A team of rope-fixing climbers including members of serving soldiers from across the Brigade of Gurkhas and high altitude mountain guides ascended mount everest on Monday afternoon from Nepal side.
This is the record for the Everest expedition for the first time from Nepal side of the season.
On May 10, seven Icefall Doctors, a team of local mountain climbers had prepared the route by fixing ropes.
A climbing team including team leader for the British Gurkha Everest Expedition and Chairman of Himalayan Ski Trek Krishna Thapa Magar, Managing Director of Pioneer Adventure Treks Lakpa Sherpa, climbers Thimi Lendup Gurungand Pasang Sherpa among others also reached the summit point, the base camp officials said, referring to the satellite communications made from top of the Mt Everest at 1:30 pm.
Last year, nine mountain climbers had reached the Everest summit on May 11, making the fist climb of the year.
According to the Tourism Department, 373 fee-paying climbers have received permits to make an attempt on the world’s highest peak this spring. This is the highest number of climbing permits issued for Everest during a single season. With each climber hiring at least one local climbing guide, the total number of climbers is likely to touch 800 this season.
As there are a large number of Everest aspirants this season, mountaineering officials have expressed fears that there could be dangerous overcrowding if the climbing is delayed by bad weather.
On May 22, 2008, a record 135 climbers made it to the top of Everest in a single day. The record was broken on May 19, 2012 when 179 individuals reached the top in a single day due to a ‘traffic jam’ caused by a small ‘weather window.’
The Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) has said that considering the large number of Everest aspirants waiting for a chance to mount a bid for the summit, a ‘traffic jam’ on the slopes cannot be ruled out this year.
Everest has seen a record number of climbers this season due to a backlog resulting from the 2014 and 2015 avalanches.
The world’s highest peak was closed for two consecutive years in 2014 and 2015 due to deadly avalanches. On April 18, 2014, an avalanche on Everest near base camp killed 16 Nepali guides.
The government had extended the Everest climbing permits of those climbers who were forced to abandon their bids in 2014 until 2019. That year, 326 mountaineers had received climbing permits.
Then in 2015, avalanches set off by the devastating April 25 quake killed 19 climbers, including high altitude guides and helpers at base camp and Khumbu Icefall.
This time, the government extended the permits to climb Everest for two years until 2017.
This season has already seen two deaths, those of experienced Swiss mountaineer Ueli Steck and Nepali Min Bahadur Sherchan. More than 4,000 people have scaled Everest since 1953. Over 280 climbers have died attempting to scale the world’s tallest peak.
High-altitude climbers
Pema Tshering
Pem Chirri Sherpa
Kancha Nuru Sherpa
Lakpa Gelu Sherpa
Sonam Jangbu Sherpa
Pasang Sherpa
Chimmi Lhenduk Gurung
Dendi Sherpa
Tashi Sherpa
Jyabu Bhote
Lakpa Sherpa
British Gurkha members
Krishna Thapa Magar
Nirmal Purja
Dhanni Rai
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