Kathmandu - A US climber has died on Mount Everest, his expedition organizer said Tuesday, in the first foreign death on the highest mountain in the world this season. "He was feeling unwell and passed away at Camp 2. Efforts are underway to bring (back) his body," Pasang Tshering Sherpa of Beyul Adventure told AFP.
Mount Everest is set to see record numbers of climbers this season, with around 1,000 people expected to attempt mountaineering's ultimate goal. But scaling the awesome 8,849-metre (29,032-foot) peak is both expensive and dangerous, and possibly becoming more so because of overcrowding and climate change.
As the season gets underway, AFP looks at why Everest is such a magnet for climbers and how times are changing on the roof of the world.
- Why is Everest on every climber's checklist?
- Everest, known as Sagarmatha in Nepali and Chomolungma in Tibetan, has captured the imagination of climbers ever since it was identified as the world's tallest mountain above sea level. The first expedition was launched in 1921 by the British, but it would take another 32 years and several more expeditions before Nepali Tenzing Norgay and New Zealander Edmund Hillary would finally reach its summit.
Seventy years on, commercialization has drawn crowds of climbers to the slopes of the mountain, and more than 6,000 people have reached its summit.
A majority of them have been in the last two decades. "Because it's there," British climber George Mallory famously said in 1923 in reply to a reporter's question as to why he wanted to climb Everest. For others, more visible advocacy is their motivation.
"Everest is the tallest mountain and your message from Everest can get the most attention," double-amputee veteran Hari Budha Magar, who is climbing to raise awareness for disabilities, told AFP.
- How much does it cost?
- Costs range from $45,000 to $200,000, depending on the services included and the level of luxury. This includes an $11,000 permit for foreign climbers, plus travel, insurance, kit, and most importantly, guides. Pasang Tenje Sherpa of Everest expedition operator Pioneer Adventure said costs have been pushed up in recent years by mountaineers wanting a better climbing experience.
"There is a huge difference now, and companies have to compete on providing the best services to the clients," Sherpa said.
At the base camp, climbers can now enjoy a hearty breakfast, wifi to keep in touch with loved ones -- and to post photos on social media -- brewed coffee, and other creature comforts unthinkable for the early climbers.
- Is risk changing with the changing climate? -
Everest has always been dangerous, with more than 300 people killed since climbing began, according to the Himalayan Database.
In 2014, an immense, tumbling wall of snow, ice, and rock killed 16 Nepali guides on the Khumbu Icefall in one of the deadliest accidents in the Himalayas.
This season began on a tragic note, with the death of three Nepali guides on the same treacherous formation after a chunk of falling glacial ice swept them into a deep crevasse. Although no extensive research has been done into climate change and mountaineering risks in the Himalayas, climbers have reported widening crevasses, running water on previously snowy slopes, and increased formation of glacial lakes. A 2019 study warned that Himalayan glaciers were melting twice as fast as in the last century. "I would say the variability of the dangerousness is increasing. In the long term, warmer temperatures make mountains unstable, and that increases the risk for gravity-related processes like rock fall, ice fall, and avalanches," said Lukas Furtenbach of Everest operator Furtenbach Adventures.
- What about overcrowding? - Experts say a major risk factor is also the sheer number of climbers -- and that some of them are ill-prepared thrill-seekers.
In 2019, a massive traffic jam on Everest forced teams to wait hours in freezing temperatures, lowering depleted oxygen levels that can lead to sickness and exhaustion. At least four of the 11 deaths that year were blamed on overcrowding. Nepal has already issued 466 permits to foreign climbers, and since most will need a guide, more than 900 people will try and summit this season, which runs until early June. This could once again result in heavy traffic and bottlenecks en route to the summit, especially if there is a shorter climbing window because of unfavorable weather.
- How is the role of Nepalis changing? - Nepali guides -- usually ethnic Sherpas from nearby valleys -- are the backbone of the multimillion-dollar industry, bearing huge risks to carry equipment and food, fix ropes, and repair ladders. Long under the shadow of the foreign climbers they support, Nepali mountaineers are slowly being recognized in their own right. The top records on Himalayan peaks are held by Nepalis -- shining a much-deserved spotlight on their own climbing prowess. "In the beginning, Nepalis climbed for survival but this is changing as the next generation gains experience and education," said Ang Tshering Sherpa, former president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.
A record number of mountaineers expected on Mount Everest during the current spring climbing season has sparked fears of a traffic jam when teams make their final ascent through the "death zone" to the summit of the world’s tallest peak. Overcrowding and high numbers of relatively inexperienced climbers were cited as key factors when nine people died high up on the 8,849 meters (29,032 feet) peak in May 2019 - during one of the deadliest seasons for years.
Anyone wanting to climb Everest by the end of May, when the weather is usually still favorable, should have obtained a Nepal government permit by the end of this month. So far, Nepal has handed out a record 463 permits to climb Everest between March and May, beating 2021's 409.
"The challenges with more climbers on the mountain will be potential traffic jams on the climbing route, especially if the weather windows are few and far between,” Garrett Madison of U.S.-based Madison Mountaineering Company said in a WhatsApp message from the base camp.
"This can lead to climbers running out of oxygen and facing exhaustion/exposure in the ‘death zone’," he added, referring to altitude above 8,000 meters (26,246 feet) where the air is too thin to survive for long without supplementary oxygen.
The greatest risk of delays occurs at the Hillary Step, a steep 12-meter rock face, just 180 meters below the summit, putting it high in the 'death zone'.
Home to eight of the world’s 14 highest peaks, Nepal is often criticized by some Western climbers for allowing anyone who can pay the $11,000 fee for a permit to climb Everest - a charge the government denies.
"Many of the companies now guiding on the south side of Everest are taking climbers who have not yet developed the experience necessary to safely navigate the difficulties,” said Adrian Ballinger of U.S.-based Alpenglow Expeditions, who has moved his activities to the Chinese side.
This year, Chinese nationals have received the most permits, with 96, and U.S. climbers have received the second most with 87, while climbers from India got 40. A second climbing season runs from September to November but is not as popular.
For every climber, there is typically at least one local sherpa. Climbing is a key earner for the poor country, where about 500,000 people are employed in tourism, including climbing, and the number of permits has been rising steadily. So far this year, Nepal has granted permits to 1,046 climbers for 24 peaks, earning the government $5.6 million, of which $5 million came from Everest alone.
Each climber spends at least $26,700 on an expedition in Nepal, including permit fees, gas, food, guides, and local travel, said Ang Tshering Sherpa of the Nepali expedition organizing company Asian Trekking. Yubaraj Khatiwada, director at Nepal's Department of Tourism, rebuffed criticism of the number of permits awarded, and he said a team of doctors and government officials would be stationed at the Everest base camp for the first time to manage climbing activities throughout the season.
"We are concerned for their safety and are well prepared to cope with the crowd, by spreading summit bids as long as the good weather window provides to ensure the climbing goes smoothly as far as possible,” Khatiwada said. He said the government was considering introducing a requirement for climbers to scale at least one 6,000-metre peak in Nepal before attempting Everest. Lukas Furtenbach of Austria-based Furtenbach Adventures said the higher number of climbers was not a problem so long as they are managed well and the weather holds long enough to have more days to spread out teams' attempts on the summit. "I can only see a risk if people are running out of oxygen. So proper oxygen logistics are crucial,” Furtenbach said.
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