It has been a busy week for Mount Everest.
Last Thursday (May 22) a record 86 mountaineers reached the 8,848m (29,029ft) summit of the world’s highest mountain. Among them is 47-year-old Appa Sherpa, who broke his own record for the most ascents after climbing the mountain for the 18th time. [BBC]
Bahadur Sherchan, a 76-year-old Nepalese man, has become the oldest person to conquer the mountain. He broke the record on Sunday (May 25) previously held by Japanese Katsusuke Yanagisawa, who climbed the mountain at age of 71 in May 2007.
The youngest Everest conqueror is Ming Kipa Sherpa who made it to the top in May 2003 when she was 15. Yes, a SHE. [Guardian]
Today (May 29) is the 55th anniversary of the first successful ascent to Everest summit. New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Sherpa Tenzing Norgay were the first to reach the peak in 1953.
when a person or a group of people want to go climb mt everest, do they just go and do it? how do people know if they’ve really done it?
Set aside the fees and preparations… it’s pretty much just go and do it. I am not sure who is keeping the records and how they track it, but these days the ascent is being documented somehow.
There are controversies in the old days one whether the mountaineers had made it as claimed (even Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay were doubted at some point), but in recent decades… dozens of mountaineers are climbing the mt daily during the open season, and the peak is actually visible with modern binoculars… it’s a bit difficult to lie I guess.