The 2011 spring climbing season on Everest may be long over, but there are still some interesting facts about the various climbs on the mountain that are coming to light. This article, from The Economic Times, shares some of the numbers from this past spring as passed along to them from Ang Tshering Sherpa, the outgoing president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association.
According to the article, there were 156 climbers who went to the summit from the South Side of the mountain this past spring. Of those, 39 were Americans, the most of any single country. The U.K. came in second with 27 summitteers, and India was third with 19. Those climbers were spread out over 92 separate expeditions, which was down from the 100 teams that received permits last year. We had heard that Base Camp was quieter this year, and those numbers seem to confirm it. All told, there were 506 ascents of the mountain, with 375 coming from the Nepal side and a further 131 from Tibet's North Side. The article also gives a tip of the hat to Apa Sherpa, who we all know summitted for a record 21st time.
The Economic Times is an Indian newspaper, and as a result they also share the accomplishments of their countrymen, which were quite impressive this spring. For instance, Haryana, Bikash Kaushik and Sushma Kaushik are a husband and wife team who summitted together, becaming the youngest couple in the world to accomplish that feat. They are 24 and 27 respectively. The Indian military reached a milestone as well when Flight-Lieutenant Nivedita Chaudhary became the first female Air Force officer to summit. She was joined on top by Anshu Jamsenpa, described as a "housewife," who became the first Indian woman to summit Everest twice in a single year.
The article also puts into perspective exactly what the spring climbing season means to Nepal, as it states that the government there earned $2.38 million in revenue from the permits and taxes that come along with climbing in that country. It is also estimated that the climbing season had an economic benefit of $9 million for the country as a whole as well.