How Much Does it Cost to Climb Mount Everest? – 2024 Edition
As we get closer to Everest 2024, I’ve updated my annual post, “How Much Does It Cost to Climb Mount Everest?” Prices have risen on both sides, and there is price parity on the Tibet and Nepal sides. Also, I look at some of the most expensive options – it’s shocking!
Everest 2024 Podcast: Ryan Mitchell on how a 19-year-old can afford to climb Everest
How a 19-year-old can afford to climb Everest? Well, Ryan Mitchell, 19, living in central Massachusetts, explains how in this podcast.
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 there were many companies who 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 been working together for the past twelve months.
In this podcast, Ryan explains how he is funding his climbs, his training approach, and critically, is his “why”
#everest2024
The Best Guides for an 8000-Meter Mountain
We continue to see preventable deaths on the 8000-meter mountains. In this article, I’ll explore how they can be safely climbed, minimizing but never eliminating the risk of injury or death. To be clear, mountain climbing is dangerous whether you climb alone, with friends, are a sponsored professional or a client on a commercial team. If you don’t think you could die, you shouldn’t go.
It comes down to five basic principles: experience, leadership, judgment, risk management and personal responsibility. Let’s break them down.
Podcast with Adrian Ballinger, Alpenglow: Records, Rescues, Deaths and More
The past few months have been difficult in the mountaineering world. We have seen climbs on many 800ers that turned out tragically: Mohammed Hassan on K2, Anna Gutu, Migmar Sherpa, American Gina Marie Rzucidlo and Tenjen Lama Sherpa on Shishapangma. A few dramatic rescues and a neverending quest for records.
I turned to long-time alpinist Adrian Ballinger, co-founder of Alpenglow, to try and make sense of what’s going on, what can be done to prevent these seemingly preventable deaths and if the pursuit of records is worth the risks. We also discuss his return to Everest planned for 2024 after missing the last four seasons, due to China’s closure of their side of Everest.
Podcast with Jost Kobusch’s Winter 2023/24 Everest West Ridge Attempt
I caught up with German Alpinist Jost Kobusch, who now lives in Chamonix, France, to discuss his upcoming 2023/24 winter, no O’s, solo attempt of Everest’s West Ridge. No climber has reached the summit using this route and precise style. He will begin climbing on December 22, 2023, the beginning of the astronomical calendar winter. He will complete his climb no later than February 28, 2024. #everest2023 #everest2024
Nepal Increases Fees to Climb Everest
The long-rumored Everest permit fee increase will now happen for the 2025 season. The permit fee for a foreigner will increase from USD $ 11,000 to $15,000. For a Nepali citizen, it will be $568. The increase is still in the proposal phase but appears to be pre-approved. As always, wait to see as Nepal will often float news rules or fees, measure the reaction, and then pull back or never implement the idea if there is bad publicity that may hurt tourism revenue. #everest2024
Podcast with Author, Journalist Billi Bierling of the Himalayan Database
Close followers of mountaineering know the Himalayan Database and Ms. Elizabeth Hawley. Who you may not know is Billi Bierling who worked with Ms. Hawley since 2004 and continues her work today along with a small team in Kathmandu and the US.
Billi, born in the Bavarian Alpine resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, is a well-traveled journalist working primarily for Swiss Humanitarian Aid as a communications expert. She also writes mountaineering articles for German and English-speaking magazines, translates or writes books and leads mountain treks and expeditions in Nepal and around the world. And she climbs mountains, big mountains including Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Manaslu (fore summit) and Broad Peak – the latter three she summited without the help of supplemental oxygen.
Billi recently published a book, a memoir, Riding my Bike iN Kathmandu.
This in-depth podcast introduces us to Billi, her background in humanitarian work, her book and some of her climbs before discussing the changes we are seeing in the ever-commercialized world of mountaineering, especially in Nepal. Finally, we wrap up discussing the future of the Himalayan Database.
Grab a beverage or take a walk and please enjoy meeting Billi Bierling.
Everest 2023: Cho Oyu Summits and Everest Weather
Peak bagging season continues with summits on Tibet’s 8000ers. Look for some of the Annapurna summiteers to bag Makalu or Dhualagiri, then combo Everest and Lhotse. The weather is the wildcard this year if we see long lines like in 2019.
Big Picture
Teams are now scattered all over the Big Hill, working on their acclimatization, from EBC to Camp 3 just below the Lhotse Face. S spat of bad weather slowed some teams for a couple of days, but nothing serious. However, over on Dhaulagiri, reports from base camp note five feet of snow in the last few days. Carlos Soria must be quite nervous given this is his fourteenth at, and he’s 84 years old.
Everest 2023: Interview with Garrett Madison from Everest Base Camp
The #Everest2023 season is taking shape as teams continue to acclimatize with rotations to Camps 1 and 2, with some tagging Camp 3 at 23,000 feet or 7,000 meters. In this interview with Garrett Madison, founder of Madison Mountaineering from Everest Base Camp, we discuss the record permits, his acclimatization strategy, addressing the human waste problem, the long route through the Icefall and their attempt to summit the difficult and highly technical Nuptse. #everest2023
Everest 2023: American Dies at Camp 2
An American, Jonathan Sugarman, 69, died at Camp 2 on Everest on Tuesday, May 1, 2023. He was climbing with International Mountain Guides. The retired MD from the Seattle area trained diligently for the expedition and was feeling well. Last year, he summited Lobuche and Island Peak and reached Camp 3 on Everest. #everest2023