Posted: Sep 26, 2007 10:20 pm EDT
(MountEverest.net) More than 10,000 attempts have been done to summit Everest and over 3,000 were successful - at 207 fatalities.

In April 1996, media and famous mountaineers described climbing Everest as easy as following a yak trail, attempted mostly by millionaire non-climbers. One month later, these headlines were quietly scrubbed.

1996 turnabout

Following the May 1996 disaster, media made a complete turnabout, now printing Everest as the "death zone" attempted by "mad risk takers." It was the year of Into thin Air and the explosion of news over internet.

In the last decade, marriage of satellite technology and internet has enabled climbers to do news straight from the mountain, yet propaganda fuelled by some commercial expedition leaders has unfortunately led to continuous misinformation - especially concerning independent climbers.

Get ready for 2008

In spite of increased access to correct information, mainstream reporters still struggle to get the facts right. This past spring, the three major Everest stories in world media were:

1. The first phone call from the summit of Everest (it wasn't),
2. The first free climb of the 2nd step (it was the 4th) and,
3. The study that older climbers were at 4 times greater risk of dying on Everest (they aren't).

ExplorersWeb predicts that the Olympic year will bring more Everest hype, half truths and false claims than ever before. Arm yourself with the following 12 solid Everest facts analyzed and prepared by ExplorersWeb and Adventurestats.

All data is for the period 2000-2006, unless otherwise noted, focusing the stats on the big outbreak of guided expeditions on Everest.

Today: Truth #1-4, guided vs. unguided climbers.

Truth #1: One out of three climbers who tried Everest reached the summit

Out of all Everest mountaineers during the period, 35% of expedition members have had summit success. Including hired staff (mostly Sherpas) - 39% of the climbers on Everest have reached the summit.

Truth #2: The majority of all Everest climbers have NOT been part of a commercial expedition

Many people today are led to believe that Everest can only be climbed in commercially led expeditions. The Discovery series 'Everest beyond the limit" was originally named "Everest, no experience needed," and intended to showcase commercial superiority over independent climbing.

Statistics however show that 2 out of 3 climbers on Everest have NOT been part of a commercial expedition.

Truth #3: Guided expeditions have NOT been safer

Unguided Everest climbers are routinely called amateurs by commercial outfitters and media, and while this holds true for many commercial clients - independent climbers are often more skilled than the Everest guides.

Statistics show that Everest fatalities have been roughly the same for guided climbers (1.1%) as for independent climbers (1.3%).

Truth #4: Guided climbers as well as climbers from the South side have had slightly higher summit success

Statistics show that guided climbers have had a slightly higher summit success (41%) than independent climbers (33%).

Climbers from the south side have had a slightly higher summit success (39%) than climbers from the north side (33%). Guided climbers from the south side have had the highest summit success (44%).

This is probably due to bigger and better support structure - check part 2.

Part 2: Truth #5-8, North vs. South

Part 3: Truth #9-12, Skill, oxygen and age
* All results based on an ExplorersWeb analyze of the Himalayan Database and Adventurestats.
** Summary tables available at www.adventurestats.com
*** All data for the period 2000-2006 unless otherwise noted
**** No conclusions have been made on sample sizes less than 10 unless otherwise noted.

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