The helipad at the northern end of Mount Everest Base Camp was buzzing with energy when I arrived on a sunny Monday afternoon in mid-May. Men clad in DayGlo vests and hardhats chatted as the whine of a flying cargo drone echoed through the valley. A few hundred meters beyond, the massive Khumbu Icefall cascaded from the flanks of Mount Everest听like a powerful waterfall, frozen in time.

This area is the staging zone for the drone operations of the so-called 鈥淚cefall Doctors,鈥� a team of mountain workers that build and maintain the route through the shifting Khumbu Icefall, the most dangerous section of the Everest climb. Before any climbers can venture onto the peak, these workers must ascend frozen cliffs and navigate a labyrinthian and alien landscape made of ice. They lay ladders across deep crevasses and place them on the sides of skyscraper-sized frozen blocks. They twist titanium ice screws into the frozen environment and string safety ropes through the glacier, up 1,300 vertical feet.

Their work creates the key artery that climbers and guides use to access the higher camps on the mountain. Perhaps no job on the mountain is more important鈥攜et more wrapped in paradox. On one hand, the job of the Icefall Doctors is changing with the influx of new technology and the swelling crowds on Mount Everest. On the other hand, perhaps no job on Mount Everest is as irreplaceable. The work they do must be done by hand, and with patience and attention to detail.

鈥淲ithout the Icefall Doctors, Everest is impossible,鈥� Jangbu Sherpa, whose official Icefall Doctor title is Second Leader, told听国产吃瓜黑料. 鈥淭he routes we open through the icefall, no other mountain guides can. They don鈥檛 have the courage.鈥�

The post Think Your Job Is Tough? Talk to a Mount Everest Icefall Doctor. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

It recently took me 25 minutes to walk a across Mount Everest Base Camp to the edge of the Khumbu Glacier to meet American ultrarunner Tyler Andrews.

I had to stop frequently along the rocky path鈥攚hich is at 17,500 feet above sea level鈥攖o cough and catch my breath. During the stroll I often thought about Andrews’ upcoming attempt to run from Base Camp to the summit of Mount Everest and back without using supplemental oxygen. Andrews’ goal is to break the current speed record for ascending the world’s highest peak without oxygen, which currently stands at 20 hours and 24 minutes.

The whole thing seemed crazy.

When I found Andrews, he and his pacing partner and close friend Chris Fisher were both sitting cross-legged on the floor of a large yellow tent on ether side of a large black exercise bike. Next to the bike stood a mini-fridge-sized medical device. Two plastic hoses snaked out from the base of the machine, across the tent floor, underneath the exercise bike, and up to two large masks attached to both men’s faces.

鈥淥ne hose puts out the hypoxic air, and the other one is basically the vent for the hyperoxic air,鈥� Andrews said through the mask. He was inhaling oxygen-rich air, recovering from one of his daily training sessions on the exercise bike. Fisher, meanwhile, was breathing in oxygen-deficient air to help with his acclimatization.

These devices are part of the infrastructure that Andrews has brought to Mount Everest to help him with his record. In addition to the machine, Andrews is going to need strong legs and, admittedly, better luck.

An Aborted Ascent at 21,000 Feet

On May 10, Andrews made his first attempt at the record, but the ascent ended prematurely. Andrews and Fisher left late at night, sped through the Khumbu Icefall, and reached Camp I at 19,900 feet elevation in just 1 hour, 56 minutes. Less than an hour later, the duo reached Camp II at 21,000 feet.

鈥淚 was actually much warmer than I expected,鈥� Andrews said. 鈥淚 wore running shoes with MICROspikes and that was totally fine.鈥�

A fit Mount Everest climber takes two full days of hiking to reach Camp III at 23,600 feet. But Andrews reached the camp, at the top of the Lhotse Face, just 4 hours and 32 minutes after beginning his run. He was well on pace to break the record.

And that’s when calamity struck.

Andrews told me that, several months ago, he recorded a podcast with his father, who asked him what he worried about ahead of the Everest ascent.

“A month ago, my response was, ‘The thing I’m most stressed out about is that some weird little thing that has nothing to do with my fitness is gonna screw me up,'” Andrews said. “And that鈥檚 pretty much what happened.鈥�

At Camp III, Andrews changed his footwear, removing his running shoes and putting on heavy climbing boots for the remainder of the ascent. These boots, rated for 6,000 meters and above, have a hard plastic shell with an integrated gaiter that goes over the knee. Most boots of this style are either secured with buckles or zippers.

鈥淚t’s my big-mountain boot, and in the cold metal gets brittle,” Andrews said. “You know how those zippers can be super stiff. So, I was really yanking on it and the whole piece, the whole track broke right in half.鈥�

A broken boot at extreme altitude could lead to frostbite. Andrews and a member of his crew at Camp III attempted to fix the problem.

鈥淟uckily, the boot had a Velcro attachment at the top, so that was closed, but the rest was wide open,” he said. Andrews and his crew member then improvised another solution. “We took one of those Hyperlite bags鈥攜ou know, the super thin Teflon kind of bags鈥攁nd wrapped that around the gaiter,” he said. “I put my crampon over that, but the boot wasn’t closed. It was wide open.”

Stopping to try and fix the boot cost Andrews valuable energy and time. He set off for Camp IV, but the ad-hoc repair didn’t last for very long.

鈥淥nce I got up, I could feel my foot was getting wet,” Andrews said. To him, the chasing the record wasn’t worth, “Losing all my toes.鈥�

At 7 A.M. Andrews made the tough call to abandon the attempt. He shuffled down from 25,000 feet to Camp III and then on to Base Camp.

A Second Attempt in Late May

Andrews said his May 10 attempt gave him plenty of time to try it again. Andrews said he’s targeting Friday, May 23 for his next attempt at the Mount Everest record. You can

鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I tried in this early window, so that we would have time for something听weird and unexpected to happen,” he said.

We sat in the late morning sun, chatting as Andrews and Fischer pulled deep lungfuls of air through their masks. Andrews told me about a few future projects, and some of the pressure he鈥檚 been under after he launched his very public attempt to set the record on Mount Everest. The announcement set off an ultrarunning duel with one of his friends and mentors, Swiss-Equadorian athlete Karl Egloff, who is chasing the same record this season.

鈥淚’ve felt a lot of pressure for a lot of things in my career,” Andrews said. “Obviously, this is probably the biggest stage I’ve ever been on. But the last six months of training have gone so well that I know I can have a c-minus day and still take the record.鈥�

He’s continuing his daily training regimen at Base Camp: two hours of running plus two hours of riding the stationary bike while wearing the hypoxic mask.

He said the machine simulates the oxygen level at 36,000 feet鈥攚ell above the top of Mount Everest. That’s about the cruising altitude of a commercial jet.

I recently texted Andrews to see how his body was feeling after all of this preparation. 鈥淔antastic, much better than before attempt 1,” he replied.

Let鈥檚 hope his boots can keep up.

The post Tyler Andrews Was Running to the Top of Mount Everest When a Crucial Piece of Gear Broke appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Hundreds of climbers and guides are headed to the summit of Mount Everest to make the most of the first stretch of favorable weather of the 2025 climbing season.

Here in Base Camp, the chatter amongst expedition leaders is about the traffic jams and conga lines that will soon appear on the mountain. You’ve probably seen photos of the congestion on Mount Everest, with a line of several dozen climbers stretching down an icy slope.

This year, approximately 450 climbers are vying for the summit. Often, there are twice as many guides, climbing sherpas, and support climbers to help these clients reach the top.听 With all of these people heading for the summit, crowding is inevitable along the route, which ascends 11,400 feet over 5.5 miles.

国产吃瓜黑料 spoke to expedition operators about the traffic jams, why they occur, and how guides can safely navigate them.

Where Does Gridlock Occur and Why?

Due to the fickle conditions on the world’s highest peak, hundreds of climbers embark for the summit at the same time to make the most of the few “weather windows” that appear each spring. Hundreds of people hike along the same narrow route and use the same safety ropes during the trip.

Crowding occurs whenever the procession听slows down, either because of a tired individual, tricky terrain, or some other obstacle.

Guides told us about several areas where bottlenecks arise every year.听It’s no coincidence that these areas are some of the hardest sections of the route.

The yellow band (~7700 m) on Mt (8848.86 m), 20.05.2024. Video 漏: Rajan Dwivedi.

鈥� Everest Today (@EverestToday)

The first crowded sections are in the Khumbu Icefall, the cascading glacier that shifts each year as it spills over Mount Everest’s lowest flanks. In this twisted section of ice and crevasses, crowds occur next to vertical sections. Climbers use a combination of ladders, fixed ropes, and ascenders called “jumars” to scale these vertical ice and rock walls, but each person’s progress is slow, which causes logjams when many people arrive at once.

The next section of climbing occurs later in the route, near the deep crevasse or bergschrund just below Camp III near the top of the Lhotse Face. Climbers must ascend the icy and steep top of a glacier before they reach the snowy and stable slopes around camp.

Other slowdowns occur just above the Geneva Spur at 27,000 feet, where the slope becomes nearly vertical, and at a series of large rocks near the South Summit at 28,700 feet.

The final section is perhaps the most dangerous: the narrow summit ridge that extends from the Hillary Step to the summit. In 2024, two climbers fell to their deaths while attempting to sidestep crowds in this section.

Why It鈥檚 Hard to Avoid Crowding

Guides on Mount Everest must strike a delicate balance between the demands of clients鈥攕ome of whom are impatient to get to the summit鈥攁nd the weather windows on the mountain.

Ryan Waters, co-owner of the Boulder, Colorado-based company Mountain Professionals, told me that he informs his clients of his target date for climbing the peak. He also keeps a somewhat flexible schedule in case multiple other teams head up on the same day.

鈥淭here are a few ways to do it. The first is knowing when other groups are potentially leaving and going to summit from conversations you hear in the camps,” he said. “Secondly, changing up your departure time to try to not be around other groups can help a lot.”

But, Waters admitted this is often easier said than done, since concrete information is hard to come by in Base Camp. I can attest to his frustration. Throughout Base Camp, rumors frequently swirl about which group is targeting what date, and which climbers are getting ready to ascend the peak. The critical information about congestion on the mountain exists in this rumor mill.

Thus, sometimes groups simply cannot avoid the inevitable dynamic of heading onto the peak alongside everyone else.

鈥淚f we get into crowds, then it’s听just a situational management scenario,鈥� Walters shared.

How to Climb In a Crowd

I posed the question (how do you navigate crowds?) to Mingma David Sherpa, co-founder of Elite Eped guiding company, as we sat in the mid-morning sunshine and sipped coffee.

“It’s not like a traffic jam with cars in it,” he told me. “There are often opportunities to overtake or go around slow climbers. But the guide has to know their skills and their client’s skills.”

He described several methods that guides and climbers can employ to pass slower people along the route, all of which involved advanced rope techniques. But these techniques are challenging at higher altitudes, when all climbers must clip themselves into the safety ropes.

When passing a slower climber, a guide and client must unclip themselves from the line, pass around the slower climber, and then clip back in. It’s not impossible, but it’s a technique best left to experienced professionals.

Perhaps the most important element of passing is knowing whether or not a client can do it, he said.

“Having experience as a guide is really important,鈥� Mingma David said. 鈥淚t really helps a lot. I take time on the training rotations to get to know my clients鈥� speed and skill.”

The flow rate of oxygen can also speed up or slow down a client, he said. “As we climb, I adjust their oxygen flow rates鈥攚e reduce if the climbing slows, increase if the terrain is steep or overhanging,” he said.

An Emphasis on Courtesy

All of the sources I spoke to echoed a similar point: yelling at slow climbers never improves or speeds up the crowding.

鈥淵ou can adjust your time and start much earlier,鈥� Mingma David said, 鈥淏ut the client has paid all that money, and they want to be on the top in the daylight.鈥�

Dutch guide Arnold Coster, who is leading the Seven Summits Treks expedition this year, told me that “politeness helps” when attempting to overtake someone along the route.

“It鈥檚 not that big of a deal, especially when everyone is moving upwards together,” Coster said. “Crowds don鈥檛 really slow you down.鈥�

Instead, Coster said that climbers and guides need to focus more on the basics of mountaineering when ascending Mount Everest alongside dozens or hundreds of others. Proper hydration, nutrition, and oxygen support are critical during busy times on the mountain. And guides need to understand that their summit bid may be extended by several hours due to traffic jams.

鈥淚t鈥檚 like anywhere in life,” Coster said. “Remember that a lot of climbers up here become pretty unaware of their surroundings. If you shout at them politely, they鈥檒l step aside and let you by.鈥�

Want to stay up on 国产吃瓜黑料鈥檚 2025 Everest Season coverage? Sign up for our听.

Ben Ayers听is a filmmaker, journalist, and adventurer who splits his time between Vermont and Nepal. In 2022 and 2024 he chronicled the Mount Everest climbing season for听国产吃瓜黑料.

The post Overcrowding Is Inevitable on Mount Everest. Here鈥檚 How Climbers Deal With It. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

The climbing season is in full swing on Mount Everest, with several dozen climbers and guides headed for the summit amid a window of clear weather.

But news has also come back to Base Camp of injuries, rescues, and even deaths.

On Friday, May 16, word circulated that a climber from India named Subrata Gosh had died on Mount Everest after descending from the summit to the Hillary Step at an elevation of 28,839 feet. 国产吃瓜黑料 confirmed the news with Snowy Horizon Treks and Expedition, the guiding company that Gosh had been climbing with.

“Last night the client summited very late, around 2 A.M. or 3 A.M.,” Bodha Raj Bhandari, chairman of the company, told听国产吃瓜黑料. Bhandari said that Gosh was unable to descend from the top after reaching the summit.

“His climbing sherpa managed to drag him down to the Hillary Step, where he sat and refused to move,” Bhandari said. “It took them a long time to reach that location.”

According to Bhandari, the climbing sherpa stayed with Gosh through the night, but the duo were unable to communicate with crews lower on the mountain because the radio batteries had died. The pair had enough oxygen to survive the night, Bhandari said, but unfortunately the climbing sherpa was unable to get Gosh to Camp IV at 26,000 feet.

“At around 7 A.M. this morning the sherpa arrived safely in Camp IV by himself. 鈥楬e’s gone,鈥� is all he said to us,” Bhandari said.

The death marks the second of a foreign climber on Mount Everest this year, and the fourth fatality. On May 14, a 45-year-old Filipino climber named Phillipp Santiago II died at Camp IV while heading toward the summit. Santiago was also climbing with Snow Horizon Treks and Expedition.

“Weather wasn’t a factor in this death either,” Bhandari told听翱耻迟蝉颈诲别.听“The climber had a plan to summit, and was just resting in his tent peacefully. He was on oxygen while resting, and just died peacefully. Our team tried CPR but it was ineffective. It was a sudden death.”

Deaths of this nature are not uncommon on Mount Everest during the spring season. Even with the use of supplemental oxygen, climbers can die at extreme altitudes due to exhaustion, pulmonary or cerebral edema, or sudden cardiac arrest. Climbers must limit their time in the so-called “death zone” above 26,000 feet due to the the inherent dangers of a low-oxygen environment.

Earlier this week, multiple climbers had to be evacuated from above Camp III at 24,000 feet due to medical issues caused by the elevation. On Wednesday, May 14, a Czech climber was plucked off the mountain by a helicopter using a long-line winch system.

On Thursday, May 15, another climber was saved via a long-line helicopter rescue from Camp III, Lhakpa Norbu Sherpa from the Himalayan Rescue Association confirmed.

On the Friday, May 16, a helicopter brought a climber from Morocco off the slopes Mount Everest to the Himalayan Rescue Association’s emergency room in Mount Everest Base Camp. The climber was suffering from chest pain and physical weakness. Both rescued climbers are expected to recover, officials told听翱耻迟蝉颈诲别.听

The two fatalities are the third and fourth of the 2025 season thus far. 国产吃瓜黑料 was able to confirm that two Nepali mountain workers died earlier in the season, but their deaths went unreported at the time.

Ang Chokpa Sherpa, the program manager of the Juniper Fund, a nonprofit that supports听families of deceased mountain workers, identified the two Nepali workers as Ngima Dorji Sherpa and Pem Chhiri Sherpa.

Ngima Dorji Sherpa, who was from Nepal’s remote Makalu region, died earlier in May of a brain hemorrhage while working at Mount Everest Base Camp, Ang Chokpa Sherpa confirmed. His employer, Seven Summits Treks, attempted a rescue, but he died before receiving further care.

Pen Chhiri Sherpa died on May 4 after suffering a heart attack at Camp I at 19,900 feet, Ang Chokpa said. His employer, TAG Nepal, initiated a rescue, but Pen Chhiri died in Kathmandu. He left behind a wife and a grown son.

Nine climbers died on Mount Everest in 2024, down from 18 in 2023.

Want to stay up on 国产吃瓜黑料鈥檚 2025 Everest Season coverage? Sign up for our听.

Ben Ayers听is a filmmaker, journalist, and adventurer who splits his time between Vermont and Nepal. In 2022 and 2024 he chronicled the Mount Everest climbing season for听国产吃瓜黑料.

The post Deaths and Rescues Amid the Summit Push on Mount Everest appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Mount Everest holds a special aura for hardcore climbers and casual fans of the sport alike. Every year, the world’s highest peak attracts several hundred climbers who attempt to reach the top. But not everyone is familiar with the dynamics on the mountain, the guiding industry, or even the route to the top. Below, we answer a handful of familiar questions that we often receive from 国产吃瓜黑料 readers (and also 国产吃瓜黑料 editors) about Mount Everest.

Do you have a question about Mount Everest? Email them to adventure@outsideinc.com.

And check out our 2025 coverage from Mount Everest Base Camp.

What Is Mount Everest Season?

Yes, there are 365 days in a year. But only a handful of those days produce calm, clear, and (relatively) warm enough weather on the summit of Mount Everest for humans to exist. And the only time when the top of Mount Everest consistently experiences multiple days of these conditions鈥攚hat climbers call a “weather window”鈥攊s in mid to late May. During a typical year, a few weather windows may occur during this brief stretch.

That’s why, in the international mountaineering world, late April through May is known as “Mount Everest Season.” It’s when climbers arrive in Base Camp, complete their acclimatization hikes onto the mountain, and then push for the top.

According to The Himalayan Database, a website that tracks Himalayan climbing in Nepal, May 23 is the most popular date for reaching the summit. Since 1950, 1,712 climbers have reached the top of Mount Everest on that date. May 21 is the next busiest day with 1,487 successful summits.

“All mountains in Nepal are best climbed in spring because there is less snow,” says Billi Bierling, who operates The Himalayan Database. “People think there’s so much snow, and yes there is, but not as much as there is during the summer monsoon.”

Climbers avoid Mount Everest in the summer because, in early June, monsoons sweep off the Bay of Bengal into the Himalayas. These storms dump heavy snowfall on the peak and buffet the top with dangerous winds. In the winter, the peak is simply too cold and windy.

Some climbers have scaled Mount Everest in the fall, when a shorter weather window sometimes opens up. But the finicky weather usually makes for a shorter window. According to Bierling, only 287 climbers have ever reached the top in the fall.

“The weather window is just too small in the fall,” Bierling said. “The monsoon is sometimes dragging on, and then the Jet Stream hits Everest earlier than other 8,000-meter peaks because it’s higher.”

But of course the lack of suitable days to climb Mount Everest is what creates those dramatic photos of traffic jams on the peak鈥攈undreds of climbers are pushing for the top at exactly the same time. If you were to snap a photo in the same location a day later, the trail might be empty.

Do Climbers Take the Same Route Every Year?

Yes鈥攖he lion’s share of Mount Everest climbers follow the same approximate route to the top. The South Col route from Nepal and the North Ridge route from Tibet represent the paths of least resistance on both sides of Mount Everest, and thus, they are the most common ways to get to the top. Think of them as the proverbial green circle runs at your local ski resort.

You can check out the South Col route from Nepal above.听

Both routes make slight deviations from year to year based on snowfall, avalanches, and shifting ice in the Khumbu Icefall.听Each year, sherpas and other mountain workers fix safety ropes along the route to the summit, and then guides and their clients use these safety ropes to reach the top. And as Mount Everest has become dominated by commercial ascents, these routes have only grown in popularity, since most of the climbers are not hardened alpinists.

Over the years, more experienced climbers have taken more challenging routes to the summit that require true Alpine-style climbing, such as ascending the Hornbein Couloir, or the Kangshung Face. In 2022 French climber Marc Batard attempted a new approach that circumvented the Khumbu Icefall. And for the last few years, German Alpinist Jost Kobusch has attempted to scale Everest via the West Ridge. These are black diamond-level routes鈥攐nly attempted by seasoned climbers.

How Much Harder Is it to Climb Mount Everest WITHOUT Supplemental Oxygen?

Here’s how Dr. Jon Kedrowski, a four-time Mount Everest climber, describes climbing the peak without using supplemental oxygen. “It would be as if I pulled your lower lip over your head and then kicked you in the stomach,” he said. “It hurts. Everything hurts.”

It’s no secret that the human body functions better in oxygen-rich environments and worse in oxygen-poor ones. At Mount Everest Base Camp, at 17,500 feet, there’s approximately half as much oxygen in the air compared to sea level. Atop Mount Everest, it’s approximately 33 percent of sea level.

Using supplemental oxygen effectively lowers the perceived elevation by giving your body more to absorb with each breath. The amount of oxygen in each breath鈥攖he “flow rate” of the oxygen mask鈥攃an add significant amounts of oxygen to your body.

Kedrowski, who climbed 26,781-foot Manaslu without oxygen and attempted Everest without oxygen in 2015, said that every bodily movement at that altitude can push your body to exhaustion. You have to hike slower and make every bodily movement count.

“You have to learn how to stand, how to stabilize your body, and how to optimize your movement efficiency,” he said. “Even a little task like reaching your hand back to grab a water bottle can take your breath away and make you feel like you’re going to pass out.”

How Much Does it Cost to Climb Mount Everest?

In his annual , longtime Everest chronicler (and 国产吃瓜黑料 contributor) pegged the 2025 price range between $35,000 and $123,000 for climbing Mount Everest from Nepal.

Even a bare-bones expedition has costs you cannot avoid: a climbing permit from the Nepali government costs $11,000, payment to rope fixers and Nepal liaison officers is a few grand, and then of course you need to hire a yak or two to get your crap to Base Camp.

So, It’s Just a Bunch of Rich People Up There, Right?

Not at all. The vibe at Mount Everest Base Camp is way more scrappy climber than Prada. Some expedition operators do cater to high-end clientele and feature creature comforts like fancy espresso machines and private chefs. You can pay upwards of $100,000 for a trip like this. But these climbers are in the minority at Everest Base Camp.

“In 2012, I spent $29,000 on my first Everest trip,” Kedrowski said. “I was working as a ranger on Mount Rainier at the time and a ski guide. I paid some up front and put the rest on my credit card.”

Kedrowski said he found ways to cut costs on his ascent by carrying his own gear up to Camp I and Camp II.

“It was still an expensive endeavor, and rightly so,” he added.

Is There Any 鈥淭echnical鈥� Climbing Involved?

Not really. Think of the ascent of Mount Everest as a big, long, multi-day hike at extreme altitude, with sections of fairly dangerous exposure. There are tricky sections in the Khumbu Icefall, but the route builders erect ladders, and also fix safety ropes and anchors to help climbers pull themselves up.

“The only person experiencing true technical climbing is the first person leading the pitch,” Kedrowski said. “Last year there was one vertical wall in the Icefall but after so many people climbed it you’d barely rate it fifth-class.”

Why Do People Climb Mount Everest?

Throughout my time in Base Camp I’ve learned that everyone has their own reason for climbing. These explanations vary greatly. Sure, there’s some ego driving climbers, and everyone is asking themselves, “what am I capable of?”

But there’s also an infectious community of people who ascend these mountains, and for some, it’s this camaraderie that motivates them. I’ve met a lot of like-minded people who enjoy pushing themselves physically and mentally. Throughout my journey here I’ve decided that asking this question is like asking “why do people join CrossFit gyms?”

Throughout his time guiding, Kedrowski says he’s come across clients motivated by several reasons. “One client was working through a battle in his own life and he was trying to do something he could be proud of,” Kedrowski says. “He had worked really hard to change his life, and he had put in the time and training so that he felt he deserved to be on Mount Everest.”

Want to stay up on 国产吃瓜黑料鈥檚 2025 Everest Season coverage? Sign up for our听.

Ben Ayers听is a filmmaker, journalist, and adventurer who splits his time between Vermont and Nepal. In 2022 and 2024 he chronicled the Mount Everest climbing season for听国产吃瓜黑料.

The post What Is Mount Everest Season? We Answer Your Questions About the World鈥檚 Highest Peak. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Rescuers and expedition operators in Base Camp buzzed with enthusiasm on the evening of Wednesday, May 14 after a helicopter pilot executed a daring rescue high on the slopes of Mount Everest.

The drama began at approximately 6:45 A.M. after a sizable early wave of climbers reached the summit and began to descend. Clear skies on the peak gave way to clouds and wind as the group made its way down. A Czech climber who was part of the ascent led by expedition operator 8K Expeditions began to show signs of altitude sickness on the descent, a company representative told 翱耻迟蝉颈诲别.听

The climber, whose identity was not shared, was able to make his way down from the summit to Camp III at 24,000 feet elevation, but he was unable to continue. Lhakpa Sherpa, director of 8K Expeditions, told 国产吃瓜黑料 that the company called for a helicopter rescue at approximately 4 P.M.

Kailash Helicopters, a transport company in Kathmandu, sent Italian pilot Maurizio Folini to attempt the rescue.

鈥淢aurizio is the best pilot for this kind of rescue in the world,” Lhakpa Sherpa said. “He鈥檚 an Everest summitter听and an IFMGA guide.”

Sources with the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, a local non-profit that helped manage the Everest route, confirmed details of the rescue with 翱耻迟蝉颈诲别.听

Folini piloted an Airbus AS350 B3e helicopter equipped with a long-line winch system. The helicopter flew from Kathmandu to Lukla, where Folini took over and began flying toward Everest.

As the helicopter was en-route, the Czech climber’s condition worsened, Lhakpa Sherpa said.

“We received reports that he was unconscious for a full ten minutes,” Lhakpa Sherpa said. “Our teams gave him CPR, and he regained consciousness.”

Camp III is located halfway up the steep Lhotse Face, an imposing wall of rock and ice that ascends nearly for nearly 3,700 vertical feet. It’s the last camp that climbers reach before entering the so-called “Death Zone” at 26,000 feet.

The camp’s elevation near the limits of the high-altitude helicopters flown in the Himalayas. Piloting a helicopter in the Himalayas is a harrowing job鈥攙iolent weather systems can appear without warning, and the thin air at extreme altitude creates less lift than air at sea level. There’s no room for pilot error.

At 5:30 P.M. Folini’s helicopter flew over Everest Base Camp and made its way up the Khumbu Icefall toward Camp III trailing a rescue rope, or a long line, below the aircraft. After making a pass of the landing zone, Folini hovered over the Camp.

Nepali laws forbid helicopter pilots from landing on Mount Everest. In Base Camp, a ground crew comprised of officials from the Himalayan Rescue Association, Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, and 8K Expeditions called Nepal’s Civil Aviation Authority and requested permission to complete the mission.

Officials told听国产吃瓜黑料 that the group received the go-ahead, and radioed Folini to proceed. As he hovered, rescuers at Camp III secured the Czech climber to the long line, and Folini then flew the patient, dangling beneath the helicopter, back to Base Camp, where a team of emergency doctors was听waiting in the Everest Emergency Room operated by the Himalayan Rescue Association.

鈥淲e were very lucky today,鈥� Lhakpa Sherpa said. 鈥淭he doctors said his entire chest was swollen. He would not have survived the night.鈥�

Officials told听国产吃瓜黑料 that the Czech climber was diagnosed with severe pulmonary edema and needed to be taken to lower elevation. After Folini landed his helicopter at Base Camp, crews loaded the Czech climber into the craft and he departed for the town of Lukla in the foothills of the Himalayas.

The rescue was the focal point of a busy day on Mount Everest. Amid a window of good weather, approximately 40 climbers from two different companies reached the summit. Officials told 国产吃瓜黑料 that another rescue occurred later in the day after a climbing sherpa听slipped and fell on the Lhotse Face. The man survived, officials said.

Hundreds more are either still in Base Camp waiting for better weather, or are at lower camps on their way to the top.

Want to stay up on 国产吃瓜黑料鈥檚 2025 Everest Season coverage? Sign up for our听.

Ben Ayers听is a filmmaker, journalist, and adventurer who splits his time between Vermont and Nepal. In 2022 and 2024, he chronicled the Mount Everest climbing season for听国产吃瓜黑料.

The post There Was a Dramatic Helicopter Rescue on Mount Everest appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

In the social chatter of Mount Everest Base Camp, everyone has heard about “Wally.”

That’s the nickname given to Viorel Stirbu, a 74-year-old man who has become a crowd favorite in the mountaineering community. Wally is an American citizen who speaks with a thick Romanian accent. He was born in Romania but sought asylum in the United States 45 years ago. After settling in Chicago, he spent 28 years working for the city’s fire department.

Check out the above video for a behind-the-scenes look at Ben Ayers’ chat with Wally.

But Wally is also a seasoned climber, and he’s at Mount Everest to complete the so-called Seven Summits鈥攃limbing the highest mountains on all of the continents. He’s also trying to reach the roof of the world after two earlier attempts. In 2015 his climb was disrupted by the Nepal Earthquake, and in 2016 he reached Camp III at 23,600 feet but turned back due to shortness of breath.

If Wally reaches the top of Mount Everest this year, he will become the oldest Romanian to climb the peak, and the first person to fly the flag of the Chicago Fire Department from the summit.

Throughout my career covering Mount Everest, I have been admittedly skeptical about climbers trying to set age records on the mountain. As a whole, it seems like a risky idea that could place undue pressure upon guides and high-altitude Sherpa staff. But when I sat down to speak with Wally, I couldn鈥檛 help but be caught up in his infectious positive energy. Within minutes, I was entirely rooting for him.

Wally鈥檚 story began with his first failed attempt to escape Romania by swimming across the Danube River in 1974, when he was 24. He was captured by the Yugoslavian security forces and deported back to Romania鈥攖he attempt landed him in jail for 18 months. He swam again in 1978 and managed to make it to Austria, where he was granted asylum by the U.S. Embassy. A few years after arriving in Chicago on December 21, 1978, Wally joined the Chicago Fire Department, raised a family, and prospered.

As a retirement celebration in 2013, he took a trip to climb Kilimanjaro. During the ascent, he learned about the Seven Summits challenge. He climbed steadily thereafter, completing six of the seven by April 2015 when he arrived in Nepal to complete the circuit on Mount Everest.

And this is where, unbeknownst to me, our paths crossed.

When the 7.8 magnitude Great Nepal Earthquake unleashed a massive serac from the East face of 23,507-foot Pumori, the pressure wave blasted through Mount Everest Base Camp, killing 18 people and injuring dozens more. The entire complex was flattened.

Wally escaped injury during the blast and immediately went to work helping set up a triage hospital at Base Camp. He used his听skills as an emergency medical technician and firefighter to assess victims and assemble them for helicopter transport down to the small airstrip in Lukla. That’s where I happened to be helping set up the triage hospital that received the stricken climbers and guides.

Even now I can see the precise handwriting on the notes scrawled across medical tape on the down jackets of the dozens of casualties we processed and expedited to advanced care in Kathmandu that day. I recently learned that this was Wally’s handwriting鈥攖he revelation blew my mind.

While my conversation with Wally was brief, it was sprinkled with some Himalayan snow-dust of magic and serendipity. It closed a door for me that I didn鈥檛 know was left open, and it opened my mind.

When we parted, Wally shook my hand and leaned in. 鈥淵ou know,鈥� he whispered, 鈥淚f I pull this one off, I might try for K2 this year, too.鈥� If successful, that would make him the oldest summiteer by almost ten years. I wished him the best of luck.

Ben Ayers is a filmmaker, journalist, and adventurer who splits his time between Vermont and Nepal. In 2022 and 2024, he chronicled the Mount Everest climbing season for听国产吃瓜黑料.

The post Wally, Chicago鈥檚 Most Charming Retired Firefighter, Is Climbing Mount Everest at Age 74 appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

The climbing season on Mount Everest is about to get a much-needed shot of adrenaline.

On Friday, May 9, a rope-fixing team comprised of nine climbing sherpas from guiding company 8K Expeditions reached the summit, signaling the official start of summit bonanza on the world’s highest peak.

In 2024, the route was finalized on May 10. This year, the rope fixers were initially ahead of schedule, but they were then delayed by weather.

鈥淭here has been a lot of deep snow up high,鈥� said Director of 8K Expeditions Lakpa Sherpa.

At Base Camp, 440 climbers, as well as their guides and sherpas, have been eagerly awaiting the news.

How Do Rope Fixers Build the Route to the Summit?

The route to Mount Everest’s summit from Nepal follows the same general pathway each year. From Base Camp, climbers ascend through the Khumbu Icefall, across the Western Cwm (pronounced “coom”), up the Lhotse Face, and past the South Col, Balcony, Hilary Step, and on to the official summit at 29,032 feet.

But it’s not听exactly the same, as shifting snow drifts, collapsing ice, and other elements on the mountain constantly change. Before climbers can push for the summit, mountain workers must first build two crucial parts of the route. Specialists called the Icefall Doctors secure ropes and lay down ladder bridges through the labyrinthian Khumbu Icefall, a section of glacier is riddled by crevasses and sheer drop offs.

Then, rope fixers must affix the safety lines from Camp II at 21,000 feet all the way to the top.听These lines are a crucial part of the route, and climbers and guides secure themselves to these fixed lines to prevent falls.听 Traditionally, when the rope fixers complete their job, hundreds of climbers venture onto the mountain.

I’ve spent the last few days in Base Camp, speaking with climbers and guides, and people have told me they are either bored or impatient to get onto the peak. Every day, dozens of helicopters have arrived in Base Camp to drop off climbers anticipating the route opening.

Many in Base Camp are also following the progress of the handful of climbers who are this year’s “early bird” group. They departed Base Camp on Wednesday, May 7, and are hoping to follow in the footsteps of the rope fixers. This strategy avoids the traffic jam, but it’s risky鈥攈igh camps are not yet stocked with oxygen bottles, tents, or fuel.

鈥淭he rule is that clients are only allowed to summit a full day after the fixing is completed,” said Pasang Phurba Sherpa, the director of 听Seven Summit Treks. “We coordinate with the fixing teams to minimize crowding and ensure all the camps are ready, especially Camp IV.鈥�

Notable Climbers Ready for the Ascent

One climber joining the early ascent is British adventurer Mitch Hutchcraft, whose climb is the final leg of an ambitious global triathlon he’s calling 12,000 KM to Everest. Back in September, Hutchcraft swam across the English Channel. Then he got on a bicycle and rode 7,500 miles across 18 countries, from France to Nepal, where he began a 775-mile trek to Base Camp.

He is calling his adventure the “longest climb in Everest history.” He is ascending the peak with British-Nepali guiding company AGA 国产吃瓜黑料s.

I sat down with Hutchcraft in the coffee tent managed by Seven Summit Treks, and we explored his life story and expedition goals between coughing fits and whispered missives, as he struggled with laryngitis.

 

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鈥淚 had always wanted to do Everest, but from zero feet, from sea level,” he said. “I鈥檝e also always wanted to swim the channel, five times more people have climbed Everest than have swam the channel. One day I had a lightbulb moment, I鈥檓 like if I just l just lick the middle bit together, it becomes a triathlon.”

Hutchcraft told me that he has yet to fully fund his expedition through sponsorship. When asked if maybe he鈥檇 want to hang onto his beard, he revealed that he couldn鈥檛 due to financial reasons. 鈥淥ne of my sponsors is a razor company,” he said. “So annoying. I think it鈥檚 in the contract that I have to cut it.鈥�

I also recently visited Austrian guide Lukas Furtenbach, who is overseeing six separate expeditions on Everest this year.听We sat together at an empty camp table in the cavernous dining hall as a few of his guides talked quietly behind us.

The tent had the appointments and the icy luxury of a five-star hotel. He poured me an Americano and a glass of juice鈥攂oth luxuries up here.

Furtenbach told me that the controversial xenon-gas fueled British team, which was hoping to summit Everest door-to-door from London in seven days, was on schedule. The team members had completed their xenon treatment in Germany and were waiting for his signal to arrive.

 

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鈥淭hey鈥檝e completed their training and are waiting for the right weather window. I鈥檓 confident we鈥檙e going to get them to the summit this year.鈥� Furtenbach told 国产吃瓜黑料

Furtenbach is overseeing another notable ascent: that of Ecuadorian ultrarunner Karl Egloff. Egloff is attempting to set the fastest known time for ascending Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen.

Just a few camps away, Nepali guiding company Asian Trekking is supporting Egloff’s rival for the FKT, American Tyler Andrews.

To prepare, Andrews has been running laps up nearby 21,250鈥� foot Mera peak. He’s also pedaling an exercise bike that was brought up by a helicopter. Both camps are quite tight-lipped about the record attempts and won’t disclose details on their strategies.

There are a number of other records happening on the mountain this year. 听American teenager Emma Schwerin, 17, is climbing with her father. Schwerin hopes to become the youngest woman to climb all seven summits and the youngest American woman to climb Everest. And “Mountain Queen” Lhakpa Sherpa, who was recently featured in , is back at Base Camp for her 11th summit, the most of any woman.

Kami Rita Sherpa, the climber with the most Everest ascents in history, is going for his 31st ascent, while also leading a team comprised of Indian Army soldiers.

Recent weather reports suggest stable conditions on the mountain around Wednesday, May 14. At the moment, that is when I expect the first wave of climbers to reach the top. With nearly 450 permits issued for Mount Everest this year鈥攃lose to the record of 478 set in 2023鈥攖eams are anticipating conga lines and traffic jams on the peak’s route. As clients and team leaders scramble across the scree pathways of Base Camp, barking into walkie-talkies and vying for cappuccinos in the coffee tent, I鈥檓 just hoping to get some sleep.

My Health Luck on Mount Everest Runs Out

On Monday, May 5, my story听How I Managed to Stay Healthy on My Trek to Mount Everest Base Camp published. Literally a few hours later, I began to feel a tickle in my throat. By the next morning, I was doubled over in my sleeping bag with a rib-splitting, uncontrollable hack.

In between coughing bouts, I could hear at least three other people in my camp experiencing the same thing. Despite my best efforts, I had come down with the legendary “Khumbu Cough”鈥攁 Mount Everest medical condition that afflicts many. The cold and dry air irritates your lungs, and after a few days you’re sick. People have been known to crack ribs or suffer even worse maladies from coughing so hard.

The sickness threw a wrench into my reporting at Base Camp, which has felt like a cross between a crowded climbing gym and a corporate conference. For the five days prior to getting sick, my days were packed with the basics: eating, going to the bathroom, sleeping, mixed with interviews with foreign climbers, expedition leaders, and others. In addition to writing for听国产吃瓜黑料,听I am doing live daily updates on my Instagram feed, .

Alas, after a day of coughing, I woke up on Wednesday, May 7, and realized my voice was gone. After a breakfast of sausage, eggs, potatoes, and toast at the Seven Summit Treks base, I decided to visit the expedition doctor in the medical tent.

The doctor, a short and wiry Iranian man in his 50s, stared into my throat with a flashlight and listened to my lungs. After the examination, he told me to pull down my pants.

“I could give you some anti-inflammatory pills,” he said. “But at this altitude, you need something stronger.” He pulled out a small vial of medicine, as well as a hypodermic needle, and plunged it into my glute.

Alas, the medication didn’t completely erase my symptoms. And thus, I’ve decided to board a helicopter for Lukla to recover at lower altitude for several days. It will be a short trip, and I am hoping to return early this coming week, just as the first wave of expeditions ventures onto Mount Everest.

Want to stay up on 国产吃瓜黑料鈥檚 2025 Everest Season coverage? Sign up for our听.

Ben Ayers听is a filmmaker, journalist, and adventurer who splits his time between Vermont and Nepal. In 2022 and 2024 he chronicled the Mount Everest climbing season for听国产吃瓜黑料.

The post Climbers Will Soon Push for the Summit on Mount Everest appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

On Sunday, May 4, American climber听Alex Pancoe died on the slopes of Nepal’s 27,838-foot Makalu, the world’s fifth-highest mountain.

Pancoe was completing an acclimatization hike in preparation for a Makalu summit bid, and had recently returned to Camp II at 22,310 feet when he died, sources told 国产吃瓜黑料. His guide, Terray Sylvester of American climbing company Madison Mountaineering, told 国产吃瓜黑料 that Pancoe died suddenly.

“We don’t yet know exactly what happened,” Sylvester said. “Just a few hours earlier, he’d told me how happy he was, and that he was feeling so strong at altitude. He moved well that day, and had a great appetite and attitude.”

Sylvester and Pancoe had eaten dinner and tucked into their sleeping bags, but while they were talking, Pancoe became unresponsive. An autopsy later revealed he’d suffered cardiac arrest. Despite several hours of resuscitation efforts from Sylveseter,听other climbers, and Sherpas, Pancoe could not be revived.

Pancoe leaves behind a wife and two young children.

A Climber with a Higher Purpose

Friends and climbing partners spoke with听国产吃瓜黑料 about Pancoe this week, sharing anecdotes and memories. “He was always focused on what he was up there to do,” says Andrew Hughes, a close friend, ” which was to raise money and awareness for pediatric cancer.”

Pancoe began climbing mountains in 2016, but his dedication to cancer survival began more than a decade earlier. In 2005, Pancoe鈥攖hen 19鈥攚as diagnosed with a brain tumor. He survived, with no complications, after undergoing surgery at Lurie Children鈥檚 Hospital in his hometown of Chicago.

Pancoe used his climbs to raise funds for Lurie Children’s Hospital In 2019, he completed a feat known as the 鈥淓xplorer’s Grand Slam,鈥� climbing the highest peaks on all seven continents and skiing to the North and South Poles. In the process, he raised over half a million dollars.

鈥淲hen you face death early in life, I guess you see life differently,鈥� Hughes said. 鈥淗aving gone through his brain tumor, I think Alex saw every day as another opportunity to seize what might have been taken from him.鈥�

After finishing the adventure, Pancoe continued to climb other peaks to raise money for charity. During a 2023 attempt to summit 22,349-foot Ama Dablam in Nepal, Pancoe fell ill, and was subsequently diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia, a lifelong cancer of the bone marrow.

For his Makalu ascent, Pancoe was hoping to raise a symbolic $27,838鈥攖he mountain鈥檚 elevation in feet鈥攆or the pediatric blood cancer program at Lurie Children鈥檚.

鈥淗e told me that when he stood up there, he was standing with everyone鈥攅very doctor, every person in his family, every friend鈥攚ho helped support him over the years,” Huges said. “The people who had been there when he was sick, and been there when he was well. His community back in Chicago really lifted him up.鈥�

Outgoing and Full of Energy

Hughes first met Pancoe in 2019, while both were attempting to summit Mount Everest. “He came to the mountains with an incredible sense of purpose,” Huges said. “He had his personal goals, sure, but he wasn鈥檛 trying to elevate himself. It was about bringing awareness to a cause that was deeply personal to him, one that had essentially saved his life.鈥�

Hughes described Pancoe as outgoing and full of energy. He was also dedicated to training and preparation, even after his leukemia diagnosis. Pancoe came into his climbs fit and well-prepared, Hughes said, and was always more concerned with going home to his family than summiting.

鈥淲e both lived by the idea that the most important step is the one that gets you back home,鈥� Hughes said.

In a text message exchange shared with 国产吃瓜黑料, Pancoe told Hughes鈥攁 soon-to-be father鈥攖hat being a parent was an experience he was learning to value far more than any summit. 鈥淵ou won鈥檛 miss climbing like you think,鈥� he wrote.听鈥淏eing a dad is amazing. I just want to wind things down on my own terms, [not by] coming up short on Ama Dablam because of leukemia.鈥�

Seth Timpano, a guide with American company Alpine Ascents, also noticed Pancoe’s dedication to his wife and children. During an ascent of Washington’s Mount Baker, he saw Pencoe follow his values. 鈥淲e made a strong push to the summit and back in great style, grabbed deli sandwiches for the drive, and still got him to the airport with plenty of time to catch his red-eye flight to Chicago, just in time to spend the 4th of July with his family,” Timpano said. “Alex loved the mountains, but he loved his family even more.鈥�

Pancoe befriended everyone he met in the mountains, Sylvester added. 鈥淥n our rotation to Camp I and II , he joked that he was the official 鈥榞reeter鈥� or 鈥榓mbassador鈥� on that section of the mountain,鈥� Sylvester said.

Pancoe spent most of his rest days sitting by the side of the trail on the edge of camp, chatting with other hikers. Even on the acclimatization hike before his death, 鈥渉e talked with just about everyone we passed on the trail,鈥� Sylvester said. Syvlester said that, shortly before his death, Pancoe befriended a stray dog at Makalu base camp.

鈥淗e gave it somewhere warmer to sleep, in the vestibule of his tent, and scraps from our dining tent,” Sylvester said. “He had a really good heart.鈥�

Hughes said that Pancoe had been in good health going into his Makalu expedition. Sylvester echoed the sentiment. 鈥淚 was thinking he鈥檇 have an excellent shot at the summit on our eventual summit push,鈥� Sylvester said.

Pancoe’s death is the fourth fatality of the 2025 Himalayan season. In early April, two Nepali guides were killed in an avalanche on 26,545-foot Annapurna. In late April, an Austrian climber, Martin Hornegger, died while descending Ama Dablam.

A Legacy That Will Continue

In the day’s after Pancoe鈥檚 death, his wife, Nina Laski Pancoe, wrote in a tribute to him on social media. “The moment I received that call from a satellite number, I wanted to think it was nothing, but deep down I knew something was very wrong,” she wrote. “At first I thought you broke a bone, but to hear that your heart stopped and CPR was not working, my heart shattered into a million pieces 鈥� You lived each day to the fullest making an impact on the world around you. You are the kindest, sweetest, most passionate person I have ever met.鈥�

Hughes said one of the most special things about his friendship with Pancoe was the support he always received from his friend, and the lack of competition between them. 鈥淚n the outdoor world, especially in climbing, there are always so many people trying to outdo each other, with 鈥榝irsts鈥� and records,鈥� Hughes said. 鈥淎lex wasn鈥檛 like that. You could be vulnerable with him. We shared our goals and tried to find ways to make them work for each other.鈥�

Hughes said Pancoe’s outgoing personality and dedication to climbing and cancer fundraising will ensure that his memory lives on.

鈥淒espite the things that he was dealing with on a health level, Alex had so much life,鈥� Hughes said. 鈥淗is time was cut short, but he is going to far outlive the life that he was given, by how much impact he鈥檚 had on the world around him.鈥�

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The post Alex Pancoe Died on Makalu. Friends Say He Climbed With 鈥淎n Incredible Sense of Purpose.鈥� appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

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What name should we call the world’s highest peak?

In this week’s Dispatches from Everest video, Ben Ayers dives into the simmering debate over this topic. And he does so from Ground Zero of the argument: the giant spray painted rock at Mount Everest Base Camp.

Mount Everest, the name most commonly used by Westerners, dates back to the Nineteenth Century and the British colonization of India. In the 1850s, the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India鈥攁n effort by the British to map the subcontinent鈥攊dentified the peak as the highest in the world. Andrew Waugh, the surveyor general, named the peak for his former boss, Sir George Everest, and in 1865 the Royal Geographic Society adopted the title.

Like many titles and place names given during the era of colonization, the Mount Everest name gave zero recognition to the title used by locals. Tibetans had, for centuries, called the peak Chomolunga or Qomolangma, which translated to “Goddess Mother of the World.”

More recently, the Nepali government gave its own title to the peak: Sagarmatha, which translates to “head in the great blue sky” or “forehead touching heaven.”

So, what should we call the world鈥檚 highest peak? It’s up to you to decide.

The post The Debate Over Mount Everest鈥檚 Name appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.