Even with luxury base camp, bottled oxygen, climbing Everest remains hard

Another crowded Everest season has renewed debate over commercialisation on the world’s highest peak. The award- winning American writer Will Cockrell’s 2024 book, ‘Everest, Inc,’ was the first full account of how the mountain transformed from an elite expedition into a billion-dollar industry. In an interview with Sharmila Ganesan Ram, he discusses why the summit still exerts an almost spiritual pull

This season, Nepal issued nearly 500 Everest permits, China closed the Tibet route, concentrating traffic on a single face, and the mountain saw multiple deaths. Having closely studied the business of Everest, do you think the world’s highest peak has reached a dangerous tipping point commercially?Everest has not reached a dangerous tipping point in terms of physical danger. Deaths and injuries remain at an extraordinarily low rate relative to the number of climbers, and those numbers are either static or improving. With crowding, the primary issue is really one of aesthetics, and each climber has to decide whether that ruins the experience for them. There are still more challenging routes on the mountain that remain virtually empty.
■ Two Indian climbers died during descent, reportedly due to altitude-related illness. Is there something specific about how India’s climbing aspirants are being prepared or not prepared? I do not want to comment specifically on the two Indian climbers because I know too little about the circumstances surrounding their deaths and their prior high-altitude experience. One troubling scenario these days is climbers choosing to hire less support than they actually need at higher elevations, combined with a lack of understanding about what it takes to descend safely after summiting. The better guiding companies maintain a higher guide-to-client ratio for less-experienced climbers, but not all operators require this. That ultimately leaves the decision to the climber.
■ Jon Krakauer’s famous book ‘Into Thin Air’ was written three decades ago, partly as a cautionary tale. Yet you’ve argued that it actually accelerated Everest’s popularity. What doesthat say about human psychology?It tells us humans are constantly searching for challenging and transformative experiences, and what qualifies as ‘challenging’ differs for each person. One person might find a Buddhist silent retreat harder than Everest. Another might find running a 5K the hardest thing they ever do. Many people came away from Krakauer’s book believing that Everest was incredibly difficult and dangerous but still possible. That was a revelation for a number of people who dreamt of that kind of transformative challenge.
■ This year, powerful jet stream winds narrowed the summit window to just a few days, sending hundreds of climbers onto the route almost simultaneously. Is overcrowding today a logistics or regulation issue, or something deeper about modern ambition culture?None of the above. The decision about which summit window to use is ultimately made by guides. There is very rarely only one weather window, but clients are understandably eager for the first window after spending so much time and money preparing for Everest. They fear it may be their only opportunity. Some inexperienced guides feel the same pressure. But climbing during crowded summit pushes is not necessarily dangerous per se. The safety systems on Everest are now far more sophisticated, and good guides only take clients who can tolerate extra time at altitude. Also, weather forecasting has become remarkably accurate. And many climbers are perfectly willing to tolerate queues if it improves their chances of reaching the summit. Realistically, nobody comes to Everest seeking solitude.
■ There’s a striking idea in your book that Everest offers not just danger but reinvention. Whydoes it still exert such an extraordinary pull?So many people are searching for reinvention, perspective, or some kind of awakening. Everest became that for many once guides started making the summit accessible to less experienced climbers. That was disappointing for climbers who had dreamt of an empty Everest, but it became an extraordinary gift for many people. In America, we sometimes jokingly describe extreme endurance challenges as ‘suffer-fests’. There is something deeply human about feeling invigorated after prolonged physical hardship.
■ Some argue that Everest has become “too accessible” because of bottled oxygen, fixed ropes, luxury base camps and premium guiding services...Accessibility is not the problem. In many ways, it is the solution. Accessibility means more safety systems and more safeguards.
■ May 29 is celebrated as Everest Day, commemorating the historic 1953 ascent of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. If they witnessed today’s Everest, what would disturb them most?We know that Hillary strongly disliked the commercial guiding industry even in its early stages. Many elite climbers feel resentment when something once considered extraordinarily difficult becomes achievable for ordinary people. I think Norgay would also be shocked. But I suspect that shock would be overshadowed by pride in what Sherpas have accomplished since his climb. It was inevitable that climbers would eventually figure out how to summit Everest. But the transformation of the Sherpa society — from expedition support workers to owners and leaders of the entire Everest economy — was never inevitable. What Sherpas have built in the Khumbu region and within the global guiding industry required extraordinary patience, intelligence, resilience, and vision. It is remarkable and represents the recognition and respect that Tenzing always deserved.
■ Do you believe Everest still changes people?No matter how predictable the climb becomes, how luxurious base camp gets, how much oxygen you use, or how many guides support you, climbing Everest remains extremely hard for even the fittest people. The reality is that many of us — myself included — might still never make it to the summit regardless of the support available. So yes, I absolutely think reaching the top changes people.