While webwandering the other night on a video games website, I came across some go-climb-Mount-Everest games. Which got me wondering whether, indeed, a helicopter has ever flown up to the summit of the mountain and landed there.
Yes, apparently it has been done:
"Didier Delsalle (born May 6, 1957, in Aix-en-Provence, France) is a fighter pilot and helicopter test pilot. On May 14, 2005, he became the first (and only) person to land a helicopter, the Eurocopter AS350 Squirrel, on the 8,848 m (29,030 ft) summit of Mount Everest."https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/didier_delsalleThe accomplishment was at the time videorecorded by cameras on board the chopper, and by an accompanying helicopter which went along part of the way.
The cameras on board captured the moments as the chopper approached the summit, getting closer and closer, until,
it was there!Okay, technically we are told, the helicopter didn't actually "land" on the summit, too dangerous apparently, but
" ... on 14 May 2005 a Eurocopter AS350 B3 Squirrel piloted by Frenchman Didier Delsalle landed there, and he held one skid on the summit, nudging the snow around for 3 minutes 50 seconds" before taking off again."(From above Wikipedia article).
And also from the article:
"This accomplishment had required extensive testing on site, especially because of the low atmospheric pressure available for the helicopter rotors, winds over 299 km/h (186 mph) at these altitudes, and oxygen depletion for both Delsalle and his helicopter's engine. Delsalle had to find areas of downdrafts and updrafts to complete the flight, stating: "I found an updraft so strong that I could rise up with almost no power."Watching the video (below) reminded me of the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing. Similar in a way.
So take a minute to watch the video. (Click link below, then page down to the video and run it). It really is fascinating!
(Tip: DO hit the screen maximize button (at lower right corner of video box on screen) when watching the video, for an especially dramatic effect!)
https://mounteverest.info/helicopters-mount-everest/#:~:text=so%2c%20yes%2c%20a%20helicopter%20can%20fly%20to%20the,the%20snow%20around%20for%203%20minutes%2050%20seconds. Pretty cool, huh?
Also of interest: I searched, and found out that there is indeed a thriving tourist industry in the Everest area, including a number of hotels and helicopter tour services for tourists. The Nepali government is fine with the industry, as it is a moneymaker.
But also from what I could learn, these tourism activities operate in the lower levels of the area, and do not approach anywhere near the higher levels of the mountain, let alone the summit, as it's simply too dangerous. For helicopters in particular, reduced oxygen levels at the higher elevations and treacherous mountain winds are significant hazards, from what I read.
But googling
mount everest tourism
pulls up some quite interesting websites and facts about
tourism in the area, if you're interested.