Mount Everest in 2012 explained

Years in Review Summary
YearSummitersReference(s)
2012547 [1]
2013658[2]
2014106[3]
20150[4]
2016641[5]
Mount Everest climbing season included 245 summits on May 19, 2012, a record number of summits on a single day.[6] It would take seven more years to break this record. This added congestion resulted in the highest fatality total since 1996.[7] 683 climbers from 34 countries attempted to climb the mountain, and 547 people summited.[8] A record was set in May when 234 climbers summitted on a single day.[9] There were 11 deaths, some of which were attributed to overcrowding near the peak.[10]

Mountaineering season

In addition to an increase in mountaineers compared to previous decades, the success rate for expeditions increased.[11] There was a 56 percent success rate in summit attempts in 2012, compared to 24 percent in 2000. 547 people reached the summit, compared to 72 in 1990 and 145 in 2000. Amongst those who summited in 2012 was Vanessa O'Brien who completed the Explorers Grand Slam.

The difficult decisions made during the climbing season were highlighted by the departure of guiding company Himex from the mountain after concerns about a hanging serac in the Khumbu icefall. Two years later, 16 Nepalese guides were killed when ice broke from the serac and created an avalanche.[12]

In 2012 Montana State University conducted a scientific expedition to Everest. The Everest Education Expedition studied the geology of the Everest massif which includes Everest-Nuptse-Lhotse-Khumbutse, and advanced the state of mineralogy, strain, and predicted rock ages. Of interest was the fossil-bearing limestone that crowns Mount Everest, the nature and impact of ice in the region (such as the icefall), and the overall stratigraphy (including limestone, metamorphic rocks, pelites, and quartzites).[13]

In May, Tamae Watanabe became the oldest woman to reach the summit, at the age of 73. She broke her own record, set in 2002 at the age of 63. The retired office worker lives at the base of Mount Fuji, and had climbed many other peaks including Denali, the Eiger, and Lhotse. She climbed with a group of four, and beat a competing 72-year-old woman who was trying for the same record.[14]

The Guinness Book of World Records states that 234 climbers summited on one day in 2012.[15] However, it was one of the deadliest seasons since 1996, with 11 climbers dying on Everest in the spring.[16]

Fatalities

The death of Canadian climber Shriya Shah-Klorfine in May made headlines and fed a debate about whether inexperienced climbers should climb Mount Everest. Issues of overcrowding and unqualified guides were also raised.[17] Although Shah-Klorfine did manage to summit, she did not survive the descent.[18] [19] Questions were raised about her lack of previous mountaineering experience, as Everest was reportedly her first mountain climb. The guiding company she employed had reportedly never guided a climber to the summit before.[20] Other factors involved overcrowding on the mountain,[21] a late summit bid, and insufficient bottled oxygen.[22] The company alleges that she ignored instructions to turn around and earlier recommendations to not attempt the climb due to her lack of climbing skills.[23]

Four people, including Shah-Klorfine, died on Saturday May 19, 2012. Conditions on the mountain were described as overcrowded.[24]

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2012 fatalities
Deaths[25] Nation
Ralf Dieter Arnold
Juan Jose Polo Carbayo
Karsang Namgyal
Ramesh Gulave
Namgyal Tshering
Dawa Tenzing
Wen-Yi Ha
Eberhard Schaaf
Shriya Shah-Klorfine
Won-Bin Song
Milan Sedlacek*
Temba Sherpa*[26]
  • Lhotse fatality

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Everest Maxed Out . https://web.archive.org/web/20130607230858/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/06/125-everest-maxed-out/jenkins-text . dead . June 7, 2013 . ngm.nationalgeographic.com. 29 May 2016.
  2. Web site: Everest 2013: Season Recap: Summits, Records and Fights. alanarnette.com. 29 May 2016.
  3. Web site: Everest 2014: Season Summary - A Nepal Tragedy. alanarnette.com. 29 May 2016.
  4. Web site: The Washington Post - For the first time in four decades, nobody made it to the top of Mount Everest last year. Peter Holley. 12 January 2016 . washingtonpost.com. 29 May 2016.
  5. Web site: Everest by the Numbers: 2022 Edition | The Blog on alanarnette.com. December 13, 2021. www.alanarnette.com.
  6. Web site: Dangerous Heights . Reuters . 27 April 2020.
  7. News: Congestion in the Death Zone: The Story Behind another Deadly Year on Everest - SPIEGEL ONLINE - International. Germany. SPIEGEL ONLINE, Hamburg. Der Spiegel. 5 October 2012. 2017-05-30.
  8. Web site: Everest Maxed Out. https://web.archive.org/web/20130607230858/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/06/125-everest-maxed-out/jenkins-text. dead. June 7, 2013. National Geographic. 20 September 2015.
  9. News: Everest crowds: The world's highest traffic jam. Kelly. Jon. 2013-05-28. BBC News. 2017-05-30. en-GB.
  10. News: Mount Everest Records Deadliest Year in over a Decade. Der Spiegel. 5 October 2012. Eberle. Lukas.
  11. Web site: Everest Maxed Out. https://web.archive.org/web/20130607230858/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/06/125-everest-maxed-out/jenkins-text. dead. June 7, 2013. 2017-06-11.
  12. Death and Anger on Everest. 2014-04-21. The New Yorker. 2017-06-11.
  13. Web site: Montana State University - Everest Education Expedition - Scientific Research. montana.edu. 20 September 2015.
  14. Web site: 73-year-old becomes oldest woman to climb Mount Everest. 21 May 2012. Julian Ryall. The Telegraph. 20 September 2015.
  15. Web site: Highest mountain | Guinness World Records.
  16. News: Congestion in the Death Zone: The Story Behind another Deadly Year on Everest. Lukas Eberle. Der Spiegel. 5 October 2012.
  17. News: Five myths about Mount Everest. Grayson Schaffer. 24 April 2014. Washington Post. 20 September 2015.
  18. News: Canadian Everest victim used inexperienced company, lacked oxygen. 14 September 2012. CBC. 20 September 2015.
  19. Web site: The lure, and the cruelty, of Mount Everest. Barbara Amiel. Macleans. 20 September 2015.
  20. News: More details, and blame, in the death of Canadian Everest victim - Macleans.ca. 2012-09-14. Macleans.ca. 2017-07-14. en-US.
  21. News: 'Save me' last words of Mount Everest climber. CBC News. 2017-06-03. en.
  22. News: EXCLUSIVE Canadian Everest victim used inexperienced company, lacked oxygen. CBC News. 2017-07-14. en.
  23. News: More details, and blame, in the death of Canadian Everest victim - Macleans.ca. 2012-09-14. Macleans.ca. 2017-06-03. en-US.
  24. News: 'Save me' last words of Mount Everest climber. CBC News. 2017-07-14. en.
  25. Web site: Deaths - Spring 2012. The Himalayan Database. 31 January 2017.
  26. Web site: Himalayan Database Expedition Archives of Elizabeth Hawley.

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