What’s Changed Since Jon Krakauer Climbed Everest ↳
If you’re unwilling to go full Messner, you can honor the mountain’s historic stature and avoid the hordes by forgoing the relatively favorable weather of the spring climbing season and attempting your ascent in the colder, much snowier autumn months, or simply stay away from the two primary guided routes. By taking a direct route up Everest’s immense North Face instead, or trying the remote Kangshung Face, you are unlikely to encounter other people, and are guaranteed to experience all the adversity you might desire. You also stand a better chance of getting killed. Which explains, of course, why such routes remain uncrowded: Most of the multitudes who attempt Everest these days simply want to reach the summit with as little effort and risk as possible, by whatever means offer the greatest probability of success.