Winkler, 50, from Vienna, Austria, had ridden his bicycle from the Dead Sea, 400 metres below sea level, to Nepal and then tackled the mountain from the southern Nepalese side. He became the first diabetic to scale Everest, with his

sponsors coughing up $US65,000 ($A87,000) for his climb. It was a close call — the second diabetic reached the summit two days later. From the Tibetan side, on the northern ascent, the first double amputee, Mark Inglis, a New Zealander, made the top. And 15-year-old Australian Christopher Harris, who paid $US25,000, was attempting to become the youngest to climb the mountain.

But that record still belongs to Temba Tsheri Sherpa, now 21, of Nepal, who scaled the peak at 16 on his second attempt. Two years earlier he lost two fingers on his left hand and three on his right, to frostbite, in his first attempt. About 100 non-Nepalese and 80 Sherpas had permits to climb Everest from the south side in May. Across the border in Tibet, where it is significantly cheaper, the number was even greater.

Despite the increased traffic, Everest retains its cachet and people will do almost anything to get to the top, even step over dead bodies. Inglis was criticised by Everest pioneer Sir Edmund Hillary for not stopping to help another climber, Briton David Sharp, who later died. "Edmund Hillary said, 'In my day we didn't do that,"' said Mike Dillon, an Australian filmmaker who was on the northern ascent with Lincoln Hall and Christopher Harris. "In his day there was nobody else up there." Dillon, who did not make the summit, said: "There were 10 fresh ones this year. All the people who went to the summit commented on the fact that they saw dead bodies.

"They never get taken down. It was a lucky thing with Lincoln his Sherpas didn't push him off the edge." Hall was reported dead by his Sherpa guides at 7.20pm on May 26, 300 metres below the summit. The next day, climbers found him sitting up, still alive, at 7am. He is recovering, with minor frostbite, in Kathmandu.

The people who are condemning others for not helping, said Billi Bierling, a mountaineering journalist based in Kathmandu, have to understand that in the death zone, above 8000 metres, every step you take is a major effort. "If these people were at sea level, I think they would all help," he said. Old-timers and mountaineering purists bemoan the commercialisation of Everest, claiming commercial operators are destroying its mystique by dragging any Tom, Dick or

fat-walleted American Harry up the hill. "You get hardcore mountaineers who see what is happening on Everest as awful," said Bierling. "For (those) who 30 years ago climbed Everest on their own, it must be very sad to see what's been happening."

What's been happening is every year the big commercial operators "fix" the mountain, running ropes that climbers can clip onto from the deadly Khumbu ice falls below, 6000 metres to the summit. "If you are inexperienced and want to climb a big mountain, you go to Everest," Bierling said. American Dave Morton, 34, a senior guide with Alpine Ascents, which charges $US65,000 for a place in

a six-climber team, has led expeditions to the summit for the past three years. "People around a long time are grumbling about low-budget groups that say 'here's the route, here's base camp, go for it'.

"The more expensive companies will have a Sherpa right next to you, not just on summit day, carrying lots of the gear," said Morton. "On the mountain, there is frustration with the people charging $10, $15, $25,000. It affects the amount of oxygen, food, the quality of the Sherpas." The pay rate on the mountain rises the higher you climb. The porters who never go higher than base camp earn a measly 300 to 500 Nepalese rupees a day, while a good climbing Sherpa can earn up to $US8000 for an expedition. The Russians pay less than the Americans, and a Western guide can earn up to $US30,000. All these expenses, plus government taxes, are covered in the climber's fee. The problem, says Rajendra Bajgain, managing director of the Himalayan Adventure Company, is that any licensed trekking agent can run expeditions.

"To open a trekking company, all you need is $US3000, you don't need to be able to show the Government you have the experience to be able to do it," he said. In early December, Bajgain received a call from German climber Thomas Weber and offered him a £24,000 ($A60,000) deal for a small group expedition. But Weber went with a cheaper option, paying $US25,000.

He died at 12.30pm on May 26, on the second step of the northern ascent to the summit. Weber was part of the same Russian expedition as Hall, Dillon and Harris. The trekking company involved, Asia Trekking, had three deaths in three separate incidents. Last year, someone broke their leg on the mountain when another climber slipped and fell onto them. On May 17 this year, there was a traffic jam with 20 to 25 people waiting to get up to the summit. "It's cold, it's high and they are sitting around. I know climbers who have had to abandon summit attempts because of the queue," said Simon Balderstone, chairman of the Australian Himalayan Foundation, in Kathmandu to support his friend Hall. "I think there is a subconscious safety in numbers.

"I am concerned about the glamorisation of Everest. Communications are so good you can call your mum from the top. But communications don't make the mountain any easier or nature any less powerful." It was a good year weatherwise but the worst since 1996 for fatalities. There are 10 confirmed deaths, three on the south side and seven on the north. Some say the number is as high as 15.

But despite these numbers, the inexperienced will continue to come to the tallest mountain on Earth. "I think we have to look at Everest now as this is the way it is being climbed," said Bierling. "If you want to go and have a proper mountaineering experience, climbing alpine style, two climbers, no Sherpas, no support, then don't go to Everest."

FAST FACTS



■Everest is the world's tallest mountain at 8850 metres. ■It is 60 million years old. ■Water boils at 70 degrees Celsius at the top of Everest.

■Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay were the first to officially climb the mountain in 1953.