The highest peak of the world has witnessed a traffic jam after more than 200 climbers are making a final push this morning and waiting at the final camp hoping to reach the top of the world by Wednesday morning as the season is expected to close by May 26.
According to a liaison officer at the Everest base camp Gyanendra Shrestha, climbers who have been camping at the 7,900-metre point of the mountain – popularly known as Camp IV – early this morning complained that they have been waiting more than two hours in queues on their way to the summit point.
Some 200 climbers – including high-altitude climbing guides – have headed from the South Col to the summit point early this morning after they found a second weather window to attempt to stand atop the roof of the world. But the traffic jam has created a long queue of climbers above Camp IV.
The increasing high number of climbers aiming to make it to the top on the same morning has however raised fears of overcrowding not only a traffic jam but accidents and deaths, though the officials claimed that huge number of climbers waiting to make a push at the final camp is nothing to worry about.
If all the waiting climbers successfully scale the highest peak on Wednesday, it would be the largest single-day ascent of Mt Everest. In 2012, some 264 climbers stood at the top of the world. That year, 179 climbers successfully reached the top, but not before causing what many referred to as a ‘traffic jam’ on the Hillary Step – a vertical rock with a sharp slope considered one of the most dangerous parts of the climb – due to a small weather window.
This season, the Mt Everest climbing season started on May 14, with a team of eight rope-fixing high-altitude climbers opening a climbing route. The first two-day weather window was closed on May 16 after over 150 world climbers made it to the summit.
According to the Department of Tourism, some 381 individuals have been permitted to climb the Mt Everest this spring.
According to a liaison officer at the Everest base camp Gyanendra Shrestha, climbers who have been camping at the 7,900-metre point of the mountain – popularly known as Camp IV – early this morning complained that they have been waiting more than two hours in queues on their way to the summit point.
Some 200 climbers – including high-altitude climbing guides – have headed from the South Col to the summit point early this morning after they found a second weather window to attempt to stand atop the roof of the world. But the traffic jam has created a long queue of climbers above Camp IV.
The increasing high number of climbers aiming to make it to the top on the same morning has however raised fears of overcrowding not only a traffic jam but accidents and deaths, though the officials claimed that huge number of climbers waiting to make a push at the final camp is nothing to worry about.
If all the waiting climbers successfully scale the highest peak on Wednesday, it would be the largest single-day ascent of Mt Everest. In 2012, some 264 climbers stood at the top of the world. That year, 179 climbers successfully reached the top, but not before causing what many referred to as a ‘traffic jam’ on the Hillary Step – a vertical rock with a sharp slope considered one of the most dangerous parts of the climb – due to a small weather window.
This season, the Mt Everest climbing season started on May 14, with a team of eight rope-fixing high-altitude climbers opening a climbing route. The first two-day weather window was closed on May 16 after over 150 world climbers made it to the summit.
According to the Department of Tourism, some 381 individuals have been permitted to climb the Mt Everest this spring.
No comments:
Post a Comment