| Year | Summiters | Reference(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 547 | [1] |
| 2013 | 658 | [2] |
| 2014 | 106 | [3] |
| 2015 | 0 | [4] |
| 2016 | 641 | [5] |
Mount Everest climbing season included 245 summits on May 19, 2012, a record number of summits on a single day.[6] It would take seven more years to break this record. This added congestion resulted in the highest fatality total since 1996.[7] 683 climbers from 34 countries attempted to climb the mountain, and 547 people summited.[8] A record was set in May when 234 climbers summitted on a single day.[9] There were 11 deaths, some of which were attributed to overcrowding near the peak.[10]
Mountaineering season
editIn addition to an increase in mountaineers compared to previous decades, the success rate for expeditions increased.[11] There was a 56 percent success rate in summit attempts in 2012, compared to 24 percent in 2000. 547 people reached the summit, compared to 72 in 1990 and 145 in 2000.[1] Amongst those who summited in 2012 was Vanessa O'Brien who completed the Explorers Grand Slam.
The difficult decisions made during the climbing season were highlighted by the departure of guiding company Himex from the mountain after concerns about a hanging serac in the Khumbu icefall. Two years later, 16 Nepalese guides were killed when ice broke from the serac and created an avalanche.[12]
In 2012 Montana State University conducted a scientific expedition to Everest. The Everest Education Expedition studied the geology of the Everest massif which includes Everest-Nuptse-Lhotse-Khumbutse, and advanced the state of mineralogy, strain, and predicted rock ages. Of interest was the fossil-bearing limestone that crowns Mount Everest, the nature and impact of ice in the region (such as the icefall), and the overall stratigraphy (including limestone, metamorphic rocks, pelites, and quartzites).[13]
In May, Tamae Watanabe became the oldest woman to reach the summit, at the age of 73. She broke her own record, set in 2002 at the age of 63. The retired office worker lives at the base of Mount Fuji, and had climbed many other peaks including Denali, the Eiger, and Lhotse. She climbed with a group of four, and beat a competing 72-year-old woman who was trying for the same record.[14]
The Guinness Book of World Records states that 234 climbers summited on one day in 2012.[15] However, it was one of the deadliest seasons since 1996, with 11 climbers dying on Everest in the spring.[16]
Fatalities
editThe death of Canadian climber Shriya Shah-Klorfine in May made headlines and fed a debate about whether inexperienced climbers should climb Mount Everest. Issues of overcrowding and unqualified guides were also raised.[17][18] Although Shah-Klorfine did manage to summit, she did not survive the descent.[18][19] Questions were raised about her lack of previous mountaineering experience, as Everest was reportedly her first mountain climb. The guiding company she employed had reportedly never guided a climber to the summit before.[20] Other factors involved overcrowding on the mountain,[21] a late summit bid, and insufficient bottled oxygen.[22] The company alleges that she ignored instructions to turn around and earlier recommendations to not attempt the climb due to her lack of climbing skills.[23]
Four people, including Shah-Klorfine, died on Saturday May 19, 2012. Conditions on the mountain were described as overcrowded.[24]
| 2012 fatalities | |
|---|---|
| Deaths[25] | Nation[25] |
| Ralf Dieter Arnold |  Germany
|
| Juan Jose Polo Carbayo |  Spain
|
| Karsang Namgyal |  Nepal
|
| Ramesh Gulave |  India
|
| Namgyal Tshering | Nepal
|
| Dawa Tenzing | Nepal
|
| Wen-Yi Ha |  China
|
| Eberhard Schaaf | Germany
|
| Shriya Shah-Klorfine |  Canada
|
| Won-Bin Song |  South Korea
|
| Milan Sedlacek* |  Czech Republic
|
| Temba Sherpa*[26] | Nepal
|
| *Lhotse fatality | |
References
edit- ^ a b "Everest Maxed Out". ngm.nationalgeographic.com. Archived from the original on June 7, 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
- ^ "Everest 2013: Season Recap: Summits, Records and Fights". alanarnette.com. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
- ^ "Everest 2014: Season Summary - A Nepal Tragedy". alanarnette.com. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
- ^ Peter Holley (12 January 2016). "The Washington Post - For the first time in four decades, nobody made it to the top of Mount Everest last year". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
- ^ "Everest by the Numbers: 2022 Edition | The Blog on alanarnette.com". www.alanarnette.com. December 13, 2021.
- ^ "Dangerous Heights". Reuters. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
- ^ Germany, SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg (5 October 2012). "Congestion in the Death Zone: The Story Behind another Deadly Year on Everest - SPIEGEL ONLINE - International". Der Spiegel. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Everest Maxed Out". National Geographic. Archived from the original on June 7, 2013. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ Kelly, Jon (2013-05-28). "Everest crowds: The world's highest traffic jam". BBC News. Retrieved 2017-05-30.
- ^ Eberle, Lukas (5 October 2012). "Mount Everest Records Deadliest Year in over a Decade". Der Spiegel.
- ^ "Everest Maxed Out". Archived from the original on June 7, 2013. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
- ^ "Death and Anger on Everest". The New Yorker. 2014-04-21. Retrieved 2017-06-11.
- ^ "Montana State University - Everest Education Expedition - Scientific Research". montana.edu. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ Julian Ryall (21 May 2012). "73-year-old becomes oldest woman to climb Mount Everest". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ "Highest mountain | Guinness World Records".
- ^ Lukas Eberle (5 October 2012). "Congestion in the Death Zone: The Story Behind another Deadly Year on Everest". Der Spiegel.
- ^ Grayson Schaffer (24 April 2014). "Five myths about Mount Everest". Washington Post. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ a b "Canadian Everest victim used inexperienced company, lacked oxygen". CBC. 14 September 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ Barbara Amiel. "The lure, and the cruelty, of Mount Everest". Macleans. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
- ^ "More details, and blame, in the death of Canadian Everest victim - Macleans.ca". Macleans.ca. 2012-09-14. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
- ^ "'Save me' last words of Mount Everest climber". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-06-03.
- ^ "EXCLUSIVE | Canadian Everest victim used inexperienced company, lacked oxygen". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
- ^ "More details, and blame, in the death of Canadian Everest victim - Macleans.ca". Macleans.ca. 2012-09-14. Retrieved 2017-06-03.
- ^ "'Save me' last words of Mount Everest climber". CBC News. Retrieved 2017-07-14.
- ^ a b "Deaths - Spring 2012". The Himalayan Database. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
- ^ "Himalayan Database Expedition Archives of Elizabeth Hawley".