No climbers made it to the top of Mount Everest in 2015

No one made it to the summit of Mount Everest in 2015 – for the first time in more than 40 years.

Group of trekkers passing signpost on way to Mount Everest Base Camp – Mount Everest (Sagarmatha) National Park. Image by Bartosz Hadyniak

The year also saw sad statistics for the world’s tallest mountain – it had the deadliest day in history after as a least 18 people were killed in April when an earthquake struck Nepal, surpassing the deal toll of 16 in an avalanche the previous year.

Much of the reason no climbers made it to the summit was due to the earthquake, which killed more than 8000 people in Nepal. Many of those killed were Nepalese guides, who are crucial to helping climbers get to the top.

Mount Everest. Image by Göran Höglund (Kartläsarn) / CC BY 2.0

In recent years, the climbing of Everest has become somewhat controversial as more than 600 climbers come each year with a plan to reach the summit, which can cause overcrowding on the mountain.

In early April, weeks before the earthquake, the Kathmandu Post published an article stating that 2015 would likely be a record year for the number of climbers, due to the 2014 closure of the mountain following an avalanche that buried 16 guides.

But months after the 2015 earthquake, Nepalese officials were mulling a ban on inexperienced climbers to help improve safety on the mountain, reports the Guardian.

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