Category Archives: Mount Everest

Mount Everest is having a growth spurt, say researchers

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River erosion has pushed the mountain upwards and added an extra 15 to 50 metres over the past 89,000 years

Climbing Mount Everest has always been a feat, but it seems the task might be getting harder: researchers say Everest is having something of a growth spurt.

The Himalayas formed about 50m years ago, when the Indian subcontinent smashed into the Eurasian tectonic plate – although recent research has suggested the edges of these plates were already very high before the collision.

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British climber and Nepali guide feared dead after reaching Everest summit

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Dan Paterson and Pastenji Sherpa went missing during descent after landslide of snow and ice on mountain

A British man and his Nepali guide are believed to be dead after reaching the summit of Mount Everest on Tuesday, a guiding company said.

Dan Paterson, 40, and Pastenji Sherpa, 23, reached the peak just before 5am on Tuesday but have not been heard from since, according to Paterson’s partner, Becks Woodhead.

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Everest climbers prepare to pick up their own poo as season gets under way

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Authorities are now mandating that climbers remove their waste from the mountain using biodegradable bags

It’s one of the more unedifying challenges involved in scaling to the highest point on Earth – how best to relieve oneself in the freezing, inhospitable environment of Mount Everest.

That question is about to become slightly more complicated as climbers prepare for a change in protocol when the season gets under way next month, with a new rule about removing their own faeces as they trek up and down the mountain.

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Six dead as tourist helicopter crashes in Everest region of Nepal

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Nepali pilot and five Mexican passengers killed after aircraft crashes soon after takeoff near Lukla

All six people onboard a tourist helicopter in Nepal have been killed after it crashed soon after takeoff in the Everest region.

The Manang Air flight was heading for the capital, Kathmandu, from near Lukla, a gateway for climbing expeditions to the world’s highest peak, with five Mexican tourists – two men and three women – and a Nepali pilot onboard.

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Nepali sherpa saves climber in rare Everest ‘death zone’ rescue

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Gelje Sherpa was guiding Chinese client to summit when he saw Malaysian climber clinging to rope

A Malaysian climber narrowly survived after a Nepali sherpa guide hauled him down from below the summit of Mount Everest in a very rare high-altitude rescue, a government official has said.

Gelje Sherpa, 30, was guiding a Chinese client to the 8,849-metre (29,032ft) Everest summit on 18 May when he saw the Malaysian climber clinging to a rope and shivering from extreme cold in the area known as the death zone, where temperatures can dip to -30C or lower.

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Climate change to blame for up to 17 deaths on Mount Everest, experts say

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Nepal’s head of tourism says variable weather on the mountain has led to one of the deadliest years on record

Experts say this is likely to be one of the deadliest years on record on Mount Everest, with variable weather caused by climate change being blamed as one of the main reasons for the deaths of up to 17 people.

A total of 12 people have now been confirmed dead during Everest expeditions this season and another five are missing, presumed dead, as no contact has been made for at least five days in all cases, according to the Himalayan Database, which tracks mountain fatalities.

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Australian climber Jason Kennison dies on Mount Everest while returning from summit

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Forty-year-old, who was raising money for Spinal Cord Injuries Australia, spent years recovering from a spinal injury after being told he might never walk again

An Australian man who climbed Mount Everest after learning to walk again has died on his return from the summit.

Jason Bernard Kennison died on Friday. His family said “he achieved his goal of reaching the peak … he stood on top of this world but sadly didn’t come home.”

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Nepali sherpa scales summit of Mount Everest for record 27th time

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‘Strong climber’ Kami Rita Sherpa beats own record for number of ascents on world’s highest mountain

A Nepali sherpa has scaled Mount Everest for a record 27th time, beating his own record, a government official and his hiking company said.

Kami Rita Sherpa, 53, scaled the 8,849-metre (29,032ft) mountain early on Wednesday morning along the traditional south-east ridge route, guiding a foreign climber.

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Nepali mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa scales Mount Everest for 26th time, beating own world record

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Fifty-two-year-old used customary route up 8,850-metre mountain while leading 10 other climbers

A Nepali sherpa has scaled Mount Everest for a record 26th time, breaking his own previous record set last year, a government official says.

Kami Rita Sherpa, 52, scaled the 8,849-metre mountain on Saturday along the traditional south-east ridge route leading 10 other Sherpa climbers.

“Kami Rita has broken his own record and established a new world record in climbing,” Taranath Adhikari, director general of the Department of Tourism in the capital of Kathmandu, said on Sunday.

Kami Rita’s wife, who gave her name as Jangmu, said she was happy at her husband’s achievement.

The climbing route used by Kami Rita was pioneered by New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary and Nepali sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953 and remains the most popular.

This year Nepal has issued 316 permits to climb Everest in the peak season, which runs through May, compared with 408 last year, the highest ever.

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Mount Everest Covid outbreak has infected 100 people at base camp, says guide

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Austrian expedition leader Lukas Furtenbach says the real number could be 200, despite official Nepali denials

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A coronavirus outbreak on Mount Everest has infected at least 100 climbers and support staff, a mountaineering guide said, giving the first comprehensive estimate amid official Nepalese denials that the disease has spread to the world’s highest peak.

Lukas Furtenbach of Austria, who last week halted his Everest expedition due to virus fears, said on Saturday one of his foreign guides and six Nepali Sherpa guides had tested positive.

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Nepal reports 19 positive Covid tests at Dhaulagiri base camp

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Decision to allow expeditions to go ahead dealt blow after outbreak on world’s seventh highest mountain

Nepal’s decision to allow people to continue to climb its Himalayan peaks as a vicious Covid-19 wave sweeps the country was dealt a further blow after 19 more climbers tested positive for the virus.

Last month it was reported that the pandemic had reached Everest base camp and though officials later denied it, climbers have reported a wave of infections that were being covered up.

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Everest Covid outbreak throws climbing season into doubt

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Nepal authorities accused of underplaying seriousness of situation as daily cases soar

The coronavirus outbreak at Everest base camp in Nepal, controversially opened to climbers despite the pandemic, has infected “many people” amid continuing evacuations and complaints of lack of transparency over the severity of the situation.

With Nepal reporting a record number of more than 7,000 new cases in a day, its highest total since October, reports from Everest described a number of evacuations of climbers showing symptoms of Covid-19 even as doctors at base camp complained privately they were not being allowed by the country’s ministry of health to undertake PCR testing.

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Microplastic pollution found near summit of Mount Everest

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Humans now known to have polluted Earth from deepest ocean to highest peak

Microplastic pollution has been discovered in snow close to the peak of Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain. With plastic debris revealed in 2018 at the deepest point on Earth, the Mariana Trench, it is now clear that humanity’s litter has polluted the entire planet.

The tiny plastic fibres were found within a few hundred metres of the top of the 8,850-metre mountain, at a spot known as the balcony. Microplastics were found in all the snow samples collected from 11 locations on Everest, ranging from 5,300 metres to 8,440 metres high.

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Nepal sets new rules for Everest climbers after deadly season

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Permit will depend on climbers having ascended at least one 6,500-metre Nepalese peak

All climbers seeking a permit for Everest must have prior high altitude mountaineering experience and demonstrable training, a high-level commission for the Nepalese government has ruled.

The recommendation was issued by the body charged with looking at the issue of high-altitude safety after one of the deadliest seasons in recent years on Everest, which was blamed on inexperience and crowding near the summit.

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Death, carnage and chaos: a climber on his recent ascent of Everest – podcast

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On 23 May, an image taken by the climber Nirmal Pujra went viral. It showed a long queue of climbers waiting to reach the summit of Everest. Elia Saikaly, a film-maker, was on that climb. He describes the ascent, while the Guardian’s Michael Safi discusses why the number of people seeking to scale Everest has exploded. Plus: Helsinki’s radical solution to homelessness

May and June are the only months where weather conditions make it possible for climbers to reach the summit of Everest. This year, a record number of permits were issued by the Nepalese government, which, along with a rule that every climber has to be accompanied by a sherpa, led to there being more than 820 people trying to reach the summit. Eleven people died on the mountain, leading to questions about whether better regulation is needed.

The film-maker Elia Saikaly tells India Rakusen about his ascent on 23 May, a climb he has described as “Death. Carnage. Chaos. Lineups. Dead bodies on the route and in tents at Camp 4. People who I tried to turn back who ended up dying. People being dragged down. Walking over bodies. Everything you read in the sensational headlines all played out on our summit night.” The Guardian’s South Asia correspondent, Michael Safi, looks at the history of climbing Everest and whether this year’s events might prompt better regulation.

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‘Walking over bodies’: mountaineers describe carnage on Everest

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Death toll grows on world’s highest summit as climbers face challenging conditions

An experienced mountaineer has described the “death, carnage and chaos” at the top of Mount Everest as climbers pushed past bodies to reach the world’s highest summit.

The death toll on the mountain grew to 11 in the past day after an American doctor was killed while descending from the peak. It emerged also that an Australian climber was discovered unconscious but had survived after being transported downhill on the back of a yak.

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American climber dies on descent from summit of Mount Everest

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This brings to nine the number of dead or missing climbers on the Nepali side of the world’s highest mountain in this climbing season

An American climber died on the descent from the summit of Mount Everest on Monday, a Nepalese official said, and an Australian climber has been rescued by Tibetan alpine specialists after being found unconscious on the northern slopes of the peak.

The American’s death took the number of dead or missing mountaineers on the Nepali side of the world’s highest mountain in the current climbing season to nine.

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Why I won’t be joining the queue at the top of Everest

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A startling picture of overcrowding near the summit shows the peril of turning the mountain into a form of adventure tourism

Mountaineering is a physical pursuit demanding an affinity for suffering. Where it is cerebral is in its requirement of good judgment, most importantly in extreme situations when the mind is most clouded and consequences of bad decision-making tend to multiply.

Considering risks requires being honest with yourself. At what climbers call the objective level, that involves assessing dangers you may encounter – weather, avalanches, poor rock, even whether there will be overcrowding on your route.

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British climber latest to die on Everest amid overcrowding

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Several climbers have died after enduring long waits to reach summit

A British climber has been named as the latest fatality on Everest, in a season marred by poor weather and overcrowding on the world’s highest mountain.

The death of Robin Fisher, who reportedly collapsed while returning from the summit, was announced by Mira Acharya, the director at the Nepalese Department of Tourism, which details fatalities on the mountain.

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