Route
Lhasa 3800 - Shegar 4200 - base camp 5200 - ascent 8848 - base camp 5200 - Shegar 4200 - Lhasa 3800
We offer you an expedition to Everest with FULL SERVICE. The same as what Western companies provide (and even better in some respects). This level of organization of the expedition allows us to ensure maximum safety for the climbers:
We included in the price:
- Everest climbing guide - 1 for 5 participants
- High-altitude Sherpas - 1.5 per 1 expedition member, accompany you to the top
- Oxygen cylinders 4 liters - no more than 10 pieces for each climber and 4 pieces for Sherpa
- Expedition doctor who works up to the North Col
- Four full base camps 5100m, 5800m, 6400m and 7000m
- In camps 5800m, 7000m, 7800 and 8300 we also provide public sleeping bags and mats
- At the 7000 m camp the cook also cooks
- And also 2 fully equipped high-altitude camps 7800m and 8300m including tents, sleeping bags, mats, burners, saucepans, gas cylinders, high-altitude food, oxygen cylinders, which are brought by the Sherpas of the expedition.
- Free Internet, TV, DVD and sauna at Base Camp 5100m, massage and bar
Project Seven Peaks. Expeditions and travels of the 7 Summits Club.
For the 15th year in a row, we have been conducting expeditions, in which climbers from different countries. Thanks to extensive experience in organizing Himalayan expeditions, reliable partners and established relationships with local service personnel, we have been able to provide one of the best quality services for mountaineers. At the same time, our price is an order of magnitude lower than that of our American and Western European colleagues.
Everest, the highest peak in the world (8848 m), is the cherished dream of every climber. We help make this dream a reality.
We begin our journey in Tibet: we fly to Shegatse 3990 m - the Ancient capital of Tibet. We visit monasteries and adapt. The next day we are in the city of Shegar (Xegar, 4200m). We have a rest day in Shegara for acclimatization, and the next day we move to Everest Base Camp (BC, 5200m). After 2-3 days of rest in BC, we begin, with the help of yaks, lifting equipment to the Advanced Base Camp (hereinafter referred to as ABC, 6400 m). After its opening, the next day the expedition members leave for ABC. A fairly comfortable camp, similar to our BC, is being set up here.
A little later, after our Sherpas establish Camp 1 on the North Col (7000m), we will climb there and spend one night there for acclimatization. After that we go down to BC and rest for 3-4 days.
At this time the Sherpas will establish Camp 3 (8300m). After May 15-17, climbers, as a rule, are in the ABC camp and begin to wait for a favorable period of weather to make the decisive assault. Having practically climbed to camp 3, you can make only one attempt; it will not be possible to restore it quickly and the oxygen supply will be used up.
The advantage of our expedition is that it does not start too early and that it ends before June 1st. End of May - usually best time for lifting in terms of weather.
We are returning to Shegadze. From here the team goes home, taking with them a piece of Everest in their own hearts.
Before climbing Everest, we strongly recommend that you climb a simpler eight-thousander - Cho Oyu (8201m) - program
We plan to conduct this program every year. Write to us, call if you have questions.
Price for friends, relatives, sponsors, if they want to accompany you on some part of the journey:
to the North Col (7000m) - up to one month - 19,990 USD
to ABC (6400m) - less than one month - 9,000 USD
to ABC (6400m) - more than one month - 9,500 USD
to sun (5200m) - less than 15 days - 7,000 USD
Additional services
Necessary additions
Tips for guides and staff ( important information!)
You won't offend your guides if you tip them for their good work.
Please leave a tip for the Chief Guide:
- Minimum - if everything went well, $220 per participant ($5 per day for 44 days)
- Usually - if you liked everything, $440 per participant ($10 per day for 44 days)
- Maximum - if everything was just super, $660 from each participant ($15 per day for 44 days)
A passport valid for at least 6 months as of the end of the expedition.
2 photos for visa.
Chinese visa
We issue an invitation to visit Tibet
Medical insurance "mountaineering"
Permit - special permission for climbing in Tibet
1. Be sure to check with our manager about the need to obtain a visa to enter the country
2. Be sure to make sure that there are free pages in your International Passport and that the passport expires in more than 6 months
Transport
Transport to BC
Meeting and seeing off at the airport
Required transfers
Bus and truck for cargo
A bus for the climbing team, a truck for luggage and service personnel, for moving to Base Camp and back.
Transportation of goods above BC
Yaks carry loads from BC to ABC
The yaks carry all the public and personal equipment of the expedition.
High-altitude porters (Sherpas) carry all the public equipment of the expedition above the ABC. They set up high altitude camps and bring in all the tents, sleeping bags, mats, food, gas cylinders, gas stoves, dishes, snow shovels and ropes.
Transportation of personal oxygen cylinders is carried out by high-altitude porters.
Living conditions
Hotel in Shigatse for 2 nights at the beginning and 1 night at the end of the expedition in single rooms
All hotels in Tibet are single rooms
In BC and ABC - 1 tent for 1 person.
High altitude camps - 1 tent for 2-3 people.
Nutrition
Breakfast and Tibet (lunch and dinner not included)
Meals in BC, Middle Camp in ABC and at the North Col - 3 times a day. Nepalese and Tibetan chefs cook on gas stoves in special kitchen tents. You can also get here any amount of hot water for washing or boiled water for drinking. We eat in spacious dining tents equipped with tables and chairs.
Food for climbing - we provide special dehydrated products. Meals for participants are prepared by cooks and Sherpas in high-altitude camps (above ABC/NC) on gas burners. Water is heated from snow.
Service staff
Expedition leader (Everest climber)
Doctor
Guides (Everest climbers) - 1 per 5 participants
Chinese liaison officer
Cooks from Nepal
Kitchen worker from Tibet
High-altitude porter (Sherpa) - 1.5 per 1 participant
All high altitude porters have experience working on the slopes of Everest. They lift public equipment and oxygen to high-altitude camps, and also accompany expedition members on the ascent.
Medicine and Insurance
A doctor participates in the Expedition, who provides services in the Air Force and, in extreme cases, in the ABC (6400m). The guides are provided with the necessary first aid kit to provide medical assistance. But we also recommend that you bring your own first aid kit with specific medications.
Attention! A necessary condition for participation in the expedition is that the participant has special mountaineering medical insurance.
Physical fitness requirements
Participants must be reasonably well prepared to climb 8848m.
Of course, Sherpas help the participants during the Expedition. but everyone must ultimately be ready to independently move to the Top and descend.
Weather
The weather in the Everest region is very unstable. Every day we receive a forecast via the Internet and, based on it, choose the best period for acclimatization trips and ascent.
Estimated additional expenses
Food in cities
Additional nights at the hotel
Tips for Nepali kitchen staff are usually $200
Individual guide (with experience in climbing eight-thousanders) for the entire period of the expedition
$69,900 (including air tickets, visas, oxygen equipment, personal equipment, expedition salary).
Additional Individual Sherpa 19,900 USD
Communication, telephone, internet
Electricity:
In the Basic and Advanced Base camps we organize 220 V using
generator and 12 V via solar panels
It will be possible to charge any electronic equipment in these two camps in the evenings
Walkie Talkies:
On the route we use radio stations with a frequency of 144.00 Mg Radios
all Guides and Sherpas will have
Telephone:
There is GSM communication at Everest Base Camp (Regular mobile communication
at frequency 1800)
We organize local SIM cards with 3G from the local operator China Mobile. Also, the Thuraya satellite phone works well everywhere along the route.
Internet:
We organize local SIM cards with 3G
Bring your own computers, communicators, tablets and work on them 24 hours a day (with a break for lunch)
After first ascent of Everest in 1953, the period of its development began - the search and passage of new routes. At that time, the so-called Himalayan style climbing - large and long expeditions, preliminary preparation of the route, installation of numerous intermediate camps. Expeditions actively used the help of Sherpas to deliver cargo to the beginning of the route and climb to the lower camps; ascents were made with the use of additional oxygen. At this time it was passed most logical routes to Everest, including technically difficult ones along the South-West and North Faces. Climbing the classic routes during this period is still a serious achievement, although climbers from many countries climb the now classic route through the South Col.
1953 First ascent of Everest. Tenth British expedition led by , fourteen participants, including a physiologist and a cameraman. Sirdar - Norgay Tenzing. R. S. Evans and T. D. Bourdillon climbed the South Summit of Everest (8765 m). .
1956 Third Swiss expedition (Schweizerische Mount Everest-Expedition 1956): leader Albert Egler. Two teams, J. Marmet - E. Schmid (23 May) and H. von Gunten - E. Reiss (24 May) reach the top. These are the second and third ascents of Everest. On May 18, members of this expedition, Fritz Lugsinger and Ernst Reiss, made the first ascent of Lhotse (8516).
Publication of this material on other resources is possible only with the permission of the site administration.
In 98% of cases, climbers reach the top of Everest via only two routes: the northeastern (Tibetan/Chinese) and southeastern (Nepalese) ridges.
For most climbers, any other route to the top of Everest is too dangerous, too difficult and not suitable for commercial expeditions.
This article is devoted to a comparative analysis of various climbing routes and a more detailed description of two standard routes.
It may be an exaggeration to say that almost all the routes along which one can climb to the top of Everest were laid by a new generation of climbers, who always find non-standard ways to solve the problem.
Today, Everest, being the top of the world and the most popular mountain among climbers, has been well studied from all sides and about 20 various options climbing to the top and almost all of them have been attempted at least once.
Two of these options are still considered unsuccessful: 
Both of these routes are incredibly dangerous and difficult and are the most prone to avalanches.
Routes to Everest
In fact, it is quite difficult to conduct a detailed analysis of the routes to Everest, since they are often named either by one or another geological feature or by team, and sometimes even by the individual person who completed them. But, in general, there are about 20 different routes to the top of Everest.
Everest has three distinct walls: the South-West Wall (from the Nepal side), the East Wall (Kangshung Wall, from the Tibet side) and the North Wall (from the Tibet side). Of these, the East Face remains the least traveled, both in terms of ascent attempts and ascents to the summit.
Unconventional routes to Everest
Unlike traditional routes, non-standard routes have many different climbing options. For example, you can climb along the standard northeastern ridge to the summit and descend through the Great Couloir or the North.
The southwest face is also quite popular, this option includes climbing along.
While the vast majority of climbers on the north side take the standard route along the northeast ridge, they actually reach this ridge halfway through the route.
The first ascent of the true northeast ridge was made in 1995 by a Japanese team. This route starts at 5150 meters. Part of this route is called "Three Gendarmes". These are three isolated rocks on the northeast ridge of Everest and are a key part of the route to the summit. They are located at altitudes of 7800, 8100 and 8200 meters above sea level (the classic route to Everest from the north bypasses the gendarmes and leads to the ridge above them.)
It took the Japanese three days to complete this section, laying about 1,250 meters of railings.
What is remarkable about the history of Everest is the fact that of the 8,306 successful ascents made as of the end of 2017, only 265 (197 foreign climbers and 68 Sherpas) reached the summit via non-standard routes.
In total, 80 climbers died on non-standard routes, which is 28% of total number deaths, and most likely the reason why commercial expeditions do not operate on such routes is the high risk.
Only 28 of the 265 climbers who climbed non-standard routes did not use oxygen tanks.
Countries with the largest number of ascents on non-standard routes: Japan (30), USA (26), USSR (23), South Korea(23), Russia (16).
Walls of Everest
North wall
- (L) Russian Couloir - 2004, Russian team
- (K) Complete NE Ridge, unclimbed route
- (M) South Pillar, NE Ridge-N Face-Norton Couloir I - Messner Solo Route, solo ascent
- (N) American Direct - 1984, American team
- (O) The Great Couloir or Norton Couloir / White Limbo -
- (P) Russian diretissima (Russian Direct) - 2004, Russian team
- (Q) Japanese Supercouloir, 1980, Japanese team
- (A) West Ridge Direct, 1979, Yugoslav team
- (R) Canadian Variation, 1986, Canadian team
Eastern wall
- (H) East Face-S Col: Neverest Buttress - 1988, international expedition
- (I) Southwest Pillar, East Face: American Buttress - 1983, American Team
- (J) Integral NE Ridge - 1995, Japanese team
- (K) North Ridge / Northeast Ridge (N. Ridge / NE Ridge) - 1960, Chinese team
Southwestern wall
- (A) American West Ridge - 1963, American team
- (C) Korean route (Korean (Park)) - 2009, South Korean team
- (D) Russian Buttress - 1982, USSR team
- (E) Southwest Face - 1975, British team
- (F) South Pillar - 1980, Polish team
- (G) South Col - 1953, British Command
Using the Himalayan database, you can conduct research on non-standard routes in order to get a clear idea of the number of climbers on them (the table does not show full list non-standard routes)
| Route | Climbing | Deaths | Last attempt |
| Khumbutse - West Ridge - North Face: Hornbein Couloir (Khumbutse-W Ridge-N Face (Hornbein Couloir) | 2 | 1 | 1989 |
| Lho La-W Ridge | 19 | 2 | 1989 |
| North Face (N Face) | 24 | 0 | 2004 |
| South Pillar (S Pillar) | 45 | 1 | 2000 |
| SW Face including the Bonington Route | 48 | 2 | 2009 |
| West Ridge - North Face - Hornbein Couloir | 8 | 0 | 1986 |
| East Wall (E Face) | 12 | 0 | 1999 |
Standard routes to Everest
As you know, today Everest is dominated by only two routes. 8,041 of the 8,306 successful ascents were made along these two routes, which were proposed from the Young Side and the North Side.
Today, these routes are crowded with commercial expeditions, making them even safer, reducing difficulty and increasing the likelihood of a successful climb.
Northeast Ridge
Let's now look in more detail at each of these routes.
Southeast Ridge - route through the South Col
For the first time, we climbed to the top of Everest along this route.
By that time, climbers had already attempted to climb this route twice, in the spring and autumn of 1952. Then the Swiss climbed to 8500 meters. It should be noted that Sherpa Norgay was also a member of the Swiss team, where he gained invaluable experience that was useful to him in the British expedition of 1953.
In 1956, the Swiss returned to Everest again and completed.
This is a typical ascent schedule for the route from the south side:
- Trekking and acclimatization to the top of Mount Lobuche 6119 meters
Currently, many teams climb Lobuche as part of their acclimatization before Everest, thereby reducing the number of ascents through the most dangerous
- Base camp: 5334 meters
This is home for two months. It is located on a moving glacier and from time to time the climbers’ tents can move from their homes and the ice underneath them melts. It is a rugged but beautiful region surrounded by Mount Pumori and the Khumbu Icefall with warm morning hours and mid-afternoon snow squalls.
With a huge number of tents, generators, people, it all looks like a small village. - First high altitude camp: Camp1 (5943 m). Arrival time from base camp from 4 to 6 hours, distance from base camp 2600 meters
The approach to the first high-altitude camp is quite dangerous journey, because it passes through the Khumbu Icefall - moving blocks of ice, sometimes moving at a speed of a couple of meters per day. It is the deep ice cracks and high seracs that create the greatest danger.
- Second high altitude camp: Camp2 (6400 m). The approach time from the first high-altitude camp of the camp is from 2 to 3 hours, the distance from the first camp is 2800 meters
The route from the first to the second high-altitude camp passes through the Valley of Silence (also known as the Valley of Silence, Western Circus or Western Kar, English Valley of Silence or Western Cwm) - this is a wide, flat, slightly hilly glacial valley (glacial basin), located at the foot Walls of Lhotse Chomolungma. It was so named by George Mallory in 1921 during the British Exploration Expedition, which first explored the upper parts of Qomolungma in search of routes for future ascents to the summit.
The passage of this section involves overcoming a number of ice cracks, but the biggest obstacle for climbers is the heat transmitted by the sun's rays and the high avalanche danger from the West Shoulder of Everest, which has overturned avalanches on the first high-altitude camp several times over the past few years. - Third high altitude camp: Camp3 (7162 m). The approach time from the second high-altitude camp of the camp is from 3 to 6 hours, the distance from the second camp is 2640 meters
In this section, climbers are essentially climbing the wall of the eight-thousander Lhotse. The transition to the third camp is difficult, since most climbers are influenced by high altitude but at the same time they do not yet use oxygen cylinders, saving them for the assault climb.
The Lhotse Wall is quite steep and there is always ice on it. The route section is hung with railings and the wall angles can range from 20 to 45 degrees!
The climb to the third camp is long, but most teams use it for final acclimatization - “The Yellow Band” - approach time from the third high-altitude camp 3 hours
.
The Yellow Band - sandstone sedimentary rocks, the highest elevation is 7620 meters on Everest.
The route to the South Col starts from the third high-altitude camp and passes through the Yellow Strip. It starts out steep, but then levels out as the altitude increases. Climbers are dressed in full equipment and from this point they already begin to use oxygen cylinders. The yellow stripe itself is not difficult to pass, but given the height it can be dangerous. It may also encounter bottlenecks. - Marker "Geneva Spur" (Eperon des Genevois) - approach time from the yellow stripe 2 hours
This is a geological formation on Everest, which is a block of rock near the summit of Everest and Lhotse. The name of this mark was given.
This steep spot can be a real surprise for climbers. At the top of the spur, the southernmost col has a series of vertical climbs. If there is loose snow, then climbing is much easier than on loose rock. - South Col: 8016 meters, approach time from the Swiss Spur - 1 hour
Welcome to the Moon! It is a flat plateau covered in loose rock and surrounded by Everest to the north and Lhotse to the south. As a rule, teams place their tents close to each other and secure them with heavy stones, because here in the open area there are strong winds.
This is an intermediate site for the start of assault climbs to the summit and the highest point for Sherpas who deliver oxygen cylinders and other equipment to their clients - Marker "The Balcony", 8400 meters, approach time from the South Col from 4 to 5 hours
Officially, climbers on Everest now use oxygen tanks to climb the steep and steady route to the summit. A section of the route is lined with railings, and at night the light from the climbers’ headlamps lines up in a thin, long line.
Here the pace of ascent is terribly slow, there are many stops to rest, here the decision is made about whether to continue climbing or return down. Depending on the weather, there can be either snow or bare rocks here. Rocky areas can be a deadly problem and some climbers now use helmets. At this point, climbers exchange empty oxygen cylinders for new ones and take a short break to eat. - South Summit, 8690 meters, approach time from the Balconies from 3 to 5 hours
The climb from the balconies to the South Summit is quite steep and continuous with no places to rest. This is the most technically difficult part of the climb. Especially when a large number of people gather on the route. On the other hand, the view of Lhotse in the rays of the rising sun is indescribable.
- Hillary Step, 8790 meters, approach time from the South Summit about 1 hour
The Hillary Step is an almost vertical rock slope 13 m high, which is a narrow snow-ice ridge with sheer cliffs on the sides.
It is located at an altitude of 8790 m on the southeast ridge of the mountain halfway from the southern summit to the main summit of Everest. Named after Everest pioneer Edmund Hillary.This is one of the most exposed steep sections of the climb, requiring you to traverse the cornice between the summit and the Hillary Step. But this section of the route is fixed with fixed ropes and is quite wide, so much so that it does not pose any difficulties for most climbers.
After the 2015 earthquake, Hillary's stage changed, and.
Previously, there was a short couple of meters of vertical climbing section, with fixed fixed ropes, which created a bottleneck for crowds of climbers.
- The summit of Everest is 8848 meters, the approach time from the Hillary Step is about 1 hour
The last section from the Hillary Step to the summit is a moderate snow slope. Here the climbers are already at the end of their physical strength, but adrenaline constantly keeps them in good shape.
- Descent from the summit to the South Col: approximately 4-7 hours
On the descent you need to be very careful and focused, especially on the Hillary Step, the Balcony or under the South Summit.
In addition, the oxygen level in the cylinders is also of great importance. - Descent from the South Col to the second high-altitude camp: approximately 3 hours
Usually climbers are exhausted at this point, but are happy to return to an environment with a higher oxygen content in the air, regardless of whether they were on the summit or not. Climbers are very hot here because they are still descending in their high-altitude suits
- Descent from the second high altitude camp to the base camp: approximately 4 hours
This animation of climbing the southern route is based on personal experience Alan Arnet (in 2011 ascent), author of the article
Northeast Ridge
The north face of Everest has seen numerous summit attempts since the early 21st century, the first of which was made by a British expedition in 1921.
Then Mallory led a small team to the mountain, becoming the first person in the world to climb the North Col at 7,000 meters.
The second expedition in 1922 reached 8,320 meters before descending and was the first team on Everest to use oxygen tanks.
Also during this expedition, the first victims of the mountain were recorded - 7 Sherpas died in an avalanche.
This is the easiest of the three rock sections, but you still need to be careful not to get into an accident.
This is a steep snow slope, often windy and with very cold temperatures, at which point climbers feel exhausted. At the top of the pyramid, climbers are again subjected to extreme exposure as they are forced to negotiate three more small rocky sections before the ridge emerges to the summit.
The last 150 meter section before the summit slopes from 30 to 60 degrees.
The descent follows the same route. Climbers who descend from the summit often encounter those who are still climbing to the second stage, where large queues form.
The backpacks are heavy because climbers must carry down all their equipment that they have been carrying up to the high camps for a month. By the end of May, when climbers descend to base camp, the air temperature becomes even warmer, melting the snow and making the descent even more difficult. But every step along this stretch brings climbers closer to home and their families.
Animation of the ascent along the route from the north:
Which route is the deadliest?
Climbers must make their own decisions about which route is safest from their point of view.
The table provides a summary of accidents:
| Cause | Northeast Ridge | Southeast Ridge | Other routes | total |
| Avalanches | ||||
| Falls | ||||
| Altitude sickness | ||||
| Exhaustion/Frostbite | ||||
| Sickness (not high altitude) | ||||
| Fatigue | ||||
| Icefall collapse | ||||
| Cracks in the glacier | ||||
| Missing people | ||||
| other reasons/unknown reasons | ||||
| Rockfall/serac collapse | ||||
| Total | ||||
| % of total |
Everest Statistics and Price
Statistics
On December 4, 2017, the Himalayan Climbing Database was updated, including information on Everest ascents throughout its history.
The total number of climbers who climbed Everest since the beginning of its history: 8306 people, while the number of climbers who climbed to the top of Everest for the first time is 4833 people, which means that 3473 climbers were mostly Sherpas who had accomplished more than one climbing to the top of Everest.
In the entire history of the conquest of Everest: from the southern (Nepalese) side, people climbed to the top 5280 times, while from the north (Tibetan-Chinese side) they climbed to the top 3220 times. These numbers do not include repeat ascents.
As of December 4, 2017 (since 1921), 288 people are officially considered dead. Of these, 173 are foreign climbers and 115 are Sherpas.
181 climbers died while climbing from the south side as a percentage of 3.4% of the total number of successful ascents, 107 people died while climbing from the north - this is 3.3% of the total number of successful ascents
Since 1990, mortality on Everest as a percentage of age has risen to 5.1% due to improved quality of climbing equipment, better weather forecasting and more people willing to reach the summit participating in commercial expeditions.
Despite the fact that Everest leads in the number of deaths, in the general statistics of eight-thousanders it occupies almost the last line in absolute terms: 1.23
Thus, Annapurna, the tenth highest eight-thousander in the world, still remains the deadliest peak in the world: on these expeditions, the mortality rate reaches 3.91, and in specific figures: 261 ascents to 71 deaths, that is, 28%.
In second place is K2 (Chogori): the ratio of ascents to deaths is 355 ascents to 82 deaths, that is, 23%.
Cho Oyu is considered the safest eight-thousander: for 3681 ascents there are 50 deaths or 0.55%
Price
Overall, prices for the upcoming 2018 season have increased compared to 2017; First of all, this affected offers at the lowest and highest prices. First of all, the average statistical estimate was affected by rising prices from China, where several highly paid travel companies have entered the market, providing their clients with professional support and organization of expeditions.
In general, the expedition price range ranges from 28,000 to 85,000 US dollars.
The most expensive cost of the expedition was recorded at $115,000. Thus, the tour operator International Mountain Guides will offer you a price of $114,000, and the tour operator RMI will offer you a price of $115,000!
Ultimately, over the past five years travel companies increased the cost of expeditions to Everest by 6% from Nepal and by 12% from China.
RESUME
I am often asked which side or route is safer, and my answer is not so clear-cut
By now you can see that non-standard routes are the preserve of the elite and highly skilled climbers, and even with their talent the mortality rate is quite high.
The standard routes have the most dangerous sections: the Khumbu Icefall in the south and the steps in the north. However, according to statistics, there are more deaths on the south side southern route(of course, taking into account the tragedies of 2014/2015).
The mountains have the power to call us to their lands...
Our friends remained there forever...
People with great souls strive for heights...
Don't forget those who didn't come from the heights...
Where the sky meets the earth, where life and death are separated by just half a step, where people from the West and people from the East are each equal before their God and with the only desire to be for a moment above everyone else on planet Earth, they rush upward higher and higher ... There, in the distant halls of the Himalayas, a huge Mountain rises. This Mountain guards the gaze of the Great Buddha and the souls of those who came to look into His eyes and stayed here forever...
Name! Tell me your name...
In 1832, workers of the British Geodetic Survey in India, while processing surveys of a number of Himalayan peaks, discovered that the mountain listed under the name “Peak XV” was the highest of all peaks. They named the open peak in honor of the chief of the geodetic service, Sir Everest. It was this name that became the most popular and famous throughout the world.
This Mountain has many names. In Tibet she is called Chomolungma - “Goddess Mother of the Earth”. Many centuries before the English discovered that it was the highest on globe, the local monks already knew about this (perhaps they were told this by a messenger from the fabulous country of Shambhala, located somewhere nearby, which the Russian expedition of the early 20th century under the leadership of Nicholas Roerich had been looking for for so long...) By order of the Dalai Lama, On the northern slopes of the Mountain, the Ronkbuk Monastery was built back in the Middle Ages, well preserved and inhabited to this day. From here, Chomolungma looks like a giant 3-kilometer-high stone “Sphinx”, proudly raising its top tower like its “head”. The entire massif is clearly visible many tens and even hundreds of kilometers to the northwest from multi-membered mountain passes. A hurricane wind blowing snow mixed with clouds from the “head and back” of the “Sphinx” almost every day forms a multi-kilometer trail, called by climbers a “snow flag”. The first from the north in 1960 were the Chinese - Wang Fu-chou, Qu Ying-hua and Ganpo.
Even in Tibet they call her Jumulang-mafeng - “Goddess of the Earth”, Jo-Mo-Lun-Ma - “Bird of the Storm”, Kang-Cha-Mo-Lun - “Snow in the Kingdom of Birds” - to the east the Mountain ends with the snow-ice Kanchung wall, the area of which is still little studied and difficult to access. From this side, only two routes have been laid to the top, the second - in 1999, under the leadership of a female police officer from India - Santosh Yadav. The first report of the Kangchung Wall of Everest was made in 1921 by George Mallory. The next meeting with the mountain here took place only in 1981-83, when the Americans, on the second attempt, laid out their first route, which they jokingly called “Bowling Alley” - while climbing the wall, pieces of rock and ice, the size of skittle balls, constantly flew whistling. The climbers themselves were the skittles back then...
In Nepal the Mountain is called Sagarmatha - "Heavenly Peak". A huge pointed rock pyramid drops steeply to the south towards the Khumbu Glacier. But it’s not easy to see it from this side - it seems to be hidden behind the ridge Himalayan mountains, showing only the very top. It was from the south that people first climbed Everest. Over the course of 32 years, climbers from different countries have made fifteen attempts to conquer the “third pole.” The sixteenth of them was crowned with victory. The last assault camp of Colonel John Hunt's expedition was moved to the very top. He was listed as number “9” - nine intermediate camps! - and was at an altitude of 8500 meters. On May 29, 1953, at 11:30 a.m., New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay stood at an altitude of 8848 meters - highest peak peace.
George Mallory has been found, but the mystery of the first ascent remains...
Attention was drawn to Everest as soon as sport mountaineering stepped beyond the Alps. But only in 1920 under pressure British Empire The ruler of Tibet, the Dalai Lama, allowed the British to approach Everest from the north. It was from this side that repeated attempts were made to climb to the top until the 2nd World War.
In 1921, the first reconnaissance expedition arrived here. The proposed route of ascent was outlined. At the same time, for the first time in the vicinity of Everest, traces of the Yeti, a mysterious creature later called “Bigfoot,” were found.
In 1924, the third and most famous of the pre-war Everest expeditions took place. It was then that the British were closest to their cherished goal, and it was then that a secret arose, which they were able to reveal only in 1999.
The 1924 expedition established Camp VI at an altitude of 8170 m. From here, Sommerwell and Norton were the first to reach the summit without oxygen. Edward Norton then reached a height of 8573 m, which for many years was the threshold of human achievement and bore his name. The second assault team included George Mallory (38-year-old participant in the first three expeditions to Everest, one of the strongest climbers in England) and Andrew Irvine (22-year-old student). George Mallory in 1921 for the first time in history crossed the magic line of 8 thousand meters. It was he who dotted the i’s in the rhetorical question: “Why are you going to Everest?” "Because He exists!!!" - the climber answered, making this the goal of his life. On June 8, they reached the summit with oxygen apparatus. They were last seen through binoculars at an altitude of about 8500 m, in the area of the so-called “Second Stage”, where they became lost in the fog from observers and went missing for 75 years, taking with them an unsolved mystery
- “Were they at the top then!” They waited for several days at the base camp, after which the expedition was curtailed. After 9 years, at an altitude of 8450 m, an ice ax belonging to this bunch was found...
This is how the Russian artist, scientist and traveler Nicholas Roerich in his memoirs describes the time of the tragedy of the British on Everest in 1924: “... the whole expedition came from Everest. Still, it is not clear that they left two dead comrades without a lengthy search. By the way, they were trying to find out if we had climbed to Everest - in the painting “Burning of Darkness” they recognized the exact image of the glacier near Everest and did not understand how this characteristic view, visible only to them, got into the picture.” One of the paintings in the Moscow Roerich Museum with the general title “Himalayas” also depicts Chomolungma from the north.
So, the couple Mallory and Irwin disappeared on Everest, and there was fierce controversy around this event for many years. Why did Mallory choose the little experienced Irwin as his teammate, and not Odell, a first-class climber who last saw them through binoculars? Have they reached the top? If they reached it, then there should have been photos - Mallory carried a camera with him... It was believed that Mallory could send Irwin back, as the weaker one, and go alone to the top of his dream... This story required its completion.. .
According to vague information, during the second Chinese ascent of Everest from the North in 1975, one of the climbers saw some body at an altitude of about 8100 m, somewhat away from the main path (for some reason he decided that it was Irwin), but I didn’t come close to him and examine him - after all, this could deprive him of his strength, and therefore of success in his ascent.
It was necessary to search. The first attempts to shed light were made in 1987, but then the searches did not lead to success. In 1999, a new American expedition climbed to the high-altitude Camp VI (8290 m). Having traversed the slope to the west, the search group reached the camp site of the 1975 Chinese expedition and scattered along the slope. Fortunately, there wasn’t much snow this year, so a lot of dead bodies immediately began to come across... But they were all from the present - dead over the past 5 - 10 years. And yet they were lucky! After some more searching, Konrad Anker came across the body of a dead man, lying face down with his arms outstretched, as if hugging the ground. The head and hands were firmly frozen into the slope. The eyes are closed - death did not occur immediately. There was almost no clothing, and the climber's bare back was whitened by wind and frost, like an ancient marble statue. The boot on the foot unmistakably indicated the time of death - the 1924 model. On scraps of clothing, the Americans found a manufacturer's label and the embroidered inscription "J. Mallory" next to it. This is where a sensation occurred. A letter from Mallory's wife with many postage stamps, found in his breast pocket, dispelled all doubts - it was the Man of this Mountain - George Leif Mallory himself!
So, the first answers have been given. The leg injury - a fracture of the tibia and fibula - disproved the hypothesis of a deep fall from the top of the ridge, where an ice ax was found in 1933. There was a drop, but not so significant. The rope and harness on the body indicated that the bundle was together until the end. There was no oxygen equipment - probably, having used up all the oxygen, the empty cylinder and mask were thrown away as unnecessary, as excess cargo. Whole glasses in his breast pocket indicated that the tragedy occurred in the evening, at night or early in the morning after a cold night. And finally, the position of the body itself - upside down the slope, indicated that for some time, overcoming the pain from the fracture, he still tried to move, and died like a soldier in the ranks, having come face to face with the peak of his dream.
But the mystery remains. Irwin's body was never found. The camera could not be found either. This is exactly what the new search Expedition to Everest planned for this spring will be devoted to. We will wait for its results.
Everest climbing route.
From 1953 to 06/15/99, approximately 819 people climbed Everest (Nepal - 291, USA - 121, USSR (CIS) - 87 (Russia - 40), Japan - 56, France - 39). About 160 people died. People either freeze on the descent, not having time to get to the assault camp before dark, or fall off the pre-summit ridge into a 2-km abyss. There are about 100 oxygen-free ascents. Ankrit and Apa Sherpas climbed to the top 10 (!) times. Most of the ascents to Everest occur in the last 10 years.
Every year, several dozen teams from all over the world, 300 - 500 people in total, gather under the northern and southern slopes of Everest, each of whom dreams of conquering the peak.
Climbing to the top of Everest is a constant shuttle - up and down many times. Up - for accimation, dropping off intermediate camps, hanging the railings in difficult areas... Down - for rest and for a new portion of cargo. And so on for 2 months. They usually reach the very top one by one - “every man for himself”, relying only on his own strength. On the decisive assault day, the climber's working day lasts on average 15 - 20 hours. Weight loss after climbing is on average 10 - 15 kg, but it can be more.
The most accessible (in terms of money) route is from the north - from Tibet. The right to climb for a group of 20 people here costs only $5,500. People travel to the foot of the Northern side to the base camp (5000 m) by jeep, and then by yaks to the advanced base camp (6400 m). From the Rongbuk Glacier the ascent goes to the North Col (Chang La Pass) and from there along the long northern ridge leads to the summit. The most technically difficult place is the “Second Stage” at an altitude of 8790 m. This is a cliff of rocks several meters high. In 1975, the Chinese brought here a 6-meter staircase, which became the “key” to the top. An additional difficulty and the main problem when climbing is the hurricane wind, blowing in gusts of up to 200 km/h.
From the south, on the Nepalese side, the climb to the base camp takes several days on foot. However, from here on the Khumbu side the route is easier - warmer and less windy. The ascent to the summit itself starts from the South Col between Everest and Lhotse from an altitude of 7900 m. They usually leave at midnight. The climb is much faster than in the north.
Just 5 years ago, the cost from the Nepalese side was $10,000 for 7 people. Since 1996, the price has increased 7 times. The right to climb Everest by any route from Nepal costs $50,000 for 7 team members. The team can be expanded by 5 more climbers at a cost of $10,000 for each additional one. For the right to take the classic route through the South Col, you need to pay another $20,000 (total $70,000).
Oxygen provides special “help” to climbers when climbing. For the final throw to the top, two cylinders are enough (10 - 12 hours of work), which weigh 10 kg and, together with the mask and gearbox, cost more than $1000. Another one - two spare tanks are usually put aside for the descent halfway to the top.
Oxygen is "doping". If it ends, very often the athlete is demoralized and more susceptible to hypoxia and stress at altitude and even death. This is what the head coach of the Russian mountaineering team, Vladimir Shataev, remembers about how in 1995, at the age of 58, he ran out of oxygen on the descent after the “Second Stage”. "The speed of descent immediately decreased by 3 - 4 times, although half an hour without oxygen did not greatly affect the well-being and psyche. However, night was approaching, and with it possible problems. Passing by an abandoned camp at 8670 m with many torn tents and a bunch of empty cylinders, the thought flashed through my mind to try connecting the reducer to an empty cylinder (fortunately, all the cylinders were Made in USSR - to this day one of the best in the world) The first two cylinders showed a pressure of 40 atmospheres (at a norm of 240) - this is for an hour of travel. The third showed the number 50. There was no point in tempting fate further. This hour was enough for me to reach the full tank left at the exit. By ten o’clock in the evening, in the light of the moon, I returned to the assault camp.” After this ascent, Shataev became the oldest of the climbers from the north, the second oldest (now third) in the overall ranking of North-South ascents.
Here it is appropriate to quote from Anatoly Bukreev’s book “The Ascent”. “In fact, the illusion of oxygen killed many people in the Himalayas, creating the myth that money can save lives in the “death zone” at an altitude of over 8 thousand meters. It should be understood that neither money nor a guide can save people here Oxygen also cannot guarantee your life in such extreme conditions. Professionals and amateurs have equal rights here, realizing that the human body can no longer adapt at such heights, but wastes its strength irrevocably, approaching death. Last word The Mountain always belongs here!”
The arena of world achievements, the stake of which is life.
The history of the conquest of Everest contains an extensive list of a wide variety of unique ascents.
In 1975, on May 16, a woman (moreover, a member of the Japanese women's team) Junko Tabei entered the "Roof of the World" for the first time. Ten days earlier, she and a group of comrades were dug out from under an avalanche that struck Camp II at an altitude of 6400 m.
The first Russian woman, Katya Ivanova, is in 11th place in this table of ranks, having climbed Everest as part of the “Peace Expedition” in 1990. (Katya died in 1994 while climbing the second highest Himalayan peak, Kanchenjunga. On the night of October 9-10, an ice collapse hit the bivouac at an altitude of 6700 m, in which Katerina Ivanova and Zhvirblya Sergei from Minsk were located. Their bodies were not found. )
The Peace Expedition itself in 1990 was also unique. It was organized and financed by the American Jim Whittaker and aimed at the simultaneous ascension to the top of representatives of three great powers - the USA - USSR - China. This time, the Mountain, instead of taking someone’s life, on the contrary, “gave” it, becoming “godmother” to a boy from distant Odessa. It was the title of Everest conqueror that helped member of the Soviet team Mstislav Gorbenko, with the help of new friends from America, find money (more than $50,000) and the opportunity to perform a complex operation on his son, Rustem. In the USA he had a triple heart defect operated on.
The season for climbing to the top is spring from the north and south, autumn - as a rule, only from the south. But over time, conquering the peak in winter became a completely feasible idea. The first to realize this on February 17, 1980, with great risk and difficulty, were the Poles - Lecha Tichy and Krzysztov Wielicki (in 1996, Krzysztov became the fifth person to conquer all 14 eight-thousanders of the earth, who in one season climbed K2 (8611 m) and Nanga Parbat ( 8125 m), and he climbed Nanga Parbat solo in the alpine style without intermediate camps during 48 hours of more or less continuous ascent to the top!). They were congratulated on their success by a great lover of mountains - Pope John Paul II. During the summit tour, the Poles found a letter from the last conqueror of the Mountain at that time, American Ray Zhanet, with a request to “tell him to Alaska.” This card was also an obituary for “The Most Cold-Tolerant Man on the Planet.” Ray received this honorary title in Alaska, repeatedly climbing to the top of McKinley and several times spending the night with the temperature outside minus 70. And now, in the fall of 1979, he froze before he could descend with his companion Hannalore Schmatz. The real Knight did not want to leave the exhausted woman to die alone on an endless mountain...
The next attempt at a solo winter ascent of Everest ended in tragedy. Japanese Yasuo Kato (33 years old) made his third ascent to the summit on December 27, 1982, but was unable to descend. According to eyewitnesses, the main enemy of climbers in winter is the cold (temperature minus 40 is considered “normal”) and the so-called cold “jet stream”, which rushes down from a height of about 10 km, literally “exploding” the mountain with wind force capable of lifting loose stones . The wind speed in the stream reaches 200 km/h, and the temperature can drop to minus 60. Kato reached the top at about 16:00, when it was almost dark. While descending, he met his friend climber Yoshimasa Kabayashi, who was carrying bivouac equipment - a backpack weighing 27 kg - to the appointed place not far from the South Summit. Having settled in for the night, the climbers radioed “OK” and refused outside help (during his two previous ascents, Kato spent the night above 8000 without equipment). That night, a terrible storm hit the top of Everest and a cold wave of the “jet stream” descended, which in the valleys led to the death of about 200 residents of northern India. On the mountain itself, the tent of Camp II with the radio operator in it was torn out of the ice and thrown several meters away...
Kato did not make radio contact again. The next year, the tent and bodies of the climbers were not found - apparently that night they were blown into the abyss.
In 1978, Reinhold Messner from Italy and Peter Habeler from Germany reached the summit without oxygen! In 1980, Reinhold Messner climbed to the top of Everest alone, setting a ton of new records. Climbing without oxygen, partly using a new route during the monsoon period, when ascents are generally considered impossible! He walked in alpine style and from the base camp, located at around 6500, to the highest point - 8848 meters - took only three days!
In 1982, the Soviet expedition laid its first path along the buttress of the southwestern slope.
Everest especially attracted skiers. This first happened in the late sixties. The world record holder in downhill, Japanese Miura, wanted to descend from the south col of Everest from the “death zone”. The main question for Miura on Everest was then only one: “Will he accept Great Mountain him onto his slopes?!" For him, this was not only a crazy extreme achievement, but also a fact of pilgrimage to the "Mother of the Gods." Just before the descent, he spent a long time choosing what color the brake parachute should be, what it (the parachute) would be like " "lotus flower" was most in harmony with the grandeur of the mountain and the significance of the event. A huge crack (bergschrund) along the entire slope cut off his upcoming path of descent in the lower third of the slope. This meant that he had to stay on his feet and have time to slow down to this place. The descent was filmed on film and was, perhaps, the most dramatic culmination and denouement of the entire Japanese expedition to Everest in 1969, not counting the death of several Sherpas in an avalanche shortly before. Here Miura turns his skis to face the mountainside and begins to accelerate. One can only guess what efforts it takes at such a height. rapid ski descent. Apparently the speed has reached its limit and he threw out the brake parachute. But the speed does not decrease and it seems that Miura is already standing with great difficulty, overcoming fatigue. That’s right - the skier couldn’t cope with the speed and then he simply flies head over heels down the slope, partially wrapped in a bright parachute. The acceleration is getting faster and faster, and there is less and less time left before falling into the bergschrund. But this time the Mountain granted life to the daredevil, allowing him to cling to the saving slope fifty meters away - maybe Everest felt sorry for the lotus flower that bloomed for the first time in this white silence?
Frenchman Pierre Tardivel (member of the famous extreme team of the Eider brand) in 1992 skied from the South Peak of Everest (8571 m) along the southern slopes, completing the longest ski descent in three hours - more than 3 km in altitude. In 1996, the Italian Hans Kammerlander, with a previous ascent to the summit from the advanced base camp (6400 m) in 17 hours, skied down Everest along the northern slope.
In 1988, from the very top, the Frenchman Jean-Marc Bovin took off on a paraglider, literally rushing into the abyss and after 11 minutes landed at Camp 2 in the Western Circus.
In 1991, they flew over the peak from Nepal to Tibet on two balloons four extreme Englishmen.
In 1998, Frenchman Cyril Desremo made the first descent from the peak on a snowboard. The lines from his diary speak for themselves. “Finally, I’m sliding down this bloody ridge of Everest, where no one has stood on a snowboard before me. At the Upper Base Camp (6400 m), the tension of the entire expedition begins to tell and tears begin to choke me. I need to be alone. I feel nauseous. I I’m not myself. And on May 27, before going down, I learn about the death of Roger, my friend from New Zealand. On June 2, I’m already in Paris, in our spoiled, tense world, but I’m alone in the crowd, despite my terrible weakness. I'm happy and calm... as if I know the secret of life..."
Babu Chirri Sherpa, a veteran of Napal mountaineering, set a world record for the time spent on the summit of Everest in the spring of 1999 - 21 hours. Having reached the top at 10.55 am, he left it at 7.55 - with the first rays of the sun. His brother and a second Sherpa came with him to the summit and helped him set up a special reinforced triangulation tent, which was given the name "American Sky". To prevent the tent from being blown away from the top by hurricane winds, a special hole was dug into which it was installed.
Lev Sarkizov (head of the Azerbaijan Mountaineering Federation), a member of the Everest Caucasus-99 expedition (including climbers from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia), deliberately waited about a week at the base camp before starting his climb to become the oldest person on the planet, those who conquered Everest are 60 years and 161 days old - just one day older than the previous achievement - the climber from Venezuela - Ramon Balanca. “The biggest problem for me,” says Lev, “was, oddly enough, not a physical, but a psychological state. This was my first visit to Nepal and the first climb to an eight-thousander. The main problems were the worries that I would not be able to use the first and the only chance."
At the same time, Lev Korshunov (61 years old) from Russia could have broken this record, but according to the head of the Russian expedition, Vyacheslav Skripko, his behavior in the assault camp was very inadequate and he had to abandon the ascent.
The youngest climber on Everest is Nepalese Shambu Tamangu - 16 years old. A Nepalese boy, Arvin Timilisna, at just 15 years old, attempted to climb Everest in 1999 to break the youth record. However, having passed the South Summit of Everest, Arvin ran out of oxygen at an altitude of 8750 m (only 150 meters before the summit), and snow blindness began to develop (an ultraviolet burn to the eyes, threatening temporary loss of vision) and he, accompanied by 2 Sherpas, was forced to was to turn back - “Why rush, your whole life is ahead,” he remarked philosophically after his safe return.
The youngest American woman to climb Everest in 1999 was Miss Jebi David Objivin (25 years old), organizing a special expedition costing one million dollars.
The highest in the world "Galgotha".
For some, climbing Everest is the “Resurrection” and the beginning of a new life... For others, it is crucifixion and death.. And if mountaineering is a religion, then Everest is the highest “Calvary” in the world, and everyone who goes to it , perhaps he bears his own cross...
Everest is a killer mountain. All the lyrics of mountaineering recede before its cruelty and waywardness. The climb from just hard, exhausting work turns into a desperate fight for life. But inexorably the mountain continues to attract with its grandeur, flashing at sunset with the light of red coals, burning the soul and calling, beckoning, flickering in the approaching darkness. Every evening, going beyond the horizon, the Sun promises the Great Buddha to return the next day with rays of light... But who knows, maybe right now, somewhere on the top of the mountain, people say goodbye to him forever, having reached the peak of their dreams, but not having time to descend before dark to the assault camp.
Here in the “Death Zone” above 8000 meters, everyone’s heart beats wildly from lack of oxygen, and then, tired, it stops to rest. Here they die from insane fatigue, without saying a word, so as not to interfere with the success of others, from the power of avalanches and the cold of Space, knowing that at this moment the whole world is nearby, but can no longer help!
Everest opened a grim account of its victims during the first attempt to climb it. In 1921, seven Sherpas were killed in an avalanche from the North Col. In 1924, Mallory and Irwin disappeared.
In 1934, an Englishman named Wilson made his way to Everest, disguised as a Tibetan monk, and decided to use his prayers to cultivate willpower sufficient to climb to the top. After unsuccessful attempts to reach the North Col, abandoned by the Sherpas accompanying him, Wilson died of cold and exhaustion. His body, as well as the diary he wrote, were found by an expedition in 1935. The diary also contained the following crazy ascent plan - hijacking an airplane and emergency landing on the North (sloping) ridge of Everest at an altitude of about 8600 m. And from there - straight to the top!
Throughout the history of its conquest, Everest has witnessed not only real tragedies, but also imaginary ones. At one time, a lot of noise was made by the “disinformation” about the alleged attempt of the “Russian team” to climb from the north in the fall of 1952, which allegedly ended in a huge tragedy - according to initial data, 40 people died in an avalanche at an altitude of about 8200 meters, which was immediately included in the Guinness World Book of Records as the largest high-altitude tragedy... According to “updated data”, the number of deaths was eventually lowered to five. The magazine "News Week" in 1957 published "Sensational" "information" about this tragedy with a huge number of "details" - the names of the climbers (leader Dr. Pavel Dachnolyan), participation in the expedition and in the search for five military aircraft that took off from Novosibirsk, the ascent schedule ... It is surprising that over the past almost 50 years, not one of the 120 (according to various sources 35 or 29) surviving members of this “Soviet expedition” has ever uttered a word. As Confucius said: “It is hard to look for a black cat in a dark room, especially if it is not there.”
Soviet climbers did have a chance to be the first to ascend Everest from the north, but not in 1952, but in 1960. In 1959, a Soviet-Chinese reconnaissance of the Northern slopes of Everest was even carried out. The ascent plans were hindered by the revolutionary situation in Tibet, although the Chinese nevertheless carried out their expedition and reached the summit that year.
In modern times, the use of oxygen has made the Himalayas, and above all Everest, a commercially viable enterprise. Sometimes people, being new to mountaineering, are willing to pay tens of thousands of dollars for the opportunity to stand on the most high point planets. On May 10, 1996, a severe hurricane on Everest killed 8 people from a “commercial” group of climbers - 5 people on the classic route through the South Col and 3 on the northern slope.
At that moment, Americans, New Zealanders and climbers from Taiwan were rising from the south. Rob Hall, the owner of the Adventure Consulting company from New Zealand, is a successful businessman who has already brought several dozen people to Everest. His price for the climb was “only” $65,000. His eight clients paid him more than half a million dollars. For that amount you could take a risk and do a VERY GOOD job! His acquaintance and competitor, American Scott Fisher, headed the Mountain Madness company. Among the high-altitude guides with whom Fischer was working on Everest this season was our Anatoly Boukreev, one of the strongest high-altitude climbers in the world at that time. The Taiwanese leader Ming Ho Gau, by the time he reached the summit the day before, left one of his clients in Camp III, who soon died. Gau's reaction to this death was "adequate." Addressing the rest of the clients, he said: “This will not stop us from climbing the verina!”
The hurricane caught the climbers on the descent. Having reached the top after 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the groups rejoiced for a long time and did not have time to return before dark. It was here that the biggest tragedy of the last decade unfolded. Rob Hall and a client were stranded without oxygen above the South Summit of Everest. His friend Andy Harris decides to help them and turns from the descent back up the mountain to bring up the oxygen left below. At the next communication session, Rob was alone in the South Summit area. He had two oxygen cylinders, but the frozen oxygen mask did not allow him to connect to them. Andy Harris and the client were no longer with him. They disappeared on the descent. Rob Hall twice over the course of 12 hours communicated via satellite phone with his wife, who was then 7 months pregnant, who, in the name of the unborn child, begged her husband to connect the oxygen and try to descend. All day, his friends from the base camp also begged him to pull himself together and return. He was able to connect oxygen, but he no longer had the strength to rise.
Scott Fisher and Min Ho Gau spent the night halfway to the South Col exhausted. Anatoly Boukreev, having descended to the saddle, tried to climb up to them, but was unable to break through the hurricane. Only the next day the Sherpas approached them. They were both still alive. Scott was insane, did not respond to oxygen and warm tea, and could not walk. Min Ho Gau, on the contrary, was able to take a few steps on his own, which saved his life. In the evening, Anatoly Boukreev was able to approach his friend Scott, but he no longer needed help. (Anatoly himself died the following year on Catholic Christmas, caught in an avalanche on another eight-thousander of the Himalayas - Anapurna. This was his fifth ascent of 8000 m in one year, including Everest - the fourth time).
At midnight, Fischer’s second guide came to the camp on the South Col and informed Boukreev that some of the clients were exhausted on the vast plateau. Anatoly again, for the second time that night after climbing alone, comes to their aid, seizing oxygen and in two walks saves three people, among whom is his most extravagant client - American Sandy Pittman - the wife of one of the owners of MTV.
But probably the one who “suffered the most” on that damned night was Beck Withers, one of Fisher’s clients, who showed miracles of human survivability at an altitude of 8,000 meters. While climbing at an altitude of 8400 m, due to eye surgery, he almost completely lost his vision. They left him, promising to pick him up “soon” on the way back. After 12 hours of waiting in the cold and icy wind, he slowly groped his way down with a group of clients descending. At night on the plateau, having gotten lost with the group, he lost consciousness and, showing no signs of life along with the Japanese woman, was mistaken by Bukreev for the dead. The next day, covered with a crust of ice, he also showed no signs of life and did not attract the attention of the Sherpa rescuers, but a few hours later he woke up, got up and wandered to the camp on the South Col. He was put to sleep in a tent, which the next night was torn down by a hurricane and he again had to spend the night in the cold. And yet life remained in the frozen body. He was evacuated from the mountainside from an extreme height by helicopter.
Then, in May 1996, an equally cruel incident occurred on the mountain. A group of Japanese climbers, while climbing, came across three Indians who were in a semi-faint state. The Japanese just passed them to the top. On the way back, one of the unfortunate people still showed signs of life, but even now there was no help. It turned out that “A height of eight thousand meters is not a place where you can afford morality!”
This “truth” had a bitter echo in the spring of 1998, when another tragedy on Everest literally shocked the whole world, and especially Russia. Ours, Sergei Arsentiev, and his American wife, Frances Distefano-Arsentiev, died on the Mountain. Their goal was to climb Everest without oxygen. After spending three nights in the so-called “death zone” at the last camp at an altitude of 8,200 m, they reached the top the next (fourth!) day only at 18.15. For Frances, this was her personal record and an achievement for all of America - the first American (second woman in the world) to climb Everest without oxygen. But the mountain did not let go of this beautiful woman with a charming smile. For two days, exhausted, but alive, she lay alone on the mountain and asked for help. Groups of climbers passed by (including from the CIS), gave her oxygen (which she refused at first in semi-delirium - she had to make an oxygen-free ascent), poured several sips of hot tea, even tried to take her down, but then abandoned her. and walked up to their peak. Sergei Arsentiev, after the first “cold night” on the mountain, having missed his wife and not finding her in the advanced camp, went up to her and disappeared without a trace (his body was not found).
Nowadays, there are eight openly lying bodies on the route from the North, and sometimes climbers have to literally step over them. Among them, above the “Second Stage” at an altitude of 8700 m, lie two Russians Nikolai Shevchenko and Ivan Plotnikov (both from Barnaul). There are about ten more from the south.
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On the way to Everest (do not watch for the impressionable) January 22nd, 2017
Everest makes no guarantees. It doesn't matter how experienced or careful you are: on your way to the top, death will await you at every turn. Walking past the corpses of climbers for whom this ascent was their last is one of the most difficult tests Everest has prepared for its guests.
Francis Astentiev.
Cause of death: hypothermia and/or cerebral edema.
Evacuation of the bodies of dead climbers is very difficult, and often completely impossible, so in most cases their bodies remain on Everest forever. Passing climbers paid tribute to Frances by covering her body with an American flag.
Frances Arsentiev climbed Everest with her husband Sergei in 1998. At some point, they lost sight of each other, and were never able to reunite, dying in different parts of the mountain. Frances died from hypothermia and possible cerebral edema, and Sergei most likely died in a fall.
George Mallory.
Cause of death: head injury due to a fall.
British climber George Mallory may have been the first person to reach the summit of Everest, but we will never know for sure. Mallory and his teammate Andrew Irwin were last seen climbing Everest in 1924. In 1999, legendary climber Conrad Anker discovered Mallory's remains, but they do not answer the question of whether he managed to reach the summit.
Hannelore Schmatz.
In 1979, the first woman died on Everest, German climber Hannelore Schmatz. Her body froze in a half-sitting position, since initially she had a backpack under her back. Once upon a time, all the climbers climbing the southern slope passed by the body of Shmats, which could be seen just above Camp IV, but one day strong winds scattered her remains over the Kangshung Wall.
Unknown climber.
One of several bodies found at high altitudes that remain unidentified.
Tsewang Paljor.
Cause of death: hypothermia.
The corpse of climber Tsewang Paljor, one of the members of the first Indian team to attempt to climb Everest via the northeast route. Paljor died during the descent when a snowstorm began.
Tsewang Paljor's corpse is called "Green Boots" in mountaineering slang. It serves as a landmark for climbers climbing Everest.
David Sharp.
Cause of death: hypothermia and oxygen starvation.
British climber David Sharp stopped to rest near Green Shoes and was unable to continue. Other climbers passed by the slowly freezing, exhausted Sharpe, but were unable to help him without endangering their own lives.
Marko Lihteneker.
Cause of death: hypothermia and oxygen deprivation due to problems with oxygen equipment.
A Slovenian climber died while descending Everest in 2005. His body was found just 48 meters from the summit.
Unknown climber.
The cause of death has not been established.
The body of another climber was found on the slope and has not been identified.
Shriya Shah-Klorfine.
Canadian climber Shriya Shah-Klorfine summited Everest in 2012 but died during the descent. Her body lies 300 meters from the summit, wrapped in a Canadian flag.
Unknown climber.
The cause of death has not been established.
What is altitude sickness?
Mountain sickness (or altitude hypoxia) occurs when people are unable to adapt to low oxygen levels at high altitudes.
Most often, the disease is mild: headache, nausea, difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, palpitations and weakness.
But in rare cases, the course of the disease can lead to fatal consequences due to swelling of the brain and lungs.
Signs of altitude sickness begin to appear when climbing to altitudes above 2500 meters. But it is believed that Tibetans have a gene that allows them to stay at high altitudes for a long time without experiencing any illness.
About 30% of people experience mild or moderate mountain sickness and return to normal on their own within a few hours or days. However, 1-3% of people develop severe hypoxia. Death from altitude sickness on Everest is not uncommon.
In 2014, 16 Sherpas died in an avalanche. This caused a series of protests, and the climbing season had to be closed early.
The following year, 2015, 18 climbers died on Everest due to the effects of an earthquake in Nepal. After that, all routes were closed.
When the routes to the summit were reopened this spring, hundreds of climbers flocked to the mountain. The weather was also favorable for the ascent.
As a result, by May 11, 2016, about 400 people were able to reach the summit from the Nepalese side alone. However, during this time, a climber from India died on Everest, becoming the third person to die while descending from the summit in three days. Subhash Paul died on Sunday, a day after he climbed the mountain accompanied by local Sherpa guides.
Together with Paul, two other climbers from India climbed Everest, but they are now listed as missing.
A few days earlier, Dutchman Eric Arnold and Australian Maria Strydom died on Everest. Their deaths were caused by high-altitude hypoxia, also known as “altitude sickness.”
Since the first ascent of Everest in 1953, more than 200 people have died on the slopes
