Category: Everest

Climbing News, Everest, Everest 2025 Coverage, Everest News, Everest Popular Posts

How Much Does it Cost to Climb Everest? – 2025 Edition

This post goes in-depth on your options and risks and provides an overview of the financial aspects of climbing Everest from either Nepal or Tibet. As we get closer to Everest 2025, I’ve updated my annual post, “How Much Does It Cost to Climb Mount Everest?” As I’ve said for years, the short answer is a car. Most people pay between $40,000 and $60,000, and some will pay as much as $200,000! Operators now compete either on price or luxuries and technologies. #everest2025

Climbing News, Everest, Everest 2025 Coverage, Everest News, Everest Popular Posts

Comparing the Routes of Everest – 2025 edition

Everest Routes

This another BIg Picture post before my annual coverage of Everest 2025. The season is still a few months away, and I’ll be posting several updates before the season officially begins in early April:

– Everest by the Numbers: 2025 Edition – A deep dive into Everest statistics as compiled by the Himalayan Database (posted December 16, 2024)
– Comparing the Routes of Everest: 2025 Edition – A detailed look at Everest’s commercial, standard and non-standard routes. (posted December 19, 2024)
– How Much Does it Cost to Climb Everest: 2025 Edition – My annual review of what it costs to climb Everest, solo, unsupported and guided.
– Everest 2025: Welcome to Everest 2025 Coverage – an introduction to the Everest 2025 Spring season.

2025 will be my 25th season of all things Everest: 19 times providing coverage, another four seasons of climbing on Everest, and two years attempting Lhotse.

This is an updated post of my annual “Comparing the Routes of Everest ” blog post. For 98% of all Everest climbers, the choice of routes is the Northeast (Tibet) and Southeast (Nepal) Ridges. For today’s commercial clients, all other routes are too dangerous, complicated, and not commercially guided. This post will examine the various routes and explore the most popular commercial through 2024.

Why do I do this? Well, one word: Alzheimer’s. I lost my mom, Ida, and four aunts to this disease, which changed my life forever. You can read more at this link. I hope you enjoy my coverage and donate to any of my selected non-profit partners or your preference as a tangible thank you. Of course, I never benefit financially from your donations. Just click on the button, which is always at the top right sidebar. #everest2025

Climbing News, Everest, Everest 2025 Coverage, Everest News, Everest Popular Posts

Everest by the Numbers: 2025 Edition

Everest summits thru 2024

Welcome to Everest 2025. The season is still a few months away, and I’ll be posting several Everest 2025 big-picture updates before the season officially begin in early April:

– 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-standard.
– How Much Does it Cost to Climb Everest: 2025 Edition – My annual review of what it costs to climb Everest, solo, unsupported and guided.
– Everest 2025: Welcome to Everest 2025 Coverage – an introduction to the Everest 2025 Spring season.

2025 will be my 25th season of all things Everest: 19 times providing coverage, another four seasons of climbing on Everest, and two years attempting Lhotse.

I’ve updated my annual “Everest by the Numbers” blog post. I looked at summit and death rates, the use of oxygen and its impact on summits and deaths, and disturbing trends like the increasing support for climb. I hope this is useful for everyone.

Why do I do this? Well, one word: Alzheimer’s. I lost my mom, Ida, and four aunts to this disease, which changed my life forever. You can read more at this link. I hope you enjoy my coverage and donate to any of my selected non-profit partners or your preference as a tangible thank you. Of course, I never benefit financially from your donations. Just click on this button, which is always at the top right sidebar. #everest2025

7 Summits, Climbing News, Everest

Podcast Series: 7 Summits Episode 10–Everest with Adrian Ballinger & Mike Hamill Interview

Welcome to my limited series on climbing the Seven Summits. For eight weeks, I’ll drop a new episode discussing one of the 7 Summits in detail. Today is Episode 10, Everest with special guests Adrian Ballinger, founder of Alpenglow and Mike Hamill, founder of Climbing the Seven Summits. #7summits

Mount Everest is the highest mountain in Asia and the world, at 29,031.69 feet or 8848.86 meters, making it the highest of the Seven Summits. With seemingly unlimited attraction, climbing Chomolungma has dramatically changed over the decades.

Stradling the border of China (Tibet) and Nepal, it grows by about 0.0063-0.021 inches or 0.16 to 0.53 millimeters annually due to the northward movement of the Indian tectonic plate and a “rebound” effect caused by merging rivers. Everest is so high that it juts into the jetstream, atmospheric winds that typically travel west to east at speeds ranging from 80 to 140 miles per hour but can accelerate up to 275 miles per hour.

Through January 2024, there have been 12,015 summits (5,907 members and 6,108 hired). In other words, more support climbers, primarily Sherpas, have summited than foreigners. Yet more foreigners, 200, have died on Everest than support climbers, 117.

It has become an economic powerhouse, attracting millions into the Nepal economy, an estimated 10% of GDP, through flights, hotels, taxis, restaurants, teahouses, yak herders and massive, dominating guiding enterprises. In 2024, 80% of the Everest summits were on Nepali-owned guide company teams, compared to 20% a decade earlier. However, with that dominance comes a downside: an all-time record 18 climbers died on Everest in 2022. Twenty-six people have died in the last two years climbing Everest; of that total, 23 were clients of Nepali operators. That’s 88% of the total for the two years.

In this last 7 Summits Podcast, I briefly overview the peak and then delve into several topics with guests Adrian Ballinger, founder of Alpenglow and Mike Hamill, founder of Climbing the Seven Summits.

All Episodes

Introduction
Mt. Kosciuszko, Australia – 7,310/2228m
Mt. Blanc, France/Italy – 15,771’/4807m
Vinson, Antarctica – 16,067/4897m
Carstensz Pyramid (Puncak Jaya), New Guinea – 16,023/4884m
Elbrus, Russia – 18,513/5642m
Kilimanjaro, Africa – 19,340/5896m
Denali, Alaska – 20,320/6194m
Aconcagua, Argentina – 22,902/6960m
Everest, Nepal/Tibet – 29,035/8850m

Climbing News, Everest

Remains thought to be Andrew ‘Sandy’ Irvine found on Everest

Photographer and filmmaker Jimmy Chin was leading a National Geographic team below the north face of Mount Everest in September when they discovered a boot and sock embroidered with “A.C. Irvine,” believed to belong to the lost mountaineer Andrew Comyn Irvine. PHOTOGRAPH BY NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC/ERICH ROEPKE

One of the most enduring mysteries of mountaineering, or perhaps in all sports, was the 1924 British expedition with George Mallory and Andrew Sandy Irvine. It’s most notable for whether they summited or not. If they did summit, that would precede Tenzing and Hilary by 29 years. Mallory’s body was found in 1999, but there was no proof that he died going up or coming down, thus the importance of finding the camera and potential photos of a summit.

Now we have more clues. This past Autumn 2024, a National Geographic team hoping to ski the Hornbein Couiler on the Tibet side of Everest had to abandon their project due to weather and timing. Instead, once they got home, they told the world that they discovered a leather hobnail boot containing what they thought was Sandy Irvine’s foot. An attached sock has a tag sewn onto it reading “A.C. Irvine.” They found it at the base of a glacier, where recent warm temperatures may have released its icy grip. They took a DNA sample for positive identification with the family’s permission.

Climbing News, Everest, Everest 2024 Coverage, Everest News, Everest Popular Posts, Interview

Everest 2024 Podcast: Ryan Mitchell on his Everest Summit–”Life Changing”

Ryan Mitchel Everest Summit

Massachusetts native 19-year-old Ryan Mitchell summited Mt. Everest on May 23, 2024! This extensive podcast discusses his experience from training to the summit and back home.

Ryan, a Summit Coach client, contacted me about a year ago, wanting advice and coaching on how to climb Everest in the Spring of 2022. He had little to no experience, so while I told him many companies would take his money and have him on Everest, the best approach would be to wait at least a year and gain the skills and experience it would take to make a safe attempt on the world’s highest peak. He agreed, and we’ve worked together for the past year.

In this podcast, Ryan explains how he funds his climbs, training approach, and “why.” We cover a lot of topics, including:

    1:22 – Was it hard? Was it fun?
    2:50 – How did you train to get the required experience?
    8:33 – What part of your training meant the most once on Everest?
   11:35 – You created a YouTube series documenting each day of the expedition.
   12:13 – What cameras did you use, and how did you keep the batteries warm?  
   18:50 – What other gear did well for you, like the down suit from Himali and your La Sportiva 8000-meter boots?
   20:11 – Discuss the trek from Lukla to Everest Base Camp
   21:32 – Did video logging distract you from the overall experience?
   23:12 –  Describe arriving at EBC and meeting the Sherpas for the first time.
   26:10 – How was climbing through the Icefall? 
   31:41 – How hot was the Western Cwm?
   33:00 – Did you ever get sick?
   34:45 – What were the climbing conditions on the Lhotse Face?
   40:10 – Did you experience severe crowding on Everest?
   41:42 – Describe the good and bad at the South Col.
   48:50 – Walk us through the Summit push.
   53:46 – Sunrise from Everest
   56:07 – How was the Hillary Step?
   59:10 – Seeing dead bodies
1:01:25 – What emotions did you feel on the summit?
1:06:36 – You had a fast climb back to C2. Why so fast?
1:09:30 – Were you happy when you finished your last trip through the icefall?
1:13:03 – How did it feel to arrive back home?
1:15:55 – What are one or two words or phrases describing your Everest journey?
1:17:30  – What’s next?
I know you will enjoy this.

#everest2024

#everest2024