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Question

What was the weather conditions on August 8th 1996?

Answer

Mt. Everest has two main climbing routes, the southeast ridge from Nepal and the northeast ridge from China, as well as 13 other less frequently climbed routes. Of the two main routes, the southeast ridge is technically easier and is the more frequently-used route. It was the route used by Hillary and Tenzing in 1953 and the first recognised of fifteen routes to the top by 1996. This was, however, a route decision dictated more by politics than by design as the Chinese border was closed to foreigners in 1949. Reinhold Messner (Italy) summited the mountain solo for the first time, without supplementary oxygen or support, on the more difficult Northwest route via the North Col to the North Face and the Great Couloir, on August 20th 1980. He climbed for three days entirely alone from his base camp at 6500 meters without the use of supplementary oxygen via the North Col/North Face route. This route has been noted as the 8th climbing route to the summit.

— Source: Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org)