The Khumbu is busy. Base Camp is filling up. Climbers are posting selfies and are already acclimatizing at Camp 1. Everest 2025 is underway, but when will they summit?
Headlines
Teams are streaming into Everest Base Camp on the Nepal side. Many Western guides have arrived–Alpine Ascents International, Summit Climb, International Mountain Guides, Climbing the Seven Summits, Furtenbach Adventures, Madison Mountaineering, and Mountain Professionals—plus many Nepali companies, including 8K Expeditions, 14 Peaks Expeditions, Asian Trekking, Elite Expeditions, Imagine Nepal, Pioneer, Seven Summits Treks, Arun Treks, Ascent Himalaya, Climbalaya, Satori Adventures, and Thamserku.
Those headed to the Tibet side are finalizing plans and doing last-minute gear checks before they leave home. The trekking peaks, Island, Lobuche, and others are busy seeing Everest climbers summiting as a substitute for one rotation through the Khumbu Icefall, and others reaching their summit goals on those peaks on their own.
Climbing the Seven Summits provided an update as one of the first teams to send members to the Western Cwm to begin their acclimatization process: “Everest rotations underway! Our first team (Western Guided Team) has ascended to Camp 1 today, and they plan to tag camp 2 tomorrow.”
When Will They Summit?
As teams slowly make their way to their base camps, a common question asked every year is “When will they summit?” Of course, we never know for sure, but we can make a good guess by looking at the historical data from 1953 to 2024. The Himalayan Database is a treasure trove of data, but it takes some work to find what you want. I spent a bit, actually a lot, time looking at how many people summited each day from both sides, all routes. And there were a few surprises.
May Days!
The spring season accounts for 97.5% of all summits on Everest, 12,573 out of 12,884 total, while summer and winter are less than 2.5% combined. Autumn is the second most popular season, but it has only seen 287 summits, or 2%.
The real action occurs on both sides during the third week of May, every year. Specifically, 81.5% of all Everest summits occur between the 15th and the 27th of May. Slicing even finer, May 19-25 sees 57% of the May summits AND May 23rd is THE day when climbing from Tibet and Nepal with 12% of all 12,884 summits.
Other Days
We know that Everest has been summited in all seasons; however, you define “seasons” 🙂
Remember that climbing from the Nepal side effectively ends at the end of May as summer approaches, it gets hotter, and the monsoon moves in with heavy rain and snow so the Icefall Doctors stop maintaining the route through the Khumbu Icefall. It becomes too dangerous to climb as the Icefall becomes even more unstable. However, since there is no equivalent Khumbu Icefall on the Tibet side, climbers can continue climbing into June or until the monsoon hits that side. As a result, we see summits as late as June 14 on the north side.
Summer is miserable, with heavy snow up high and sweltering monsoonal rain down low. As a result, there are few summer summits—only nine ever! However, there are a few days that seem to be significant in the Autumn. Around mid-October, there is a spike on the Nepal side and slightly earlier on the Tibet side.
For the Visual Readers
This chart shows all the days when all the Everest summits occurred.
So as you can see, summits occur often on Everest, but there are a few “auspicious” days. A few more trivia items for you:
- Everest has been summited on 86 different days of the year: 48 from Tibet and 74 from Nepal
- 29 May – the first summit of Everest in 1953
- 17 February is the earliest, or latest, day that had a summit.
- 28 December is the latest, or earliest, day that had a summit
- There has never been a summit in January, March, or July.
- May 11 – 12 people died when a storm took them by surprise
- April 18 – 17 Sherpas were killed when a serac released onto the Icefall.
- April 25 – 19 people died at base camp when an earthquake caused an avalanche
For those of you looking to set a record, here’s your chance – an Everest summit in January or July or…. 🙂 Oh, and without Os!
Everest Deaths
- March 30–Lanima Sherpa, 55, reportedly died due to high-altitude sickness at EBC. No team identified.
Nepal Permit Update
Across fifteen of Nepal’s climbing peaks, through April 9, 2025, the Ministry of Tourism collected USD 1.8 million in royalties, with Everest accounting for USD 1.47 million. This is the 2025 tally for the 8000ers:
| 8000er | Teams | Male Clients | Female Clients | Total |
| Annapurna I | 6 | 49 | 17 | 66 |
| Cho Oyu | – | – | – | – |
| Dhaulagiri | – | – | – | – |
| Everest | 14 | 107 | 27 | 134 |
| Kanchenjunga | 5 | 21 | 14 | 35 |
| Lhotse | 3 | 25 | 5 | 30 |
| Makalu | 3 | 33 | 7 | 40 |
| Manaslu | – | – | – | – |
| TOTALS | 31 | 235 | 70 | 305 |
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Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything
The Podcast on alanarnette.com
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Previous Everest 2025 Season Coverage Posts
- Everest 2025: When Will They Summit?
- Everest 2025: Weekend Update April 20–Base Camp Sprawl
- Everest 2025: April 18, A Day to Remember
- Annapurna 2025: Podcast with John Black on Sherpa Deaths
- Everest 2025: Weekend Update April 11
- Annapurna 2025: Summit and Missing Sherpas
- Everest 2025: Weekend Update April 6
- Annapurna 2025: Risky Decisions – April 5 Update
- Everest 2025: Weekend Update March 30
- Everest 2025: Weekend Update March 23
- Everest 2025: Welcome to Everest 2025 Coverage – an introduction to the Everest 2025 Spring season
- Everest by the Numbers: 2025 Edition – A deep dive into Everest statistics as compiled by the Himalayan Database
- Comparing the Routes of Everest: 2025 Edition – A detailed look at Everest’s routes, commercial, standard and non-standardHow Much Does it Cost to Climb Everest: 2025 Edition – My annual review of what it costs to climb Everest solo, unsupported, and guided
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