Kathmandu, April 7
Everest expeditions, stalled for two years due to a series of disasters, are resuming this year.
So far this year, 223 foreign climbers from 24 times have left for the Everest Base Camp, according to Gyanendra Shrestha of the Tourism Department. Seven teams comprising 52 members have applied for permission to scale the 8848-metre Everest, the world’s tallest peak.
This year, a total of 300 foreigners are likely to make attempts to scale the peak, according to initial estimates.
Natural disasters have caused the number of climbers to decrease. In 2015, a total of 356 foreigners visited Nepal to scale the peak. But they could not do so due to April 25 and May 12 quakes.
From mid-April, climbers will set out for Camp I from the EBC. Some mountaineers have already reached EBC, while others are heading towards the EBC, scaling six-thousanders on the way, according to Shrestha.
By scaling minor peaks, mountaineers take acclimatisation lessons to get ready for the Everest ascent, Ang Chhiring Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, said.
In 2014, Cyclone Hudhud forced mountaineers to shelve their Everest expeditions. In 2015, many climbers had to stall their expeditions due to the quakes. In 2015, a seven-member team, including a Chinese national, among others, scaled the peak after reaching Camp II via a chopper. In 2015, however, quakes and aftershocks stalled plans to scale the 8848-metre peak. In 40 years, that was the lone year in which not even one person scaled the tallest peak.
For this mountaineering season, Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee is busy carving out an icefall route. So far, it has constructed the route connecting EBC with Camp I.
Shrestha said this year’s Everest expeditions will be successful, provided no natural disaster occurs.
