Mount Everest

Location: Solukhumbu District Map

Elevation: 8,848 m (29,029 ft)

 

Description of Mount Everest

Mount Everest is a mountain in the Himalayas and, with a height of over 8,848 m (more precisely: see height information), is the highest mountain in the world. It is one of the 14 eight-thousanders and the Seven Summits. Mount Everest has been named after the British surveyor George Everest since 1856. In Nepali the mountain is called Sagarmatha, in Tibetan ཇོ་མོ་གླང་མ Qomolangma (German pronunciation “Tschomolangma”) and in Chinese and Standard Chinese 珠穆朗瑪峰, Zhūmùlǎngm ǎ Fēng.

Mount Everest is located in the Mahalangur Himal in the Khumbu region of Nepal on the border with Tibet in China; the western and southeastern of its three summit ridges form the border. On the Nepalese side it is part of the Sagarmatha National Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. On the north side it is part of the Qomolangma National Nature Reserve, which corresponds to the UNESCO-designated Qomolangma Biosphere Reserve.

Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay made the first ascent of the “third pole” on May 29, 1953. On May 8, 1978, Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler climbed the summit for the first time without additional oxygen. By the end of 2018, the summit had been reached by mountaineers around 8,400 times. Over 300 mountaineers died on the way there or back.

While Mount Everest is the highest point above sea level, there are two other mountains that are referred to as the “highest mountain on earth”. Measured from the foot of the mountain, this is the Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii, and measured from the center of the earth, this is Chimborazo in Ecuador.

 

Name of Mount Everest

In Nepali the mountain is called Sagarmatha (“Forehead of Heaven”) and in Tibetan ཇོ་མོ་གླང་མ Jo mo glang ma or Qomolangma (“Mother of the Universe”). The Chinese name 珠穆朗玛峰 Zhūmùlǎngmǎ Fēng is a phonetic rendering of the Tibetan name. Their transcription Chomolungma in English is now common in Europe. The Tschomolungma used in German-language, especially older, texts is being replaced by Chomolungma in newer German-language sources.

Sir George Everest was for many years head of the Great Trigonometric Survey of India and Surveyor General of India. Under his successor Andrew Scott Waugh, the peak, initially known as “Peak b”, was surveyed from India for the first time in 1848; At that time, Nepal refused access to its territory. After further survey work over distances of up to 200 km, extensive, complex calculations were carried out by Radhanath Sikdar in the computing offices in Dehradun; In 1852 he came to the conclusion that at 29,002 feet (8,840 m) the peak, now known as “Peak Since the last doubts about the accuracy of the measurements still had to be dispelled due to the large distances, this result was only made known in 1856 by Andrew Waugh in a letter to the Royal Geographical Society. He named the mountain Mount Everest in honor of his predecessor. The current pronunciation of Mount Everest is [ˈmaʊnt ˈɛvərɛst], although Sir George pronounced his own surname [ˈiːvrɪst].

The mountain was known as Gauri Sankar for a long time, especially in German-speaking countries. This was based on a misunderstanding by the German Himalayan pioneer Hermann von Schlagintweit. In 1855 he tried to explore the unknown Peak XV, which had just been calculated to be the highest mountain on earth. From near Kathmandu, he looked at the western side of the mountains and saw a mountain that lay in the direction of Everest and towered over all the other mountains. This mountain was known to the Nepali as Gaurisankar, but Schlagintweit thought it was the mysterious Peak XV. Based on this error and the rejection of the English name “Mount Everest” in favor of the “beautiful old name Gaurisankar”, this name for the highest mountain in the world was included in atlases in Germany and taught in schools. In 1903 it was determined that the Gaurisankar was a different peak, namely the 7145 m high Peak XX; its distance from Everest is 58 km.

 

Mythological meaning

Like basically all of the prominent peaks in the Khumbu region, Mount Everest is a sacred mountain for the Sherpas. Among this people, Buddhism is paired with more original religions, especially animism and Bon. According to the Sherpas, spirits and demons inhabit springs, trees and even the peaks. Mount Everest is believed by Buddhists to be the seat of Jomo Miyo Lang Sangma, one of the five “sisters of long life” who reside on the five highest peaks of the Himalayas. Jomo Miyo Lang Sangma gives people food.

According to legend, the great saint Padmasambhava, who brought Buddhism from India to Tibet, organized a race to the summit of Mount Everest. After padmasambhava meditated for some time at the peak and fought with the demons, he was challenged by a lama of the Bön religion. The question was which of the two was more powerful. The Lama of the Bön religion set out that night, carried by his magical drum, Padmasambhava only at daybreak. He still won the race because, sitting on a chair, a beam of light took him straight to the summit. After waiting at the top for some time, Padmasambhava left his chair and began his descent. The Bon Lama gave up and left his drum behind. To this day it is said that the spirits beat the drum when an avalanche thunders down the valley.

Because of this importance, the Sherpas perform a sacrificial ceremony, a so-called puja, before climbing. The Sherpas are convinced that puja is essential to avert disaster. This sacrificial festival is essential for their peace of mind, and in general all western expedition participants also take part in it, otherwise, according to the Sherpas' belief, the mountain gods would become angry, not only against the foreigners, but especially against the Sherpas who do such things would have allowed.

Religious symbols such as mani stones and a stupa with prayer flags printed with mantras can be found at the base of Mount Everest. On the way to Everest Base Camp (Mount Everest Trek), at the Thokla Pass between Dingboche and Lobuche, a memorial to the victims of Everest was created. The dead are paid their last respects with a so-called stone man, a stack of piled stones, or a stele.

 

Geology

Regional geological framework

Mount Everest, like the entire Himalayas, is a result of Alpine mountain formation. In the South Asian section of the Alpine mountain belt, the convergence of the Indian plate and the Eurasian plate that began around 90 million years ago in the Upper Cretaceous led to the closure of the eastern Tethys and, as a result, to the collision of the continental blocks of India and Asia from the Eocene onwards around 50 million years ago . The much smaller Indian plate is still pushing under Eurasia at a rate of about three centimeters per year. Mount Everest is still growing due to the thickening of the continental crust associated with the collision, but only a few millimeters a year. The ongoing uplift is caused by isostatic compensatory movements, which result from the difference in density between the stacked earth's crust in the mountain area and the denser earth's mantle. The mountain roots protruding into the earth's mantle receive a buoyancy, similar to a cork in water. However, the uplift is partially offset by erosion, the process that was ultimately responsible for the mountain being carved out of the mountain body.

 

Geological structure and rocks

Through intensive tectonic deformation (“folding”) under high pressure and high temperatures, the original rocks underwent a transformation as they sank into the deeper levels of the earth's crust, with the degree of metamorphism in the Everest massif generally decreasing from bottom to top. The lowest rock unit of the massif (above 5400 m) consists mainly of high-medium grade metamorphic rocks, mainly dark, biotite-rich sillimanite-cordierite gneisses, the protolith age of which is estimated to be late Neoproterozoic (more than 540 million years). These gneisses belong to the central crystalline zone of the Himalayas (also called the Greater Himalayan Sequence or Higher Himalayan Crystalline Sequence).

The gneisses in the upper “story” of the crystalline zone are in many places interspersed with plutons and veins of light granite (leuco granite). On Everest this is the so-called Everest-Nuptse granite (partly named after the neighboring mountain Nuptse). In addition to the main components typically found in granite, it contains quartz, feldspar (here microcline or orthoclase and plagioclase) and mica (here muscovite and biotite) and mainly tourmaline. The magma that formed this granite melted into the deeper structural levels of the crystalline sequence. The formation of the magma and the placement of the granite bodies occurred at the Oligocene-Miocene transition around 24 to 21 million years ago and in the Middle Miocene around 16 million years ago.

The lower part of the summit pyramid, from around 7500 m altitude, is made up of low-medium to low-grade metamorphic Cambrian sedimentary rocks, which are summarized under the name North Col Formation or Everest Series. These are primarily quartz-bearing mica schists, phyllites and chlorite schists. They are separated from the gneisses and granites of the central crystalline by the so-called Lhotse Shear Zone, although some granite veins cross the shear zone and also penetrate the basal part of the North Col Formation. At around 8350 m, the North Col Formation is overlain by an approximately 170 m thick sequence of coarsely crystalline marbles and slates, which is referred to as the Yellow Band due to its striking weathering color.

The actual summit area consists of Ordovician, slightly dolomitized, fine-grained limestone - the Qomolangma Formation. These limestones usually show clear signs of strong movement (so their fine-grained structure is probably mainly due to dynamic recrystallization). Calcite porphyroclasts swim in the fine-grained, foliated ground mass or are “flowed around” by it in a characteristic way. Some of these “calcite eyes” can be clearly identified in thin sections as relics of fossils (e.g. crinoid arm or stalk limbs). A few meters below the summit, samples containing numerous fragments of crinoids, trilobites, ostracods and brachiopods were collected, which apparently underwent deformation and metamorphism to a much lesser extent.

The Qomolangma Formation is bounded against the Yellow Band by the gently northeast-dipping Qomolangma Detachment (“Chomolangma Shear Surface”), which, in contrast to the Lhotse Shear Zone, is formed as a fault. Lhotse Shear Zone and Qomolangma Detachment are structural elements of the so-called South Tibetan Detachment System, an extensional fault system that separates the central crystalline from the northern adjacent, Phanerozoic, marine-sedimentary (typically weak-medium to unmetamorphic) Tethys-Himalayan sequence, which is also attributed to the Qomolangma Formation.

 

Earthquake

The ongoing plate movements cause sometimes very strong earthquakes in large parts of South and East Asia, which also affect Mount Everest. According to measurements by the Chinese Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation Agency (测绘地理信息管理), the severe earthquake on April 25, 2015 moved the mountain by three centimeters to the southwest. The earthquake on May 12, 2015, however, had no impact on the location of the mountain. In the previous ten years, Everest had moved in the opposite direction, to the northeast, at an average rate of four centimeters per year and was rising on average by 0.3 cm per year.

 

Topography

The summit pyramid is modeled by erosion and massive glaciers. The three main ridges - west ridge, north/northeast ridge and southeast ridge - divide the summit into three main faces - southwest face, north face and east face (Kangshung Face). In addition, the ridges separate the three glaciers that flow from Mount Everest and its neighboring peaks: Khumbu Glacier, Rongpu Glacier (also Rongbuk Glacier) and Kangshung Glacier.

The southeast ridge and west ridge and their continuations form the further border between Tibet and Nepal. The southeast ridge connects Mount Everest with the 8516 m high Lhotse, the lowest point of this ridge is the 7906 m high South Col (South Col). Further on, the ridge continues from Lhotse towards Lhotse Shar (8415 m) and Peak 38 (7591 m). The western ridge first runs into a secondary peak - the so-called western shoulder - which drops to the Lho La Pass (6606 m) and then into the mountain range of Khumbutse (6636 m), Lingtren (6714 m) and Pumori (7138 m). continues. The northeast ridge on the Tibetan side leads from the summit over three rocky steps and three rocky pinnacles down to the eastern Rongpu Glacier. The north ridge branches off from it below the steps and above the needles at an altitude of 8,420 m and connects Mount Everest via the lowest point on the North Col (7,005 m) with the 7,543 m high Changtse. From Lhotse, on the Nepalese side, the long mountain ridge of Nuptse (7861 m) runs westwards, which is separated from Mount Everest by the Valley of Silence and the Khumbu Glacier.

The walls of Everest are structured differently. The southwest wall of the Valley of Silence has two striking pillars. It is steep overall (around 60-70 degrees). The north face is essentially divided by two high-altitude couloirs, the Norton Couloir and the Hornbein Couloir. The slope of the north wall varies around 40-45 degrees. The heavily glaciated eastern wall or Kangshung Wall has three main pillars. It is very steep in the lower part (up to 80 degrees) and marked by hanging glaciers in the upper, more gently inclined part.

 

Climate

The climatic conditions on Mount Everest are extreme. In January, the coldest month, the average temperature at the summit is −36 °C and can drop to as low as −60 °C. Even in the warmest month, July, temperatures do not rise above the frost line; the average temperature at the summit is −19 °C.

In winter and spring, winds from westerly directions prevail. The moisture-laden air condenses into a white, east-facing cloud (often misleadingly referred to as a “snow plume”). Because of these cloud plumes, the Himalayas were originally thought to be a volcanic chain. Mountaineers also use the cloud plume of Mount Everest to estimate the wind speed at the summit: at around 80 km/h it is perpendicular to the summit, at higher winds it slopes downwards and at lower winds it slopes upwards. In winter, the southwest jet stream impacts the summit and can produce winds of up to 175 mph (285 km/h). From June to September the mountain comes under the influence of the Indian monsoon. This is the time when most precipitation falls and the weather is characterized by heavy snowstorms.

As in all high mountain regions, rapid weather changes can occur. This also applies to the two climbing seasons in May and October. Sudden drops in temperature, storms and snowfalls of up to three meters per day are not unusual. There are usually only a few days in each season with stable weather - the so-called "window days" - when an ascent is most likely possible.

In the first decade after the turn of the millennium, various studies came to the conclusion that the ice masses in the area of Mount Everest were melting rapidly due to climate change. As a result, more and larger meltwater lakes are forming on the Khumbu Glacier, among other things, which hinder climbing and increase the risk. As a result of ice melting as a result of climate change, many of the approximately 200 mountaineers' corpses lying there are also thawing from glaciers and ice fields.

 

Fauna and Flora

According to the barometric altitude formula, the air pressure at the summit of Mount Everest is 325.4 hPa and corresponds to almost a third of the normal pressure at sea level. This shifts the boiling point of water from 100 °C under normal conditions to just 70 °C, and the oxygen partial pressure in the air is only a third compared to sea level. In addition, there are extreme temperature fluctuations and strong winds. Only a few animals were able to adapt to this extremely hostile environment; flowering plants can no longer be found in the area of eternal ice.

Euophrys omnisuperstes, a small representative of the jumping spiders (Salticidae), was discovered in 1924 by R.W.G. Hingston observed up to an altitude of 6700 m. Its food source remained a mystery for a long time. It was not until 1954 that it was discovered that they feed on flies and springtails (Collembola), which can be found at altitudes of up to 6000 m. The latter live on fungi and lichens that break down organic material that blows in. During the 1924 Everest expedition, lichens were collected between 4600 and 5500 m. Based on this, R. Paulson was able to identify around 30 species in 1925.

Of the vertebrates, only some birds are able to permanently adapt to extreme altitudes. The bar-headed goose (Anser indicus) lives up to altitudes of 5600 m. Choughs (Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax) have even been observed at the 7,920 m high South Col, where they feed on rubbish and also on fatally injured mountaineers. The body of George Mallory, which was found at around 8160 m, was also probably eaten by birds.

 

Height information and measurements

The height of Mount Everest has been determined in many measurements. This resulted in altitudes between 8844 and 8850 m. Due to the altitude (death zone) and the ice layer on the summit, the measurement is difficult. The ice layer on the summit is not included in the height because it is subject to strong fluctuations. The exact height must therefore refer to the height of the rock base below. This was not possible during the first measurements. Another problem is the sea level reference. Chinese measurements are based on the defined zero point of a level in Qingdao, Nepalese measurements are based on the zero point of a level in Karachi. The distance between the two places is more than 6,000 kilometers, and this different reference system alone results in significant differences. In addition, GPS altitude information is based on a simplified model of the Earth, the reference ellipsoid of the World Geodetic System 1984. In such measurements, the difference between the geoid and the reference ellipsoid must be taken into account, as was the case with the measurement in May 2004.

The information for the summit height of Mount Everest has been corrected several times since the first measurement in 1848. In 1856, 8840 m was calculated from information from six different survey stations. However, the stations were located over 150 kilometers from the Everest massif because the surveyors from the British Indian Survey were not allowed to enter Nepal. Until then, Dhaulagiri (8,167 m), the first eight-thousander to be discovered, and from 1838 Kangchenjunga (8,586 m) were considered the highest mountain.

The long-held altitude of 8,848 m was calculated as an average by the Survey of India in 1954 from the measurement data from a total of twelve survey stations. This information was confirmed by a Chinese expedition in 1975 - it found 8848.13 m.

A height measurement carried out directly on the mountain by a Chinese-Italian expedition team in September 1992, the first to be carried out using modern means, also produced almost the same value at 8848.82 m. The data used came from measurements with conventional theodolites as well as from laser measurements and GPS signals.

Very precise measurements using several GPS receivers on May 5, 1999 showed a height of 8,850 m. This information is based on the height of the rock base. The thickness of the layer of ice and snow at the summit varies between one and three meters depending on the season and the amount of rainfall in the monsoon season.

During a measurement in May 2004, eight radar reflectors were anchored on the summit and the height of the rock base was determined. The respective height of the radar profiles was then determined. The thickness of the ice layer was then subtracted from this height. According to this measurement, Everest had a height of 8848.82 m, with an inaccuracy of ±0.23 meters. This meant that the height from 1992 could be confirmed.

Another measurement dates from May 2005, again carried out by a Chinese expedition. It gave the mountain a height of 8844.43 m, with an inaccuracy of ±0.21 meters. It is therefore around 3.7 meters lower than assumed since the Chinese measurement in 1975. However, like those from 1999 and 2004, the information only refers to the pure rock base. This survey was undertaken from China's northern side rather than the Nepalese south and lasted a year. Radar detectors as well as laser measuring devices and satellite positioning systems were used.

In 2020, China and Nepal jointly re-measured the mountain and found it to be 8,848.86 m high.

 

Ascent history

As the highest mountain on earth, Mount Everest is always an attractive destination. The first attempts to climb it were made in the 1920s, but it was not until May 29, 1953 that Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were the first to reach the summit. Numerous new routes have been opened since the 1960s. A Chinese expedition succeeded in climbing from the Chinese north side in 1960. On May 8, 1978, Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler reached the summit for the first time without additional oxygen.

 

First attempts at climbing

Francis Younghusband's British Army expedition violently forced its way through Tibet in 1904 to force the country to open its borders and grant trade privileges. The first detailed photograph of the eastern flank of Kampa Dzong (around 150 kilometers away) was also taken by J. Claude White.

 

1920s

The first ascent of Mount Everest by a Brit was of great national importance in the United Kingdom. The British chemist, researcher on high-altitude medicine and mountaineer Alexander Mitchell Kellas summarized the prevailing opinion at the time on February 22, 1916 in a letter to Sandy Wollaston, who, like Kellas, would later be one of the members of the first British expedition to the Mount Everest area:

“We have missed both poles after 300 years of dominating the seas, and we certainly will not miss the chance to explore the area around Mount Everest after 160 years of being the dominant power in India [ …] I, for example, would be proud to go there with 2 to 10 porters or even alone to secure this little piece of exploration for Great Britain.”

During the exploration and climbing expeditions, attempts were made to obtain permission from the Dalai Lama. It took until the 1920s before he granted this permission to the Royal Geographical Society.

The first British exploratory expedition was sent to the area in 1921. However, this was not primarily about climbing the mountain, but rather about geological surveys, mapping the area and an initial exploration of possible ascent routes. Participants of the expedition completed the survey of 31,000 square kilometers. During this expedition, George Mallory discovered a viable route to the summit from Lhakpa La, the standard northern route since then through the valley of the eastern Rongpu Glacier to the North Col. A short-term attempt to climb the North Col failed due to the onset of the monsoon.

In 1922, no more topographical surveys were planned and the expedition was scheduled for the pre-monsoon season. The ascent attempts were made in small groups. Mallory, Somervell, Norton and Morshead made the first attempt without the use of supplemental oxygen. They set up a small camp at 7600 m and continued the climb the following day. Morshead had to abandon the climb quite quickly, the other climbers reached an altitude of 8225 m that day. This was a new world altitude record for mountaineers.

The next attempt was carried out by George Ingle Finch, Geoffrey Bruce and the Gurkha Tejbir using oxygen cylinders. Although they initially made good progress, they were only able to set up camp at 7,460 m due to strong winds. They were only able to continue the climb two days later. Since Tejbir had no windproof clothing, he began to faint early. It collapsed at 7925 m. Finch and Bruce sent him back to camp and continued their climb. They reached a height of 8,326 m, another altitude record.

Mallory, Somervell and Crawford made another ascent attempt. Mallory was impressed by Finch's achievements - he had reached higher than himself and was horizontally closer to the summit - and now wanted to take oxygen with him too. During the ascent from Camp III, an avalanche broke out and swept away seven porters who could not be rescued. The expedition was thus ended.

In 1924 the British returned. Mallory and Andrew Irvine never returned from their last attempt at ascent. To this day there are discussions about the question of whether they were at the summit or died beforehand. Mallory's body was found in 1999 with no clear evidence of reaching the summit, Irvine remains missing.

 

1930 to 1949

In 1933, other mountaineers from Great Britain attempted to climb Everest. They were Longland, Frank Smythe, Eric Shipton, Percy Wyn-Harris and Lawrence Rickard Wager. Camp VI was built at an altitude of 8320 m. The group started their first attempt on May 30th. Wyn-Harris and Wager first climbed the ridge and then towards Norton Couloir. They got lost and turned back. On June 1st, Shipton and Smythe made their second attempt. They spent two nights in the so-called death zone. When the weather improved, they climbed higher, but had to give up after a traverse of the Grand Couloir. Frank Smythe reached 8573 m, the same height as Norton in 1924.

In 1934, British adventurer Maurice Wilson attempted to climb Mount Everest. His plan was to fly a plane from Britain to Tibet, crash land near Everest and climb from there. Until then he had never flown or climbed a mountain. After taking flying lessons, he managed to fly to India. After some complications, he managed to set up a camp at the foot of the North Col. From there he made several attempts to get to the North Col. On May 31, 1934, he made a final entry in his diary. He wrote that he wanted to move up again. His body was found a year later. How he died and how high he rose is unknown.

In 1935 there was another British expedition to Everest. Tenzing Norgay was there as a porter for the first time. The aim of this expedition was not to climb Everest, as it only took place at the beginning of July and therefore in the monsoon season. The goals were exploration, land survey and climbing throughout the region. It should also be explored whether a post-monsoon expedition could be successful. They therefore climbed to Camp III.

The climb was to be attempted again in 1936. The climbers included Smythe, Shipton, Wyn-Harris, Kempson, Warren, Wigram, Oliver and Gavin. Tenzing Norgay was once again there as a porter. Since the monsoon started on May 25th, the climb failed early.

In 1938 the British team consisted of Shipton, Smythe, Warren, Floyd, Oliver and Odell, who was taken along despite his advanced age. Tenzing Norgay was there again as porter. They were already in Rongpu on April 6th. Conditions initially looked good, and three weeks later mountaineers were in Camp III. Since many mountaineers were sick, they initially descended again. A week later (on May 5th) the monsoon brought snow. Nevertheless, an attempt was made in which Camp VI was established at 8290 m. However, all the snow made the last part impassable.

There were attempts to climb Everest in the 1940s, but from today's perspective they cannot be taken seriously. Individuals unsuccessfully tackled the mountain using adventurous routes and without permission.

 

1950 to 1952

In the 1950s there was a race between two nations for the summit. As a result of the Chinese reconquest, Tibet was no longer accessible to foreigners, but the Kingdom of Nepal, which had prevented foreigners from entering and thus exploring the Himalayas between 1815 and 1945, had now given up its blockade and approved individual expeditions. The southwest side of Everest was hardly known. In 1921, Mallory was able to take a look at the south side and the Western Cwm from Lho La, but whether the mountain could be climbed from there or at least the South Col could be reached remained unknown. In 1951 a British expedition explored parts of this access route.

In 1952 two Swiss expeditions were approved. Since they were not allowed to climb out of Tibet via the northern route, they had to try the new route to the mountain from the south. In the spring, the mountaineers Chevalley, Lambert, Dittert, Flory, Aubert, Roch, Asper, Hofstetter and again Tenzing Norgay (this time as the leader of the Sherpas) were on the mountain. Camp 6 was set up on the South Col, Camp 7 at 8382 m on the southeast ridge. Tenzing Norgay also excelled as a mountaineer in this expedition and attempted to climb to the summit with Lambert. After a night without sleeping bags or stoves, they reached just below the south summit. A new altitude record was set: 8,600 m. The second expedition climbed for the first time in autumn via today's standard route south of the Geneva Spur through the Lhotse flank to the South Col. Lambert and Tenzing were forced to turn back at 8100 m on the south ridge due to extremely cold weather. The knowledge of the route gained from this expedition helped the British expedition the following year.

There are reports that a Soviet expedition attempted to climb the northern route without permission that same year. However, no artifacts from this expedition were ever found and it was always denied.

 

1953: The successful first ascent

In 1953 the ninth British expedition to Mount Everest was organized, this time under the leadership of John Hunt. After several high camps had been set up, two rope teams were formed. The first rope team should attempt a quick shot, and if unsuccessful, the second team should then move the last high camp further up. This should ensure success.

The first rope team consisted of Tom Bourdillon and Charles Evans. They reached the south summit on May 26th, but had to give up because the closed oxygen systems developed by Bourdillon and his father failed due to icing. This cost them so much time that further ascent would have left no chance for a safe descent.

The second rope team now used a traditional, open oxygen system. Two days later, New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpas Tenzing Norgay and Ang Nyima managed to move the last camp to an altitude of 8510 m. Ang Nyima then descended again while Hillary and Norgay headed for the summit at 6:30 a.m. on May 29. Since they started further up the mountain, they reached the south summit at 9:00 a.m. At around 10:00 a.m. they reached a rocky step, later called the Hillary Step, which represents the final mountaineering obstacle. They reached the summit at around 11:30 a.m.

During their ascent they found no traces of an earlier summit attempt. Hillary's first words to his long-time friend George Lowe upon his return were: "Well George, we finally knocked the bastard off." (In other words: “George, we have finally taken care of the bastard.”) The news of the successful first ascent reached London on the morning of June 2nd, 1953. That was the day of the coronation of Elizabeth II. On July 16th, Hillary was awarded the Order of the British Empire, which also meant his elevation to the nobility of the British Kingdom. Norgay was honored by Elizabeth II with the award of the George Medal. The first ascent triggered a great international response and was celebrated as the conquest of the “third pole” (after the North and South Poles).

Which of the two reached the summit first was the subject of heated debate. A summit photo only exists by Tenzing Norgay because he was unable to operate the camera and therefore could not photograph Hillary. Hillary once said that the summit of Everest was not a good place to teach someone how to take photos. Tenzing Norgay was celebrated by the Asian side as the first climber and was even forced to sign a corresponding document. But he admitted in 1955 that Hillary set foot on the summit first. However, both emphasized that the first ascent was the work of a team and remained lifelong friends.

 

1954 to 1959

In 1956 there was another Swiss expedition on the mountain. The mountaineers Ernst Schmied and Jürg Marmet on May 23rd and one day later Dölf Reist and Hansruedi von Gunten managed the second and third ascents on the route taken by the first climbers. Previously, Ernst Reiss and Fritz Luchsinger made the first ascent of neighboring Lhotse as part of this expedition on May 18th. According to Hansruedi von Gunten, on the return journey the participants thought that “no one would want to go up Everest” after them.

 

1960s

In 1960, Mount Everest was climbed for the first time from the Tibetan side (northeast ridge) by a Chinese expedition. The mountaineers Wang Fu-chou, Konbu and Qu Yinhua were probably the first to climb the Second Step. Chu Ying-hua is said to have mastered the last piece barefoot, off the shoulders of a teammate. However, this ascent has been questioned in some cases because there is no reliable documentation of the summit victory. However, a photo published at the time shows the mountain above the Second Step. This climb is now officially recognized. Better documented and therefore still occasionally regarded as the first ascent of this route is that of a Chinese expedition in 1975.

In 1962, a very improvised expedition of three Americans and a Swiss man ventured to Everest from the Tibetan side without a permit. The Swiss Hans-Peter Duttle had to decide within a day and followed the others from Kathmandu to Khumbu with only two porters and a tourist visa. To deceive the authorities, the Americans had a permit for the Gyachung Kang. At the foot of the Nup La crossing, the last two porters were paid off and the four climbers fought their way up to the border for a week. They reached the North Col of Everest via Tibetan territory. There, after three weeks, the leader of the expedition, Woodrow Wilson Sayre, and Roger Hart crashed while transporting materials. Duttle and the fourth man, Norman Hansen, had already given up, but the two were able to save themselves. Over the next few days, the completely inadequately equipped group continued to climb without oxygen to a height of 7,700 meters, for which Robert Bösch showed both admiration and incredulous shaking of his head at such recklessness. There, Sayre fell again and the group turned back when injuries from the fall became life-threatening. With hardly any more material, all four managed to return to civilization. The expedition caused political unrest and endangered Norman Dyhrenfurth's expedition the following year.

In 1963, the officially first American expedition led by Norman Dyhrenfurth opened a new route over the West Ridge. Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld climbed from the Valley of Silence to the west shoulder, followed the west ridge, but then had to switch to the north face because of too great technical difficulties on the ridge. They climbed to the summit in the gorge of the north face, which has since become known as the “Hornbein Couloir,” and then carried out the first crossing of Mount Everest by following their comrades who had ascended on the southern route in the descent. This crossing was also the first crossing of an eight-thousander. The four bivouacked on the descent at 8,600 meters.

 

1970s

The attempt to make the first ascent of the southwest face as part of the First European Mount Expedition in 1972 failed about 500 meters below the summit. The pre-monsoon expedition was organized by Karl Maria Herrligkoffer. After the differences within the group, which included extreme mountaineers from different nations, became a burden, the expedition was canceled due to bad weather. In the same year, a British post-monsoon expedition began, which also included Hamish MacInnes and Doug Scott, who had been members of the First European Mount Everest Expedition a few months earlier. They didn't reach the summit either. In 1975, Doug Scott and Dougal Haston reached the summit through the southwest face for the first time, although they chose a different route in the upper part.

On May 16, 1975, the Japanese Junko Tabei became the first woman to reach the summit. A little later, the Tibetan Phanthog became the second woman to reach the summit as a participant in the Chinese North Ridge expedition. In the same year, the southwest face, which rises 2500 m from the Valley of Silence, was climbed for the first time by a British expedition led by Chris Bonington by Doug Scott and Dougal Haston. Six expeditions had previously failed on this wall. The key point in the route is overcoming a huge ledge above the snow-filled gully. Doug Scott and Dougal Haston bivouacked one night in a snow cave on the south summit (8750 m) while descending.

On May 3, 1978, Robert Schauer was the first Austrian to reach the summit. Schauer achieved a second ascent 18 years later and a third in 2004. Just five days later, on May 8, 1978, Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler climbed the summit for the first time without additional oxygen. Another three days later, Reinhard Karl from the same expedition became the first German to reach the summit. What is far less known is that in the fall of the same year, Hans Engl became the first German to climb the summit without additional oxygen. The Austrian Franz Oppurg managed the first solo ascent of Mount Everest on May 14, 1978. The first German woman reached the summit in 1979: Hannelore Schmatz died on the descent. Probably the most difficult ridge route, the direct west ridge, was also mastered by a Yugoslavian expedition in 1979. Andrej Stremfelj and Jernej Zaplotnik overcame the most difficult rocky passages.

 

1980s

In the 1980s, the first winter and first solo ascents as well as new, difficult routes reached the summit. The first winter ascent of the South Col route was carried out by a Polish expedition in 1980. On February 17, Leszek Cichy and Krzysztof Wielicki reached the summit, battling temperatures as low as −45 °C and wind speeds of almost 200 km/h. In the same year, Reinhold Messner made the first solo ascent of the mountain in pure alpine style. In addition, the north face was completely climbed for the first time by the Japanese Takashi Ozaki and Tsuneo Shigehiro. Jerzy Kukuczka was successful with a Polish expedition on the south pillar. In 1982, a Soviet expedition opened a new route via the Southwest Pillar. The east face was conquered in 1983 by the Americans Louis Reichardt, Kim Momb and Carlos Buhler. In 1986, Erhard Loretan and Jean Troillet climbed the Hornbein Couloir. New Zealander Lydia Bradey was the first woman to complete the climb without additional oxygen on October 14, 1988.

 

1990s

In 1990, Andrej Stremfelj climbed Mount Everest a second time with his wife Marija. Both were the first married couple on the highest peak on earth. On February 5, 1990, Tim Macartney-Snape from Australia set off with his wife Ann Ward in the Bay of Bengal to climb every meter of altitude themselves. He walked all the way from Sagar Island in the Ganges Delta on India's sea coast and reached the summit via the normal route without the support of Sherpas or oxygen tanks. The film Everest Sea to Summit by Michael Dillon documents the company. Macartney-Snape then founded the equipment and clothing company Sea to Summit with Roland Tysen.

In 1995 the long northeast ridge was climbed all the way to the summit. In the same year, Scot Alison Hargreaves became the first woman to reach the summit via the northern route without additional oxygen.

The 1996 season was marred by twelve deaths, the deadliest season on Mount Everest up to that point. In a high-altitude storm that hit at midday, several mountaineers from the summit area were unable to return to their tents, including very experienced expedition leaders who had been up there several times before. The article Misfortune on Mount Everest (1996) provides details.

In 1996, Hans Kammerlander only needed 16 hours and 45 minutes to climb from the advanced base camp to the summit via the northern route. He then went down part of the way on skis.

The Swede Göran Kropp (1966–2002) rode his bicycle and trailer 13,000 km from Stockholm to Mount Everest from October 1995 and climbed it on May 23, 1996. In the course of another ascent in 1999 with his partner Renata Chlumska - the first Swede and Czech at the summit - both did a clean-up operation on the mountain.

The British adventurer Bear Grylls became the youngest Brit to climb Mount Everest in 1998 at the age of 23. Also in 1998, Briton Tom Whittaker became the first leg amputee to reach the summit.

A year later, Babu Chiri Sherpa spent 21 hours on the summit without supplemental oxygen (the record for the longest summit stay).

On May 27, 1999, Helga Hengge became the first German woman to successfully climb the northern route.

 

2000s

In 2000, Davo Karničar skied down the entire mountain. A year later, Erik Weihenmayer, the first blind man, reached the summit and Marco Siffredi skied down the large couloir on a snowboard.

Evelyne Binsack was the first Swiss woman to reach the summit on May 23, 2001.

In 2004, a Russian expedition opened a new route through the north face, which is largely a direttissima. On May 30, Pavel Shabalin, Ilya Tukhvatullin and Andrei Mariev reached the summit.

In 2006, Mark Inglis became the first double amputee to reach the summit, while skyrunner Christian Stangl only needed 16 hours and 42 minutes to climb the northern route from the advanced base camp.

In 2007, the mobile phone provider China Mobile had three transmission towers installed at 5200 m, 5800 m and 6500 m altitude. This was intended to allow the use of a mobile phone along the entire ascent route to the summit and was related to the Olympic torch relay planned for the following year.

On the occasion of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the Olympic torch was brought to the summit by mountaineers from the Tibetan side during the torch relay on May 8, 2008. In order to better present this in the media, the road to the northern base camp in the Rongpu Valley was paved. The training of Chinese mountaineers for this torch relay took place for the first time in the 2007 season with military barrier measures, privileged access and guard posts at the Chinese base camp, a circumstance that was unusual for mountaineers and viewed critically and that had not previously existed on any mountain. In spring 2008, all expeditions via the northern route were initially banned until May 10th, later Nepal joined in and banned mountaineering on Mount Everest. Therefore, apart from the torch relay expedition, there were hardly any summit opportunities for foreign mountaineers in the spring. Climbing Cho Oyu was also prohibited until May 10th. In addition, the mountaineers were prohibited from using modern means of communication and from taking photographs.

After several failed attempts, Park Young-Seok attempted a new route on the South-West Face in 2009.

 

2010s

Sylvia Studer was the first Austrian to reach the summit together with her daughter Claudia and her husband Wilfried on May 23, 2010.

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner was the first Austrian woman to reach the summit without oxygen bottles on May 24, 2010.

The South Korean Kim Chang-ho also began his “0 to 8,848 m” expedition on the island of Sagar on the Bay of Bengal, but paddled the first 160 km up the Ganges to Calcutta, cycled the next 1000 km via Dharan and Tumlingtar, and hiked another 150 km to the Everest Base Camp and climbed the normal route to the summit on May 20, 2013 with An Chi-Young, Oh Young-hoon and Seo Sung-ho, who died on the descent.

On April 18, 2014, 16 people (including three missing people) died on the Nepalese side in an avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall at an altitude of 5,800 meters, the most consequential accident in the history of climbing up to that point.

Due to the earthquake on April 25, 2015, avalanches occurred in the base camp area. At least 18 people died, making it the worst accident in the history of the climb. According to official information, around 1,000 climbers and porters were on Mount Everest at the time of the accident on Saturday. After the earthquake, the Chinese authorities banned further ascents of Mount Everest via the northern route until the pre-monsoon of 2016 due to possible dangers posed by loose ice and rock. No official ascent ban was issued in Nepal. However, since the Khumbu Icefall could not be insured again, attempts to climb the southern route also ended. The earthquake destroyed part of the upper portion of the Hillary Step.

Anja Blacha, who comes from Bielefeld, became the youngest German woman to climb the summit in May 2017 at the age of 26. In the same group, the blind Austrian mountaineer Andy Holzer climbed the Seven Summits. They climbed via the northern route using bottled oxygen and reached the summit on May 21, 2017.

On May 14, 2018, 69-year-old Chinese Xia Boyu conquered Everest with two prosthetic legs. It was his 5th attempt; During his first attempt in 1975, his feet froze so they had to be removed. In 1996 he was amputated below the knees on both sides. The 2017 regulation that double amputees were not allowed to climb Everest was overturned by a court as discriminatory. New Zealander Mark Inglis was the only double amputee to reach Mount Everest in 2006.

 

2020s

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the mountain was closed from both sides in 2020. For the period from the autumn 2020 season, the Nepalese government decided in the summer to reopen the mountain, but mountaineers must keep a distance of 4 meters from each other. In addition, the Chinese government is calling for a dividing line at the summit to prevent groups from mixing and thus prevent the risk of infection from a potentially infected person.

An estimated 600 climbers climbed Mount Everest in the 2023 season. 13 of them died and four were or are missing. Helicopter flights to Camp II (6400 m high) and Camp III (7000 m high) have significantly reduced the risk of death for sick or injured mountaineers.

 

Commercial climbs

Since the 1980s, a real Everest euphoria has broken out, which has led to a significant increase in the number of summit ascents. While up to 1979 - within 27 years of the first ascent - only 99 people had reached the summit (three of them twice), the number of summit ascents doubled between 1980 and 1985 - within just six years. In 1993, more than 100 people reached the summit in one year for the first time. In 2003, with 266, more than 200 ascents were counted for the first time. In the record-breaking 2007 season, the highest point was reached by 604 climbers. Since some mountaineers reached the summit several times this year, 630 ascents were counted. The spectrum of summit aspirants ranges from experienced alpinists to less experienced ones who have to rely on the fixed ropes laid by their mountain guides.

The cost of this was between $13,000 and $65,000. In 2013, 32 teams climbed from the Nepalese side, with 242 climbers (34 of them female) reaching the summit. Permit fees alone for these 32 teams totaled $2,525,000. This is 80 percent of all climbing fees collected by the state in 2013 (for some mountains in Nepal, permits are not issued by the state, but by the “Nepal Mountaineering Association”). About a third of all climbers on Everest belong to a commercial expedition. Climbs without bottled oxygen are still rare. The attraction of the highest mountain on earth attracts many who can only face this challenge if they buy extensive help; Porters who relieve them of lugging all but minimal personal equipment, even the tents and sleeping bags, are carried by Sherpas so that the high-paying customer can save their strength for the summit. Many renowned mountaineers have long avoided Mount Everest because of the large crowds. Nives Meroi had the experience in 2007: “The large commercial companies prepare everything for their customers, secure the routes, occupy the high camps. There is no more room for us as a small group of four mountaineers.”

During two commercial climbs in 1996, twelve died because they were surprised by sudden changes in the weather high up. These events are depicted in the IMAX film Everest and in several books, including the bestseller Into Icy Heights by Jon Krakauer and The Summit, a rebuttal by Anatoly Bukreyev. The routes on the high slopes of Mount Everest are lined with the bodies of mountaineers who have died: over 300 people died while attempting to climb or descending from the summit. The temptation to want to stand on the highest solid point on the earth's surface is great for many people who are not sufficiently experienced. Exertion and lack of oxygen lead to poorer reactions and limited thinking, making it difficult to decide to turn back in adverse conditions. High-altitude pulmonary edema and high-altitude cerebral edema are life-threatening; Anyone who suffers from both edemas at the same time is very likely to die.

On some of the very few “window days” of the year (in May, before the arrival of the monsoon), those wanting to climb are queued up in the more difficult climbing areas secured with fixed ropes, sometimes for several hours: time passes, you get cold while waiting, and so on The risk increases that you will no longer be able to descend in daylight. Anyone who ends up on the second night high up on Everest (the final ascent must begin before midnight the night before) has extremely poor chances of getting back down from the mountain without serious physical damage (frozen toes, feet, fingers, nose). The mountain guides' ability to help is also very limited in the extreme environment at the last 2,000 meters in altitude. Help is often not provided because of the risk of damage to one's own health or because one's own summit chances are thwarted.

 

Waste problem

Another problem with this type of “tourism” is that the pollution of the camps through garbage (tents, oxygen cylinders, leftover food, cans and medicines) has increased rapidly. The South Col has already been dubbed the “highest garbage dump on earth”. Administrative efforts are now increasingly being made to reduce these side effects. Every expedition must pay a garbage deposit, which is only paid back when all equipment and even feces are removed from the base camp. In addition, expeditions are organized at regular intervals to collect garbage from the high camps down the mountain. Since spring 2014, mountaineers have been required to collect at least 8 kilograms of old waste on the descent and bring it with them. Private initiatives are also trying to alleviate the problem. In 1995, among other things, Scott Fischer led a cleanup expedition in which the Sherpas were paid a bounty for each oxygen cylinder brought down. The Japanese Ken Noguchi has organized five clean-up expeditions (as of 2007) and removed nine tons of waste. In 2010, an initiative of 20 Sherpas led by Namgyal Sherpa began with the goal of clearing the mountain of at least 3,000 kg of mountaineering waste (old tents, ropes, oxygen cylinders, food packaging, etc.). The bodies of several mountaineers (including Gianni Goltz † 2008, Rob Hall † 1996) were also to be recovered. In 2018, the waste collection campaign focused on recyclable materials.

Hotel-like lodges have sprung up near Everest. They are not located in the traditional settlement centers and offer “comfort trekkers” a certain luxury.

 

Statistics of ascents

Number of ascents

Since the discovery in 1852 that Everest is the highest mountain on earth, 101 years passed until it was first climbed. 15 expeditions attempted this in vain; 21 people died. By the end of 2006 there had been over 14,000 attempts to climb it, 3057 of which were successful. Only about one in five aspirants reached the summit. By the end of 2010, a total of 5,104 summit successes had been counted. Of these, only 173 ascents were carried out without additional oxygen.

On May 23, 2010, the largest rush to date, 169 people reached the summit. By the end of 2018, the number of ascents had increased to 8,400. The most ascents so far have been carried out by Kami Rita Sherpa, who has now reached the summit 26 times (as of May 2022).

 

Time records

The fastest ascent was achieved by Sherpa Pemba Dorjee, who climbed from the base camp to the summit in just 8:10 hours on May 21, 2004. On the northern route, Christian Stangl has held the record of 16:42 since 2006, although he started at the advanced base camp. Ten years earlier, Hans Kammerlander only needed a few minutes longer on the same route. With these quick climbs, however, it should be noted that the exact starting point was different for each climb and they can therefore hardly be compared with each other.

 

Age records

The youngest climber was the American Jordan Romero, who reached the summit on May 22, 2010 at the age of 13 years and 10 months. The youngest mountaineer was the Indian Malavath Purna, almost the same age, aged 13 years and 11 months, who climbed the summit on May 25, 2014.

The oldest woman to have been on Everest is the Japanese Tamae Watanabe. She reached the summit for the first time on May 16, 2002, at the age of 63, the oldest climber via the southeast route from Nepal. By climbing the summit again on May 19, 2012 via the northern route from Tibet, she increased her own, previously unbeaten, age record to 73 years.

At the age of 80, the Japanese Yūichirō Miura was the oldest person on the summit on May 23, 2013. He was also the oldest person ever to stand on an eight-thousander. On May 6, 2017, 85-year-old Min Bahadur Sherchan died, presumably of a heart attack, in the base camp on the south side of the mountain before he could start his renewed attempt to set a new age record after his 2008 record.

 

Deaths

By 2013, a total of 248 people had died on Everest - 140 on the Nepalese side and 108 on the Tibetan side. By the end of 2018, the number of mountain climbers who had fatal accidents had increased to over 300. Common causes of death are falls, frostbite, exhaustion, altitude sickness and avalanches. Most mountaineers have accidents during the descent above 8,000 m. On average, climbs without bottled oxygen are only half as likely to be successful and carry twice the risk of death as climbs with bottled oxygen.

So far, only about a third of the dead have been recovered. Around 200 bodies often lie covered in snow or frozen in the glaciers and ice fields along the ascent routes. Since it is expensive, time-consuming and dangerous to recover corpses, the dead are only recovered if they block the frequently used ascent routes or if this is requested by the families. Some dead people, however, even serve as signposts, such as (until 2014) the Indian mountaineer “Green Boots”: his light green boots signaled to the mountaineers that they would soon reach the summit.

Everest chronicler Alan Arnette regularly compiles death statistics. In 2018, he also broke down the 288 deaths up to 2017 according to whether they occurred on one of the two normal routes (southern route and northern route) or on other, more difficult routes. According to statistics, the southern route and the northern route hardly differ in their risk; the northern route seems a little less dangerous. Those who climb routes other than the normal routes are most at risk: 80 deaths occurred on these more difficult routes (28% of all deaths) - although only 265 summit successes were achieved on them out of a total of 8,306 successful ascents.

It must be taken into account that the number of unsuccessful attempts to reach the summit is approximately five to six times higher than the successes and no one records these for statistics. Well over 30,000 people tried to get to the summit of Everest. People also die on Everest who have never been up there.

 

Routes

To date, there are a total of 20 routes on Everest. The two standard routes are the southern route and the northern route. The other routes are technically much more difficult and have mostly only been climbed once.

The end point of all routes is a summit plateau that is only about two square meters in size. Compared to the Nepalese southern route, the Tibetan northern route is a third “cheaper” at around US$40,000 (as of 2005) for paying customers if they join one of the numerous guided expeditions. The reason for this is logistical advantages (lower fees for government approval of an expedition, number of yaks and porters required, number of oxygen cylinders and others). However, the percentage success rate of the northern route is lower than the southern route due to the very long distances. In any case, one must be aware of the dangers of low air pressure (lack of oxygen), sudden changes in the weather and strong, extremely cold winds on the ridges. The stay in the so-called “death zone” above 7500 m is one to two days longer on the northern route; Accordingly, the risk of getting stuck at the top due to adverse weather or even getting caught in fog or a snowstorm on the way is higher on the north side.

 

Southern route

The southern route is considered the standard route and was also chosen for the first ascent. From the base camp on the southern side of Nepal at around 5400 m, it first leads through the Khumbu Icefall: a steep passage in which the glacier ice from the Valley of Silence drops 600 meters and breaks into large blocks - so-called seracs make the climb very difficult. Since they can fall at any time due to the movement of the ice, it is only advisable to climb through them during cool times of the day. The Khumbu Icefall is secured at the beginning of each season by a team of Sherpas with ladders and fixed ropes. This secured route is shared by all expeditions.

The remainder of the route leads through the Valley of Silence (Western Cwm, pronounced “kuum” from Welsh). The Western Cwm is a cirque enclosed by Mount Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse, approximately 3 kilometers long and the highest cirque in the world. After crossing this valley, the path continues over the glaciated western Lhotse flank. It is about 60 degrees steep and covers 1000 meters in altitude. In the upper part of the wall, the route leads over the Geneva Spur to the South Col located between Lhotse and Everest at an altitude of around 8000 m, where almost all expeditions set up the high camp for the summit stage. However, even higher camps have already been set up. From the south saddle, the path leads up the ridge of Everest to the south summit about 100 meters below the actual summit, then over the last major obstacle until 2015, an approximately twelve meter high, almost vertical cliff edge, the Hillary Step.

 

Northern route

The alternative to the southern route is the northern route from the Tibetan side. It begins in the Rongpu Valley with a base camp at around 5300 m altitude and leads in a two-day trek with yak transport to the valley of the eastern Rongpu Glacier, where the advanced base camp (ABC, advanced base camp) is located at the foot of the North Col wall. located. The tour then goes up the steep slope to the north saddle (North Col) at around 7000 m altitude, from where the exposed summit ridges (north ridge and north-east ridge) enable further ascent over lower inclined ridges (compared to the steeper south route). The middle of the three rock steps (Second Step) with a foot height of around 8610 m is a seriously strenuous and technical climbing obstacle behind the last camp at a height of around 8300 m on the upper ridge. The Second Step has a climbing height of around 40 meters last five meters are almost vertical. A ladder was installed here by a Chinese expedition in 1975. From there the route, which mostly runs along the ridge, continues quite a distance and also over the summit snowfield, which is up to 50 degrees steep. During his solo ascent of Mount Everest, Reinhold Messner bypassed the Second Step and chose a route through the Norton Couloir.

 

Direttissime

Two of the three main walls have already been climbed in approximately the direct fall line to the summit (Direttissima): the southwest face in 1975 and the north face in 2004. There are two climbed routes on the east face (Kangshung Wall), but they cannot be counted as direttissime. The east wall or Kangshung direttissima is therefore still unconquered. If you were to do this, you would have to climb a steep, avalanche-prone rock that is well over 3,500 meters high in one of the highest walls in the world (from the base to the summit).

 

Aircraft on Everest

On April 3, 1933, Mount Everest was flown over for the first time by an aircraft, a Westland PV-3 (registration: G-ACAZ) and an accompanying Westland PV-6 (G-ACBR), both equipped with a Bristol Pegasus engine . Under the leadership of Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, Lord Clydesdale and later 14th Duke of Hamilton, important insights into high-altitude flights were gained during open biplane flights, which contributed to the further development of the pressurized cabin.

On September 26, 1988, French alpinist Jean Marc Boivin became the first person to paraglide from Mount Everest. Paragliding was still in its infancy back then.

The Frenchman Didier Delsalle became the first person to land on the summit of Mount Everest on May 14th and 15th, 2005: with a specially prepared Eurocopter AS 350 B-3 helicopter, with “hover landings”, that is, with almost full engine power , just put on so that it can be started again immediately in the event of danger or gusts. He didn't get out at the summit and couldn't pick up any loads there.

In 2007, Bear Grylls flew over Mount Everest in a paramotor.

On May 27, 2022, the first approved paragliding flight from a height of 7,960 m was reported. South African Pierre Carter landed in a village 6 km from base camp after a 20-minute flight.

 

Documentaries and feature films

Wings Over Everest – Oscar-winning short film with footage of the first overflight. 1934
Documentary “Mount Everest” about the Swiss expedition in 1952
National Geographic Video – Return to Mount Everest. 1984.
Robert Markowitz: To icy heights - dying on Mount Everest. 1997
Reinhold Messner, Peter Habeler: Mount Everest – Death Zone. 2002.
National Geographic – Unique Everest. 2003.
Barny Revill: Everest – Playing with Death. Discovery Channel, 2006-2007
Graeme Campbell: Everest – Race to Death. 2007
Victor Grandits: Mount Everest - My Friends' Cemetery. SWR, 2007.
First on Everest – Universe. ORF, 2010.
Sherpas: The Real Heroes of Everest, SF
Jennifer Peedom: Sherpa – Trouble on Everest. 2015
Baltasar Kormákur: Everest. 2015