Plan ahead: If you want to climb Everest, you're going to have to be in fantastic physical shape. Fitness won't fend off altitude sickness, but will enable more oxygen to reach your body. Basic fitness training should start well in advance with plenty of cardiovascular training in the 12-month run-up to the climb.
All climbers seeking a permit for Everest must have prior high altitude mountaineering experience and demonstrable training, a high-level commission for the Nepalese government has ruled. Climbers must also submit a certificate of good health and physical fitness and be accompanied by a trained Nepalese guide.
Mountaineering Training: Training is very important, and the best training must be climbing mountains. Expeditions to some lower altitudes mountain can be a good part of your training. You can start your practice with plenty of pack-loaded uphill hiking, walking, and stair climbing.
You'll need a windproof, breakable jacket and a medium/heavy jacket full of down or synthetic fill. If you can find a jacket with an insulated hood that's even better. You'll need a 200 weight fleece as a warm layer, a down/synthetic sweater/vest and a couple of lightweight shirts; both long and short sleeved.
Two Sleeping bags: -40C/-30F Down 800 fill (Western Mountaineering, Mountain Hardwear). Your second bag can be -20C/-5F. One bag stays on the mountain and the other at Base Camp.
As you can see, ages 25 to 50 represent 80% of the summits with 30 to 39 dominating and the success rate decreases with age, especially after 55. The average summit age is 38.
On April 18, 2014, 16 Sherpas were killed in an avalanche the Kumbu Ice Fall. On April 25, 2015, 19 people were killed in an avalanche at base camp following a 7.8 earthquake, which killed more than 9,000 people and injured more than 23,000 in Nepal. It is the worst single-day fatality count in Everest's history.
People die every year on Everest from falls, storms, avalanches, lack of oxygen, freezing or underlying health issues. But this year stood out because so many of the deaths happened while a climber was on the descent from the summit on clear weather days.
- There is a deadly traffic jam on Mount Everest as climbers are forced to wait in the "death zone." Twitter/@nimsdai.
- When climbing in the "Death Zone," your brain receives one-quarter of the oxygen it needs. Lhakpa Sherpa.
- Climbers can only spend 20 minutes on Everest's summit before having to descend. Lhakpa Sherpa.
There is enough oxygen on top of Mount Everest to burn things, but there is not enough oxygen for most people to stay conscious long enough to build the fire.
Taking Bodies Off EverestAt least 200 bodies are spread across the mountain on various routes. Some are buried in deep crevasses. Others now rest in different places from where they died, due to moving glaciers, and a few have been intentionally moved.
In just 50 million years, peaks such as Mt. Everest have risen to heights of more than 9 km. The impinging of the two landmasses has yet to end. The Himalayas continue to rise more than 1 cm a year -- a growth rate of 10 km in a million years!
Sagarmatha National Park, which includes Mount Everest and surrounding peaks, supports a variety of mammals at its lower elevations, from snow leopards and musk deer to red pandas and Himalayan tahr. About 150 bird species also reside within the park.
Climbers are required by law to carry a “poop tube”, a section of plastic drain pipe with a removable end. The recommended technique is to poop into a grocery bag, seal it in a Ziploc bag and stuff it into the tube, which is then resealed. The tube's contents can be disposed of back on terra firma.
When you pee, you try to aim far out into space (women climbers can use a special pee funnel, available on REI.com), where it turns into vapor. Never pee into a crack in the rock, where it will fester and gross out future parties who might need to use the crack to climb the route.
What is Everest Base Camp? Some climbers carry disposable travel toilet bags to use in the higher camps, while at Base Camp, there are toilet tents which have special drums where human waste goes. These can be taken away from the mountain and emptied safely.
In a typical year now, more than 600 people reach the summit of Everest, which is about half of the number who attempt it (or, at least, pay for permits). Almost all do it during Everest's short climbing season, usually a few weeks in May, between the winter and the region's summer monsoons.
Expedition operators are concerned at the number of climbers' bodies that are becoming exposed on Mount Everest as its glaciers melt. Nearly 300 mountaineers have died on the peak since the first ascent attempt and two-thirds of bodies are thought still to be buried in the snow and ice.
Hang gliders were back on Everest in 2004.
Climbing Mount Everest requires lots of training. Mount Everest is difficult because 1) it is tall, 2) it is hard to breathe up there, and 3) lots of other people are there. So when there is a good weather during tourist season, lots of people congregate on the route to the summit (there is only one route).
