History of Mount Everest: Thick air in Nepal

In January 2025, all helicopter flights to the Everest region were temporarily suspended suspended after the residents of the Khumbu Valley threatened to confiscate all landing helicopters. In 2024, around 6,000 flights were carried out there, most of them to fly trekkers back from their hiking destination. This resulted in significant environmental and noise pollution and cost porters half their income. Furtenbach Adventures caused the next stir with the announcement that it would offer one-week Everest expeditions using the noble gas xenon to increase red blood cell count. The UIAA subsequently warned against the use of xenon in high-altitude mountaineering.

Another record number of Everest climbers is expected for the 2025 pre-monsoon season. At the beginning of March, the "Ice Doctors" began preparing the Khumbu Icefall, but Sherpas are now required on all 8,000-meter peaks in Nepal and Tibet. Independent ascents are therefore no longer possible. Starting in September, Nepal plans to increase Everest permit prices by 36 percent (from $11,000 to $15,000).

Overall, Mount Everest faces a multitude of challenges in 2025, affecting both the environment and the safety of climbers. Here's an overview of the most important current issues:

1. Overcrowding and safety risks : The number of climbs continues to rise. Despite new regulations, 77 permits have already been issued for the 2025 spring season, with the expectation of exceeding the record of 479 permits issued in 2023. This overcrowding is leading to dangerous congestion in the so-called "death zone" above 8,000 meters (see image above), increasing the risk of accidents and fatalities.
2. Impacts of climate change : Glaciers are rapidly losing mass; the highest glacier has lost over 54 meters in thickness in the last 25 years. In addition, rising temperatures are destabilizing ice structures, leading to increased rockfalls and avalanches.
3. Pollution and garbage problems : Everest suffers from significant environmental problems. In 2024, 77 tons of garbage were collected, including empty oxygen cylinders, plastic, and human waste. To combat this, Nepal has introduced new measures, such as a $600 deposit for crossing the Khumbu Icefall and requiring climbers to carry individual garbage bags.
4. The aforementioned " Icefall Doctors " – Sherpas who secure dangerous passages like the Khumbu Icefall – risk their lives every year for little pay. Their work is essential to the safety of expeditions, yet is often not adequately recognized.

"We knocked the bastard off," were Edmund Hillary's first words as he and Tenzing Norgay returned to the South Col from the summit of the 8,849-meter-high Mount Everest on May 29, 1953. While Hillary wasn't British, as a New Zealander he was at least a subject of the English Crown. Therefore, it was probably not difficult for Her Majesty to overlook the not-so-courtly acceptable remark about the "knocked-down bastard" and to ennoble the New Zealand beekeeper with the title of Sir.

Mount Everest's appeal to mountaineers is explained by its superlative height. The fact that it exerts such a magical effect even on people who can barely distinguish a crampon from a can opener is due not only to the aura of the world's highest mountain but also to its suggested accessibility: Some tour operators offer a "Mount Everest climb" as just another attraction on a tour.

For the majority of Everest aspirants, the summit is all that matters, and accordingly, the vast majority of ascents take place via one of the two main routes. This often results in dangerous crowds not only at the summit and in the base camps, but also on the route taken by the first ascents via the South Col and Southeast Ridge. Although commercial expeditions, in particular, equip almost all ascents with fixed ropes to enable their clients to progress as safely and quickly as possible, traffic jams still frequently occur at critical points on Mount Everest.

This is no small matter: Especially in the "death zone" above 7,500 meters, a prolonged stay quickly leads to frostbite or even more dramatic consequences. Thanks to Jon Krakauer's bestseller ("Into Thin Air") about the 1996 tragedy, it should be well known around the globe by now that the path to, and especially the descent from, the roof of the world is no walk in the park, even in the age of daily Everest weather reports from Innsbruck and commercial expeditions. Since ascents of Mount Everest began, over 340 people have lost their lives, including more than 125 Sherpas. This means that about a third of the fatalities are Sherpas, even though they make up only a fraction of the total number of climbers.

In addition to the dangers to life and limb, the mass influx of climbers also results in ever-growing mountains of garbage on Everest. Feces, old ropes, and empty oxygen cylinders have now become an integral part of the once unique high-mountain scenery. While cleanup expeditions have already taken place, a long-term waste management plan that requires all expeditions to transport their garbage would be desirable.

In addition to the first ascents, Everest has also seen other innovative achievements. In 1975, Junko Tabei became the first woman to climb Everest, reaching it via the southeast ridge. In 1978, all previously accepted knowledge about the physiology of high-altitude mountaineering, as well as the definition of the term "by fair means," had to be rewritten when Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler reached the summit without artificial oxygen on May 8.

Since this groundbreaking achievement, many alpinists have believed that only ascents without bottled oxygen should be recognized—after all, the demands of using an oxygen mask are reduced to those of a seven-thousander. Two years later, Messner achieved his second major feat on the highest of all peaks: the first complete solo ascent, without artificial oxygen, and on a new route in the upper part of the North Face—surely the greatest achievement Everest has ever seen.

1852 British surveyors “discover” Mount Everest.

In 1865, the mountain was named Mount Everest – after the former director of the Survey of India , Sir George Everest . (Incidentally, Sir George pronounced his name like 'Iwrist'; nevertheless, the pronunciation "Everest" is established for the mountain today.) In Nepal, the mountain is called "Sagarmatha," and in Tibet, "Chomolungma" (German pronunciation "Tschomolangma"; English transliteration "Chomolungma") – which roughly translates to "Mother Goddess of the Earth."

08.06.1924 Mallory and Irvine disappear on the northeast ridge and remain missing until a search expedition finally discovers Mallory's body in 1999.

May 29, 1953 At 11:30 a.m., New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay are the first people to reach the summit of Everest via the southeast ridge.

May 25, 1960: The Chinese Wang Fuzhou, Gonbu, and Qu Yinhua succeed in making the first ascent from Tibet via the Northeast Ridge . However, Western chroniclers still doubt this success.

22.05.1963 The Americans Willi Unsoeld and Tom Hornbein make the first traverse by ascending via the west ridge and north face and descending via the southeast ridge.

May 16, 1975 The Japanese Junko Tabei is the first woman to reach the summit via the southeast ridge; eleven days later, the Tibetan Phantog is the first woman to reach the summit via the northeast ridge.

24.09.1975 As part of an expedition led by Chris Bonington, Dougal Haston and Doug Scott are the first to climb the southwest face above the Western Cwm.

May 8, 1978 Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler are the first to reach the summit without using bottled oxygen . New Zealander Lydia Bradey becomes the first woman to do so in 1988.

11.05.1978 Reinhard Karl is the first German to stand on Everest.

13.05.1979 The Yugoslavians Andrej Stremfelj and Jernej Zaplotnik open the most difficult route on Everest with the complete West Ridge.

February 17, 1980 The Poles Leszek Cichy and Krzysztof Wielicki are the first to succeed in winter ascent of Mount Everest.

August 20, 1980 Everest is conquered completely solo for the first time. Reinhold Messner uses no bottled oxygen and reaches the summit via a new route on the north flank.

08.10.1983 The Americans Kim Momb, Louis Reichardt and Carlos Buhler are the first to climb Everest via the Kangshung Face .

12.05.1988 A small expedition succeeds in climbing the Kangshung flank to the South Col.

11.05.1995 The Japanese Kiyoshi Furuno and Shigeki Imoto climb the entire northeast ridge for the first time with the Sherpas Dawa Tshering, Pasang and Nima.

07.10.2000 The Slovenian Davo Karnicar skis down Everest.

23.05.2001 The Frenchman Marco Siffredi succeeds in the first snowboard descent from the summit via the Norton Couloir on the north flank.

2004 A Russian expedition opens a new route through the North Face. On May 30, Pavel Shabalin, Ilya Tukvatullin, and Andrei Mariev reach the summit.

2008 On the occasion of the Summer Olympics in Beijing, the Olympic torch was carried to the summit by mountaineers from the Tibetan side on May 8, 2008. (As part of this, the road to the northern base camp in the Rongbuk Valley was paved; the mobile phone provider China Mobile installed three new transmission towers on Mount Everest in 2007 (at 5200, 5800, and 6500 meters). Before and during the torch-bearing ascent, the mountain was closed to all other climbers.)

2007 Professional adventurer Bear Grylls becomes the first person to successfully fly over Mount Everest with a paramotor.

2009 The South Koreans Park Young-Seok, Kang Ki-seok, Jin Jae-chang and Shin Dong-min open a new route on the southwest face.

In 2010, Jordan Romero, then 13 years old from the USA, made it to the top of Mount Everest. After his ascent, China set the minimum age for obtaining a permit at 16.

2014 Avalanche accident on the Khumbu Icefall kills 16 Sherpas – severe criticism of expedition practices.

2015 Earthquake in Nepal – Avalanche at base camp kills 22 people; season is canceled.

2019 Extreme crowding at the summit – several deaths due to traffic jams in the "death zone".

2020 Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Everest remains largely closed to commercial expeditions.

2023 New record – 479 climbing permits issued by Nepal alone.

2024 Garbage situation escalates – over 77 tons of waste are collected.