Mount Everest Expedition South Face

The summit of Mt. Everest – English name commonly used is named after British surveyor of then East India Company – or Sagarmatha in Nepali or Chomolungma/ Qomolangma in local Tibetan/Sherpa language lies in the border of Nepal and Tibet whereas the peak can be climbed from both sides/countries. Mount Everest Expedition in south East Ridge leads you to the summit from Nepal – the south side of the peak.  

The adventurous journey to this mighty peak started in the early nineteenth century by British people.

In 1808, the Indian Survey staffed by army officers under the British rule began to locate the world’s highest peak. In the previous year, British surveyor General Lt. Colonel Robert Colebrook calculated the height of these snowy mountain peaks from the Indian town of Gorakhpur. He roughly founded two peaks were higher than any peak in the Andes and concluded that given the calculations he made were true, then “this must be the highest mountain on the known world”.

The British were not allowed to enter into Nepal. Thus in 1830’s the survey team began to work again from the southern plain whereas weather proved to be hilarious to the team in the Malaria prone zone. Due to ill-health of two member’s death of two other members, they retarded from the job.

In 1847, under the leadership of Surveyor General Andrew Waugh, they made a series of observations from the eastern end of the Himalayan range. He noticed that Kanchenjunga– the survey team gave the peak a local name – could be the world’s highest peak.

Waugh sighted another peak possibly higher than Kanchenjunga in distance of some140 miles westwards. Concurrently, another official of his team also saw the same mountain from further west and called it peak ‘b’. Waugh decided to make detail observations of the peak that was higher than Kanchenjunga, and sent a survey officer in 1848 but failed to accomplish due to the cloud.

In 1849, Waugh sent a James Nicolson who made two observations from the distance of over 118 miles – the closest ever from the peak so far. He made as many as thirty six observations with the help of large Theodolite in two months’ time, and calculated the height of the peak to be 30,200 ft.

Waugh worked on Nicolson’s figures and began serious calculations only in 1854 where one of his assistant Michael Hennessy gave new name to the peaks as Peak IX to Kanchenjunga and peak XV to Peak ‘b’ for what we call Everest now.

Finally, in March 1856 Waugh made an announcement that Kanchenjunga– now world’s third highest mountain peak – to be 28,156 feet and Peak XV –now Mt. Everest – was 29,002 feet concluding “most probably the highest mountain peak in the world”.

Royal Geographical Society, on recommendation of the British Surveyor General of India - Andrew Waugh amidst controversy and Sir George Everest’s objections named the peak Mt Everest. 

The current official elevation of 8,848 m/ 29,029 ft. was established in 1955, and subsequently confirmed by a Chinese Survey in 1975. Controversies on the proper summit elevation of Everest has been continuing and very recently in 2018-2020, both Nepal and China have measured the height of the peak, and yet to announce their calculations.

Mt. Everest was unapproachable to any foreigners prior to 1950. Thus, all initial efforts to climb Mount Everest were carried out from Tibetan side – North face of the peak.

The first close-up photo of the mighty peak was taken by J. Claude White while he was in Tibet on a secret mission in 1903 with another gentleman Young Husband. On a race to climb the mountain, The Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club in 1921formed a Mount Everest Committee of nine members to launch the Mt. Everest Expedition for the first time.

In 1922 and 1924 British again attempted to climb the peak. The 1924 expedition to Everest is well-known for the mystery of George Mallory and Sandy Irvine that is unresolved till today. The question of whether these two men reached the summit or not hasyet to be answered. In 1999 researchers found the body of Mallory nevertheless unable to conclude whether he died on the way up or way down.

None of the 1930’s expedition – four expeditions were conducted altogether from Tibet side – could be fruitful on Mt. Everest.

Political turbulence in the region restricted all climbing from both sides after the World War II.

But the political change in Nepal altered the course of Everest Expedition in Nepal. Now, Tibet was closed for foreigners and Nepal was opened.

 In 1950 Bill Tillman and American Dr Charles Houston ventured into the Khumbu Glacier and concluded that unstable icefall below the Cwm was impossible barrier to climb the mountain. In 1951 under the leadership of Eric Shipton – veteran of all four Everest Expeditions of 1930’s from Tibet – with Newzealander Ed. Hillary climbed to a point at 20,000 ft on the peak Pumori and examined the whole of South West Face and Western Cwm. They walked across the icefall and reached the Western Cwm for the first time.

Amidst the efforts of British continuing the Swiss team seized the permission to climb the Everest – with two attempts possible within a year. They became the first humans to reach Western Cwm. They crossed the Lhotse Glacier, and reached to the historic landmark of South Col, and pushed for summit bid on 27thMay, 1952 by four members. In this attempt, Raymond Lambert and Tenzing Norgey reached to 28,220 ft breaking the British record that had hold for 28 years. Finally, the climbers had to give up with failure and frustrations in Mt. Everest and subsequently in autumn as well same year.

Again it was time for British to challenge on this mighty peak.

Earlier in 1952 while Swiss were in the Everest, British were in the Cho Oyu (8,201 m/ 26, 906 ft) as a scientific Expedition. This expedition with aim to have scientific preparation to future Mt. Everest Expedition had Griffith Pugh to trial oxygen equipment, research on diet, and other relevant issues to solve.

Team leader was changed in 1953 Mt. Everest Expedition. Eric Shipton was replaced by John Hunt.

In 1953, on March 10thhuge caravan left Bhadgaon – the small town east to Kathmandu –and reached Tengboche on March 26th, their acclimatization base.

Finally, on May 29th at 11.30 am Tenzing Norgey Sherpa and Sir. Edmund Hillary stood on top of the Mt. Everest, the highest point on earth.

Since then the race to stand on the summit point of world’s highest mountain peak is continuing. The first climb was the inspiration to the entire human race, and it is time for you to challenge the nature, and test your endurance, mountaineering skills, and valor.

There are 17 different routes discovered to the summit but almost everyone climbs via one of the two routes: South East Ridge from Nepal or North Ridge from Tibet.

Everest South Col Route Camps
Here you can find camp to camp information of the Climbing Routes of Everest South.

Base Camp at 5,364 m/ 17,598 ft
Everest Base Camp (EBC) of South Face in Nepal is located at an altitude of 17,598 ft. in a moving glacier where you spend some forty five days of your climbing. As the ice moves and melts, tents and camps keep on shifting and moving. The area is harsh, but beautifully surrounded by Pumori, Lo-La, Nuptse and Khumbu Icefall and warm mornings can be expected. In the busy season of spring, EBC looks like a small tented village. As the north Base Camp in Tibet was accessible by Jeep, this part is not. You reach at this Base Camp after nine days trek through beautiful landscapes, and scattered Sherpa villages – which are the world famous for their climbing contributions in the Himalayas.

Camp I (C1)-5,943 m/ 19,498 ft
Reaching Camp I of Everest South face is the most technical part where you are to cross the Khumbu Icefall – like a real horror-chamber of an amusement park (?). The Icefall is some 2000 ft. of moving ice where deep crevasses and towering ice serac located that can challenge you anytime. Camp I is wide flat with endless snow known as ‘Silent Valley’ where in general you will spend two nights for acclimatization here. Once you are well acclimatized, we plan to move up to Camp II, and directly to Base Camp down for safety reason. 

Camp II (C2)–6,400m/ 20,997 ft
You walk through the glacial valley known as the Western Cwm to reach Camp II. The Camp is located in a safe and sheltered place at a rocky patch at the foot of Icy Lhotse Wall. The view of Lhotse is tremendous from here. We pitch our climbing camp here for the duration of climbing with individual climber’s tent for the safety reason. It serves as the main acclimatization camp as well and you spend most of your time after the Base Camp.

Camp III (C3) – 7,162 m/ 23,497ft
This is not an easy climb to Camp III from Camp II in a Lhotse face. You start to feel the effect of high altitude and not using supplemental oxygen yet. The Lhotse face is steep, and the ice is hard. You climb on a fixed rope in the slope of some 30 to 45 degrees. It’s a long climb to C3 and a must for the acclimatization prior to summit bid. You will spend two nights here before the summit push for acclimatization.

South Col – 8,016 m/ 26,299 ft
This camp is on a plateau that resemble a moonscape with Everest to the north and Lhotse to the south. South Col is the last camp before the summit push and accessible to most of the climbers without supplemental oxygen. South Col or Camp IV can be navigated by two rocks: the Yellow Band and Geneva Spur – a spur between 25,000 and 26,000 ft below South Col named from the 1952 Swiss Mt Everest Expedition from where Lhotse climbers typically head southeast and on to a couloir to reach to the summit.

Only a small climb above this camp, you can look down to the Tibetan plateau – vast brown plains; white glaciers; and other Himalayan giants – Kanchenjunga, Lhotse, and Makalu.

Summit Everest from South Face 8,848 m/29,029 ft.
The last section from South Col to the summit passes through The Balcony at 8,440 m/ 27,690 ft, The Cornice Traverse, and The Hillary Step – narrow pass where one climber can ascend or descend at a time. It can take 09 to 13 hours to summit the Everest. Not only the summit push is arduous task here but climbing down as well due to lack of enough oxygen, tiredness, and weather in the later afternoon.

We operate our expedition in the Himalayas with well-trained Sherpas of western standard born and raised in the foothills of the Himalayas. Their excellence and glorious climbing history need no more explanation. Our Sherpas have climbed Everest and other peaks in the Himalayas of all height multiple times, and prove themselves to be the best climbers and Leader/guide.

Our Sherpas will make sure that cooperation with other Sherpas from different companies and Base Camp organizations is intact. It is essential that all climbing teams work together in the Himalayas with proper contribution from all operators on the tasks such as route fixing and ensuring safety of climbers from Base to the summit. Our Sherpas lead in these efforts.

How to Choosing an experience Provider
It is important for each climber to choose the right expedition guide service that not only suites their needs, but provides the best safely and secure mountaineering experience possible. There are more than 1,700 trekking companies in Nepal who offer 8,000 meter expeditions including Everest, but only about 30 companies who operate 8,000 meter peaks on a regular basis. We are proud to be one of these 30 companies and consistently offer, run and succeed at these types of expeditions year after year.

It is very important that the climbers who choose Satori Adventures for this trip of a lifetime experience have expectations that are compatible with the program we offer and the style of expedition Satori Adventures runs. We do not want to simply “fill our expedition”, but instead we want to comprise a team of companionable people who are focused on reaching the summit with the highest level of support and safety standards that can be provided by a guiding service on Mt Everest. We team this with the best standards of food and quality equipment to further assist each client reach their full potential. We feel that we offer the best environment and opportunity for you to be successful on the world’s highest mountain.

Diminutive climbing Team members
We are always developing and growing our operational systems to ensure you participate will provide as much as facilities provided. We figure our expedition members do not deserve anything less during the trekking and climbing! In the interests of giving you the most optimal chance to summit, we limit our team size to ensure the group summits on the best weather day; sometimes there are less window days for summit in Everest. In big size of group offering cheap climbs often miss out as they split their groups over several potential summit days. We feel like our climbing members are feeling that they are climbing as a family and friends team even on international people. We accept maximum 08 people in a group and if we have more than that we always split in two groups. So that our base camp staff cooks, climbing Sherpa guide will fully taking care about you and provide service as per your desire.

Maximum summit Success;
The Satori Adventures methodology and tactical approach to climbing Mt Everest has seen us achieve the highest success rates and our extensive experience gives us the edge when it comes to making the right decisions. We provide a consistently higher Sherpa and Guide ratio than any other operator, resulting in more support and backup for your summit attempt and therefore a greater safety margin and chance of success. There is always a 1:1 ratio of the climbing Sherpa/guide and client. We always use professional and experienced climbing Sherpa or guides who have all reached the summit of Everest.

Highly Qualified Sirdar/Team leader
Our guides are professionals who are trained and assessed either via the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IFMGA) resulting in a greater repertoire of skills that enables them to provide a dedicated level of security to you during the expedition, or many years of mountaineering experience on the world’s biggest peaks. Our guides are experience in both advanced and basic rescue courses and all have a minimum of 3 years guiding on Everest.

Advanced Communication method
Satori Adventures Everest expeditions have been at the forefront of providing top communications for our Everest expeditions. This allows us to obtain and deliver comprehensive weather forecasts via U.S., European and Kathmandu weather forecasting. Our lead guide is always equipped with a satellite phone during the climbing and at base camp. Two way radio communications between climbing members, guides, Sherpa and base camp staff is also provided. There is also local mobile network available at base camp that provides easy connection with your family during your stay at base camp.

Facilities camp setup at Base Camp and Kitchen at camp two
Satori Adventure focuses on comfortable conditions at base camp, including good quality food and other services. We find this helps clients with their overall success rate on the mountain. Our cooks are regarded as the best in the business, providing wholesome and appetizing meals with an agreeable array of menus to suit all your food requirements. The meals you are served on the mountain are also of the highest standard and designed to sustain you for the rigorous ascent. We offer various choices that will suit any diet plan, including vegetarian, Vegan, continental, Indian and others. If you have special food consideration, please provide this to us 60 days prior to the expedition so we can plan the best meals for your trip.

Approaches to ABCFrom South (Nepal):
The approach on its south side is through the Khumbu region of Nepal leading up to the Khumbu Glacier extending down to Lobuche (4900m). It starts with the flight to Lukla and the trek via Namche Bazaar (3440m), Tengaboche (36600m), Pheriche (4270m), Lobuche (4910m), Gorak Shep (5140m) to Everest South Base Camp (5200m). It takes typically 8 days to reach ABC from Kathmandu.