next Image 1 of 2

prev Image 2 of 2

Modern mountaineering bears little resemblance to expeditions of decades ago.

Manmohan Singh Kohli, who led the first Indian team to the peak of Mount Everest, says tight schedules and climbers' lack of experience has added risks, diminished the adventure and resulted in more casualties.

That includes an expedition that went missing in the Indian Himalayas in late May. The eight members of a team led by a veteran British mountaineer are presumed dead in an avalanche.

Kohli, an 88-year-old retired navy captain, led nine Indian climbers to the top of Everest in 1965. He was celebrated for a feat that at the time few had attempted.

Fifty years later, a bustling commercial climbing industry has sprung up, providing services that have turned climbing Everest into what he calls "high-altitude tourism."