Mount Everest on Mountaineers Eye

Mount Everest, being the world's highest peak in the world, not only stands as the top of the world, rather it has also become a symbol of determination, discipline, and ambition. With an astonishing altitude of 8848.86m (29,031.7ft) from above the sea level, Everest became the ultimate dream of adventurers and mountaineers to accomplish.

Climbing Everest is not only considered an achievement but also a benchmark of successful endeavours for climbers. Also known as 'Chomolungma' in the local Sherpa language and 'Sagarmatha' in Nepali, it is always seen as a motivational giant for starting the mountaineering journey. Not only for mountaineers, but also for travellers who seek to push beyond the limit and experience something very different from the regular adventure, Everest keeps shining as an adventure milestone.

Even though most of the time it is considered or admired for the achievement of extreme mountaineering, some mountaineers reflect on the journey to the summit of Everest as a self-discovery. It is connected with challenging the race within and keeping the motive of realising self-motivation.

Such an obsession with Mount Everest has already made it a dream to achieve and is also regarded as a feeling and experience of life in its finest. After the first successful summit of Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa in the year 1951 A.D, the event led to opening the door for mountaineers from all over the world to make attempts to stand at the roof of the world. The attempts are now not only seen as a push for achieving the goal, but the perspective has evolved into a synonym for hardcore adventure and determination, pushing the human limit beyond its border.

Mount Everest is now more of a self-conquering quest than a mountaineering achievement.

For mountaineers, Everest keeps its different images shaped by the perspective and the personal conflicts within.

For some mountaineers, Everest is what holds the ambition, while some keeps, it as the spiritual connection with them. And a difference in perspective can be shaped by the personal goal to reach the summit. The mountaineers who summited Everest carry a perspective, and those who are trying hold a slightly different opinion as well; climbers with failed attempts and ongoing try picks another set of opinions.

Edmund too didn’t conquer the summit of Everest in a single attempt. It was led by multiple failed attempts, and the point to keep is that it was during the time of the 1950s when navigation was a solid, hard, undiscovered route and nearly impossible logistics.

But keeping his motive to conquer the highest peak in the world, his failed attempt made him realise he needed more perfect planning, more precise navigation, proper weather analysis and, importantly, route discipline. This can be seen reflected in his statement after the failed attempt in 1951. He addressed,

“I will come again and conquer you because as a mountain you can’t grow, but as a human, I can”

Though the statement is widely viewed as his ambition, it can also be seen as Hillary improving and undergoing self-discovery during the journey.

Later, after the successful summit and descending back to Camp IV, spoken to his fellow New Zealand climber, George Lowe, and stated,

"We knocked the bastard off!" ([i])

Which seems more conforming for his ambitious view on Everest too.

Alongside, his companion during the journey, Tenzing Norgay, after the successful summit, stated,

“I needed to go…the pull of Everest was stronger for me than any force on earth” ([ii])

This statement depicts more of Tenzing’s deep spiritual connection and how he felt an obsession with Everest from inside.

img: Sir Edmund hillary and Tenzing Norgay after their first summit on Everest (via: Wiki)

After the first summit of Everest, some believed that the charm of Everest would fade slowly, but it went the exact opposite. It became a sensational place for hardcore adventure. Even the Base Camp (5,364m) became a lifetime experience spot to feel and to experience the beauty of high-altitude terrain, leading the Everest Base Camp Trek becoming one of the best trekking journeys in the world.

Post-summit, it attracted more climbers from the wide corners of the world. But what was expected as Everest turning into ambition became the self-conquering quest for the mountaineers.

Post-1953, during the reflection lectures, Edmund spoke,

"It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves", which depicts his self-discovery journey, which can be assumed from his statements during his lectures.

The charm followed very strong trail.

A legendary Italian climber, after his first solo ascent of Everest without supplemental Oxygen in 1980, Reinhold Messner addresses,

"I didn't climb Everest to die. I climbed it to live." Reflecting his connection to feeling alive while climbing Everest. He can likely be seen as admiring the journey more than the summit, if looked closely at his opinion".

The first woman to summit, Junko Tabei, admitted the willpower behind her successful expedition, saying, "Technique and ability alone do not get you to the top: it is the willpower that is the most important", which shows her admiring willpower, admitting the possible beyond limits.

Following such footprints over time, after the first post-summit, what became the race for new records turned into a self-conquering quest. The ultimate symbol of discipline, dedication, ambition, as well as experience, connection and feelings, which overall depicts a self-concentrated goal rather than just another record or achievement.

Everest has never stopped attracting adventurers from all around the world on its slopes. Every climber, mountaineer, and adventure seeker sets their benchmark in their ambition. More like it should be said that the ambition is to experience the journey to the top of the world. Not only the ambitions lies, but in modern days Everest is also becoming a competitive high-altitude ridge for records. Mountaineers attending from all across the world trek to Everest Base Camp to break or create new records. It is more often related to the adrenaline activity of doing better in the extreme environment.

The recent data from the Tourism Board of Nepal shows that 45% to 50% of climbers to Everest are re-climbers or attempting multiple summits. Most of them are fighting their own records, which reflects self-challenge and reconstruction at the individual level through expeditions.

"For a long time, high-altitude speed records were seen as a male domain. I wanted to prove that women too have the mental strength, endurance and capability to lead and execute the fastest record in history" speaking with The Guardian, the recent record breaker Kristin Harila admits her record as an illustration of equal empowerment after her fastest record of all 14 peaks above 8000m in 92 days (3months and 1 day) along with Tenjen Lama breaking the previous record of Nirmal Purja record of 189 days. *

img: Kristin Harlia on the Everest Summit (via: Kristin Harlia Official Facebook)

Similarly, the youngest to scale all 14 Eight-Thousanders at the age of 18 years and 5 months, Nima Rinjin Sherpa says, "This record is dedicated to all the Sherpa name, not just as high-altitude workers but as world-class athletes who belong on the global stage."*

This shows mountaineering on Everest and in overall 8000m class peaks hasn't changed; it is just evolving. Now Everest is becoming the symbol to represent the voice. The aspects of Everest are expanding beyond the adventure.

*Since these records highlights Everest as the prime image.

Everest does not hold the ambitions of millions of people; it also echoes the insane stories and interesting history. Mount Everest in modern mountaineering doesn’t come along the simple way; it has always been quite through hard and some impossible assumed paths. Here, some incidents and stories of self-conquering and ambition can be examined to get a wider view of what mountaineers or the people who climb, see or saw Everest as.

Before and until the first successful conquest of the summit of Everest, achieving such altitude or reaching the top of the world was widely considered humanly impossible. Such a perspective and wide view shaped early attempts, executed and defined by national ambitions with heavy military-style logistics. Those incidents also give us a glimpse of how much Everest was on the list of impossible and serious tasks.

As, what was begined with the quest to conquer the crown of the Himalayas and the impossible top of the world shifted to a big change in individual meaning to climb Everest, until and after the summit.

Just after the summit, Hillary extended his hands to Norgay to congratulate him, but Tenzing threw his arms around Hillary, showing the deep impact of joint victory. Later, Tenzing left a small offering of food on the snow, reflecting deep gratitude to nature and melting the sense of conquering. The ritual is often done in Sherpa tradition to offer and to thank nature. It shows how much Tenzing was spiritually connected with the mountain, which is seen across the mountain people, especially more in Sherpas.

And Hillary's shift in perspective from what he said, " We knocked off the bastard!" to "It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves" can be taken as a change in personal view not only on the journey but in overall perspective of life from the experience given by the mountains. 

The scenarios show that Everest is about discovering the self.

Everest, what was once considered impossible to conquer, became possible without artificial or supplemental support in 1978. In that year, Messner, an Italian climber, shocked the medical world by climbing Everest without supplemental oxygen and, amazingly, on a solo journey, both for the first time.

What we can find from his autobiography and his approach to the mountains is that he was obsessed with challenging the human limit. The solo and without supplemental oxygen was one of them.

Later, after the successful record of his own, he tried to move ahead of his own amazing record of human endurance. Reinhold planned to attempt the next summit of Everest solo and without any artificial supplements, even the safety gear and equipment, with his personal goal to stand face to face with the mountain in its purest, raw and most venerable form. And to make it rawer, he did his solo expedition in the monsoon season. It led him to encounter a very challenging situation, falling into a deep crevasse in the middle of the night. He got trapped inside the pitch darkness and later pulled himself out through sheer survival instinct. It totally changed him and his perspective on the mountain; confronting his own fears at 8000m, he wrote, at 8000m a climber is forced to look directly into the raw reality of their own existence ([iii]).

Later, Reinhold Messner also played an important role as a founding member of Mountain Wilderness, showing his deep respect for the mountains and his commitment to protecting them ([iii.1])

Until the late 10th century, despite Sherpas carrying the logistical loads and guiding, as well as leading the Himalayan climbing expeditions, women from Nepal were historically discouraged from attempting the major peaks. Pasang Lhamu kept her goal to break the barrier.

But even after three attempts, she failed to summit, which led her to face the immense societal scepticism. But, realising the impact within her, she refused to give up. On April 22, 1993, she reached the summit on her fourth attempt, becoming the first Nepali woman to climb Mount Everest. Unfortunately, she lost her life during the storm on the descent, leaving a strong impression and inspiration for future generations, breaking the gender barrier.

img: Pasang Lhamu Sherpa (via: Pasang Lhamu Archives)

A very inspirational, successful Everest attempt: Erik Weihenmayer, who was blind since the age of 13, summited Everest. The attempt seemed impossible and more of unusual at the time, as a single misstep on the narrow ridge or crevassed glacier can be fatal and life-taking. He was more likely to prove that blindness does not define the boundaries of human achievement.

He climbed Everest by navigating the Khumbu Icefall using trekking poles and the sound of his teammate's bells. On May 25 2001, he became the first blind person to summit the top of the world. The amazing story changed the perception that disability is not a human limit.

"I found friends who believed in the challenge, believed in me, and bravely took three months out of their lives to train and fail with me. Together, we made some cool history." He said to an interviewe with The Mountaineers.

It shows that Erik was really challenging the limits of a human beyond the disabilities, even if it comes with an extreme challenge. He also admitted the courage of his team, saying, "It takes a lot of guts to want to go on an adventure with a blind guy".

img: Erik Weihenmayer at the Everest Summit

Another pretty big chunk of the story on Everest is from the Sherpa. Whether it's from the first successful ascent or from the most-climbed record, Sherpas always keep their place at the top in mountains, not only in the Himalayas but also conquering the peaks all over the world. It is more like a part of life to climb and conquer the altitude.

But what we can learn while going back through the historic timeline of Sherpa mountaineers, it has not always been their generation's tradition to engage in mountaineering. Mountains are very sacred to the Sherpa and the majority of indigenous communities of Nepal. Even Everest is considered the "Mother Goddess of the World".  But with the exploration of the Himalayas and the eventual recognition of Peak XI, i.e. Everest, as the world's highest peak, it exponentially attracted adventurers from all over the world. Before the first successful summit, even Tenzing Norgay made six major attempts, but as a support worker. Its only until when the Tenzing also became one of the major figures to conquer the highest peak, Sherpa community was totally redefined as internationally respected high-altitude leaders, from support workers.

It has followed this path up to the present day, where the vast majority of leading mountaineers are from the Sherpa community. Some have emerged into the field to get financial stability, and some have emerged for the opportunity, and some for personal goal too. It is also seen that mountaineering for Sherpa climbers are motivated by their family legacy as well as their spiritual devotion to the mountains.

Kami Rita Sherpa, with the most-climbed record on Everest, admits that his working inspiration comes mostly from the dedication to make Everest Safer. He says, "For us, climbing Everest is not a game or sport. It is our livelihood, but more than that, it is about bringing everyone back down alive. The summit is only half the journey-getting back down to Base Camp is the true success." Speaking with the ABP News*.

The lady record holder with the most women's summits on Everest, a remarkable 11 times, encourages herself with self-challenge. In an interview with Tatler Asia, she says, "I want to challenge myself- how much I can do", purely reflecting her personal goal on self-quest. She also says, "Everest is a teacher and a doctor", reflecting the deep impact within her, shaped by Everest.

Pasang Lhamu Sherpa, the first Nepali woman to climb Everest, says, "I am not doing this to prove anything to the world, but to show every mountain girl in Nepal that our sky has no ceiling" representing her willingness to break the barrier of not letting/allowing Nepali women to climb Everest.

A Sherpa mountaineer running an adventure agency, Pasang Ongchu Sherpa, believes the true adventure begins with respect for nature, safety and heritage, pointing towards sustainable tourism and opportunities.

With such wide views and different perspectives, from record-breaking Sherpas to the Sherpa who is operating and promoting sustainable tourism, the context has no single answer for Everest in Sherpa eyes. But a similar pattern can be noticed: all of them deeply admire the mountains with their spiritual connection. It reflects Everest for Sherpa remains more of a spiritual figure than any other achievement.

Since the first successful summit of Everest, modern mountaineering in the Himalayas has not just developed; it has brought the best way to explore the adventure aspects in extreme environments. In other words, it can be said that Mount Everest successfully shaped the motivation of modern adventure.

Unlike in the past, when everything was solid hard for expeditions, from long expedition days to inaccessible logistics, the nature of expeditions has undergone a massive transformation. The modernisation of Himalayan trails, merging traditional taste, became the new era of adventure and travel in the high-altitude terrains.

Modern navigation, customised and tailored itineraries with managed logistics have made the road to Mount Everest more accessible for modern mountaineers to achieve their goal. A wide range of elite mountaineers who attended and successfully summited Everest multiple and even tens of times are now guiding the new-era mountaineers. Such enormous change has also made modern mountaineering on Everest more accessible and, importantly, safer, following the principle of legendary American mountaineer Ed Viesturs: "Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory".

There is no single feature to consider that makes modern mountaineering on Everest safer. It has multiple dimensions shaping mountaineering safer, also consisting the higher summit success rate. It comes with guided climbing, precise navigation, weather monitoring, well-managed logistics, etc.

Now, the mandatory rule on Everest is to pair a climber with a 1:1 ratio of expert Sherpa guides who have previously recorded successful summits. The rule was introduced to decrease the risk ratio and make adventure on Everest safer. Along with that, it also made the expedition on Everest have a higher success rate. This is due to the high expertise of elite Sherpa mountaineers who crafted their mountaineering skills in navigating routes, weather recognition, safe use of gear, guiding with equipment handling and, most importantly, emergency response.

Navigating was always one of the most essential aspects of any adventure. From recognising the actual route beneath the snow to following the safe path past the storm, navigation plays a vital role. But with the experience of decades of Sherpa guides and the precise notation of routes even during extremely low visibility, expeditions are safer, turning it from what was a vital factor in the past of climbing.

Weather stands as an inevitable factor during climbing. It not only shapes summit success but also can impact on survival. But with modern equipment and development in weather monitoring technology, now the mountains can get better insight into the weather prior to the summit push, allowing them to plan properly, decreasing the uncertainties and making it safer.

Another aspect making Everest safer and easier is well-managed logistics. Unlike in the past where logistics used to be the bigger part of the problem, all are now managed with proper co-ordination and pre-plan managements.

Along with these factors, several other features also play a crucial role in making the Everest safer in the modern days, such as properly crafted agency packages, accessible accommodations, cooperative Base Camp management, etc. These transformations also support climbers in encountering the physical exhaustion and mental challenges of an Everest Expedition.

From different climbers and mountaineers, sharing the Mount Everest climbing perspective can too found to be differences. Some of them seem to enjoy the moment, some of them seem to get more motivated for other climbs, and some feel gratitude to nature for letting them stand.

Anatoli Boukreev, sharing his experience from the top, said, "On the summit, you do not conquer the mountain. You only rise to its height for a short time, and for that, it demands a great deal. The struggle is not with an enemy, but with yourself, with your own weakness.", reflecting the sense of a race to overcome the conflict within a person.

Lhakpa Sherpa, sharing her experience from the summit she says, "When I reach the summit of Chomolungma, my mind clears completely. All the noise, the stress and the pain disappear. It feels like touching the sky where nothing can hurt you. I feel close to God", suggesting the on-the-spot moment for herself on the summit.

"I have never in my whole life been so tired. I was no longer myself, only a single lung, floating above the mists and the snow." Reinhold Messner on his first solo ascent.

img: Reinhold Messner having self-photograph after successful solo ascent (via: Reinhold Messner Collection)

Similarly, Maurice Herzog speaks, "In overstepping the limits of human endurance, we discover an absolute truth. On those frozen heights, a man is stripped of everything except his bare existence.", sharing his feeling of realising that personal achievements and social standing mean nothing to nature.

Such diverse perspectives and experiences from the mountaineers don't give a single answer about what it feels like to stand at the top of Everest. The opinion difference from person to person, and sometimes a bit similar but not the same, may be shaped by the different personal background of their own. The experience from the top of Everest can be shaped by such human features and different life aspects. Or maybe Everest is another reflection of what a person endured and lived through, and it opens up at the summit with the self-realisation of one's own.

As diving into the mountaineering scenery and the mountaineer's perspective, it has multiple reasons for climbing Everest. Also, the perspective and the goal towards the climbers of different levels also reflect various reasons for climbing to the top of the world.

Most elite mountaineers call it a self-conquering quest, and beginners take it as an ultimate goal of hardcore adventure, but later most climbers are seen transforming their perspective from an ambition to a self-conquering goal when they reach the specific quest during the journey. It also reflects the emotional and personal transformation shaped by the extreme journey. Such a mental shift is what most mountaineers admire about mountaineering: overcoming personal fear, exhaustion and human limits, and the clash inside along with increasing altitude.

People mostly assume that the desire to climb Everest comes from the attraction of records and standing out in society. But, as we run through the dual perspectives, we found that most successful mountaineers shift to somehow similar perspective. The first-hand vision of self-challenge and experience to feel alive, jumping to the extreme limits a human body can endure, seems to show us that Everest is not only a lifetime achievement but also what deep personal insight and conflict drives to connect with extreme adventures.

Such deep and wide differences in individual views suggest to us that the question is not more about why people climb Mount Everest? It seems it's diverting or is about what it feels like to climb Everest?

([iv],[v],[vi],[vii])

img: Guinnes World Record certificates as seen in Kami Rita's House (via: Nepali Times)