Nepal: Mountaineers die in traffic jam on Mount Everest

Kathmandu (Nepal) – Deadly mega traffic jam on the roof of the world. On Wednesday (local time), 274 summiteers reached the top of Mount Everest, which has officially been 8,849 meters (previously 8,848 meters) high since 2020. Two Indians died during the descent. Long queues of waiting mountaineers had formed in front of key points at icy heights.

The two men died during the descent, the head of the expedition company Pioneer Adventures, Nivesh Karki, told the AFP news agency on Friday. At the same time, the Nepalese mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa (56) beat his own record. He returned from the 32nd time roof of the world back.

After his ceremonial reception in Kathmandu, Kami Rita Sherpa expressed concern about the lack of experience of some tourists in Kathmandu Mount Everest: “The expedition this time felt pretty crowded,” said the mountain guide known as “Everest Man.” Photos had previously shown mountaineers waiting in long lines to climb up to icy heights on fixed ropes.

“The government should regulate this,” said Kami Rita Sherpa: “They should only allow qualified mountaineers, and there should be a limit.” According to the Nepalese government, 274 climbers reached the summit of Mount Everest on Wednesday alone. They had all come from Nepal via the southern route – more than ever before.

The most people in one day – 354 in total – were at the Everest summit on May 22, 2019. At that time, 241 people climbed from Nepal and 113 more came via the northern route from China. In recent years, this has repeatedly been closed to foreigners for various reasons, which is why significantly fewer people from China attempt to climb to the summit.

After Tod of the two Indians, expedition leader Karki announced that he would check whether the bodies could be removed from the mountainside. Three Nepalese had previously died on Mount Everest this season, and two mountaineers from the USA and the Czech Republic also died on Mount Makalu, also in the Himalayas.

Records in summit traffic jams

In the current mass rush Nepal Meanwhile, even more records tumbled. The Briton Kenton Cool (52) was on the summit of the highest mountain in the world for the 20th time on Friday – more often than any other non-Nepalese.

On Wednesday, Australian Oliver Foran (27) reached the top of Mount Everest after a 50-day “from sea to summit” record tour. At the beginning of April, Foran set off from India by bicycle to the highest mountain in the world. He beat the previous record for the fastest “from sea to summit” tour by 17 days.