2018 Marked Record Number of Everest Summits

Everest as seen from the Nepali side. Wikipedia photo.

Today, the Nepali Department of Tourism released official data on the 2018 Everest climbing season. The heavily regulated mountain saw a record number of ascents, with 563 people successfully reaching the summit from Nepal. Official numbers from other routes on the mountain have not been released, but an estimated 150 climbers summitted from Tibet.

This year’s climbing season had an uncharacteristically long weather window, lasting from May 13 to May 24, allowing climbers from 39 different countries to reach the top. The first summit was on May 13 by a team of rope-fixing Sherpas and guides. Among the total climbers were 511 males and 52 females, including 18 Nepali women. Five deaths were recorded.

Since its first ascent in 1953 by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary, the mountain has seen nearly 6000 ascents.

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The climbing was also not without controversy and some weird stunts, as evidenced by the fact that two skiers involved in a scientific study were nearly banned from the mountain for skiing down the Lhotse face without a proper permit. Sherpas rallied to support the team, who were led by noted guide Willie Benegas, and were ultimately granted permission to stay and continue their ascent.

In a publicity stunt by ASK.fm, climbers left a package containing $50,000 in cryptocurrency on the summit.

The mountain has become ever more accessible, and we will surely continue to see record numbers atop the highest point on Earth in coming years. 

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stash member Max Ritter

I manage digital content here at TGR, run our gear testing program, and am stoked to be living the dream in the Tetons.