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Last week I posted a story about Alan Arnette's recent look at the cost of climbing Everest in 2018 . This week, he's back to delve deeper into the numbers behind all of the expeditions that visit the world's highest peak, and take a peek ahead at what we can expect in the spring of 2018, when more people than ever will be heading to the Himalaya. As you probably recall, the Himalayan Database is the main authority on who has and hasn't climbed Everest and the other big mountains in Nepal and Tibet. Recently, the database was updated to include all the summits from 2017 and was released online for free . Over the past couple of weeks, Alan has been pouring over the numbers to search for any interesting tidbits of information, with some fascinating things being revealed. According to the database, 4833 people have summited Everest a grand total of 8306 times to date. Most of those (5280) came from the Nepali side, with an additionally 3026 reaching the summit on the ...

One of the major expeditions we followed closely last winter was Alex Txikon's attempt to summit Everest solo in winter. There are some rumblings that he might be headed back to try again this year, but I haven't seen official confirmation of those plans yet. This video was shot in Base Camp last winter and it features a special moment when Reinhold Messner – perhaps the greatest mountaineer of all time – came to visit Alex there. The two men share a common bond of the mountains and talk a bit of strategy for making the ascent in winter.

Alan Arnette has compiled his annual examination of the costs of climbing Everest and as usual the post is filled with lots of interesting information. If you're thinking of joining an expedition to the highest mountain on the planet sometime in the near future, you'll definitely want to give this article a look. For those going in 2018, here's what you can expect to pay. So how much will it cost next year? Alan says it will be a minimum of $30,000, with most climbers paying somewhere in the neighborhood of about $45,000. That's an increase over 2017, with prices climbing both on the lower end of the spectrum and the premium high-end as well. In 2018, the price range for an Everest climb starts at $28,000 and goes up to as much as $85,000. You can have a completely custom climb for $115,000 as well, although few take that option. At the bottom end, if you want to mostly go it alone, with some support, you can get away with spending as little as $20,000, although as Al...