54 Summit Everest in One Day

[slothrop]

Dude, you're the only one here who can read that. Does Icelandic for "Australia" sound like "Australia" somehow?

[nolanr]

I went to a slide show by Ed Viesturs a while ago, and I asked him if he thought things had changed any since '96. He said not really. 55 people on the summit in one day? What a frickin' zoo. If conditions had deteriorated rapidly, it would've been just like '96 all over again, too many people up there, bottle necks at certain parts of the routes, take too long to retreat off the mountain. When are they going to install a gondola to the top like those industrious Europeans have done in the Alps?

[Teogo]

I wonder how many of those "climbers" were on commercial expeditions? Reminds of that George Lowe quote; "I'd rather not climb with people who are paid to take risks on my behalf...If you can't climb the mountain on your own you really have to look at your motivation."

[EV]

Below is an article I was just reading. 54 people summitted Everest on 5-16 .

 

KATHMANDU, Nepal (Reuters) - Tashi Tenzing, the grandson of one of the first two climbers to scale Mount Everest, climbed the world's tallest mountain for a second time Thursday, Nepal's Tourism Ministry said.

 

Behind him was Peter Hillary, the son of New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary, the first climber to conquer Everest with his Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay in 1953. They were among dozens of other climbing teams attempting to reach Everest's summit.

 

Tashi, 37, was part of a largely Swiss expedition marking the 50th anniversary of a near-successful Swiss attempt on Everest in 1952. He first scaled the peak in 1997.

 

The 1952 expedition included Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and Raymond Lambert of Switzerland who were beaten back barely 250 yards away from the summit.

 

Tenzing accompanied Hillary to conquer the 29,035-foot Everest summit the following year.

 

Ministry spokesman Shankar Koirala said 54 climbers from eight expeditions reached the summit Thursday.

 

Mountaineering officials said there were more international climbers trying to reach the summit, which is open for climbing until the end of May, when monsoon weather will close in.

 

Koirala told Reuters Lambert's son, Yves, was part of the Swiss team that scaled Everest Thursday.

 

"It would be nice if Yves and I could fulfill the dream of his father and my grandfather to reach the summit together," Tashi said before leaving Kathmandu for the climb.

 

Peter Hillary was climbing the mountain with a mainly American National Geographic Expedition, led by U.S. mountaineer Peter Athans.

 

New Zealand-born Hillary, 54, first reached Everest's summit in 1990 and is taking the same Southeast Ridge route as Tashi Tenzing. The route has become popular since it was pioneered by Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953.

 

Nepali high altitude climber Apa Sherpa also reached the summit Thursday for the 12th time, improving on his own record of 11 ascents established some two years ago.

 

American Ellen Miller, 43, from Ascheville, N.C. also climbed the peak Thursday from the Nepali side to become the first U.S. woman to climb both sides of the mountain. She reached the summit from the Tibetan side last year.

[willstrickland]

Interesting that they call it "summitting" rather than "climbing" ehh?

[fleblebleb]

Hey! There were 55! Did you leave out the Icelander? Shame on you! He just finished walking to both poles and climbing the seven summits, in less time than it's been done before I think. http://www.7t.is/