In the Spotlight section of Time magazine May 19 issue, is a fantastic graphic representation of some vital statistics on Everest expeditions since 1953 (when the mountain was first summited by Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary). This article is quite timely in the wake of the tragedy which struck on April 18.
There is a picture of the mountain and the numbers of attempts, summits and deaths over the years are drawn over it in the form of a horizontal bar graph. The earliest summits are at the top (few attempts, few summits, few deaths) and the latest figures were shown at the wide bottom of the mountain – many attempts, many summits, many deaths.
But this year, the trend is abruptly broken. There’s probably going to be zero summit attempts because, the Sherpas had gone on a strike, demanding higher pay after 16 of their compatriots were buried in an avalanche on the Khumbu Icefall. The implication is obvious. No Sherpas, no climb.
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