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

Introduction
The Himalayan Database, published by the American Alpine Club in 2004, is a compilation of
records for all expeditions that have climbed in the Nepal Hima laya. The data are based on the
expedition archives of Elizabeth Hawley, a longtime journalist living in Kathmandu, and it is
supplemented by information gathered from books, alpine journals, magazines, and correspondence
with Himalayan climbers.
The original data (published in CD format) cover all expeditions from 1905 through 2003 to more
than 300 significant Nepalese peaks. Also included are expeditions to both sides of border peaks
such as Everest, Cho Oyu, Makalu, and Kangchenjunga as well as to some smaller border peaks.
Updates for the 2004 and subsequent climbing seasons are available free for download at www.
himalayandatabase.com and can be applied to the original data set.
The analyses in this book draw primarily on information from The Himalayan
Database and examine expedition climbing activity, ascents, and fatalities. The
seasonal climbing summaries by Elizabeth Hawley written from 1985 to the present
also contribute to the narrative portions of the book. The complete texts of these
summaries are contained on The Himalayan Database CD.
For the analyses in this book, we divide the history of climbing in Nepal into four parts:
1900-1949 – the exploratory period
1950-1969 – the expeditionary period
1970-1989 – the transitional period
1990-2006 – the commercial period
The early exploratory period is comprised primarily of expeditions to Everest in
the 1920s and 1930s by the British and to the Kangchenjunga region during the
1930s by the Germans. These expeditions were few in number and do not contribute
significantly to any meaningful analyses and thus are not included in the analyses in
this book.
The expeditionary period began in 1950 with the opening of Nepal to foreign
expeditions. For the peaks higher than 8000m (the 8000ers), relatively large teams
(8 or more members) used a military assault-style of climbing that employed many
lowland porters to ferry in large stock-piles of equipment to base camp and then used
hired high-altitude assistants or “Sherpas” to establish and cache higher camps until
a final summit assault was mounted. Sherpas also accompanied the climbers to the
top on all first ascents of the 8000ers in Nepal except for Annapurna, Lhotse, and
Kangchenjunga.
The expeditionary period was also the beginning of the “super” expedition age that
began with the large American and Indian Everest expeditions in 1963 and 1965 (both
sent 60+ climbers and high-altitude assistants above base camp), continued into the
1970s with a very contentious international effort on Everest in 1971 (80+ persons)
and the 1973 Italian Everest expedition (sending up 150+ persons and one helicopter),
and culminating with 1989 USSR traverses of four summits of Kangchenjunga and
the “extra-super” 1988 China-Japan-Nepal Friendship expedition that sent over 200
climbers and high-altitude assistants up the mountain from both sides and completed
Introduction 5