Mainstream coverage of Mount Everest has provided a distorted view of the peak, the Himalayan mountaineering industry, and the climbers who attempt to reach the summit.

In his latest video dispatch, our Everest correspondent Ben Ayers addresses two common misconceptions about the world’s highest peak:

• Climbing Mount Everest is only attainable by the wealthy
• Mount Everest is covered in dead bodies and garbage

Ayers also dives into a topic that often spurs debate: the climbing industry’s treatment of Everest’s local workforce, the Sherpa.

Ben Ayers聽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聽国产吃瓜黑料.

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鲍辫诲补迟别:听On Wednesday, June 4, rangers at Denali National Park located and recovered the body of Alex Chiu, 41, of Seattle, Washington. In a statement from the park, officials said Chiu fell approximately 3,000 vertical feet from the West Buttress Route. His body has been transferred to the Alaska state medical examiner.听

A ski mountaineer is missing on Alaska鈥檚 20,310-foot Denali.

According to a , the 41-year-old skier, who hails from Washington State but has yet to be identified publicly, took a long, unroped fall on Monday, June 2, while on the West Buttress, the mountain鈥檚 standard route.

It was unclear if the missing climber鈥攚ho was on Denali with two companions鈥攚as climbing or descending the mountain when he fell, but the accident occurred at a location known as Squirrel Hill. The series of steep, windswept slopes which are frequently icy, are located at approximately 12,500 feet on the peak’s West Buttress.

According to the release, the skier fell off of this steep section and slid down and out of sight towards Peters Glacier, 鈥渁n exposed rocky and serac covered 3000-foot face.鈥� It鈥檚 unknown how far the climber ultimately fell, but when his partners rappelled down the face, they could neither see nor hear their fallen companion.

With no sign of their missing partner, the two survivors alerted search and rescue, and then descended the West Buttress route to Camp I at 7,800ft. As of Tuesday, June 3, the NPS reported that both ground and air search and rescue efforts for the missing climber were delayed 鈥渄ue to high winds and snow.鈥�

Denali (recently federally designated as Mount McKinley by the Trump Administration), is North America鈥檚 highest mountain, and one of the Seven Summits. The peak鈥檚 climbing season traditionally lasts from late April to early July, and this year roughly 1,000 climbers have secured permits to attempt the peak (a number that has been consistent year-on-year since the coronavirus pandemic). Nearly half of these permitted climbers are on the mountain currently.

Although the West Buttress is considered the easiest and most accessible route on Denali鈥攁nd is the route chosen by over 90 percent of Denali hopefuls鈥攊t still entails a variety of hazards, including navigating crevasse-filled glaciers, climbing steep snow and ice slopes up 40 degrees, and surmounting a technical headwall rising from 14,200 to 16,200 feet, which is typically protected by fixed ropes. The average expedition up and down the mountain takes nearly three weeks.

The published by the NPS, reported that of the 1,001 climbers who set foot on the mountain, 34 patients were assessed by mountaineering rangers and patrol volunteers, and 25 of these were eventually evacuated. Three of these climbers died on the mountain, two from long falls, and a third from exposure after becoming stuck in a snow cave near the summit.

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On Sunday, May 4, American climber聽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,聽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聽国产吃瓜黑料 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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Part of the challenge of hiking to Mount Everest Base Camp is avoiding illness and exhaustion. It’s no secret that tourists often pass gastrointestinal viruses and head colds to each other during the journey, and the extreme altitude makes the body particularly vulnerable to infection. The altitude you attain during the trek to Mount Everest can also cause serious (or even fatal) health conditions, so taking extra precautions could mean the difference between a great or a miserable experience.

A Few Small Tricks to Stay Healthy on the Trail

I always protect my skin and face from the sun by wearing a hat, a hood, and plenty of sunscreen. The high-altitude sun is strong, and even a light sunburn can steal energy and fluid from your body that would be better used boosting your immune system.

I also protect my lungs from the dust on the trail, which can contain particulates from mule or yak dung. Wearing a neck gaiter or N95 mask is important, and keeping it over your nose as much as possible makes a difference. Yes, it takes some fussing on the uphills to keep your sunglasses from fogging up, but protecting your breathing passages is worth the annoyance.

Along the trek, mineral water in plastic bottles is available for purchase, but I avoid it, given the environmental impact and the difficulty of getting the empty plastic bottles to a proper recycling facilities. Instead, I carry a Nalgene bottle and a thermos, filling them both with boiled water when I stop.

I follow the advice of local guides who will tell you that above 10,000 feet, you should only drink warm water鈥攖aking small sips throughout the day rather than chugging a half-liter in one go. There鈥檚 also the added benefit of filling your Nalgene bottle with boiling water at night and tucking it into your sleeping bag with you.

In terms of food, I suggest sticking to the local fare of Dal Bhat as a cost-effective way of staying healthy. The meal is a good balance of rice, lentils, and vegetables and comes with free refills at most restaurants. I try to only eat hot foods made from locally sourced ingredients like spinach and potatoes, and I avoid all uncooked vegetables for the fear of getting a gastrointestinal bug.

I like to bring along protein powder or a vitamin supplement like Athletic Greens to supplement the limited fresh food available as the altitude increases.

My most important rule is to wash my hands with soap as often as I possibly can, and always before every meal.

But even my rules aren鈥檛 perfect. Everyone鈥檚 body responds differently, and it鈥檚 best to hike with a flexible attitude. My cameraman and friend who is traveling with me picked up a dreadful case of food poisoning from eating dried yak meat in a stew鈥攁 meal that should have been safe. We took an unplanned day off, and he recovered. The mountains demand flexibility and with sickness or with altitude, it鈥檚 best to rest when the situation demands.

I have another trick for staying healthy鈥攁voiding crowds. The farther up the Khumbu Valley I’ve hiked, the more I’ve actively avoided groups of hikers. I also scheduled in a full day of rest to allow my body to get accustomed to the thin air. While some hikers try to get to Base Camp as quickly as possible, I’ve given myself a full 11 days to complete the 40-mile walk.

Resting for a Day in Dingboche

I chose the town of Dingboche at 14,500 feet for my rest day. It’s just six miles from Everest Base Camp. I picked out the Ama Dablam Lodge because it was less crowded than other tea houses. Alas, this meant there was no espresso machine in the dining room, but it was a creature comfort I was willing to sacrifice. After my alarm sounded at 6 A.M. I made my own coffee with a pour-over pack.

I chose Dingboche for a day off for another reason鈥擨 have brought a flying drone with me to Mount Everest to capture images of Base Camp, the Khumbu Icefall, and other parts of the peak. But in order to legally fly the device, I must first register it with the local authorities. And there’s a police station in Dingboche.

As I walked to the tiny police station, I stopped into a place called Cafe 4410鈥攐n the menu were gluten-free pancakes, lattes made with oat milk, and burgers. Yes, another sign of the Mount Everest region’s rapid change due to tourism. The coffee was delicious.

Obtaining a permit to fly a drone in Nepal as a foreigner was a somewhat Kafkaesque exercise in patience. The permit itself costs around $2,000 (or 270,000 Nepal Rupees). But paying for the permit is the easy part. You need a local fixer to help obtain the necessary paperwork from a half-dozen regional and national governmental offices. I started this process long before I left the United States for Nepal鈥攊t took a month to simply get the papers I needed to sign.

There are other hoops to jump through: I am required to physically check in with several local governmental bodies, police precincts, and National Park offices along the way. As I’ve learned during my 20-years of working in Nepal, these processes usually go swimmingly. But all it takes is one grumpy official who is having a bad day to stop the process dead in its tracks. And I would advise against flying a drone at Mount Everest without a permit. Local police love to make an example out of people who don’t follow the rules.

When I arrived at the police station in Dingboche, four officers were lounging outside on plastic lawn chairs, enjoying the sunshine. They wore heavy blue down jackets with a police ensignia on their chests. Three of the four had manicured Bollywood-style mustaches.

I’m fluent in Nepali, and speaking the local language to government officials can either open doors or give a disgruntled official the opportunity to ask additional questions and slow down the process. In Dingboche, I lucked out. Within 30 seconds of showing the officers my stack of paperwork, they warmed to me. I spent the next hour drinking cups of foamy Nescafe with the guys and chatting with them about their lives at the foot of Mount Everest.

The officers told me they were proud that the Dingboche department was probably the highest in Nepal and “maybe even in the world,” one of them said. They admitted to being bored. Life in the village was slow, and the primary commerce was visiting trekkers.

“We only have something interesting to do once or twice a month,” one of them admitted.

With my drone paperwork approved, I departed the station with my crew鈥攚e’re also producing a daily news update on Instagram called 鈥攖o take a short hike uphill to expose my body to the altitude and help with my acclimating. We followed a steady procession of trekkers in bright jackets up a high ridge on the outskirts of the village. As we rested for a minute, gasping for breath, I decided to launch the drone, hoping to capture a view of the peaks before the clouds rolled in.

Making New Friends in Dingboche

I looked down the hill and saw two of the policemen I had just been talking with moving swiftly up the mountain. They arrived at our launch zone and informed me that they would monitor our flight to make sure my drone didn’t interfere with the flight path for helicopters.

But as soon as I launched my drone, I saw that these guys were also after something else. They wanted me to snap dramatic photos of them, posed like action figures against the towering peaks. I was more than happy to oblige. For the next hour or so we walked along the ridge with the officers, taking epic drone footage of them clad in different articles of my wardrobe.

As we hiked back into the village, one of the police offers stopped me. He informed me that I simply needed a haircut. This was puzzling鈥擨’m almost thoroughly bald. Not wanting to spoil the moment, I agreed. “Come by the police station after lunch,” the officer told me.

After a warm lunch of rice and lentils and chicken curry back at the lodge, I completed my writing assignment for the day. A thick and cold fog settled in over Dingboche, and at 4 P.M. I ventured back to the police station. Two offers were still there, wrapped in heavy wool blankets. After two cups of Nescafe, one of the policemen, the barber, led me to an empty field behind the station. I sat in one of the plastic chairs. He wrapped an apron around my neck and torso and got to work with an electric shaver, just as it began to snow.

The haircut took about a half hour, with the snow increasing in intensity the entire time. His hands were steady and firm, as he ran the shaver across my head, beard, and across the insides of my ears. I asked him where he learned to cut hair. 鈥淵outube,鈥� he said, without pausing.

I was getting cold. The snow was gathering in clumps on my pants and the barber鈥檚 apron. The policeman barber unwrapped a disposable blade and set it into a straight razor. As he sprayed my neck and head with cold water, I began to shiver uncontrollably. I stopped myself from shaking as he drew the blade around my neck. 鈥淚鈥檓 not very good at this,鈥� he said.

In that moment, frozen and a bit scared, sitting in the lap of mountains that I couldn鈥檛 then see, in the hands of this country that has given me so much, I was as warm and as secure as I鈥檝e ever been, as anyone could ever be.

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When you walk into the Sherpa village of Pangboche, which is about ten miles from Mount Everest Base Camp, it feels like you’re stepping back in time.

The town sits on a hillside at 12,000 feet above sea level, just off the trail to Everest and 22,349-foot Ama Dablam. With its stone homes and meandering yaks, Pangboche is a throwback to an earlier era in the Everest region’s history鈥攜ou know, before all of the tourists and trekkers showed up.

The town is built around a 600-year-old monastery, the oldest in the Khumbu Valley. The two-story Pangboche Monastery is where Mount Everest climbers stop to receive a blessing before they venture onto the peak.

I visited the Pangboche Monastery earlier this week. When I stepped into the courtyard, I heard the baritone thumping of a ritual drum for the morning prayers. I walked up a steep set of stairs and through a heavy wool curtain and heard the drumming stop. A young man wearing a heavy down jacket and fluffy down pants over his traditional shawl and Sherpa robe greeted me.

Pemba Nurbu Sherpa, the monastery’s 30-year-old caretaker, took a key from his pocket and opened the doors. We walked into the monastery’s dimly lit inner sanctum, where Pemba Nurbu and I lay prostrate in front of three four-foot tall statues, one of which was of Guru Rinpoche, a revered figure in Himalayan Buddhism. On the walls, I saw paintings of wrathful gods and enlightened beings dancing across cracks in the facade.

Pemba Nurbu then opened a small box and showed me a pointed skull and the skeleton of a human-like hand behind a pane of glass. He told me these relics were from a yeti鈥攁las, they are replicas, and the original bones were stolen in the early nineties after the television show Unsolved Mysteries aired a segment on them. These replicas were built by the special effects staff of the聽Lord of the Rings movies at the behest of a Kiwi pilot named Mike Allsop.

As a child, Pemba Nurbu studied to be a monk, but as a young adult he had left the monastic world to provide for his family. In the Khumbu Valley, this means working for expeditions to Mount Everest and other peaks. Pemba Nurbu became a climbing Sherpa on Everest expeditions, and he reached the roof of the world on five separate occasions.

But he also endured a handful of close calls on the mountain. Pemba Nurbu told me that he narrowly avoided dying in the 2014 avalanche that killed 16 mountain workers in the Khumbu Icefall, including several Pangboche locals.

Pemba Nurbu is not a full-time monk; his sect of Tibetan Buddhism encourages layperson monks like him to maintain a job and have a family, while still performing many of the daily ritual religious duties.听 He told me he’s not climbing right now because it’s his turn to look after the monastery for a two-year shift.

I told Pemba Nurbu that I, too, had come for a blessing for my trip to Mount Everest Base Camp. He led me up a thin stairway into an open hall with bookcases and clay statues. The ceiling opened into an elevated chamber that was ringed by wooden masks. “These masks are as old as the monastery,” he told me. “They were made from the wood of a single tree.”

In the corner of the room stood a few dozen bottles of what looked like soured milk. Some were in reused Sprite or Nalgene bottles, each with a small dollop of butter on the lid. 鈥淓ach of these was brought by a Sherpa climber as an offering to the mountains before they climbed,” he said. “It鈥檚 the most pure chhaang.” The drink is the traditional Nepali alcoholic beverage.

We sat on a long bench, and Pemba Nurbu showed me a weathered stack of brown paper with handwritten script. The paper looked like a pirate’s map from a movie.鈥淭hese are the main books for our morning prayers,鈥� he said. 鈥淟ook how old they are. Think about how many generations of lamas have used these.鈥�

Next to him, two large circular drums hung from the ceiling. Before Pema Nurbu started the prayer, he glanced over at a screen showing a matrix of cctv cameras watching every corner of the monastery.

I wrapped ten dollars worth of Nepal Rupees in a ceremonial silk scarf鈥攎y offering. Pemba Nuru recited a string of chants from memory as he tied a small plastic-covered amulet onto a red string. The amulet, he explained, contained specific mantras for the mountain gods. He then showed me another tight knot in the string which captured all of the blessings accumulated from the year of ceremonies. As I bowed, he fastened the amulet around my neck and returned the silk scarf, still chanting quiet mantras. The ceremony was completed鈥擨 was ready for Mount Everest.

Technically, all of the mountains in the Khumbu region are sacred to the Sherpa community. Each is a manifestation of a different god or goddesses that protects and blesses the valley and, in turn, the world. Because of this, climbing is forbidden on a few peaks, such as the towering stone spire of 18,901-foot Khumbila, which towers over the villages of Khumjung and Namche Bazaar. Most of the other mountains, including Mount Everest, are fair game.

The Sherpas call Mount Everest Chomolungma, which means “Goddess Mother of the World.” According to their culture, Chomolungma is home to a generous but wrathful goddess named Miyo Lang Zangma. She is one of five sisters that inhabit mountains along the Nepal-Tibet border. Miyo Lang Zangma is a generous benefactor, but she is easily upset by bad smells such as burning garbage or cooking meat.

Pemba Nurbu explained that when climbers come to Pangboche for a blessing, they are asking for forgiveness and safe passage on the peaks without incurring the goddesses鈥� wrath. Alas, the modern demands of a Mount Everest expedition make it difficult to adhere to the sacred rules, he said.

鈥淲e used to go climbing and burn incense as an offering. We wouldn鈥檛 eat meat and we would say our prayers every day,鈥� Pemba Nurbu said. 鈥淢any people climb Everest to be closer to God. But now they are also cooking meat and leaving garbage on that God.鈥�

When Miyo Lang Zangma gets angry, people die, Pemba Nurbu said. “There are avalanches,” he told me. 鈥淭he snow is melting and the mountains are turning black.鈥� He explained that climbers are less interested in the spiritual truth of the mountain these days, and instead are seeking personal gain. 鈥淣ow everyone just wants to earn a record. That鈥檚 just being greedy,” he added.

We spoke a bit more, and then it was time to go. We descended the staircase to the monastery entrance and snapped some photographs in front of the painted doors. As we wrapped arms, I could feel the amulet pressing against my chest. I thought about how, just that morning, I had stared at an Instagram post from a group of climbers at Base Camp鈥攖he photo showed them eating crispy chicken burgers and French fries. When I had seen the photos, I had looked forward to indulging in the meal, too. But after speaking with Pemba Nurbu, the appeal was gone.

Before returning to the trail, I asked Pemba Nurbu if he would return to Mount Everest after his two-year term in the monastery was completed.

鈥淥f course,鈥� he said, 鈥淗ow else am I going to eat?鈥�

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Ben Ayers聽has covered Mount Everest climbing season for聽国产吃瓜黑料 since 2021. He is a filmmaker, journalist, and adventurer who splits his time between Vermont and Nepal. In 2016 he led an expedition to document the last harvest of wild cliff honey by 狈别辫补濒鈥檚 Kulung Rai people for聽National Geographic.听

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The first leg of travel to reach Mount Everest Base Camp is sometimes the hardest.

That’s what聽国产吃瓜黑料 correspondent Ben Ayers experienced earlier this week. In his latest 国产吃瓜黑料: Dispatches from Everest video, Ayers takes us inside the topsy turvy world of air travel in the Mount Everest region.

Western tourists hoping to hike to the world’s tallest mountain first fly to Kathmandu. But then they must make their way to the town of Lukla in the Himalayan foothills, where the trail to Mount Everest begins. Getting to Lukla during the busy season in the Himalayas can present a challenge.

Tourists can hire a vehicle, but the drive takes upwards of 22 hours to complete. They can also book a flight from Kathmandu to Lukla’s Tenzing-Hillary airport, the self-described world’s most-dangerous airport. But flights from Kathmandu are hard to book during the busy season, and many trekkers must drive from Kathmandu to an airstrip in Rammechap and then board flights to Lukla.

Ayers decided to skip the flight and book a seat in a helicopter. And, as he found out, that mode of transportation came with its own set of challenges, as you will see in his latest video dispatch.

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

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Last winter, now 17-year-old Isobel Chi found herself on Washington鈥檚 Sasse Mountain with a group of fellow high schoolers and a handful of adult leaders. The early February hike was a regular outing for the Seattle-based Mountaineers 国产吃瓜黑料 Club (or MAC, pronounced as one word), a youth program designed to provide outdoor recreation opportunities for 14- to 18-year-old Seattleites. Every teen on the hike had practiced using traction devices and ice axes, and they鈥檇 put their skills to the test on a snowy ridgeline traverse between Sasse and Howson Peak. Off-trail, traveling 鈥渟traight uphill,鈥� Chi felt herself approaching her limit. Then, nearing the top, the group . To Chi, it looked unstable, and alarm bells went off in her head. Most of the group seemed unconcerned, but sharing Chi鈥檚 apprehension, one of the student leaders spoke up.

鈥淪he said, 鈥業 don鈥檛 think this is the best idea, I don鈥檛 feel safe doing this. And then we turned around and I thought that was really impressive,鈥� says Chi.

Chi learned a few important lessons that day about trusting her intuition, speaking up in a group setting, and that it鈥檚 OK to turn around short of an objective. Even for adult adventurers, that type of knowledge is often hard-won over the course of many seasons鈥攁nd sometimes close calls鈥攊n the mountains. But Chi and her peers in MAC are getting a head start.

Today, Chi, who has been involved with MAC since she was in eighth grade, is herself one of six student leaders elected by their peers. The program consists of monthly meetings and a jam-packed calendar of weekly trips and workshops, including hiking and backpacking, rock climbing and rope skills, wilderness first aid, navigation, skiing, and technical mountaineering including snow and glacier travel skills.

MAC鈥檚 youth leaders are supported by adult volunteers and a small staff; but it鈥檚 the kids who run pre-trip meetings, organize groups of students, help teach skills, cook meals, and facilitate in-the-field experiences. While some of the student participants have grown up going outside with their families, for many of them, MAC is a first foray into the outdoors.

Caroline Sherley, 18, serves alongside Chi on MAC鈥檚 leadership team to help organize trips and monthly meetings, teach skills, and wrangle gear and food for outings.

鈥淭he program is about learning climbing and outdoor stuff, of course, but it鈥檚 also kind of taking you through a complete progression of 鈥業鈥檓 learning this skill, I鈥檓 relearning it and refining it, and then I鈥檓 teaching it,鈥欌�� said Sherley. 鈥淚t鈥檚 nice for learning skills about being outdoors, it鈥檚 nice for getting off your phone, it鈥檚 nice for being outside with great people, and it鈥檚 also nice for building your confidence.鈥�

MAC鈥檚 program calendar reads like any adult : Mt. Shuksan, Mt. Baker, Eldorado, Forbidden Peak, a 10-day excursion to Squamish, British Columbia, and more. While youth programs across the country get kids into nature, MAC is unique: The curriculum provides teens with big-mountain skills like crevasse rescue and snow camping, and, more importantly, hands them the reins as often as possible.

鈥淥ne of the biggest things that I think that leadership really does is they really set , both on trips and also just through intention at leadership meetings,鈥� says Emile Blouin, a volunteer for MAC who has spent a decade working with kids and teens as a teacher and tutor. 鈥淭here鈥檚 been really a push to create more space for the youth leadership to really be the ones that are driving everything.鈥�

While summiting some of the nation鈥檚 most challenging and scenic peaks is enough to incite jealousy in any adult hiker, it鈥檚 the soft skills that resonate the most with MAC students.

鈥淭his year especially I鈥檝e been learning how to put myself in uncomfortable situations鈥攏ot just physically, but like if you need to tell somebody that they鈥檙e doing something wrong, now that I鈥檓 in more of a leadership position,鈥� said Chi. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 like doing that, but it鈥檚 important and it is beneficial to everybody involved, so I鈥檝e been working on that.鈥�

For her part, Sherley鈥檚 learned to embrace what鈥檚 familiar to any longtime backpacker: type two fun. On a recent climbing trip in central Washington, Sherley found herself camped out in a raging rainstorm that forced her to move her tent in the middle of the night.

鈥淭he next morning we were making pancakes and kind of miserable and just very wet and cold, and we were still laughing and having a really good time,鈥� she said.听 鈥淸I鈥檝e learned to find] ways to be happy in less than desirable conditions,鈥� she said.

Backpackers know that the resilience and empowerment found on the trail can serve a person well in all aspects of life. Blouin agrees that the skills learned in MAC will set kids up for success in future chapters. He said that he鈥檚 been especially impressed watching student leaders interact with adult volunteers and parents and handle interpersonal conflicts with maturity and poise.

鈥淎s somebody who works with youth a lot, you don鈥檛 see that happening. You don鈥檛 see youth in leader positions being able to go to an adult and say 鈥� 鈥榯his needs to be managed in this way,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淭here is a level of empowerment that allows these youth to actually hold space and feel 鈥� that they have the knowledge that they need to be able to speak up in those ways.鈥�

As she wraps up her senior year of high school, it鈥檚 Sherley鈥檚 last year in MAC. Over the past three years, she鈥檚 learned how to manage a rope, how to plan camp meals for a group, and the basics of multi-pitch climbing. But Sherley has learned something more personal, too: spending time outside will always be a big part of the rest of her life. 鈥淚 know that this is where I鈥檓 really happy,鈥� she said.

To learn more about the Mountaineers 国产吃瓜黑料 Club, contact Hank Stein, Teen Clubs Coordinator for the Mountaineers.

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It’s no secret that Mount Everest climbers travel with tons of gear.

Guess what鈥攕o do 国产吃瓜黑料 reporters who are headed to Base Camp. In his latest video, our Dispatches from Everest writer Ben Ayers discusses some of the items that he will be using over the next month. Ayers recently departed Kathmandu (elevation: 4,500 feet) for Lukla (elevation: 9,500 feet) to being the 11-day trek to Everest Base Camp (elevation: 17,500 feet). He will spend three weeks in Base Camp, and if the conditions permit, he may ascend to higher camps on the mountain.

Throughout the journey, Ayers is testing a litany of outdoor gear, from parkas made for sub-zero blizzards, to hiking shoes designed for desert treks, to midlayers and shells designed for rain and snow. The trek to Base Camp is an ideal setting for this kind of test. During his journey, Ayers will encounter sub-tropical conditions in the foothills, sub-zero temperatures at Everest, and almost every type of microclimate in between.

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During the spring climbing season, the lobby of the Aloft Hotel in the Thamel district of Kathmandu becomes the de-facto brain center of 狈别辫补濒鈥檚 high-altitude mountaineering industry.

Several of 狈别辫补濒鈥檚 largest guiding companies book rooms for their clients and foreign guides at the hotel before they travel to Mount Everest Base Camp. The owners of these companies often hold meetings around hightop tables in the hotel’s lobby.

The hotel lobby was unremarkable when I visited on Sunday, April 13, except for a pyramid of rugged yellow duffel bags around which a steady traffic of pigeon-chested mountaineers in tight t-shirts, sunburnt Sherpa climbers, and anxious-looking clients in athletic gear flitted like moths.

鈥淚 would categorize most Everest climbers now as the runner type鈥攜ou know, the people who will run a marathon and then start ticking the boxes,鈥� Dutch climber and veteran guide Arnold Coster told me. “They did the marathon, they did Kilimanjaro, they start the Seven Summits and end up on Everest.”

I met Coster at the Aloft Hotel to attend a pre-trip Everest briefing for Seven Summit Treks, an expedition outfitter based in Kathmandu and owned by four brothers: Mingma Sherpa, Chhang Dawa Sherpa, Tashi Lakpa Sherpa, and Pasang Phurba Sherpa. The company is 狈别辫补濒鈥檚 largest outfitter on Mt. Everest by a decent margin.

This year, Seven Summits Treks will bring more than 100 paying clients to Everest. Before the climbers leave Kathmandu, they meet with their group leader to go over the fundamentals of Everest mountaineering and navigating the two-week trek to Base Camp. When Coster, the company’s group leader, invited 国产吃瓜黑料 to sit in on his briefing, I was excited to learn about how guiding companies manage such a diverse and large group of clients.

The briefing was scheduled to start at 10 AM, but was already in full swing when I arrived at 9:30. Eight climbers sat across two plush couches, listening to a tall guide with a blond beard who described the ins and outs of changing money with a casual tone.

The climbers, six men and two women, possessed diverse climbing experience and backgrounds. One woman from India had already summited three 8,000-meter peaks, including Everest, and was returning to Nepal to ascend 27,940-foot Lhotse. For other climbers, this was very clearly their first time in Nepal.

Towering above the eight climbers was Coster, who is among the most experienced 8,000-meter guides in the world. Built like a lumberjack, Coster鈥檚 rugged presence was betrayed by his gentle manner and casual speech.

Between various lessons on packing, lodge etiquette on the trek to Base Camp, and where to ask for toilet paper, Coster returned again and again to reminders for the group to chill out and enjoy the journey.

He also offered sage advice. 鈥淕et to Base Camp as late as humanly possible,鈥� he said. 鈥淩emember, people slowest in the beginning are fastest in the end.鈥� By rushing to altitude, Coster explained, climbers can increase their chances of getting altitude sickness or putting extra stress on their bodies that makes them vulnerable to other illnesses or exhaustion.

Coster said the clientele on Everest has changed over the last few decades. 鈥淯sually they are quite successful in everything they do, in business and in other sports. So they think they鈥檙e going to be good at Everest鈥攁nd that鈥檚 how they start the expedition,” he said. “They are not the traditional climbers who learned climbing the hard way.鈥�

Coster told me that this will be his 21st time guiding clients on Everest, and he has personally helped approximately 150 clients reach the top over the years. But he said that his approach as an overall expedition leader鈥攁nd not a personal guide鈥攃an be at odds with other Everest expeditions that promise hand-holding all the way to the summit.

This strategy, Coster told me, may offer a false sense of security to clients.

Instead, Seven Summit Treks teams its paying clients up with climbing Sherpas who support their clients and lead them up the mountain, but do not make key decisions for the clients like a true guide would. 鈥淚 would describe a Sherpa more as a very strong climbing partner,鈥� said Coster.

鈥淧ersonally, I don鈥檛 believe in fully-guided trips,鈥� he continued. 鈥淲hoever wants to climb Everest should have some personal responsibility. I don鈥檛 believe that people can be guided on these peaks, even if you鈥檙e with a guide one-to-one, because the guide is also struggling at 8,000 meters. There鈥檚 always that factor that the guide might not be capable of taking care of you, including Sherpas, because they鈥檙e also humans.鈥�

The briefing moved on to how best to charge your phones during the 11-day trek from Lukla to Everest Base Camp (pro tip: bring a few good power banks), Coster also gave a brief sidebar on how the high altitudes of the Himalayas impact the body, and what medications to take when it does.

The conversation began to feel to me more like a briefing at a National Park office than one for an expedition to a mountain that has killed more than 340 people. The technical elements of the ascent, I assumed, would be discussed at a later meeting, likely at Base Camp.

鈥淚 have been doing this for so long, I know that everything happens in the rhythm of the mountain.鈥� Coster told me when I asked about the laid-back presentation. 鈥淚 like to just plant the seeds in people鈥檚 minds and see how it develops. It鈥檚 natural selection, you know. If you鈥檙e really not capable of climbing Everest, you鈥檒l fall out early in the expedition.鈥�

As I sunk into the couch, listening to Coster鈥檚 relaxed descriptions of the ultra-deadly Khumbu Icefall, I found myself losing focus. Looking around, it seemed like many of the other climbers were feeling the same way.

A tall thin man in his forties wearing a Wharton Business School t-shirt stood up from the couch and wandered off. As I watched the remaining climbers, I couldn鈥檛 help but admire their sense of adventure and eagerness in the face of sparse information.

The lack of detailed instruction, I realized, was probably the entire point: this group of Everest hopefuls will spend the next month training and climbing as they prepare for Everest and gaining experience first-hand. They will ascend smaller peaks like 20,075-foot Lobuche East or 21,247-foot Mera Peak to acclimatize on their way to Base Camp, and I had a feeling that Coster will be quietly watching and analyzing every footstep.

As much of the Everest climbing industry trends toward increasingly exclusive expeditions with greater levels of personal attention and luxury, I found the scrappy group on the couch refreshing, inspiring even.

鈥淢y goal is to sell an expedition for everybody,鈥� Coster said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 always expensive, but I don鈥檛 want to make it elite.鈥�

Besides, he continues, “If you refuse people based on lack of experience, they鈥檒l just go to another company. I鈥檇 rather have them with me because I鈥檝e been to Everest 21 times, and I can maybe help them succeed.鈥�

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Ben Ayers (right) is a filmmaker, journalist, and adventurer who splits his time between Vermont and Nepal. In 2016 he led an expedition to document the last harvest of wild cliff honey by 狈别辫补濒鈥檚 Kulung Rai people for National Geographic.听

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