Study rates chances of reaching Everest summit
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Kathmandu — Climbers tackling Mount Everest are twice as likely to make it to the summit and slightly less likely to die than two decades ago, despite a sharp increase in crowding in the “death zone”, a study released on Wednesday shows.
From 2006 to 2019, about two-thirds of climbers were successful in their attempt to reach the summit, compared with about a third in the preceding 15 years, according to the study by the University of Washington and the University of California, Davis.
The risk of dying on the mountain stood at 0.5% for women and 1.1% for men, down from 1.9% and 1.7% in 1990-2005, the study said.
The number of summit attempts has soared over the decades, leading to a fourfold rise in crowding. In 2019, 955 people attempted to reach the summit, up from 222 in 2000. The study showed that on a single day in May 2019, 396 climbers had gathered at the narrow route below the summit, known as the “death zone”.
Nine climbers died on Everest in May last year, making the season the deadliest since a 2015 earthquake that killed at least 18 people at the base camp.
A photograph of climbers waiting their turns to go up and descend from the summit at the single-roped narrow route went viral, although officials say the crowds were not the main reason for those deaths.
“Surprisingly, crowding has no evident effect on success or death during summit bids,” the study's abstract said.
However, it still exposes climbers to more danger.
“If crowding slows climbers (as is expected), this increases their exposure to the elements, which should increase risk of an accident or illness,” said Raymond B Huey, lead author of the report.
“Moreover, one unexpected storm, earthquake, or avalanche could be disastrous on a crowded route,” Huey told Reuters by email.
Climbers have voiced concern that Nepal was issuing permits to anyone willing to pay the $11,000 fee. Nepal plans to change climbing rules and make guides, fitness and experience of climbing a lower mountain mandatory for Everest to raise safety levels, said tourism department official Mira Acharya.
Nepal has opened its mountains for climbing after closing them due to the coronavirus pandemic, but Acharya said mountaineering was uncertain as international and domestic flights are yet to restart.
Mount Everest has been scaled by more than 6,000 climbers since it was first scaled by ...
From 2006 to 2019, about two-thirds of climbers were successful in their attempt to reach the summit, compared with about a third in the preceding 15 years, according to the study by the University of Washington and the University of California, Davis.
The risk of dying on the mountain stood at 0.5% for women and 1.1% for men, down from 1.9% and 1.7% in 1990-2005, the study said.
The number of summit attempts has soared over the decades, leading to a fourfold rise in crowding. In 2019, 955 people attempted to reach the summit, up from 222 in 2000. The study showed that on a single day in May 2019, 396 climbers had gathered at the narrow route below the summit, known as the “death zone”.
Nine climbers died on Everest in May last year, making the season the deadliest since a 2015 earthquake that killed at least 18 people at the base camp.
A photograph of climbers waiting their turns to go up and descend from the summit at the single-roped narrow route went viral, although officials say the crowds were not the main reason for those deaths.
“Surprisingly, crowding has no evident effect on success or death during summit bids,” the study's abstract said.
However, it still exposes climbers to more danger.
“If crowding slows climbers (as is expected), this increases their exposure to the elements, which should increase risk of an accident or illness,” said Raymond B Huey, lead author of the report.
“Moreover, one unexpected storm, earthquake, or avalanche could be disastrous on a crowded route,” Huey told Reuters by email.
Climbers have voiced concern that Nepal was issuing permits to anyone willing to pay the $11,000 fee. Nepal plans to change climbing rules and make guides, fitness and experience of climbing a lower mountain mandatory for Everest to raise safety levels, said tourism department official Mira Acharya.
Nepal has opened its mountains for climbing after closing them due to the coronavirus pandemic, but Acharya said mountaineering was uncertain as international and domestic flights are yet to restart.
Mount Everest has been scaled by more than 6,000 climbers since it was first scaled by ...