The Himalaya by the Numbers: A Statistical Analysis - Himalayan ...

Ascents by Citizenship
Table A-24 shows member ascent rates by citizenship for all peaks and Everest for
those nationalities that had a substantial number of members above base camp (50 or
more for all peaks and 20 or more for Everest). Citizens from countries that had fewer
than the 50- or 20-member cutoff points are grouped into the “**All Others**” category.
Citizens of Nepal and China are split into two groups: Sherpas/non-Sherpas and
Tibetans/non-Tibetans, respectively, in order to differentiate the higher-altitude
from the lower-altitude residents. Also for Nepalese Sherpas and Chinese Tibetans,
the numbers above base camp include only those who were actual members of an
expedition, not those who were hired as high-altitude assistants. For all peaks and
Everest, the Sherpas and Tibetans performed much better than their countrymen as
full members of expeditions, but the actual ascent rates of Tibetans may be somewhat
suspect due to the lack of reliable information regarding whether they were actually
full members or hired personnel since the climbing permits issued in China do not
make this distinction. The Himalayan Database reasonably differentiates between
members and hired personnel for foreign expeditions, but the data for the larger
Chinese national expeditions are only estimates.
The climbers from the former Soviet-bloc countries (e.g., USSR, Russia, Kazakh stan,
Georgia, Ukraine) have done remarkably well since many expeditions from those
countries have attempted only the 8000m peaks or difficult routes on the 7000m peaks;
fewer have ventured to the 6000m peaks, most likely due to funding constraints that
limits training expeditions to the Pamir and Caucasus mountain ranges in Russia.
60 Ascent Analysis