Everest bookings double in six months An adventure holiday specialist says that bookings for trips to Mount Everest have doubled during the first six months of 2012. The operator, World Expeditions, said it expects this trend to continue, as next year marks sixty years since the first recorded ascent of the mountain by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgar. It is thought that the recent surge in visitor numbers has been helped by the establishment of a string of permanent campsites on the mountain. The company says travellers can now tackle Everest in a shorter time without compromising on safety. World Expeditions has offered holidays to Nepal since 1975, and currently has more than 60 itineraries in the Himalayas. To celebrate the anniversary, a series of Everest treks has been planned for May 2013, finishing at the Buddist Thyangboche Monestery - which is 3,800m above sea level - on May 29, exactly 60 years after the first ascent. Travellers of all abilities can take part in the treks, which each include at least five days of acclimatising at the campsites. Despite not going above 3,800m, the new treks have been announced amid fears about overcrowding on the mountain. In May, The Telegraph published a photo of 200 mountaineers queuing to reach the summit. Since the first ascent in 1953, 223 people have died on Everest, including 10 this year. Despite the risks involved, climbers still flock to the mountain, and around 3,500 climbers have successfully reach the summit.