5/10/2007 12:22:23 PM -- From the Contact Everest File:
    All of the documentary videos that I've seen of climbing Mt. Everest make it look deceptively easy (I do realize how dangerous it is though). I have always wondered what is considered the most difficult part of the climb. Is it the technical aspects of climbing or is it mostly the altitude and the problems that this represents? It also seems that everyone suffers frostbite...is this always the case?
    Steven Brandvold
    San Francisco, CA
   
   Dear Steven,
    Thanks for some great questions.
    The easiest answer is about the frostbite. It is: No. Many many people summit and do not have any frostbite. Apa has summited 16 times and he has always been conservative enough not to put himself in danger of frostbite.
    There are many difficult parts. The solution to the problems have been worked out over the last 54 years. The biggest variable that can make an easy section impossible is the weather. Luckily today with the advent of high speed satellite communications to base camp and above weather forecasts are easy to communicate.
    Everest is not considered a technically difficult mountain (which require the use of two ice axes with very vertical faces) because it is climbed by using fixed ropes at the most difficult and dangerous areas. This requires one axe and one jumar (ascender).
    The current fatality rate is about 10% and is dropping due to many factors. Knowing the weather is one of the key factors.
    Thanks for your interest.
    SuperSherpas Everest Expedition base camp