On May 16, 1975, Japan’s Junko Tabei became the first woman to climb to the top of Mount Everest. Half a century later, the world’s highest mountain is set to record its thousandth ascent by a woman.  By May 2025 women had reached the top of the scaled the 8849 metre-high peak 962 times, while men had got there 11,955 times. 

Meanwhile, an Indian man died after scaling Everest — the second fatality of this year’s climbing season. Subrata Ghosh, 45, reached the top on Thursday but died about 50 metres below the summit while descending.