600+ Summits. 2 Fatalities. Reality Strikes On The Way Down STAY TUNED FOR MAJOR UPDATES | Everest 2026

On May 20, 2026, Mount Everest saw 278 summits in a single day — the busiest 24 hours in the mountain's history. From Kami Rita’s 32nd summit to Kenton Cool’s 20th, the records were falling fast. But the numbers don’t tell the whole story.

We follow Polish ski mountaineer Bartek Ziemski as he executes what many call a "perfect act": a no-oxygen, unsupported ascent and ski descent from the summit to Base Camp in under five and a half hours.But while Bartek found a "perfect" window, others found the reality of a crowded mountain. 

We cover the fatalities of Arun Kumar Tiwari and Sandeep Are on their descent, and the heroic work of Sherpas like Ashok Lama, who were pulling climbers from crevasses while the world took selfies at the top.

This is the true cost of the 2026 season.

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EVEREST SUMMIT: 
Matthew Kleinlein

CAMP FOUR:
Barbedwire 
Henriette Pi
Mike Nicholson
Tom McLeod
Geoff (mountain climber)
Ursula Dimberger
Noelle Dud13y

Transcript

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A small team of Sherpas at the edge of a crevasse. Listen to the moment a climber is pulled back from the brink. While 278 people were making history on Mount Everest, Ashok Lama, a friend of the channel, and some of his Sherpa colleagues were busy saving a life. This is the reality of the busiest day in the history of Mount Everest on the Nepal side. May 20th, 2026 will go down in history. 278 climbers made it to the summit of Mount Everest. The lines are absolutely staggering. Somehow, somehow, it appeared that a miracle was taking place, that everybody was gonna make it up and back with no incidents. And then on May 21st, another 150 plus made it to the summit by dawn on the 22nd. And Paadawa Sherpa stood on the summit for his 30th and 31st times. Remember, this year Kami Rita Sherpa, in his last season, he said he was retiring, made number 32, and Pa Dawa makes a statement. Just an incredible feat of strength and fortitude and longevity on this amazing mountain that draws people from all around the world. And Kenton Cool climbed the mountain for his 20th summit, the most by any non-Nepali in history. And Furtenbach Adventures, we spoke to their doctor, Barnabay Abramore. They placed 42 members on the summit in a single push. But the real story of the season is not the numbers, it's the people behind the numbers. The season was on the brink. I've done several videos on the delays that were taking place in the ice fall. Three weeks it took just to get through the ice fall and for the ropes to be fixed to the summit. And the season was in danger of running out of time, if not canceled altogether. Three weeks delayed by a massive sarrack in the Kumbu ice fall, a drone ban, political tensions, and an unidentified body recovered from the ice, and yet here we are. Without the almost furious work of the mountain workers, none of this would be taking place. Rope fixing teams climbing through the night in very harsh conditions, Sherpas carrying load after load all the way up the mountain to help their clients get put into position for their summit bids. The mountain workers truly are the miracle of 2026 on Mount Everest. And two of them lost their lives in the service of this mountain and keeping things running, absolutely tragic for the families. These men worked very, very hard and brought home extremely important funds. I want to refer you back to an interview I did with Pemba Sherpa of 8K Expeditions in a recent video, who said that the struggle is real, that these people aren't making a ton of money doing this work, and when a life is lost, that the insurance to cover their loss is not typically great enough to help the families. And so I also want to make sure that in mentioning that, that you check in the description for the Juniper Fund who helps mountain workers, uh the families of mountain workers lost in the line of work. And then there was Bartek. Bartek Ziemski, he's a Polish climber and skier, as I said in a broadcast with the backcountry manifesto recently. Here's the whole world, and then here are the Polish climbers and skiers. They are just at a different level altogether. Bartek Ziemski, 31 years old, no support, self-funded, no oxygen, no drone backup to help him point the way. Not only does he go and climb Lotse and ski it from the summit all the way to base camp, but a few days later turns around on a day where almost everybody in the mountain was hunkering down because of high winds. He decides to go for it, summits Everest alone, without bottled oxygen, clips on his skis and skis it right down to base camp. And talk about unsupported. Bartek Ziemski actually had to ask somebody to take his photo. That's how unsupported he was. Now I want to put this into context because I think that Ziemski's accomplishment belongs in a specific category of human achievement. Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, Michelangelo carved the Statue of David, Brian Wilson sat down and in one afternoon wrote the song God Only Knows. These are moments where preparation, ability, and focus all come into one, and an incredible act that probably will not soon, if ever, be repeated. Ziemski had checked the forecast. It said that winds were gonna drop down to zero at two o'clock in the morning. He planned it accordingly, and it's exactly what happened. He dropped down the Lotse face on a direct line to camp three in the middle of the Lotse face, and then he saw the people, hundreds of climbers heading up from camp three, up to camp four. In his words, I saw those hundreds heading up. The line of people was insane. Now, Andre Bargiel, his fellow countryman, in the autumn of 2025 skied Everest with a support team. He had a Sherpa with him to the summit, Speed Dawa, and had a drone overhead with his brother making sure that he took the proper turns in order to not ski into a crevasse. It doesn't diminish Bargil's accomplishment one iota, but it just shows how Ziemski has gone and set an entirely new standard, and that goes for Jim Morrison's ski descent of the Hornbine Kuar on the north side of the mountain in similar style. A team of Sherpa that one could barely even dream of. Rock stars from top to bottom and a full team putting together a roped section straight up the Huar to not diminish his accomplishment, but certainly to make the success much more certain. Ziemsky, a one-man show. And then when he was asked about what he had accomplished, he said, it's just Everest. I love that guy. He was also asked if he was ready for the recognition, and he said he hoped to remain perfectly unknown. Well, for every human being watching this video right now, Bartek Ziemski is not unknown. He is a man amongst men and pretty incredible accomplishment. Linked below. With Planet Wild, you can make a real difference. So as I said, when Ziemsky was carving his way back down Mount Everest, hundreds of people were moving up for a record day of summits on the mountain, 274 or 278, depending on which source you're reading. And I was watching from afar thinking this could be an absolute miracle. It just appeared that there were no distresses. I didn't hear of any rescues, no losses of life. And unfortunately, just this morning, where I am were being recorded on May 22nd, there's the report of two deaths of Indian gentlemen who had made the summit. The first was Arun Kumar Tuwari of India. He summited on the 20th, and shortly after, near the Hillary Steppe, barely meters below the top, he collapsed from high-altitude pulmonary edema. Four shirpas attempted to bring him down. He did not survive. And then Sandeep Are, also from India, he was with Pioneer Adventures. They both were. He summited on the 20th, and on the descent, snow blindness took his vision. Five shirpas carried him for 48 hours to the south summit all the way down, and he died after reaching camp two. And I want to sit with that for just a moment. Five Sherpas working to get him down to camp two for 48 hours. They did everything right, everything they could, and he still didn't make it. There are many who look at these long lines and scoff and judge and think, oh, it's so easy because the mountain workers do all the work. No question about the fact that it is made much easier by the workers who go ahead of the clients who are on the mountain. But make no mistake, climbing Mount Everest is an extremely difficult thing to do, and you are constantly on the edge of life and death in the death zone. And these two gentlemen unfortunately did not make it. There's also been a report, a third climber is being rescued from the South Coal. Now that's at the high camp 8,000 meters as of the recording of this video. We'll report on this as soon as we get any other information. So this drama is anything but over. Alan Arnett, the Everest Chronicler, came out with a report saying that there have already been about 600 summits on the mountain so far. And he predicted that there would be at least 800. So that leaves 200 people still moving their way up the mountain. We can only hope and pray for their safety and that the weather holds to get everybody up and down the mountain. And now that brings up some of the climbers that we've been following very, very closely. American Tyler Andrews, who is endeavoring to get the speed record from base camp to the summit without bottled oxygen, and Ecuadorian climber Carl Egloff, who I have been messaging with in base camp as he rests waiting for the crowds to go away. Carl is going for the no oxygen record from base camp to the summit and all the way back down to base camp again. And so with only a week or so left in the calendar for this to take place, it would be absolutely fascinating to find out if they ended up climbing at the same time. They've both maintained that they're not rivals, but uh there's got to be some competition going on. I was a competitive swimmer all through high school and through college, and you might have a friend in the lane next to you, but when it comes down for the race, all you want to do is beat that person. So I can understand the competitive nature of these two men is gonna drive them to push this right to the limit. And then also there's Justin Sackett. He's the American who was climbing with Ryan Mitchell before Ryan Mitchell had to pull the plug on his no oh two ascent. Let me just cut to you some footage of Justin Sackett. This is what no oxygen looks like as one enters into the high altitude realm. Brutal.

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Hopefully this doesn't last long.

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Justin Sackett wishing you the best and certainly wishing you safety and the ability to have your team help you make the right decisions when you go for it. So we hope that for all the climbers up there, that their common sense and that their brains are functioning so they can make the right decision. You know, Everest Mystery is a channel about what extreme places can do to human nature. The decisions, the survival, the failures, and the obsession. And these videos, what we endeavor to do is explore real stories behind these historic climbs and find out what's going on at the gut and heart level of these individuals who are endeavoring to climb to the top of the world. What do you think? I hope that you'll leave your ideas and your thoughts in the comment section below. So I have to share with you some exciting news. Our merchandise store now is featuring the Pemba chairing rescue hat. This is the Flatbilled cap. We also have trucker caps, multiple different colors, they're all one size, and this Flatbill hat has Everest Mystery stitched onto the back, beautiful hats, and the proceeds from these hats will go directly to a rescue organization of the choosing of Ong Charing Lama, who was instrumental in the rescue of our favorite little Eurasian widgeon Pemba Charing, long life to this beautiful little mascot of Mount Everest. Check it out on the merch store at EverestMystery.com. And if you're still watching, be sure to click that subscribe button. We're gonna have a ton more, not only this year and in this season, but so much more is coming. And also, if you want more exclusive content, go check out the members section, or you can find some free or member level content on patreon.com slash Everest Mystery. And most importantly, do a good deed, don't ask for anything in return, and make the world a better place one tiny step at a time. Peace be with you.