Mt Everest Peak: Height, Deaths, Temperature, and Climbing Guide

Few mountains command the same mix of awe and curiosity as Mount Everest. Whether you’re wondering how cold it gets up there or why so many climbers never make it home, the numbers tell a stark story.

Height: 8,848.86 m (29,031 ft 8.5 in) · Location: Nepal and China (Tibet) · First ascent: 29 May 1953 (Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay) · Deaths to 2024: >340 · Summit temperature range: −20°C to −60°C

The key facts below cross-reference height, temperature, and mortality from official surveys and peer-reviewed studies.

How many climbers have died on Everest?

Number of recorded deaths up to 2024

• Since the 1920s, more than 340 people have died climbing Everest, according to the Wikipedia list of fatalities (crowd-sourced database).
• Most deaths occur above 8,000 m in the “death zone,” where oxygen pressure is too low for prolonged survival PubMed Central (Everest mortality study).
• Hypoxia, high-altitude cerebral edema, avalanches, falls, serac collapse, exposure, frostbite, and pre-existing health problems are the leading causes Wikipedia.

Main causes of death on Everest

A 2008 PubMed Central analysis of Everest deaths (1921–2006) found that climbers often died during the descent from the summit after reaching the top. The exhaustion of a multi-day push, combined with depleted oxygen tanks, turns the return into the most dangerous leg. Avalanches, however, tend to claim lives lower on the mountain.

The implication: rising permit numbers will continue to push fatality counts upward unless protocols tighten.

What is the exact height of Mount Everest?

Official height in meters, feet, and miles

Eight measurements over 150 years have been revised, but the current official height — jointly agreed by Nepal and China in 2020 — is 8,848.86 m (29,031 ft 8.5 in) NAMAS Adventure (expedition operator). In miles, that’s about 5.5 mi.

The previous widely cited figure was 8,848 m, a difference of less than a meter — but for surveyors and mountaineers, the decimals matter for route planning and scientific records.

Recent 2020 joint survey by Nepal and China

The 2020 joint survey used GPS and ground-penetrating radar to measure snow depth, settling a long-standing discrepancy between the two countries’ earlier measurements NAMAS Adventure. The agreement ended decades of “height wars” and gave climbers a single authoritative number.

How cold does it get at the top of Mount Everest?

Average summit temperature

According to a 2021 PubMed Central study of extreme weather on 8,000 m peaks, the average summit temperature on Everest is −19 °C in summer (June–August) and −36 °C in winter (December–February). Wind chill can push apparent temperatures below −60 °C.

Extreme lows recorded

The same PMC study recorded winter Everest wind speeds averaging 36 ± 7 m/s (about 130 km/h). At those speeds, exposed skin freezes in seconds. The death zone, where ambient temperatures are already below −30 °C, becomes a hypothermia trap when wind picks up Earth Island Journal.

How hard is it to actually climb Everest?

Training requirements

Climbing Everest demands months of high-altitude training and progressive acclimatization on mountains above 6,000 m. Most commercial operators require prior experience on peaks such as Aconcagua or Denali before granting a permit NAMAS Adventure.

Technical climbing difficulty

The route includes the Khumbu Icefall (a moving glacier with crevasses), the Lhotse Face (steep ice), and the Hillary Step (a near-vertical rock band). These sections are not technically extreme by alpine standards, but the extreme altitude makes every move exhausting. Success rates hover around 50–60% for commercial teams.

Dangers: altitude sickness, weather, crevasses

Beyond the physical challenge, acute mountain sickness and high-altitude cerebral edema are the main medical threats. The Everest mortality study found that hypoxia is the single biggest killer above 8,000 m.

Why can’t you climb Mount Everest after 2 p.m. and what is the 2 p.m. rule?

Safety logic of the 2 p.m. turnaround

The “2 p.m. rule” states that climbers must turn back if they haven’t reached the summit by 2 p.m. Mountaineering expert Alan Arnette calls it “the most important safety guideline on Everest.” The logic: afternoon storms roll in quickly, oxygen runs short, and descending in darkness on fixed ropes is deadly.

Consequences of ignoring the rule

Violating the rule was a common thread in the 1996 disaster that killed 15 climbers. Overstaying in the death zone after 2 p.m. increases the risk of frostbite, oxygen depletion, and being caught in a storm without the light needed to navigate the icefall.

What is the oldest known body on Everest and is it harder to climb K2 or Everest?

Oldest remains: George Mallory (1924)

The body of George Mallory, who disappeared with Andrew Irvine in 1924, was found in 1999 at about 8,150 m. It remains the oldest known body on Everest Wikipedia. Whether Mallory and Irvine reached the summit before dying is still unknown.

K2 vs Everest: technical difficulty comparison

K2 is considered technically harder than Everest: steeper slopes, more rockfall, and no fixed-ropes infrastructure. A NAMAS Adventure comparison cites a K2 fatality ratio of about 1 death per 4 summit successes (25%), versus an Everest ratio of roughly 1–2%. However, Everest produces more total deaths due to the much higher number of climbers Earth Island Journal.

K2 vs Mount Everest: A Detailed Comparison of the World’s Two Highest Peaks

Timeline: Key milestones on Everest

• 1924 – George Mallory and Andrew Irvine disappeared near summit
• 1953 – First recorded summit by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay
• 1975 – Junko Tabei becomes first woman to summit
• 1996 – Deadliest season (15 deaths) due to storm
• 2015 – Avalanche after earthquake kills 22 on Everest
• 2020 – Nepal–China joint survey establishes official height 8,848.86 m

Clarity: what we know and what remains unclear

Confirmed facts

• Height: 8,848.86 m (official 2020 survey) NAMAS Adventure
• First summit: 1953 (Hillary & Tenzing) Wikipedia
• Over 340 recorded deaths Wikipedia
• Average summit temperature −19 °C (summer), −36 °C (winter) PubMed Central
• Most fatalities occur above 8,000 m PubMed Central

What remains unclear

• Whether Mallory and Irvine summited before dying in 1924
• Exact count of unregistered deaths (non-permit expeditions)
• How climate change will affect the Khumbu Icefall’s stability in coming decades Earth Island Journal

Voices from the mountain

“We knocked the bastard off.”

— Edmund Hillary, after the first recorded summit in 1953

“The 2 p.m. rule is the most important safety guideline on Everest. Ignoring it has killed more climbers than any storm.”

— Alan Arnette, mountaineering expert

Summary

Mount Everest remains the ultimate test of human endurance, but the data shows it is more accessible than ever — and also more congested. For every climber who succeeds, a handful push too deep into the death zone after 2 p.m. or underestimate the cold. For Nepal and China, the management of permits and rescue risks must balance economic gain against human cost. Climbers planning a 2026 expedition must train for the altitude, respect the turnaround, and never assume the death zone will forgive.

Related reading: K2 vs Mount Everest: A Detailed Comparison of the World’s Two Highest Peaks

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