One by one all the famous summiteers have left. They had gathered in the mythical city of Kathmandu from across the globe to celebrate the conquest of 8,850-meter high Mount Everest 50 years ago on May 29, 1953 by Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary.

The golden jubilee program reached its culmination on May 29th with Nepal’s King Gyanendra offering honorary citizenship to Sir Hillary, while Crown Prince Paras decorated them with accolades as commanded by His Majesty the King.

The gathering of more than 300 foreign summiteers from across the globe attracted nearly an equal number of print, television and radio journalists bringing Nepal to the center of the global media galore. The presence of over 300 Sherpas, among which were the 13th-time climber, youngest climber, fastest climber and oldest climber, added icing to the celebrations.

Everest Facts

Mount Everest has been successfully climbed 1794 times by 1350 people from 80 countries. According to official records 176 people from 65 countries have lost their lives on the trail to Mt. Everest. The golden jubilee was celebrated to pay tribute to all those successful and unsuccessful heroes.

This is a significant year in the history of mountaineering because it completed 50 years since the first human ascent of the tallest peak on the surface of the earth. This year has seen the largest number of expeditions and the largest number of successful climbs. Many old records were broken and new ones were created.

There were altogether 47 expeditions this year from both the Nepali and Tibetan sides, and 147 climbers successfully reached the summit. Not only the largest and fastest, but also the youngest and oldest climbers’ records were broken. New records of three sisters climbing together, father and son team climbing together and the 13th-time climb were also established.

A Long Journey

Each serious expedition from the Nepal side or the West Ridge route takes around 45 to 60 days to reach the summit and come back safely to Base Camp at 5,400 meters. The expeditions begin with a flight from Nepal’s capital city, Kathmandu, to a tiny airfield in Lukla, the gateway to Everest.  Slowly, the expedition members walk to Base Camp, a journey that lasts anywhere between 15 to 20 days. Once at Base Camp they spend around 10 to 15 days to fully acclimatize themselves before they begin the expedition to the summit of Everest.

The acclimatization process is very important for the majority of western climbers as well as for some Sherpas. Although Sherpas come from high altitude regions, some of them still need to be acclimatized to prevent any unpleasant accidents. The same applies to western climbers who technically train themselves in South America, Africa, Alaska and Nepal but still need to acclimatize on the foothills of Mt. Everest. In the second week of May this year, a 54-year-old Indian died at Namchebazar, which is at 3,340 meters. Namchebazar is the second stop from Lukla.

Everest’s Heroes Speak

Ming Kipa Sherpa, a Sherpa girl from Makalu village in Sankhuwasabha, broke the record of Temba Tshiri Sherpa as youngest climber on May 22, 2003. She was only 15 years and nine months old when she climbed Mt. Everest from the Tibetan side. Temba Tshiri Sherpa was 16 years and 17 days when he climbed Everest in May 2001 from the Nepali side.

Lakpa Gelu Sherpa, a 35-year-old alpine porter, broke this year’s May 22 fastest climb record set by Pemba Dorje Sherpa, when he managed to reach the top of Mount Everest in 10 hours, 56 minutes and 40 seconds on May 25. Pemba Dorje Sherpa had climbed the peak in 12 hours and 40 minutes.  Pemba claims that he can do it faster next time.

The record of 65-year-old Japanese climber Tomiyasu Ishikawa, who climbed Mt. Everest in 2002, was broken by another Japanese this year. Yuichiro Miura, a 70-year-old schoolteacher and a professional skier from Sapporo, Japan, broke the record of oldest climber. On May 22 he reached the peak with his Olympic skiing champion son, Goto Miura. Together they also set the record of father and son team reaching the summit at the same time and day.

“Climbing Mt. Everest was a challenge to me because of my age,” said Miura. Bad weather conditions and hard wind delayed their ascent, but both father and son looked perfectly healthy and enjoyed the media attention.

“Physical and mental toughness of the climbers, a good climbing team of Sherpas and climbing guides are other essential factors besides your good health,” added Miura.

While on the Everest trail, Ming Kipa Sherpa, the youngest climber to step on the summit did not know whether she would die or survive and what was waiting for her ahead. These thoughts occurred in her young mind as she struggled towards the summit.

“I could not see anything in front or behind and the dead bodies scattered around the trail scare you,” said Ming Kipa. “But once on top I felt like flying.”

That day two of her sisters and one brother were with her. Her sisters, 29-year-old Lhakpa Sherpa and 24-year-old Mingma Galu Sherpa, have climbed Mount Everest three times and one time respectively. They are seven sisters and three brothers in all, and they all aspire to be climbers.

“If we Sherpas stop climbing Mt. Everest, then who would?” they confess in unison.

Reinhold Messner, 59, the first Western climber to reach the peak without the help of a fixed tent in a solo expedition and without artificial oxygen in 1980, feels bitter about the increasing commercialization of the world’s tallest mountain. He opines that the government of Nepal should check the crowd as Everest is losing its charm.

“In climbing, what counts the most is your experience and your determination to succeed,” said Messner, who is currently a Member of the Italian Parliament. “There are 15 routes to reach the summit, but it is important to go through a known route. You will be slow without artificial oxygen. Climbing without oxygen is not so much a challenge, but the question is your experience. You have to be an experienced climber to take the risk of climbing without oxygen.”

Another seasoned climber, Tashi Tenzing, the 38 year old grand son of Tenzing Norgay says, “It is necessary to remain at 8,000 meters for a couple of times for the climbers to get used to the weather.” Tenzing climbed Mount Everest in 1997 and 2002.

Imam Gurung is a mountaineering instructor affiliated with the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA), which runs a mountaineering training school in Manang. Talking about the health conditions of climbers he said that they must be strong and they should have high tolerance for altitude.

“Climbers should digest the altitude,” said Imam.  He says that the climbers feel colder without the artificial oxygen and they become slow. The climbers themselves are the best to assess whether or not they are suffering from altitude sickness. Those who do suffer of the sickness must immediately descend to 500 meters and spend a minimum of two nights at that altitude to recover.

Appa Sherpa, 42 years old and a father of four, broke his own record when he climbed the highest mountain for the 13th time on May 27th. He has also climbed Everest four times without the help of artificial oxygen. He has spent over three hours on the summit on a sunny day and uses oxygen only above 8,000 meters. 

Talking about their food, Appa says that the Sherpas prefer to eat their own local food like a hot potato soup mixed with lots of chili, garlic and timmur, a local spice.

“Actually you have a craving for these things up there,” said Appa. “Our food and foreigners’ food are quite different on the way to Mt. Everest".

Climbers like Appa, Temba Tshiri and others suggest that one must be slim, avoid drinking too much and avoid smoking completely to keep oneself fit for the arduous climb. Be careful about fresh snow and working too intensely during the climb, they suggest.

In their bag they take around 12 to 20 kg weight for the final assault to Mt. Everest. They carry a two-liter bottle of hot water, 3 bottles of oxygen weighing 3 kg each, extra gloves, a camera, chocolate and a torch.

New Findings on Altitude Illness

Apart from all these theories and personal hypotheses, Dr. Buddha Basnyat, a high altitude physician studying high altitude illness says, “It is easy for old and young people to climb as they have very little chance of getting altitude sickness.”

Dr. Basnyat has just published a research paper in the British medical journal, Lancet, in which he argues that, “brain swelling takes place at high altitudes whether you are sick or not.”

According to Dr. Basnyat and David R. Murdoch, “old people suffer from brain atrophy, thus there is enough space for their brain to swell when they ascend to high altitudes and they don’t get sick like other people.”

Also the same is speculated to be true in the case of children. “Their brain is not fully developed and there is space for the brain to swell at high altitudes.”

“The brain cavity is like a trunk, I repeat not like a suitcase but a trunk, so when people go to high altitudes and the brain swells due to lack of oxygen, the swelling brain pushes on important structures of the trunk and people get sick,” said Dr. Basnyat. 

“People with small brain size have no problem with climbing and they do not get altitude sickness so easily,” he added.

Another reason for altitude sickness is human nature, he argues. Old people get naturally slow at high altitude but the young and the energetic want to push a bit too much and fall prey to high altitude sickness. Inexperienced people tire themselves with unnecessary show of strength and fall sick and die.

Low oxygen and unreasonable environment have ill effects on health. The aged also compensate the loss of their strength by taking things easy, climbing slowly as the altitude sucks them of their confidence and strength.

Climbing is safer today

People like Messner and Sir Hillary say that climbing has become much easier today with the evolution of new technologies of climbing accessories and weather forecast technology, which are very important for a successful climb. But they do agree that above all is the self-determination to succeed, which emerging scientific findings supports.

Despite the relative ease in climbing the summit, people like Messner and Sir Hillary want to see expeditions limited to one or two each season. The government, however, on its part has relaxed the preconditions to apply for a permit. Until a year ago it was mandatory for aspiring climbers to submit a recommendation letter from their alpine clubs, but today what they need to gain the government’s approval is only a royalty fee of US$ 25,000.00 (twenty-five thousand) for a one man expedition and an additional amount of US$ 10,000.00 (ten thousand) with each additional member. 

Casualties on the way to the Everest summit have declined over the years, but many climbers opine that reducing the number of expeditions would further reduce the risk that results from a long wait at the summit while ascending climbers stand in queue to reach the top at the same time.

• High altitude Illness by Buddha Basnyat, David R. Murdoch – Lancet May 28, 2003

• Celebrating Everest – Lancet Commentary by David Sharp – May 28, 2003

• www.tourism.gov.np - home page of Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation.

Prakash Khanal is a Nepali science and environmental journalist and former editor of RONAST Science Features as well as General Secretary of the Science Writers Association of Nepal. You can reach him at: freeway@mos.com.np.  

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