Mount Everest is known as SAGARMATHA in Nepal. The adventure lovers put 4 camps via south ridge situating base camp at 5300m, camp-1 at 5900m, camp-2 at 6200m -6400m, camp-3 at 7300m and south col at 7925m. The khumbu ice-fall in between base camp and camp-1 has made SAGARMATHA more popular and difficult to climb.
Base Camp ( 5300m) is our home away from home while on the mountain. Numerous international teams gather here before and at the end of their climb. It lies at entrance to the Khumbu Ice Fall (18000ft-21000ft), a spectacular but treacherous horror- chamber of bottomless crevasses, seracs and ice blocks, which is crossed with the aid of fixed ropes and aluminium ladders leads to Camp-I, THE SILENT VALLEY’ (20000FT 21000FT).This is a vast, flat area of endless snow, deep crevasse and mountain walls, frequently washed by avalanches. Camp 2 (21300ft) is marked by a rocky Patch at the foot of the icy Lhotse wall. Camp-III, Lhotse Wall (23000 ft- 26000ft). This is a 4000ft high ice wall, which is climbed using fixed ropes. It leads on to camp-III, a narrow platform placed right out of the wall. A traverse then leave to the Yellow Band, a rocky section. This lead to Rock Band and Geneva Spur which lead to Camp-IV (26000ft) -the final part of the climb before the summit push- the most testing and dangerous part of the climb. A narrow ridge precedes the Hillary Step- a rock/ice climb in the sky which is the last major obstacle before finally reaching the summit. The Summit (29028ft) us at a height which airlines cruise and is approximately the size of snooker tables. It offers some of the most awesome views of the world as it overlooks Tibet/Nepal and the largest mountain range in the world, the Himalayas.
Location: Tibet / Nepal
First ascent: May 29, 1953 by Tening Norgey and Sir Edmund Hillary
Expedition: British
Summits/Deaths: 6871/276
Death Rate after summit: 4.01%
Facts: The climbing routes of Everest and Lhotse are same till 7800m. The summit way from camp-IV is little longer but easier compared to North side. The walking through Khumbu Icefall is more scary part of the climb.