Why Climb With a Professional Mountain Guide
Todd Burleson, President Alpine Ascents

In recent years much debate has been spawned as to the safest and most successful methods for guiding Mt. Everest. There is a tremendous amount of misinformation and confusion as to success rates and methods of guiding on Everest. I hope to clarify these topics and provide a better understanding of your choices.

2012 Outside Magazine Article on Everest Guiding

There Are Two Basic Methods Which Typify Climbs Offered On Everest.

Guided Climbing: A professionally led team with two or more guides (depending on the number of clients) who climb with you at all times along with a strong Sherpa staff in support. (Typically Alpine Ascents will have 4 guides, 10 to 12 clients and 18 high altitude climbing Sherpa.)

Non-Guided Climbing: (Note: Some companies are now calling this a Guided Climb). In this case a Sherpa has been designated the guide. The decision making is done by the climber not by a professional guide.

There has been a lot of discussion about whether Non-Guided Climbs on Everest are as successful (and ultimately as safe) as Guided Climbs. Through the following analysis one can clearly see the differences in success and safety in these two styles of climbing Everest. The analysis clearly shows that Non-Guided climbing has a much lower success rate than guided climbs and that the risks are much higher due to the lack of resources for rescue and medical attention.

The Truth about Success Rates

Many websites post success rates that are inaccurate or at best incomplete. An outfitter may state, “83% success above the South Col or 30 people or more have summitted” , Everest on their particular team in one year. These statements may be true but what should concern the paying client is not how many Sherpa and guides reach the top but how many paying clients reach the top starting from Base Camp (where the climb begins not from the South Col). That is, what is the percentage of client success?

Below is a chart outlining the success of the leading company offering Non-guided climbs compared with Alpine Ascents International's Guided Climbs. The data from both companies comes from day to day Everest cybercasts the companies have posted for the last 8 years (2004-2011). This data can be confirmed by reviewing their respective websites.

Year	Alpine Ascents Guided Everest Climb					"Non Guided" with personal sherpa Everest Climb
	# of Clients	# of Clients Summit		Success Rate		# of Clients	# of Clients Summit	Success Rate
2011	6	6		100%
2010	9	6		66%
2009	14	9		64%		8	4	50%
2008	10	9		90%		11	6	55%
2007	12	9		75%		9	4	44%
2006	6	5		83%		8	4	50%
2005*	12	4		33%		6	2	33%
2004	8	7		88%		9	4	44%
2004-2011	77	55		71%		51	24	47%
Minus 2005*	65	51		78%		45	22	49%

As you can see from the above chart, Alpine Ascents has an overall success rate of 71% compared to 47% for non-guided. It is interesting to note that 4 out of 6 years Alpine Ascents has put 75-90% of its clients on top where the Non-Guided Outfitter has only one year of slightly over 50%, the rest are 50% or less. These are significant differences.

* It is worth noting that 2005 was one of the worst weather years for summiting Everest in 20 years. Teams did not summit until the very end of May and into June. Many climbers left early before summit attempts were made. If you remove this one year anomaly for both teams, Alpine Ascents has an 78% success rate and the Non-Guided Outfitter only raises to 49%. This is because they are consistently low every year compared to Guided Climbs (Alpine Ascents). In effect Alpine Ascents put 4 out of every 5 climbers on the summit compared to 1 out of 2 climbers.

Are Guided Climbs Much Safer than Non-Guided

Safety is a more difficult thing to measure but just as important. It entails the "what if" situation that you hope never happens. What can be measured are the resources you have to deal with in an unexpected emergency. For example: A climber on the Lhotse face is hit by rock fall and injured. If you have only the resource of one climbing Sherpa your chances of a quick rescue and good medical attention are miniscule compared to having professional Everest guides and a strong Sherpa team there who can quickly provide vital medical attention and a quick evacuation. To a trauma patient this can be the difference between life and death.

A recent study published in the British Medical Journal states that 80% of the deaths on Everest happen on summit day or shortly there after. Marked fatigue, late summit times, and the tendency to fall behind companions are common among non-survivors.

While guiding on summit day we have come across a number of non-guided Sherpa supported climbers who were disoriented, fatigued (some out of oxygen) who would most likely not have survived without assistance from another team.

Another example is the well known case of Lincoln Hall, a very competent and famous climber who was left for dead on Everest. His Sherpa believed that he could not help his client any more and left. In my opinion it is unfair to put any Sherpa or Western Guide in a situation that they would have to single handedly rescue a climber high on Everest. It just is not possible.

A team on the other hand can join together to provide medical attention and evacuation. There are many such stories as Lincoln Hall's that have taken place on Everest. I think it is clear that the support of a cohesive climbing team greatly increases the safety margin on Everest.

Good Judgment

There are many ways to increase safety on Everest; more oxygen, good weather reports and proper equipment make a difference. But none of these resources can take the place of good judgment gained through years of experience. Safe climbing starts with making good decisions. Professional and experienced guides will be the best decision makers.

Everyday on Everest we are confronted with challenges where decisions must be made, often unexpectedly. For example,

• You are climbing up a fixed line and find it damaged? The questions arise: Is it safe to go on? Do I know how to fix it? Are the anchors good? Should I go up or retreat? The wrong decisions can mean life and death.
• You wake up at Camp III and it has snowed all night? Maybe it is safe to move up or maybe it is not. Avalanche potential is a difficult thing to measure.
• You or your climbing Sherpa become ill. Should you medicate? Do you know which drugs to give and what their effects are? Should you retreat or make the next camp and see what happens. etc

There are endless important decisions that must be made throughout the expedition. It requires years of experience to make good judgment calls. Before you climb non-guided /sherpa guided you must ask yourself. Do I have the experience to make these decisions?

In my opinion only climbers with years of high altitude experience and knowledge in such areas as avalanche potential, route finding in bad weather, medical/and rescue skills, are skilled at self care and management should attempt to climb Everest non-guided.

An important question is: Are Sherpa qualified to guide you on Everest? If it were true, outfitters would save us $10,000 per Western Guide just in royalties alone not to mention the cost of salaries, hotels, airline tickets etc. The truth is there are only one or two Sherpa in the Khumbu who have the qualifications to pass our requirements for guiding on Everest.

We have many Sherpa on our team who have summitted Everest over a dozen times but lack the vital leadership/decision making skill to guide safely. Their primary role is to carry loads high on the mountain and to provide man power where directed.

I hope this analysis helps you to understand the differences between non-guided climbs and guided climbs with strong team support. Probably the most important decision you will make climbing Everest is who you will climb with and in what manner. Please feel free to contact me with any questions. I am happy to talk with you at anytime.

Sincerely,
Todd Burleson
President

 

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