Is it possible to go to Everest and climb the mountain without the use of Sherpas? How often are expeditions mounted where the members rely only on themselves to accomplish all the required tasks: gear ferrying, rope and ladder fixing, acclimatization etc? Do such expeditions ever encounter resistance from the companies or Sherpa collective?

> Is it possible to go to Everest and climb the mountain without the use of Sherpas?

Perhaps, but in modern times it's more complicated than that. People who arrange their own expeditions often come into conflict with established tours and organizations. You often hear stories of someone who doesn't belong on the mountain for one reason or another, who can't keep up with the traffic flow -- in certain places on the route a weak or unprepared climber can produce a bottleneck that prevents people from completing their summit, on one of the few days of the year when that's even possible.

It's not as though Everest is a big cone with dozens of available routes where people can choose to walk up to the summit any way they want. There are serious traffic and coordination problems, and the more independent agents, the more ways things can go wrong.