Among these was Mount Everest, the peak he summitted eight times. It was his viral picture, titled “traffic jam”, of a long queue of 320-odd climbers near the Everest summit that drew attention to the overcrowding the world’s highest peak is grappling with.
Long-term data between 1950 and 2025 across 490 Himalayan peaks ranging from 5,000 to 8,850 metres shows that a total of 105,886 climbers have attempted expeditions, resulting in 10,978 successful summits and 1,093 fatalities — a historical death rate of about 1 per cent. This traffic has exploded over the decades, with the number of climbers skyrocketing from 647 between 1950-1954 to 18,523 in the 2020-2025 period.
The number of fatalities has, meanwhile, decreased: From a peak of 3.42 per cent between 1970-1974 (up from 1.39 per cent in the early 1950s) to a record low of 0.32 per cent in the 2020-2025 period. Around 36 per cent of the deaths occurred on Mount Everest. Between 1950 and 2025, about 35 per cent of the deaths occurred during the hazardous route preparation phase, while 25 per cent were during descent.
Also, 12 per cent of the fatalities were caused by acute mountain sickness.
Climbers from Japan, France, and South Korea suffered the highest casualties, recording 115, 62, and 49 deaths, respectively, while 42 climbers from India lost their lives during this 75-year period.
While modern safety standards have brought down mortality rates, these have fuelled an overcrowding crisis that threatens the mountain’s fragile ecosystem. The volume of waste on Mount Everest has reached unprecedented levels. In 2016, cleanup efforts recovered 1,891 kg of garbage; by 2021, it had more than doubled to 4,442 kg; and by 2024, it had touched a staggering 14,128 kg.
Environmentalist Pradeep Sangwan, who launched a cleanup initiative, “Healing Himalayas”, in 2016 in the mountainous regions of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand said the peaks have become more accessible to mountaineers. “To address this,” he added, “we must prioritise value over volume, which is achievable through stronger legislation, policy reforms, and stricter regulations tailored to these regions.”
Anjal Prakash, professor of public policy at Flame University, Pune, Maharashtra, said the rise in trash on Everest is directly linked to the growing number of climbers and expedition staff, who carry supplies and equipment.
Prakash said, “Mandatory waste audits should be conducted before and after expeditions; ranger checkpoints should be
established at higher camps; and a non-refundable conservation fee should be levied on climbers to ensure accountability.”
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