Climbers on Mount Everest are on the brink of the first attempts in three years to make the final ascent to the world’s tallest peak, after fatal avalanches cut short the 2014 and 2015 campaigns.
Teams at forward camps are looking for a weather “window” to open in the next few days, clearing the way to the 8,850 metre along the Southeast Ridge first climbed by New Zealand’s Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953.
The southern route, on the Nepali side of the mountain, has suffered tragedy over the past two years, with 16 sherpa guides killed by an avalanche in the treacherous Khumbu Icefall in 2014.
Last year, an earthquake that killed 9,000 people across Nepal sent a massive snowslide crashing into Base Camp, killing at least 18 climbers and guides and putting an end to that year’s campaign.
Nepal’s ‘ice doctors’ prepare Everest for the climbing season
At least 289 climbers and their guides are in different high camps waiting for a weather window and jostling to become the first to scale the peak. Nearly 700 people submitted in 2013.
Tourism Department official Gyanendra Shrestha said climbers had fixed ropes up to the South Col, the final camp, at about 8,000 metres, and were stocking it with supplies.