomplished the ground-breaking feat despite Bapu having never previously climbed, and Lakpa having never kayaked and not even knowing how to swim. The duo subsequently won National Geographic Adventurers of the Year for 2012 for their exploits. In 2013 footage of the flight was shown on the television news program Nightline.{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video/ultimate-descent-paragliding-off-everest-21242814 |title=Ultimate Descent: Paragliding off Everest Video |publisher=Abcnews.go.com |access-date=17 June 2016}}

In 2014, a team financed and led by mountaineer Wang Jing used a helicopter to fly from South base camp to Camp II to avoid the Khumbu Icefall, and thence climbed to the Everest summit.{{cite web|last1=Brown|first1=Chip|title=Chinese Woman Becomes First to Summit Everest After Avalanche|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/140525-everest-nepal-sherpas-climber-climbing-chinese-summit-avalanche-namche|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224171728/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/140525-everest-nepal-sherpas-climber-climbing-chinese-summit-avalanche-namche|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 February 2021|website=National Geographic|publisher=National Geographic Society|access-date=11 June 2023|date=25 May 2014|quote=Next year I think maybe I will relax.}} This climb immediately sparked outrage and controversy in much of the mountaineering world over the legitimacy and propriety of her climb.{{cite web|last1=Yelkov|first1=Alexander|title=Ван Цзин – миллионерша, красавица, мама и скандальная рекордсменка мира (Wang Jing – millionaire, beauty, mother and scandalous world record holder)|url=http://xn--80afvlem1dxc.xn--p1ai/articles/all/article_8058/ |website=ГорнЯшкА.рф|publisher=Gornyack.com|access-date=18 December 2017|language=ru|date=20 April 2015}} Nepal ended up investigating Wang, who initially denied the claim that she had flown to Camp II, admitting only that some support crew were flown to that higher camp, over the Khumbu Icefall.{{cite web|last=Sharma |first=Gopal |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-nepal-china-everest-idUSKBN0E70UO20140527 |title=Nepal probes if Chinese woman used helicopter on Everest climb |work=Reuters |date=27 May 2014 |access-date=17 June 2016}} In August 2014, however, she stated that she had flown to Camp II because the icefall was impassable. "If you don't fly to Camp II, you just go home", she said in an interview. In that same interview, she also insisted that she had never tried to hide this fact.

Her team had had to use the south side because the Chinese had denied them a permit to climb. Ultimately, the Chinese refusal may have been beneficial to Nepal's interests, allowing the government to showcase improved local hospitals and providing the opportunity for a new hybrid aviation/mountaineering style, triggering discussions about helicopter use in the mountaineering world. National Geographic noted that a village festooned Wang with honours after she donated US$30,000 to the town's hospital. Wang won the International Mountaineer of the Year Award from the Nepal government in June 2014.

In 2016 the increased use of helicopters was noted for increased efficiency and for hauling material over the deadly Khumbu icefall.{{cite web |url=http://blogs.dw.com/adventuresports/2016/04/23/helicopter-transport-flights-to-everest-high-camps/ |title=Helicopter transport flights to Everest high camps – Mount Everest|publisher=Blogs.dw.com – Adventure Sports|date=25 April 2015 |access-date=17 June 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160902225132/http://blogs.dw.com/adventuresports/2016/04/23/helicopter-transport-flights-to-everest-high-camps/ |archive-date=2 September 2016}} In particular it was noted that flights saved icefall porters 80 trips but still increased commercial activity at Everest. After many Nepalis died in the icefall in 2014, the government had wanted helicopters to handle more transportation to Camp 1 but this was not possible because of the 2015 earthquake closing the mountain, so this was then implemented in 2016 (helicopters did prove instrumental in rescuing many people in 2015 though). That summer Bell tested the 412EPI, which conducted a series of tests including hovering at {{convert|18,000|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}} and flying as high as {{convert|20,000|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}} altitude near Mount Everest.{{cite web|last=Bergqvist |first=Pia |url=http://www.flyingmag.com/bell-helicopter-tests-412epi-near-mount-everest |title=Bell Helicopter Tests 412EPI Near Mount Everest | Flying Magazine |date=16 June 2016 |publisher=Flyingmag.com |access-date=17 June 2016}}

Mount Everest has been host to other winter sports and adventuring besides mountaineering, including snowboarding, skiing, paragliding, and BASE jumping.

Yuichiro Miura became the first man to ski down Everest in the 1970s. He descended nearly {{convert|4200|ft|m|order=flip|adj=pre| vertical }} from the South Col before falling with extreme injuries. Stefan Gatt and Marco Siffredi snowboarded Mount Everest in 2001.{{cite news|url=http://snowboarding.transworld.net/uncategorized/mount-everest-snowboard-controversy-solved/|title=Mount Everest Snowboard Controversy Solved|date=27 June 2001|newspaper=Snowboarder|access-date=20 September 2015}} Other Everest skiers include Davo Karničar of Slovenia, who completed a top to south base camp descent in 2000, Hans Kammerlander of Italy in 1996 on the north side,{{cite web | url=http://www.igluski.com/features/skiing-everest | title=Skiing Down Mount Everest and the World's Highest Peaks | publisher=igluski.com | access-date=17 June 2016}} and Kit DesLauriers of the United States in 2006.{{cite book|last=Salisbury|first=Richard|title=The Himalayan database the expedition archives of Elizabeth Hawley|year=2004|publisher=American Alpine Club Press|location=Golden, CO|isbn=978-0-930410-99-5|url=http://www.himalayandatabase.com}} In 2006 Swede Tomas Olsson and Norwegian Tormod Granheim skied together down the north face. Olsson's anchor broke while they were rappelling down a cliff in the Norton couloir at about 8,500 metres, resulting in his death from a two and a half-kilometre fall. Granheim skied down to camp III.{{cite web|url=http://www.travelexplorations.com/tomas-olsson-found-dead-skiing-down-from-the-north-side-of-mount-everest-ended-in-tradegy.326749-18558.html|title=Tomas Olsson found dead – Skiing down from the North side of Mount Everest ended in tragedy!|website=travelexplorations.com|access-date=20 September 2015}} Also, Marco Siffredi died in 2002 on his second snow-boarding expedition.

Various types of gliding descents have slowly become more popular, and are noted for their rapid descents to lower camps. In 1986 Steve McKinney led an expedition to Mount Everest,{{cite book|author=Walt Unsworth|title=Everest: The Mountaineering History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=STs1loP7sfsC|year=2000|publisher=Mountaineers|location=London|isbn=978-0-89886-670-4|page=626}} during which he became the first person to fly a hang-glider off the mountain. Frenchman Jean-Marc Boivin made the first paraglider descent of Everest in September 1988, descending in minutes from the south-east ridge to a lower camp. In 2011, two Nepalis made a gliding descent from the Everest summit down {{convert|16400|ft|m|order=flip}} in 45 minutes.{{cite web|url=http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/trips/bucket-list/2013/ultimate-descent/|title=Ultimate Adventure Bucket List – Dream Trip: Make the Ultimate Descent|author1=Sano Babu Sunuwar|author2=Lakpa Tsheri Sherpa|name-list-style=amp|website=National Geographic|access-date=20 September 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150918123049/http://adventure.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/trips/bucket-list/2013/ultimate-descent/|archive-date=18 September 2015}} On 5 May 2013, the beverage company Red Bull sponsored Valery Rozov, who successfully BASE jumped off of the mountain while wearing a wingsuit, setting a record for world's highest BASE jump in the process.{{cite web|url=http://www.redbull.com/us/en/adventure/stories/1331647282718/watch-a-record-setting-base-jump-from-mt-everest|title=Everest Base Jumper|date=20 February 2017 |publisher=Red Bull}}{{cite web|last=Cooper|first=Tarquin|date=28 May 2013|url=http://www.redbull.com/en/adventure/stories/1331592877474/valery-rozov-base-mount-everest|title=Valery Rozov BASE Jumps From Mt Everest|publisher=Red Bull}}

File:Rongbuk Monastery Everest.jpg, with Mount Everest in the background]]

The southern part of Mount Everest is regarded as one of several "hidden valleys" of refuge designated by Padmasambhava, a ninth-century "lotus-born" Buddhist saint.

Near the base of the north side of Everest lies Rongbuk Monastery, which has been called the "sacred threshold to Mount Everest, with the most dramatic views of the world."{{cite web |last=Gilbert |first=Jeanne-Marie |title=Rongbuk Monastery |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/history/rongbukmon.html |website=PBS |access-date=14 September 2013 |date=November 2000}} For Sherpas living on the slopes of Everest in the Khumbu region of Nepal, Rongbuk Monastery is an important pilgrimage site, accessed in a few days of travel across the Himalayas through Nangpa La.{{cite book |first1=Tenzing |last1=Norgay |first2=James |last2=Ramsey Ullman |author-link1=Tenzing Norgay |author-link2=James Ramsey Ullman |title=Man of Everest: The Autobiography of Tenzing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iJR6nQEACAAJ |year=1955 |publisher=G.G. Harrap |others=also published as Tiger of the Snows |page=320}}

Miyolangsangma, a Tibetan Buddhist "Goddess of Inexhaustible Giving", is believed to have lived at the top of Mount Everest. According to Sherpa Buddhist monks, Mount Everest is Miyolangsangma's palace and playground, and all climbers are only partially welcome guests, having arrived without invitation.

The Sherpa people also believe that Mount Everest and its flanks are blessed with spiritual energy, and one should show reverence when passing through this sacred landscape. Here, the karmic effects of one's actions are magnified, and impure thoughts are best avoided.{{cite news |last=Coburn |first=Broughton |title=Mount Everest Fight Raises Questions About Sherpas |url= https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/130501-mount-everest-fight-sherpas-sahibs-world-mountain-climbing|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210228071116/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/130501-mount-everest-fight-sherpas-sahibs-world-mountain-climbing|url-status= dead|archive-date= 28 February 2021|work=National Geographic News |access-date=11 June 2023 |publisher=National Geographic Society |agency=National Geographic Partners, LLC. |date=1 May 2013}}

{{Further|Impacts of tourism#Mount Everest}}

In 2015, the president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association warned that pollution, especially human waste, has reached critical levels. As much as {{convert|26,500|lb|kg|order=flip|abbr=on}} of human excrement each season is left behind on the mountain.{{cite news |last=Holley |first=Peter |title=Morning Mix Decades of human waste have made Mount Everest a 'fecal time bomb' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/03/03/decades-of-human-waste-have-made-mount-everest-a-fecal-time-bomb/ |access-date=31 January 2017 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=3 March 2015}} Human waste is strewn across the verges of the route to the summit, making the four sleeping areas on the route up Everest's south side minefields of human excrement. Climbers above Base Camp—for the 62-year history of climbing on the mountain—have most commonly either buried their excrement in holes they dug by hand in the snow, or slung it into crevasses, or simply defecated wherever convenient, often within metres of their tents. The only place where climbers can defecate without worrying about contaminating the mountain is Base Camp. At approximately {{convert|18,000|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on}}, Base Camp sees the most activity of all camps on Everest because climbers acclimate and rest there. In the late-1990s, expeditions began using toilets that they fashioned from blue plastic {{convert|50|USgal|L|abbr=off|order=flip|adj=on}} barrels fitted with a toilet seat and enclosed.{{cite news |last=Bishop |first=Brent |title=Peak Poop: The Feces Problem on Everest Needs a Solution |url=https://www.outsideonline.com/1965696/peak-poop-feces-problem-everest-needs-solution |access-date=18 June 2021 |magazine=Outside Online |date=7 April 2015 |publisher=Mariah Media Network LLC.}}

The problem of human waste is compounded by the presence of more anodyne waste: spent oxygen tanks, abandoned tents, empty cans and bottles. The Nepali government now requires each climber to pack out eight kilograms of waste when descending the mountain.{{cite news |last=Saul |first=Heather |title=Human waste left by climbers on Mount Everest is causing pollution and could spread diseases |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/human-waste-left-by-climbers-on-mount-everest-is-causing-pollution-and-could-spread-diseases-10081562.html |access-date=31 January 2017 |newspaper=The Independent |date=3 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222105040/http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/human-waste-left-by-climbers-on-mount-everest-is-causing-pollution-and-could-spread-diseases-10081562.html |archive-date=22 December 2017 |url-status=live}}

In February 2019, due to the mounting waste problem, China closed the base camp on its side of Everest to visitors without climbing permits. Tourists are allowed to go as far as the Rongbuk Monastery.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-47249141|title=China closes Everest base camp to tourists|date=15 February 2019|access-date=15 February 2019}}

In April 2019, the Solukhumbu district's Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality launched a campaign to collect nearly 10,000 kg of garbage from Everest.{{Cite web|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/south-asia/major-clean-up-of-everest-aims-to-bring-back-10000kg-garbage-bodies-of-dead-climbers|title=Major cleanup of Everest aims to bring back 10,000 kg of garbage, bodies of dead climbers|date=29 April 2019|website=The Straits Times|access-date=1 May 2019}} Five years later, 2024, waste removal is receiving continuing attention.[https://apnews.com/article/everest-nepal-sherpa-garbage-0e9ce2b7f1622244e3fc628f84b74000 A record-holding Sherpa guide concerned about garbage on higher camps on Mount Everest], apnews.com, Binaj Gurubacharya, May 29, 2024[https://apnews.com/article/mount-everest-cleanup-garbage-environment-nepal-0e123e215854b2c2a172492769348ee6 Mount Everest’s highest camp is littered with frozen garbage, and cleanup is likely to take years], apnews.com, Binaj Gurubacharya, July 6, 2024[https://apnews.com/video/nepal-kathmandu-d726e1821027434c94d04efb95c08390 Everest’s highest camp littered with frozen garbage, and cleanup likely to take years, Sherpas say], apneas.com/video, July 6, 2024

{{Portal|Mountains|China|Nepal}}

{{div col}}

• Chinese plan for a rail tunnel under Mount Everest
• Everesting
• The Himalayan Database
• List of deaths on eight-thousanders
• List of elevation extremes by country
• List of Mount Everest death statistics
• List of Mount Everest summiters by number of times to the summit
• List of Mount Everest records
• List of people who died climbing Mount Everest
• List of ski descents of Eight-Thousanders
• List of tallest mountains in the Solar System
• Mount Everest in popular culture
• Mount Hood climbing accidents
• Mukhiyapatti Musharniya, the lowest point of Nepal
• Qomolangma National Park
• Rongbuk Glacier
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• Timeline of Mount Everest expeditions

{{div col end}}

{{NoteFoot}}

{{Reflist

|refs =

{{cite web |url = http://www.everest1953.co.uk/geology-of-mount-everest |title = Geology of Mount Everest |website = everest1953.co.uk |access-date = 13 November 2018 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160624084302/http://www.everest1953.co.uk/geology-of-mount-everest |archive-date=24 June 2016 |url-status=dead }}

{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630231843/https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/05/150513-everest-climbing-nepal-earthquake-avalanche-sherpas/|archive-date=30 June 2017|url = https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/05/150513-everest-climbing-nepal-earthquake-avalanche-sherpas/ |title = Will Everest's Climbing Circus Slow Down After Disasters? |last = Parker |first = Laura |date = 13 May 2015 |website = news.nationalgeographic.com |publisher = National Geographic |access-date = 6 July 2015 }}

}}

{{For|1924 Mount Everest expedition|1924 British Mount Everest expedition#Bibliography}}

{{For|first ascent of Mount Everest|1953 British Mount Everest expedition#Further reading}}

• {{cite book|last=Astill|first=Tony|title=Mount Everest: The Reconnaissance 1935|year=2005}}
• {{cite book|last1=Boukreev|first1=Anatoli|author-link=Anatoli Boukreev|last2=DeWalt|first2=G. Weston|title=The Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest|publisher=Saint Martin's Press|year=1997|isbn=978-0-312-16814-8|url=https://archive.org/details/climbtragicambit00bouk_0}}
• {{cite book|first=Edmund|last=Hillary|author-link=Edmund Hillary|title=High Adventure|location=London|publisher=Hodder & Stoughton|year=1953}}
• {{Cite EB1911 |wstitle= Everest, Mount |volume = 10 |last= Holdich |first= Thomas |author-link= Thomas Holdich|page= 7|short=1}}
• {{cite book|author-link=Reinhold Messner|last=Messner|first=Reinhold|title=The Crystal Horizon: Everest – the first solo ascent|location=Seattle|publisher=The Mountaineers|year=1989|isbn=978-0-89886-207-2}}
• {{cite book|author-link=W.H. Murray|last=Murray|first=W.H.|title=The Story of Everest, 1921–1952|location=London|publisher=J.M. Dent & Sons|year=1953}}
• {{cite book|author-link1=Tenzing Norgay|last1=Norgay|first1=Tenzing|last2=Ullman|first2=Ramsey James|title=Tiger of the Snows|location=New York|publisher=Putnam|year=1955}}
• {{cite book|author-link=Bill Tilman|last=Tilman|first=H.W.|title=Nepal Himalaya|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1952}}
• {{cite magazine|title=Mount Everest: Surveying the Third Pole|first=Bradford|last=Washburn|magazine=National Geographic|pages=652–659|volume=174|issue=5|date=November 1988|issn=0027-9358|oclc=643483454}}
• {{Cite book|last=Fleetwood|first=Lachlan|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/science-on-the-roof-of-the-world/5E7BA0430A766D7008017E1E4F1231DE|title=Science on the Roof of the World: Empire and the Remaking of the Himalaya|date=May 2022|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-009-12311-2|series=Science in History|location=Cambridge}}

{{external media

| width = 240px

| image1 = [https://maps.yandex.com/-/CVgluFYs 360° panoramic view] (virtual tour)

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{{Sister project links|auto=1|collapsible=yes|d=Q513|wikt=y|s=1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Everest, Mount}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20181025114329/http://himalaya-info.org/Map%20khumbu_mitte.htm Mount Everest on Himalaya-Info.org (German)]
• [http://www.staeudtner.com/allgemein/360-panorama-view-mount-everest-summit/ 360 panorama view from top of Mount Everest – large dimension drawing]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050407035439/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/everest/ National Geographic site on Mount Everest]
• [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/everest/ NOVA site on Mount Everest]
• [http://imagingeverest.rgs.org/Concepts/Imaging_Everest Imaging Everest, a collection of photographs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161114060108/http://imagingeverest.rgs.org/Concepts/Imaging_Everest/ |date=14 November 2016 }}
• [http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/rock/150230/everest.html Mount Everest on Summitpost]
• [http://www.8000ers.com/cms/content/view/52/185/ Full list of all ascents of Everest up to and including 2008 (in PDF format)]
• [https://outdoorinquirer.com/mount-everest-deaths/ Deaths by year] ([https://web.archive.org/web/20231005171820/http://everesthistory.com/everestsummits/summitsbyyear.htm Summits and deaths per year])
• [http://thegreatindian.tripod.com/mountEverest.htm Mount Everest panorama], [http://www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen2/full22.html Mount Everest interactive panorama (QuickTime format)], Virtual panoramas
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20220314122829/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/150420-everest-climbing-sherpas-mountaineering-nepal-himalayas-guides National Geographic, 2015 article with info-graphic on climbing routes]
• [https://www.himalayandatabase.com/ Himalayan Database: Data Visualization of Mount Everest Summit, Attempt, and Death ]

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