After the first trickle of Everest summits over the weekend, the massive wave of almost 500 clients may begin tomorrow. According to Nga Tenji Sherpa of Pioneer Adventure, 160 climbers went from Camp 3 to Camp 4 today. From here, they are ready to launch their summit pushes tonight.
Others are close behind. The Furtenbach Adventures team arrived in Camp 3 today. The biggest numbers, however, are currently in Camp 2 or on the way there. Groups are trying to spread out during this long weather window in order to avoid jams. Climbing The Seven Summits, for instance, hopes to reach the top on May 20.
Dhaulagiri
Carlos Soria, Sito Carcavilla, and Mikel Sherpa are in Camp 2 on Dhaulagiri. In the next few days, they will decide whether to advance from there. They may be waiting for the rope fixers. Oswald Pereira, who summited on Sunday with Bartek Ziemski (who also skied down the mountain) told ExplorersWeb that the fixed ropes currently end at Camp 3.
Climbers on Dhaulagiri. Photo: Carlos Soria/Facebook
Ropes airlifted on Kangchenjunga
On Kangchenjunga, the ropes are in place up to 7,400m. The climbers are waiting for the Sherpas to fix to the summit. To speed up things, a helicopter flew 200m of rope to Camp 2. The Sherpa team should reach Camp 3 tomorrow and the summit on Wednesday. In earlier times, Kangchenjunga’s upper sections were climbed in two or three-person teams, trad style.
Crevasse crossing on Kangchenjunga. Photo: Domi Trastoy
Domi Trastoy noted that Camp 4 is lower than usual this year, which will result in a very long summit day. The Andorran team also said that according to their forecasts, the weather window will close by July 20. He and his team are currently in Camp 2 and ready to climb right after the rope fixers.
Pumori summits
IFMGA guide Prakash Sherpa and Christiaan Pieter de Jong of the Netherlands summited Pumori (7,161m) on May 13. The two of them roped up and broke trail without fixed ropes from Camp 2 to the summit.
Theirs is the first Pumori summit of the season after dangerous conditions pushed back the Asian Trekking and Pioneer teams from Camp 2.
The summit of Pumori, with Everest/Lhotse/Nuptse in the background. Photo: Prakash Sherpa
