A large team of at least 10 Sherpas taking shifts from Camp 4 reached the summit of Everest at 10:25 am local time today. So finally, after unprecedented delays, the route is open for hundreds of climbers over the next three weeks.
It remains unclear which Sherpas were first and how the collaboration between the assigned rope-fixing team and the outfitters’ staff unfolded.
Right after the Sherpas, some clients followed.
File image of climbers on the Hillary Step of Everest. Photo: Seven Summit Treks
Between 15 and 20 Sherpas
Dawa Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks lists a rope-fixing team led by Mingtemba Sherpa, including 10 members from the Expedition Operators Association team, three from Seven Summit Treks, and one from Imagine Nepal, as the successful summiters.
“The fixing teams joined forces overnight after successfully fixing ropes up to the Balcony (8,400m) yesterday and completed the final section via the South Summit to the summit,” he wrote on social media. Read the complete list on Chhang Dawa’s post:
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On the other hand, Mingma G states that three of his own Imagine Nepal Sherpas summited first. He says they “stepped in” because “we were promised the route would be fixed early [but] there was no movement from South Col until 1 am, so we stepped in again.”
He adds that three members of his team fixed the rope and were joined by others at the South Summit. “I believe our only constraint was a lack of rope,” Mingma G said. He then concluded: “Now, I firmly assert that our team fixed the Everest summit.”
Read his statement here:
We are waiting for details about conditions on the mountain, as some comments mentioned tough conditions around the summit area due to recent snowfall.
Next, the clients
The route to the summit is now open for the nearly 500 foreigners currently scattered along the mountain, and for the even larger number of Sherpa guides and others supporting them.
Not surprisingly, the first client summiters were with the Imagine Nepal team — the Norwegian couple Hakon Andreas and Hanne Nicole Hyttedalen, along with Chinese national Li Yitong. The Sherpa guides with them were Lakpa Nuru, Lakpa Tamang, and Dawa Tenjing Sherpa. More may top out within the next few hours.
The question is, how long will the weather hold? Mingma G insists he was in a hurry to fix the route because he believed this was a brief but perfect summit window. A spell of bad weather is expected to hit the mountain tomorrow.
In a previous post, he also mentioned that some forecasts differed. Indeed, other teams have reported struggling to find accurate forecasts. Meteoexploration.com forecasts some snow tomorrow and strong winds (around 43kph) at summit altitude for the next three days. But Mountain Forecast shows sun and wind not surpassing 30 kph for the rest of the week.
Runners ready and waiting
The two runners aiming to climb Everest without supplemental oxygen all the way to the summit and back in a Fastest Known Time are both ready and acclimatized, but they have not revealed their summit plans yet.
Karl Egloff and his supporting partner Nico Miranda of Ecuador may also need a couple of rest days. Yesterday, they completed their acclimatization by reaching the South Col after two days in Camp 2, and then returned to Base Camp.
“We feel privileged to have had the South Col all to ourselves without a single tent pitched…and we are also happy to be back at Base Camp to rest and recover until we get a good weather window,” Egloff posted.
Tyler Andrews of the U.S. has been keeping a low profile but training in the Makalu area (according to the Alpymon blog) and Mera Peak. Two days ago, friend Conor Sleith wrote that Andrews was keeping calm and ready amid the “slightly chaotic” Everest logistics.
