Ben Ayers is once again stationed at Mount Everest Base Camp(Photo: Outside)
This spring, we are once again stationed atMount Everest Base Campto report on the climbing season on the world’s highest peak. Our longtime Everest reporter, Ben Ayers, is living out of a tent at 17,500 feet, and rubbing elbows with the climbers, expedition operators, mountain workers, and guides who make up the Everest industry.
It’sEverest, so there’s plenty of drama, controversy, and heroic feats of mountaineering to follow.
Ayers has already published a wide variety of stories from Base Camp. He broke the news of thetragic deathof a barrier-breaking Nepali guide. He profiled River Ahmed, a 30-year-old Afghan whosurvived a massacre by the Taliban as a teenagerand is now hoping to be the first woman from Afghanistan to reach the summit. He took a deep dive into the controversy over Everest’s newcargo-carrying drone service. And he’swriting live updateson all of breaking news from the peak.
Ayers is an expert in all things Everest and Nepal. He’s lived part-time in the country for the last 28 years. He’s lost track of the number of times he’s completed the 40-mile trek from the town of Lukla in the Himalayan foothills up to Base Camp and back. And he’s seen Nepal and the Mount Everest industry grow and evolve over the decades.
As a special perk for Outside+ members Ayers is here to answer any questions you may have about Mount Everest, Nepal, or the guiding industry. There’s no question too basic, too hardcore, or too in-the-weeds for him to answer! What do Everest climbers eat? How do they poop? How much trash is really in Base Camp? Ask away.
Feel free to post your inquiries in the comments section of this story between Wednesday, May 13, and Wednesday, May 20. Ayers will answer your inquiries in between his reporting. Remember: there is a 12-hour time difference between Nepal and U.S. Mountain Standard Time, so patience is advised!
