Was attempting Mount Everest worth the risk amid the COVID-19 pandemic?

As the dust settles from the 2021 Everest climbing season, a look at how it went amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rumblings earlier this spring that COVID-19 had made it to base camp at Mount Everest prompted fears of the worst: an outbreak of the deadly respiratory virus among people already impacted by the high altitude. But as the dust settles from the climbing season on world's tallest mountain, it appears disaster was avoided. Four people died this spring on Everest -- markedly lower than the deadly, pre-COVID 2019 season -- and many expeditions reported successful summits. Still, interviews with several mountaineers suggest a chaotic, stressful and costly time above 18,000 feet and unanswered questions about the extent of the COVID outbreak there as the virus raged in Nepal.