Landing on the Summit of Everest

Check out my other channel TopTenz! / toptenznet
→Some of our favorites: • Featured
→Subscribe for new videos every day!
kzbin.info...
Never run out of things to say at the water cooler with TodayIFoundOut! Brand new videos 7 days a week!
More from TodayIFoundOut
How Do Astronauts Scratch an Itch When in Their Space Suits
• How Do Astronauts Scra...
How do Astronauts go to the Bathroom in Space?
• How do Astronauts go t...
In this video:
To many climbers, mountaineers, and general fans of low oxygen environments, summiting Mount Everest represent the literal peak of physical achievement. But while an impressive feat for a human, it turns out vultures can happily survive exposed to altitudes of 40,000 ft or 12,200 meters above sea level and, indeed, have been seen flying around at this height.
Want the text version?: www.todayifoundout.com/index.p...
Sources:
www.verticalmag.com/features/...
www.climbing.com/news/helicop...
qz.com/391598/why-helicopters...
www.fai.org/records?record=De...
www.smh.com.au/news/World/Why...
• World Record - Mount E...
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Didie...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Di...
Image Credit:
www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-20...
www.maxpixel.net/Landing-Fly-...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
pixabay.com/ru/%D0%B4%D1%83%D...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
www.flickr.com/photos/india-n...
www.maxpixel.net/Surveillance...
pixabay.com/ru/eurocopter-145...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Su...
commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi...
Music from Jukedeck - create your own at jukedeck.com.

[@mikkalhalminen4094]

Im here waiting for people to start offering helicopter tours to the Everest. Would definitely summit it then

[@RoScFan]

You need acclimatization to low oxygen otherwise you'd die. So youd need to spend 1 day at every 500 m or so above 3000 m. So there s no point in helicopter tours. Although it would be cool to have helicopter TAXIS to take us DOWN AFTER finishing the adventure.

[@drewpamon]

@@RoScFan as long as you brought oxygen tanks with you it should be fine.

[@ThinkingSpeck]

@RoScFan Nah, obviously you'd just use an oxygen tank like this pilot must have. And like most Everest climbers do, for that matter.

[@mikkalhalminen4094]

Today i found out liked my comment, i can die now in peace!

[@user-jz3vc9kd2j]

You can pay 40k and go do a skydive from the same height as the summit with the summit about 1 miles away. Tom Noonan has been running that operation for several years now. A few hundred people have done it. Awesome adventure....hike around at base camp...locap food etc.

[@TommoCarroll]

There's a *mountain* of evidence to suggest this guy is the biggest badass that *ever*-est lived...

[@MrShanester117]

Aspect Science Cringe!

[@firepower7017]

Aspect Science Oh boy the puns are real.

[@DiscoFang]

Aspect Science Props to the guy, he lifted his game. He rotor new chapter in the Everest book. Or at least put a new spin on it.

[@jackku3905]

That pun was so PUNny that is was an absolute PUNishment to read that pun.

[@dbjb40]

Go to the corner!

[@crazy8sdrums]

Having made many helicopters with my own hands, I can attest to the 'big picture' referenced. Modern helicopters are the most complicated machines ever devised by humankind. That they work at all is an engineering marvel with few rivals.

[@chrisbalfour466]

Space agencies are creating the most complicated machines ever devised. Helicopters are in the top 10.

[@crazy8sdrums]

Humans have been making rockets for almost 2000 years. Helicopters, less than 100....because we didn't have the technology to make helicopters until recently.

[@Thx1138sober]

Sorry but, the most complex machines ever devised by humans are nuclear-powered submarines. The environment they operate in is far more difficult and unforgiving than even outer space. These machines can move at very high speeds and must operate without visual cues and at crushing depths. They can keep their crews alive for months at a time and there the main restriction is on the amount of food they carry.

[@piratepat44]

sorry but the most complex machine ever devised by humans is the fidget spinner. It is the only machine ever produced that has been proven to directly cause mental illnesses as well as multiple cancers

[@MrShanester117]

Crazy 8s Drums My grandfather worked on a top secret project in the 50’s and 60’s. They were trying to make UAV’s out of helicopters. They failed and scrapped the whole project because it was to hard at that time to create.

[@mqbitsko25]

Imagine climbers struggling to the top, gasping for air, only to encounter some tourists taking selfies while their chopper circles nearby. For some reason I find that thought comical.

[@brokeneyes6615]

I would have to say both are equally impressive, one for the physical endurance and will of humans, the other our ingenuity and capacity to cooperate every step to be able to pull off such a mechanical feet. A definite win for humanity either way you look at it.

[@Travelteez]

My journey to Base Camp was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Thanks for sharing.

[@justinbailey1756]

The hardest part of summiting Everest is paying for it.

[@ratedm90]

Justin Bailey That could be said by everything in life sadly.

[@arrowintheknee9956]

Actually no.

[@azimuth361]

Getting permission and clearing customs and immigration are the hardest parts. Go figure. Cutting through the bureaucratic red tape is harder than the actual climb.

[@ethancooper1560]

This man was the first person to ever do it, came back down and said fuck it I’ll do it again

[@inisipisTV]

Props up to the guy.

[@aytraders4674]

inisipisTV intended pun? “Props” (like as in propellor) ;)

[@_multiverse_]

It's actually called a rotor.

[@visarma9673]

Tex Johnston once rolled a Boeing 707 prototype over Lake Washington, Near Seattle Washington. It was a simple 1-G maneuver. Sold lots of Boeing Aircraft and still a conversation piece at several old guy airport gatherings. The group I am lucky to spend my Saturdays with, knew Tex (pilot) and Allen (CEO) Boeing. Stories are real..

[@pyromaniachimbo]

Hey Simon, you should do a colab with Vsauce Michael to prove to people you're not the same person.

[@TheP3NGU1N]

pretty sure only idiots think they are the same person... that and blind people.

[@pyromaniachimbo]

You'd be surprised

[@glennvang1302]

Haha.. I actually thought it was Vsauce before he started speaking.

[@reillyhurn8837]

THE MP r/WOOSH

[@pyromaniachimbo]

It is easy to confuse them at first glance considering they are both educators, bald or with little hair & both have magnificent beards.

[@JohnNNJ]

Now, I need to find out what vultures do at forty thousand feet.

[@tlozfreak888]

Try to poop on people, i assume.

[@tylermorris9196]

secret society

[@christelheadington1136]

"Why'd you do it?" " Because we could."

[@deadfreightwest5956]

The real achievement was that a helicopter could displace enough rarefied air to loft itself to that famous peak.

[@micahphilson]

I thought that as well, but he mentioned that the record height achieved by a helicopter was much higher than the peak, so I guess that wasn't nearly the toughest part of this project.

[@siraff4461]

There would be no problem making a copter these days which could make this look easy. The b3 in this was a kind of performance derivative in it's day - think focus ST rather than RS - but there were some much more powerful ones about with a lot more blade. It wouldn't be hard to put a much more powerful engine and larger blades in a similar sized airframe today.

[@RoScFan]

Well, im no expert but i imagine the more rarefied the air the faster the blades have to be to get MORE air moving. But it shouldnt really be that hard make a helicopter that can do that that can displace so much air as to compensate low density at high altitudes because birds and felox baumgertner have showed that air is dense enough for gliding and for balloons MUCH HIGHER than everest. Actually as far as i remember everest still has 1/3 density of sea level. If we go higher up.. we get what? 1/4? 1/8? 10% sea level pressure? How hard can it really be to have a helicopter rotate its blades 10 times faster. Or even less than 10 times if the blades are longer or larger or the helicopter is lighter. So making a helicopter that reach altitudes far higher than everest should be very possible.

[@TheHDPerspective]

The problem with spinning the blades faster or having longer blades is that the tips begin to break the sound barrier. The blades can't withstand that kind of stress and the helicopter then comes down.

[@ASJC27]

Helicopters don't really spin their rotor faster to gain more lift. They are limited to a very narrow range of operating speed, so the speed is fairly constant regardless of the amount of lift they generate. The main reason for this is, as the guy above me stated, the blades cannot go much above supersonic, for both structural and aerodynamic reasons. Another reason is that the gearbox and engine are operating close to their rotational speed limit (again, regardless of load), so there is no room for significant increase. Instead, helicopters vary lift by changing the pitch angle of the rotor blades, using the collective. This increases the angle of attack, and therefore lift. The change in power requirement imposed on the engine is managed by changing torque rather than changing engine speed. One cannot simply increase the pitch angle further in order to gain more altitude, since there is a stall limit (which in fact becomes a bit worse with increased altitude).

[@Darryl_Frost]

Helicopter skid marks !! LOL...

[@NurmYokai]

hmmm. This makes this the fastest ascent/descent (living) of Everest too.

[@stevenlouton6381]

Simple awesome! Great video Simon.

[@eviljujuguy801]

I had no idea this happened. This is just awesome.

[@thesteadfastduelist6258]

*A lot of people made it to the top of Everest but not all made it down.*

[@asasial1977]

Many more have failed in the attempt.

[@Pfsif]

Many are still there.

[@Adrian_Nel]

If i were a mountaineer,i would be very glad to see helicopters at those heights - I might need to call on the technology one day...

[@daltongrowley5280]

Excellent script Karl~ well hosted Simon Good edit Daven. well done all.

[@ericdoe2318]

Simon you tell a hell of a story!!

[@Duncan_Idaho_Potato]

As of (some time in) 2018, 8,306 people (just under half of them were professional guides, mostly Sherpa, not regular schlubs like you and I) have climbed to the summit of Mt. Everest. The number of helicopters? One... twice.

[@syx3s]

the end made me chuckle.

[@BayushiTawa]

Loved your final reflection... Way too many give way too little credit to the technology they so happily use on a daily basis, either directly or unaware.

[@rickh6948]

Being a pilot (fixed wing) and seeing the video of the flight that man has balls big time. If you watch the video the helicopter is barely stable and dived to get air

[@ZemplinTemplar]

I'm proud it was achieved with our European "Squirrel" design. Humble, but a modern classic.

[@alexweigelhikes]

Great stuff! I want to hear more about helicopters crashing safely.

[@lochkarteorg]

@2:25 Rega rescue helicopter standing in front of the base here in my hometown: Dübendorf, Switzerland :-)

[@magnvss]

You did a good explanation regarding how the updraft and downdrafts aspects (and dangers) of such achievement (I had some idea but didn’t know it was such difficult in such obvious-after-explained way) but you failed to mention that helicopters struggle on high altitudes due to the air being quite thinner (that is, there is less to air to push to loft the machine) and therefore they need to operate at maximum speed to barely keep from falling, the whimsical draft on a mountain are additional problems and that’s why there are so many accidents if and when helicopters are used for rescue. At Everest’s altitude the achievement is remarkable and yet, as you explained, it doesn’t change the fact that a tall mountain is no easy place for a chopper (and I don’t know if a specially designed machine could be devised to deal with such specific environment).

[@NopeJustPatrick]

Goddamn, people in the comments, chill out about the lack of footage of the landing. Simon probably didn't want to risk copyright troubles, and the video is fairly easy to find right here on KZbin. And no, he shouldn't change the title. The helicopter landing is the subject of the video, the title is accurate.

[@digimanga]

That's summit impressive indeed

[@_Super_Hans_]

Bonus fact: it's called Mt Everest because when you get to the top you have to have a rest

[@Gryflir]

lol

[@wordforger]

Or because a lot of people are ever resting on its snowy peak...

[@tombradleysimpson]

Or because it was named after the first British man to survey the mountain and declare it the tallest in the world, Sir George Everest

[@djstringsmusic2994]

I'm pretty sure you can only rest for a few minutes before having to head down. Plus how much rest can you get when you can barely breathe lol

[@_Super_Hans_]

@@tombradleysimpson Nope. Wrong. It's because you have to have a rest. It fits perfectly.

[@FraktalPriest]

Do a video on Wim Hoff! He climbed Everest in shorts and shoes!

[@Emile50]

Well if you look at the big picture, the pilot didn't play that big a role, although it might still be considered the largest or one of the largest single contributions.

[@Argosh]

I was monitoring the eurocopter developments and kinda expecting this. Still a massive achievement.

[@wheelchere]

Feel Better Simon!

[@stevenfarnesi9126]

Work smarter, not harder

[@TodayIFoundOut]

Our motto here at TIFO is generally "Work smarter and harder" ;-) -Daven

[@ujjwalbhandari3284]

Thank you again Simon for talking about Everest . I am from Nepal . From the land of mountains 😍😍😍 #lots_of_respect_for_you

[@TheSoulCourier]

Breathtakingly beautiful country, Ujjwal!

[@schweinhund7966]

Excellent video! It was much better than the Airbus version.

[@rovhalt6650]

Imagine climbing for 4 days only to find a helicopter and Logan Paul at the top posing with dead bodies.

[@beeman2075]

Awesome deed.

[@robslade2571]

It's claimed a climber saw the helicopter and thought he was hallucinating as a result of hypoxia or high altitude sickness.

[@DiamondTear]

I was sure he was gonna tell us about Brilliant when he started talking about making the tools.

[@katherinewolfe9976]

Hi Simon!Hi Karl!

[@jeremiahkennedy1683]

Ahhh good way to get the title "skyking 2"

[@davidervin7345]

A plummeting helicopter may be safer than a plummeting fixed wing but I'd rather be in a suddenly non-powered fixed wing. Presuming the pilot knows how to land and has something to land on.

[@menosbbgirl]

Me too!

[@deirdregibbons5609]

Amazing feat. Does anyone know how the pilot prepared for dealing with the acclimtization to such a high altitude and low air pressure?

[@utjason8]

He's wearing an oxygen mask. He's breathing pure oxygen and the whole flight was only 1 hour. He's also doing minimal physical activity.

[@fvw88]

I really like the part of this video that shows the helicopter touching down on the summit of Everest, what an amazing visualization. Oh wait, my bad.

[@explicitDTP]

Search for it urself wise ass, you ever heard of copyright

[@buckit099]

Tight!

[@sfarrer48]

God damnit Simon I thought this was actual footage of a helicopter landing on Everest

[@explicitDTP]

It's on youtube, ever heard of copyright

[@TheP3NGU1N]

how hipster of the climbers complaining...

They were just pissed because their portable gramophone was getting too heavy to carry and their box brownie's camera lens kept fogging up.

[@TheP3NGU1N]

I was thinking more because the PBR froze & they couldn't wear their cut off jean shorts.

[@bridgetdavis9752]

Very cool! (I was surprised that I could not see the prayer flags.....any prayer flags. Maybe there were none back then. Now the summit is covered in human debris.

[@boss-anova]

Humans are the best long-distance runners on the planet. Change my mind.

[@TodayIFoundOut]

Depends on how you're measuring that. For instance- camels. Certain types can sustain speeds of around 25 mph for quite some time (an hour or two non-stop) even in extreme weather. Train them up to it, with regimented training like a human runner, and they can presumably do even better. Can't find any stats on if they tailed back their running to human speeds what their endurance is like, but presumably much longer duration then as well, even without special training. But even so, 50 miles covered in two hours... Sure, there are humans that can cover 50 miles non-stop running, but they have to train really hard to do that (let alone be able to do that in desert conditions, and no human could do it without taking in fluids and calories in that scenario). So, again, depends on how you're measuring "best long-distance runners". Being able to cover that much ground that fast is something no human could ever do, and certainly 50 miles qualifies as "long distance". If your metric is instead sustained running time, rather than considering distance, it would be interesting to look at various insects and see what they could do as well. ;-) There's also sustained running time without taking in any fluids or calories, which is the ultimate endurance test. So I guess you'd have to define what you mean by "best long-distance runner". -Daven

[@rantingrodent416]

Sled dogs win because of a special metabolic adaptation that we don't have. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fnWqZXqJrtWWf6c&vl=en

[@merlynjep]

This is a little off topic but I just dropped some Jello on the floor without noticing, and then stepped in it with bare feet.

[@004Black]

I appreciate the recognition engineer and mechanics has contributed to the furtherance of the human experience. Climbers are just jealous.

[@attiTubefun]

Humans are awesome.. 100 years ago were struggling to travel on foot and now we are staring gods in the eyes over the top of the world from a chopper and saying: we are coming for you with the middle finger.

[@bentleyandgrantvideos1166]

Great information. You really do a great job with your research.

[@fireangel6038]

Wow. Know why I'm risking my rotor wing license on something like that

[@IggyWon]

I forecast for helicopters by trade & they rarely go above 10,000ft AGL.. The fact that this madman went 4x higher blew my mind right out the back of my skull.

[@joshacollins84]

Don't further significance of the time spent on the summit! The 3 minutes and 50 seconds correspond with the model number of the heli! Which is checky!

[@JustinY.]

Absolute Madlad

[@squishynigga7837]

Justin Y. fuck off

[@jacobsmith5543]

First Justin Y. Comment that's not on the top

[@PowahSlapEntertainmint]

This is just _plane_ wrong.

[@Nozerone]

Hey, no need to fly off the handle here.

[@muninrob]

At that altitude, you could say he was flying on a (rotary) wing and a prayer

[@Pegasus2227]

I hope you air not trying to start an argument

[@firepower7017]

PowahSlap Entertainmint Man this pun has gone really vertical hasn't it

[@jimbrewer7328]

ROFLMMFAO!

[@dennisazzam6500]

thats michael vsauce right?

[@dragenmaster5385]

lmao they look nearly the same true

[@danielkorladis7869]

Next he should land on the summits of K2 and Annapurna.

[@SorasShadow1]

Vultures are the best birds

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

I wonder if the "Airwolf" helicopter is also capable of doing such feat.

[@numperpickel]

Airwolf was a Bell 222 with an official service ceiling of 3900m (12800ft) , assuming it can outdo its official service ceiling by 2000m (6500ft) , like the Eurocopter , I would guess no, Airwolf can´t do it.

[@florianmerten7348]

@@numperpickel false. the airwolf is an Americopter

[@joleharding4130]

A helicopter at that altitude is insane

[@francoislacombe9071]

Where does the expression "rule of thumb" come from?

[@okrajoe]

Would "in theory" have no trouble!

[@ohayitsbrad7682]

I’m not sure helicopters with an engine failure have better odds of survival then an airplane 🤔

[@explicitDTP]

You have no clue what your talking about, it has already been proven.

[@laurakuhn8743]

I hope that they will use this to rescue climbers every climbing season.

[@explicitDTP]

Impossible

[@junrenong8576]

That particular model of helicopter is widely use for mountain rescue in Everest. Most of them operated outside the limits. In one instance, it managed to fly up to 26,000 ft to rescue a climber between Camp III and IV of Mt Everest.

[@Sir_Uncle_Ned]

Summiting everest by climbing involves at most a handful of people working for a few years. Summiting everest by helicopter involved the best engineers of several generations working god only knows how many decades just to design one rivet used on that helicopter, never mind the engine, the swash plate, the blades, the cockpit glass, the instruments, the tail rotor gearbox...

[@thesentientneuron6550]

And the oxygen supply system

[@ricky6608]

The AS350 doesn't have a pressurisation system

[@CraigSheppard]

I love Simon's videos but I always want to buy him a bigger shirt.

[@squishynigga7837]

Simon sounds sick

[@kristianbroberg]

vultures be like lol

[@jonnda]

Wow, I didn't think that was possible. On another note, when I was a kid, I used to think about the machines that made the machines that made the machines (et cetra), that made the machines we use today. Go back far enough and it's just some person doing everything by hand and simple hand tools. We have computer chips printed on a nanometer scale, and cnc machines that can mill giant parts to crazy high tolerances. Fuckin amazing.

[@MrTrick.]

90 seconds in space? So Leia could have survived here little space walk then.

[@dirkbastardrelief]

At 7:08 did I hear someone say "Eck-Cetera"? Oh Simon...

[@readjordan2257]

@2:14 not when im trying out the helicopter levels on Flight Simulator

[@richardconner15]

HOW COULD HE FLY UP TO 29,000 FT IN A HELICOPTER,& LAND ON EVEREST WITH THOSE HUGE BALLS?.

[@LeadsTheFallen]

Saves time i guess lol

[@binodneupane6215]

Wow everest Nepal 🇳🇵

[@antsolja]

i guess wikipedias behind on this, i tried looking up the highest altitude helicopter landing and it was a mountain only half the height of everest and done in an anerospetiale lama

[@abhishekagarwal846]

I used to think as a child that why do people bother with climbing the mountains when we have planes that fly even higher. Why can't we just fly over and jump off using a parachute 😏

[@cluelessbeekeeping1322]

Helicopters have the best 'safe' record for landing with their motor off. Way safer than prop or jet planes!

[@florianmerten7348]

i'm glad we made it before the Americopter

[@juliussokolowski4293]

The trick is not flying a helicopter at 8000 meters. The trick is to hover at 8000 meters (which you need to do if you want to land)! I takes significantly more power to hover a helicopter at any given altitude than to maintain forward level flight at optimum speed - can be a as much as a factor of two. It's essentially all about whats called excess power, that is the power you have available from the engine(s) over the power you need to maintain altitude. The problem is that the power you have drops off with altitude while the power you need increases, when the two meet you are done climbing. But, because you always need less power to fly forward than to hover, you can always climb higher as long as you maintain forward speed.

[@briantucker4255]

Two words for you Simon... "Beard brush"

[@awayforthewin1325]

This is really elevating to my self esteem

[@extremereclusefallows5779]

Just put minimum fuel and one 170 pound pilot. Easy. If you don't exceed the engines service ceiling then it is all good.

[@njd834]

I am a general fan of low oxygen environments

[@walterdennisclark]

Turns out, all you have to do for high altitude is spin the blades faster. Power is the same because the drag is reduced by the same amount as the lift is less. That's why NASA is planning on a helicopter on Mars. (Equivalent of 100,000 ft altitude here.)

[@vnyggi621]

Walter Clark his helo wasnt purpose build tho, and as was told the drafts are the big problem

[@DiscoFang]

Walter Clark "All you have to do?" That's quite a statement. All. Centrifugal & centripetal forces increase as a square of rotational velocity. Materials disintegrate.

[@thesentientneuron6550]

@@DiscoFang That makes you wonder what the current materials used are. Also, even if the materials don't disintegrate, you don't want them stretching out like a rubber band.

[@DiscoFang]

Surya funny Thing about stretching within a rotation. If a rotor stretches and maintains revs, every molecule of mass that moves further away from the central axis gains rotational velocity therefore increasing the forces that stretched it in the first place. It's like when your girlfriend asks whether her ass looks big in that dress... there's no way out.

Walter Clark In theory. Getting the engine to perform reliably and consistently at altitude and low temperatures is the real factor here :P

[@Retired_Detective51]

How do you do this video and not show the video you are talking about??

[@explicitDTP]

Copyright dumbass

[@buckshot6481]

Couldn't have made it without lowly Engineers !

[@menosbbgirl]

Hey! My dads an engineer! And definitely not “lowly”! 😹 I’m just messing with you, I didn’t really take offense or get upset at your comment k!?💞

[@bradhayes8294]

It would be nice if they had one (preferably a redundant two) of these helicopters and very skilled pilots available during each year's Everest climbing season. It would allow very sick or injured climbers to be medivaced in the event of an emergency. It would also provide a means by which many of the deceased climbers could be removed from the mountain if their families were willing to pay for it.

[@a_diamond]

Well.. if he'd invented and created the aircraft, maybe it could be argued it was harder than turning yourself into the kind of instrument that can make that climb and survive the trip up and back down on foot. A helicopter could also do a marathon in minutes, but that doesn't make it a more impressive than those who run it just because it can do it faster and without tiring..

[@VictorLepanto]

I wonder how an Osprey would do at this?

[@petergray2712]

Pretty well. Coaxial rotors provide more stability than the traditional design

[@BLACK05GO1]

He basically kept the helicopter at a hover with the landing struts softly touching/floating on the surface. So he did place the helicopter skids on the summit, but he never put the full weight of the helicopter on the top (like I said, he was at a touching hover for safety reasons). Lets see someone get out of the helicopter and take pictures pretending they climbed to the top. Then hop back in. That will be next. Helicopter trips to the summit.

[@docbrown7916]

If I can find where I parked my TARDIS I'll land it on top of Everest and bring friends, mine disguises it's self as a standard 10x10 cargo container.