Each year, about this time, there is a lot of talk in the media about how dangerous it is to climb Everest and to a lesser extend the other 8000 meter peaks. Typically we’re coming of another spring climbing season in the Himalaya and the non-climbing public is shocked to hear that 8 or 10 people have died on Everest.
It makes good headlines for the mainstream media that is looking to drum up traffic, even if the stories ignore the fact that hundreds of people successfully summit.
With that in mind, yesterday The Economist published an infographic that compares each of the 14 8000-meter peaks in terms of the number of successful summits vs the number of deaths. You can find that graphic below and I think it speaks quite clearly for itself.
Some of the numbers are surprising and some are sobering, particularly when you look at K2 and Annapurna.
- Gear Review: The Xero Scrambler Mid is an Ultralight Hiking Shoe for Spring - March 1, 2023
- Gear Review: Yeti Roadie 48 Wheeled Cooler - August 18, 2022
- Kristin Harila Continues Pursuit of 8000-Meter Speed Record - August 16, 2022
It's very surprising to me that Annapurna has the highest death to safe returns ratio. I always thought that K2 is the nastiest beast of them all.
Amazing blog, by the way! I´m totally in love with it! THANKS!
Yep! Annapurna is a monster. Very unstable conditions and lots of avalanches. Truly a deadly mountain. K2 is absolutely no slouch either.
Glad you like the blog Rakman. I appreciate your kind words. 🙂