Kanchha Sherpa, 91, was among 35 members in the team that put New Zealander Edmund Hillary atop the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) peak on May 29, 1953 . In the spring climbing season in 2023, 667 climbers scaled the peak, but that brought in thousands of support staff to the base camp . There have been concerns about the number of people living on the mountain for months on end, generating trash and waste .