How to Prepare for a Successful Summit of Mount Everest

Here we examine what you need to do in order to successfully reach the summit of Mount Everest, and live to tell your friends and family about your adventure. The information presented here is more pragmatic and less philosophical.

Here we will not discuss why some men and women have the need to climb the highest mountain in the world. At this point in your search for information, you probably don’t need this type of philosophical reasoning. Here you will find strictly the preparatory steps you need to take in order to increase the probability of a successful ascent and descent of Mount Everest. As in all worthwhile endeavors, preparation is the key to success. Lets take a look at the necessary preparatory steps.

1) Make sure that you are in the proper frame of mind for a summit. By this we mean ask yourself why you want to climb Mount Everest. You need to have a very good reason to attempt a summit, at least a very good reason for yourself. The reason for this is because your motivation level must be very high, and needs to be deep seated within your own personal psychology.

A perfunctory reason for climbing Everest will not work. If you are willing to do what ever it takes, and take yourself to the edge of your physical and mental performance envelope, then you should be ready to go. This first psychological step is by far the most important. If you can not take this first step, then you should stop reading right here and not continue with the other steps needed.

2) Make sure your are physically fit, and build up your fitness to a high level during the steps which follow. Your physical fitness should include running on both flat terrain and hills, some weight lifting, some climbing with a heavy backpack, and long periods of walking with a heavy backpack. Build up your fitness over time so that your fitness peak occurs around the time of you summit attempt. Obviously, you must be physically and mentally ready to summit Mount Everest.

3) Make sure you have the knowledge and technical skills needed in order to summit Everest. If you are starting from square one, you need to take mountaineering courses and start to learn about mountain climbing. Here we are talking about mountain climbing, and not rock climbing, there is a difference.

After you learn about the skills needed to climb mountains, start climbing and start out by climbing peaks that are less then ultra prominent. An ultra prominent peak is a mountain with a topographical prominence of 1,500 meters (4,921 ft) or more. There are a total of roughly 1,524 such peaks in the world. The prominence of a peak is the height of the peak’s summit above the lowest contour line encircling it.

4) After successful summits of less then ultra prominent mountains, start to climb ultra prominent peaks, and over a period of 3 to 4 years, build up your climbing experience so that you able to climb several mountains which are at least 18,000 feet above mean sea level.  Before an Everest summit attempt, climb at least one mountain of 26,247 feet above mean sea level. It is also important to gain some experience at expedition camping at higher altitude, and gain experience on how to deal with the cold.  Also, learn about how and when to use oxygen. You should also learn how to pace yourself and how to expend as little energy as possible as you move up the mountain.

5) During your physical training and climbing, select an expedition company. It is very important that you use an expedition company which has many years of experience and has a successful track record of putting people on the summit with a safe return descent. There are number of companies out there. Their prices range anywhere from $25,000 to $60,000. They are not cheap.

The most important element here in selecting an expedition company is to make sure they provide a guide for you. Having a guide increases your chances of a successful summit attempt tremendously. One of the most well known expedition companies is Himalayan Experience.

Himalayan Experience is directed by Russell Brice, who has been leading expeditions to the Himalayas since 1974. He has led clients to the summit of Everest, Cho Oyo, Himal Chuli, Shishapangma and Ama Dablam. His expeditions have been presented on the Discovery Channel. Brice has a reputation of tight control so be prepared to follow his rules strictly.

The Russell Brice team is not cheap. There 2007 price was $40,000. So do your shopping around in finding the right expedition company, one which fits your budget, and at the same time provides a level of safety you are comfortable with. But also be very careful. We strongly suggest that you do not use an expedition company whose price sounds to low (meaning below $25,000). David Sharp, the climber who died in 2006 and whose death was surrounded by a media frenzy of inaccuracy and furor, had paid into one such bare-bones operation.

6) Buy at least $50,000 in emergency medical evacuation insurance in case you need to be evacuated due to a medical reason. And while your at it, make sure your life insurance policy is in place and find out about if it covers risky activity. Many life insurance companies simply will not provide a pay out if you die from risky activity. Fortunately, there are some life insurance companies that specialize in such high-risk situations and have underwriters equipped to provide you with the best quote for your individual requirements.

The following is the fatality rates for a Mount Everest summit:

1922-1989; 285/106 (37.19%)
1990-1999; 882/59 (6.69%)
2000-2005; 1393/27 (1.94%)
1922-2006; 3010/203 (6.74%)

As you can see, the fatality rate for a summit of Mount Everest has dropped dramatically since 1990. But no matter how you slice it, there is a risk for loss of life.

The point is, if you have dreamed of climbing Mount Everest, and you are unable to be covered by a life insurance policy while attempting a summit, I would not let that stop you. Especially given the fact that the fatality rate has dropped dramatically. But it would be prudent to know what your policy does and does not cover in terms of risky activity.

7) Plan your trip for the spring, because during the months of March, April and May, this is when the optimal climbing weather exists in the Himalayas. You should also have some basic understanding about weather and the weather systems that frequently move through the Himalayas during the spring. While your expedition leader will be making the weather decisions, the ultimate choice of whether you climb comes down to you, and part of that decision making involves making sure you have a large enough weather window for a summit.

8) Be prepared for long periods of acclimatizing. Usually several weeks or longer. You can not attempt to summit Mount Everest unless you have the proper number of red blood cells given the decrease level of oxygen in the atmosphere. So a lot of time is spent waiting.

9) Plan at least two months for the entire trip.

We have provided you with a list of steps you need to follow in order to successfully summit Mount Everest. As you can see, such an attempt should not be looked as an adventure vacation. To summit Mount Everest is serious business, and it should be treated as such. The key to a successful summit is preparation. If you are successful, you will experience one of the highest levels of accomplishment that an individual can achieve. And finally, Godspeed on your attempt to summit the highest mountain in the world.