Before Climbing The Mount Everest

The Mount Everest, as the highest peak on the Earth (8,848 meters/29,029 ft), has attracted thousands of explorers and mountaineers to try the adventure of climbing its top. Regardless of the professional level of mountaineers, professional guide is a must to accompany them to the summit. By taking into consideration the huge challenge of climbing the highest peak in the Himalaya Range, there should be encountered the following dangers; winds and the weather, oxygen lack, sickness because of the altitude and the icefall.

There are two main routes to access the peak (besides, several less famous paths); the comparably easy one starts from the southeast of Nepal, also called the standard route. The second one starts from Tibet in the north. As mentioned above, the southeastern route is an easy one and most climbings are realized from that route. In 1953, Edmund Hillary from New Zeland and Tenzing Norgay climbed the summit from this route, officially recognized in 1996 as the first climbers to the top of the Mount Everest.

The seasonal monsoon winds make it difficult to climb the mountain. The best season for climbing is May; strong summer monsoons are dangerous for climbing. The dangerous season ends with the coming of September and October.

The hikes from the southeastern route start from Nepal, the Base Camp at an altitude of 5,380. To get acclimatized to the density of the air and the cold around, the hikers spend two weeks in the Base Camp. The first challenge that hikers have to overcome is the passing of the famous hazardous part of Khumbu Icefall. They realize the pass of the Icefall part early in the dawn when the ice is firm enough because of the night cold.

The second camp or the ABC (the Advanced Base Camp) is located at an altitude of 6,500 meters. This camp is located in the glacial valley of Cwm, which is the hottest section of the southern route to the Everest.  Overcoming the ABC by ropes, the fourth Camp comes forward with its challenges for the hikers to pass black and marble rocks covered with snow  with the help of ropes.

 The checkpoint determining whether hikers can go on with climbing to the summit is the so-called dead zone (on the South Col). In this fourth Base hikers stay for two or three days to make sure if their body is capable of enduring the altitude. In case the weather is not good enough for completing the climbing to the top, climbers have to descend back to first Base Camp.

As mentioned above, it is more difficult to climb the summit of Everest from the northern route. The evidence for it is that this route consists of more than four camp bases (as it is in the case of the southern route).