How Everest Has Changed Since Into Thin Air: Scaling the world’s highest mountain is a very different experience than it was when I climbed it (Jon Krakauer, May 4, 2026, The Atlantic)
When I climbed to the summit of Everest in May 1996, I was, according to the Himalayan Database, only the 621st person to arrive there since the mountain was first summited, in May 1953. During the 30 years following my ascent, Everest was climbed approximately 13,000 times. At least 90 percent of those ascents were made by clients and employees of commercial guiding companies. As this astounding number suggests, scaling the world’s highest mountain is a very different experience than it was in 1996. Most notably, Everest climbers are now much less likely to die. From 1921, when the first serious attempt to climb the mountain was made, through 1996, one person was killed, on average, for every five who reached the summit. Over the next 28 years, that ratio diminished to one death for every 68 summits. In 2025, only five climbers died and 866 reached the summit, a ratio of one fatality for every 173 climbers who got to the top.
The greater likelihood of surviving an Everest expedition might come as a surprise, given the numerous photos of alarming traffic jams on the mountain that have gone viral in recent years. But the very real risks posed by these crowds have been mitigated by other developments. Weather forecasts are more accurate, oxygen masks are more efficient and reliable, guided climbers are now provided with as many oxygen canisters as they are willing to pay for, and each commercial climbing client is typically ushered up the mountain by at least one personal Sherpa guide.