Everest
Edited by:
Massimo Martini
Access
Everest is tackled from two main sides, each with its own logistics and permit system: the Nepalese side, with the standard route up the south-east ridge, and the Tibetan side, which ascends the north-east ridge. Both routes take place entirely at high altitude and require progression through a series of camps — typically four in addition to base camp — with acclimatisation stops lasting a total of six to eight weeks. On the Nepalese side, the most critical section is the serac field on the Khumbu Glacier, which is prone to crevasses and rockfalls; on the north face, the most challenging section consists of the three rocky steps of the north-east ridge, where the use of fixed ropes is now well established. Both standard routes are rated PD in difficulty, but the extreme altitude, the scarcity of oxygen above 8,000 metres and the weather conditions make every ascent an exceptionally challenging feat.
Introduction
At 8,849 metres, Everest is the highest peak on Earth. It rises on the border between Nepal and Tibet (China), in the central section of the Himalayan range, between the Solukhumbu district to the south and Shigatse Prefecture to the north. It is shaped like a three-sided pyramid, with three faces — north, east and south-west — separated by three ridges, of which the south-east and north-east ridges form the two historic ascent routes. The universally recognised name was introduced in 1865 by the British surveyor Andrew Waugh in honour of his predecessor, Sir George Everest; the Tibetan name Chomolungma, ‘mother of the universe’, and the Nepalese name Sagarmatha remain the names most deeply rooted among the local populations. The first ascent, on 29 May 1953, by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay remains one of the defining events of twentieth-century mountaineering. At 8,849 metres above sea level,Everest is the highest peak on Earth. It rises on the border between Nepal and Tibet (China) in the central section of the Himalayan range, at the junction between Solukhumbu District to the south and Shigatse Prefecture to the north. It is shaped like a three-sided pyramid, with three main faces — north, east and south-west — separated by three ridges, of which the south-east and north-east ridges constitute the two historic ascent routes. The name by which the mountain is universally known was introduced in 1865 by the British surveyor Andrew Waugh in honour of his predecessor Sir George Everest, who was in charge of the Great Trigonometric Survey of India; the Tibetan name Chomolungma, ‘mother of the universe’, and the Nepali name Sagarmatha, ‘god of the sky’, remain the names most deeply rooted among the local populations. The peak had already been known as ‘Peak XV’ since 1852, when the mathematician Radhanath Sikdar, whilst analysing data from the Survey of India, first identified it as the highest point on Earth. The first ascent was made on 29 May 1953 by the New Zealander Edmund Hillary and the Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, as part of the British expedition led by Colonel John Hunt; the success was announced to coincide with the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, immediately becoming an event of global historical significance. In 1978, Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler made the first ascent without supplementary oxygen, and in 1980 Messner returned to the summit alone, via a new route on the north face, again without oxygen: two of the most significant mountaineering feats of the twentieth century.
Description
Mount Everest occupies a central position amongst the world’s highest peaks. On the Nepalese side, it overlooks the Khumbu Glacier, which descends towards the village of Namche Bazaar, the main commercial centre of the Sherpa region; the border between Nepal and China runs along the western and south-eastern ridges, meaning that only the south-western face lies entirely within Nepal, whilst the northern and eastern faces fall within the Chinese territory of Tibet. To the west, the Lho La Pass (6,026 m) connects it to Khumbutse; to the east, the South Col (7,906 m) separates it from Lhotse, the fourth-highest peak on Earth; to the north, the North Col (7,066 m) links it to Changtse. The three glaciers that drain its slopes — the Khumbu to the south-west, the Rongbuk to the north and the Kangshung to the east — form part of the Himalayan-Tibetan ice system, the third-largest ice reservoir on the planet, comprising some 15,000 glaciers.
Geologically, the mountain reflects the orogenic history of the entire range, resulting from the collision between the Indian and Eurasian plates that began around 50 million years ago and is still ongoing. The summit and upper slopes, above 8,600 m, are formed by the Qomolangma Formation, a metamorphic limestone of marine origin dating from the Palaeozoic era — evidence of the ancient seabed of the Tethys Ocean; between 7,000 and 8,600 metres, the Everest Formation outcrops, consisting of marbles, phyllites and semi-schists; below 7,000 metres lies the Rongbuk Formation, comprising schists, gneisses and leucogranitic intrusions, separated from the others by regional faults known as the ‘Qomolangma detachment’ and the ‘Lhotse detachment’. Tectonic uplift, which is still active, raises the summit by a few millimetres a year; the 2015 earthquake altered the morphology of certain sections of the ridge, including the Hillary Step, which was transformed from a vertical rock face into a snowy ramp. At the foot of the mountain, in Sagarmatha National Park, species emblematic of the Himalayas live, such as the snow leopard (Panthera uncia), the musk deer (Moschus chrysogaster), the wild yak (Bos mutus) and the red panda (Ailurus fulgens); the park is also home to 118 species of birds and 26 species of butterflies, with vegetation ranging from rhododendron and juniper forests to alpine meadows, right up to lichens and mosses that extend to around 5,750 metres.
The first surveys date back to the 1921 British expedition, led by Charles Howard-Bury, who identified the north face as the main access route. In 1922, George Finch and Geoffrey Bruce reached 8,321 metres using supplementary oxygen for the first time, on an expedition marred by the death of seven Sherpa porters in an avalanche. The year 1924 remained a legendary and unresolved chapter: George Mallory and Andrew Irvine disappeared on 8 June during their final attempt, last seen less than 300 metres from the summit; Mallory’s body was not found until 1999, without the camera that might have resolved the doubt as to whether they had reached the summit. After the Second World War, Nepal opened its borders to foreign expeditions: in 1952, the Swiss climbers Tenzing Norgay and Raymond Lambert reached 8,595 metres, about 250 metres from the summit, but were forced to turn back when their oxygen supplies ran out. Success came the following year — on 29 May 1953, at 11.30 am, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit via the south-east ridge, remaining there for about fifteen minutes; the expedition, organised by the Joint Himalayan Committee, was announced to coincide with the coronation of Elizabeth II. In the years that followed, the number of ascents increased: in 1960, a Chinese expedition made the first ascent via the north face; in 1963, the Americans Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld completed the first traverse of the mountain; in 1973, Guido Monzino’s Italian expedition took five mountaineers to the summit; in 1975, a Japanese climber, Junko Tabei, became the first woman to reach it. On 8 May 1978, Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler made the first ascent without supplementary oxygen, proving possible what high-altitude medicine had deemed impossible; in August 1980, Messner returned to the summit alone, via the north face, again without oxygen — the first ever solo ascent of the mountain. The first winter ascent, on 17 February 1980, was made by the Poles Krzysztof Wielicki and Leszek Cichy, making Everest the first eight-thousander to be climbed in winter.
For the Sherpa people of the Khumbu region, the mountain remains a place of profound spiritual significance: Chomolungma is not simply a peak to be reached, but a sacred presence, and traditional expeditions still begin with a puja, a blessing ceremony officiated by a Buddhist lama at base camp. Some mountaineers, out of respect for the home of the gods, traditionally stop one metre below the actual summit. The contribution of the Sherpa porters — transport, setting up camps, managing fixed ropes, and rescue operations — was indispensable to every expedition of the twentieth century; following the first ascent, Edmund Hillary devoted much of his life to founding theHimalayan Trust, which has funded schools, hospitals and bridges for the Sherpa communities. Since the 1990s, commercial expeditions have transformed the approach to the mountain: in 1996, a snowstorm during a bottleneck on the ridge claimed the lives of eight mountaineers, an episode recounted in Jon Krakauer’s book Into Thin Air; codes of conduct and overcrowding remain a subject of ongoing debate within the international mountaineering community. The fatality rate, estimated at around one in forty attempts in recent seasons, remains among the highest of the eight-thousanders; Over 6,000 mountaineers had reached the summit by the end of 2024, many of them multiple times — the record of twenty-one ascents each is shared by the Sherpas Apa Sherpa and Phurba Tashi.
There are no permanent structures on the summit: the limited space at the top, seasonal traffic and extreme conditions have never allowed for the installation of a permanent structure. On 29 May 1953, Hillary and Norgay buried some sweets in the snow and planted a small cross there, a gesture that remained purely symbolic and temporary, not a lasting structure; today, climbers occasionally leave Buddhist prayer flags, which are also ephemeral. On their return to the valley, according to a frequently cited anecdote, Hillary turned to his expedition partner George Lowe and said, “we knocked the bastard off” — “we’ve done it in”, referring to the mountain — which has become one of the most famous quotes in the history of mountaineering due to the contrast between the informality of the phrase and the historical significance of the event.
Information
Information
Elevation: 8,849 m §
Prominence: 8,849 m (maximum absolute prominence: no higher point on Earth)
Mountain range: Central Himalayas (Mahalangur Himal)
Alternative name: Sagarmatha (नेपाली) (Nepali), Chomolungma (བོད་སྐད) (Tibetan), Peak XV (historical)
First ascent: 29 May 1953
First ascenders: Edmund Hillary, Tenzing Norgay
First winter ascent: 17 February 1980
First winter ascenders: Krzysztof Wielicki, Leszek Cichy
Summit logbook: none
Non-European information
Climbing permit: Government of Nepal, approximately 11,000 USD per climber (spring season); China restricts access from the north face to groups authorised via specialist agencies
protected area / national park: Sagarmatha National Park (Nepal, established 1976, UNESCO since 1979); Qomolangma National Nature Reserve (China)
guide or agency compulsory: yes on the Tibetan side (authorised agencies); not legally compulsory on the Nepalese side, but almost universally required
regulated opening period: no formal closure — actual seasonal windows April–May and September–October
Ascent routes
from South Base Camp (5,364m), Khumbu Glacier and South Col – PD – 6–8 weeks (including acclimatisation) – (3,485 mD+) (normal route, Nepalese side;)
from North Base Camp (5,200 m), North Col and north-east ridge – PD+ – 6–8 weeks – (3,649mD+) (Tibetan side)
south-west face, British route (1975) – ED – technical ascent on mixed terrain
east face (Kangshung), American route (1983) – ED – a highly difficult route on mixed terrain and ice
Support points
Pyramid International Laboratory and Observatory (5,050 m) — permanent Italian research station on the Nepalese side
Khumbu Lodge, South Base Camp (5,364 m) — seasonal base camp
Traverses
Everest–Lhotse traverse