The Himalayan mountain range has many of Earth's highest peaks.
From the 10 highest summits in the world, 8 of them are situated in Himalaya, although
from these 8, only 1 can be the most popular,...and that is... mount Everest, the highest point
in the whole world, sitting at 8,848 meters.
However, having the highest altitude doesn't make it the tallest mountain in the world,
because it is measured from the sea level.
The tallest mount, on the other hand, is Mauna Kea, which is an active volcano situated in
Hawai.
On the surface, it has twice the lower altitude measured to sea level than Mount Everest,
but from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, it has a height of about 10,000 meters, making
it the tallest mountain in the world.
So, still, if you want to get the achievement to be at the top of the world, you have to
hike all the way up to the Mount Everest, which is definitely way easier said than done.
The first successful expedition was made in 1953 by these guys, and until now only about
6,000 people successfully reached the peak and another 400 died trying, because of avalanches,
falls, health problems, altitude sickness, or from the freezing cold.
With this being said, climbing Everest is no joke and it takes years of preparation
to try and conquer this summit.
Not only you have to be in a perfect mental condition, but you also have to be fit and
have some experience as a climber.
Trekking to the peak of Everest is a process and involves climbing other lower peaks first
because your body has to get used to you being a climber and also, the altitude.
You can't just get out the bed one day, with no experience in hiking and try and go reach
the top of the world.
Now, let's say that you have previous success in climbing and that you are ready to try
and defeat the tallest peak in the world.
First things first, you have to wait for the best season when Everest can be climbed, which
is mid to late spring.
There are about 12 different routes to climb Mount Everest, but these ones are the most
used and for the purpose of this video, we will cover this route, which is the most popular.
When the month of April comes, you pack your bags and book a flight to Kathmandu, the capital
of Nepal.
A two-way ticket from London to Kathmandu in the middle of the season is about $1000
and from New York, it is about $1500.
If you want to climb Mount Everest, the flight ticket is pocket money, because this whole
adventure will cost you between $45,000 to $100,000.
The big difference between the 2 amounts is made by the agency you want to travel with
to the top of the mountain.
You can get a Nepali agency, which is usually cheaper, but the lower the price the fewer
services they offer and they don't carry your bags, you have to pay for and carry your own
oxygen tanks, you will be in a group and share tents at all camps on Everest.
On the other hand, a foreign agency, which is more expensive, will have people who will
carry your luggage and if you have a lot of money to spend, you can even get a private
guide, which will allow you to climb the mountain in your own pace and not have to share a tent
at the base camp and you will also have included in the price the equipment needed to reach
the summit.
And the expenses don't end here.
You will also have to pay about $11,000 for a permit to climb Mount Everest and another
$1,500 for other fees, which at this point is pocket money.
So after you chose an agency, you arrive in Kathmandu and check into the hotel.
In the second and third day, you go shopping, buy everything you need for the journey and
sort out documents and the permit to hike on the mountain.
The journey officially starts on the fourth day, when you fly from Kathmandu to the town
of Lukla.
From here, you hike for 4 hours to the town of Phakding, where you spend the night.
The next day, you trek uphill to Namche Bazaar, then in the next 5 days, you should reach
Gorakshep, which is the last small town.
Until here, you slept in private rooms in a bed in different cottages or even a 5-star
hotel, but from here, you will be resting in a sleeping bag in a tent.
From Gorakshep, you climb up to the first Base Camp, where you will spend a week to
get used to the altitude and waiting for the perfect weather to go to the second base.
Until now, the trip is not very dangerous and relatively anyone can make it up here.
But from the base camp, the sketchy part starts.
You are now at an altitude of 5200 meters and when the perfect time comes, you will
start climbing to the first camp.
From now on, you passed the snow line, so you have to have the right equipment.
You will climb on aluminum ladders and on fixed ropes.
The real expedition just started.
You will have to go through all the Khumbu Icefall, which is extremely dangerous, as
there are deep cracks in the ice.
After 12 hours of climbing, you reach camp 1, where you will again spend days to get
used to the altitude.
From now on.
the higher you get, the colder it gets and you can get altitude sickness, nausea, insomnia,
and vomiting.
However, you are never alone in this expedition and the guides will have the right medicine,
and in case you feel worse and worse, you will be rescued by a helicopter at the base
camp.
Eventually, after 3 weeks, you will have reached camp 4, at an altitude of 7925 meters, where
temperatures never go above -30 degrees Celsius, where if you expose your skin, it will freeze
instantly.
Here, the oxygen levels are 40% lower, and as many mountaineers who tried to conquer
the summit said, this is a living hell, also called the Death Zone.
Without oxygen from your tank, the rates of survival are very small here...Finally, you
make one last push.
On the way up, you can see the frozen bodies of some people who didn't make it, but you
can't do anything about it and pass by them and hoping that you won't end like this.
Eventually, you will reach the summit,... the top of the world, 8,848 meters in the
air, where not many have ever been or will ever be.
But the expedition is nowhere near over.
There are still about 2 weeks until you are safe at the base camp, where you can say that
the expedition has ended, having only to climb all the way down to the town of Lukla, flying
to Kathmandu and then back home, thinking on the way home what have you just achieved
and being grateful that you weren't one of the 5% who didn't make it back.