High drama unfurled on the roof of the world in spring 2025, as Julia Lyubova—a veteran with ten years braving brutal slopes—stood atop Mount Everest’s jaw-dropping 29,032 feet. But while she savored her hard-earned triumph, Lyubova couldn’t help but notice the alarming blunders that doom countless hopefuls before they even hit base camp.
Lyubova, 44, laid bare the ugly truths she’d witnessed on the most dangerous battleground in mountaineering. Despite her own decade of scaling icy peaks, even she admits Everest made her reckon with limits she hadn’t seen before. “Climbing Everest isn’t just writing a big check. You need serious discipline,” she warns, revealing a price tag north of $40,000—sometimes closer to $45,000—for those seeking bragging rights at the top. “Many think hiring Sherpas and buying fancy gear is enough. It’s not. There’s an immense mental and physical grind that money can’t fix.”
With over 55,000 Instagram fans following her every adventure, Lyubova is the real deal—and she’s got advice to match. The biggest rookie mistake? Ignoring training. She’s unimpressed at the sight of “wealthy trekkers thinking they’re buying a shortcut to the summit.”
Weather is another deadly foe, she says. “Violent storms can erupt without warning. Losing your way in freezing whiteout conditions is frighteningly easy,” Lyubova notes. And then there’s altitude sickness, the silent killer stalking climbers above the clouds. She didn’t escape unscathed herself: During descent, Lyubova was stricken with high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE)—fluid swelling in the lungs that left her gasping for breath and demanding a life-or-death helicopter evacuation.
But that’s just half the horror story. “I was terrified of HACE,” Lyubova admits, referencing the deadly high-altitude cerebral edema that strikes without mercy. “People go into a fog—they can’t think, can’t make decisions. I’ve heard of it claiming lives on Everest.”
Reality struck on Lyubova’s very own summit day. As she began her descent, grim news rippled through camp: a climber, disoriented and refusing to turn back, had succumbed to HACE, never making it off the mountain.
The lessons? Lyubova insists Everest isn’t forgiving. Preparation—physical, mental, and strategic—isn’t a suggestion, it’s survival. For thrill-seekers dreaming of conquering the world’s tallest summit, she has one piece of advice: underestimate Everest, and it won’t just crush your ambitions—it could cost you your life.
