Everyone in Everest Base Camp has been stuck in their tents all week, anxiously waiting for the weather to clear. It’s delayed the rope fixing, and climbers are antsy to begin their summit pushes. The good news is that the weather is about to break, and the action will resume soon.
State of the ropes
8K Expeditions’ rope-fixing team has done its best in tough conditions. They fixed up to 7,400m at the beginning of this week, Pemba Sherpa told ExplorersWeb. Then the weather worsened, and high winds and poor visibility on the upper sections forced a retreat.
While the ropes are there, Camp 3 (usually pitched at 7,000-7,100m) has not yet been completely set up. Valery Babanov, climbing without oxygen and carrying his own gear, is one of the few who have spent a night there.
However, conditions have been good enough for climbers to do their rotation to Camp 2, and some of them tagged Camp 3 before heading down. This caused the first long lines in the Khumbu Icefall, as seen in the video below:
For most, that rotation is enough to prepare for the final summit push. Many have previously acclimatized by climbing a 6,000m peak or training at home with hypoxic tents. When summit time comes, they will rely on supplementary oxygen from Camp 3 or even Camp 2.
Some climbers have reportedly suffered health issues already. At least three were airlifted from Camp 2 in recent days with symptoms of HACE (High Altitude Cerebral Edema).
Instagram story by Behrouz Moghaddasi
The rest are mostly hanging around Base Camp, training on the glacier’s seracs, or in some cases, learning basic skills. A few have flown back to city comforts in Kathmandu and will return when the time is right to head directly for Camp 2 and then the summit.
Crowding expected
This may result in massive summit pushes as soon as the weather improves and the rope fixing finishes. While some expedition leaders may choose to wait, most climbers will want to go to the top as soon as possible. That would result in those all-too-familiar and dangerous traffic jams on the upper half of the mountain.
The situation might be particularly chaotic if a large number of climbers follow the rope-fixing team, which is likely to happen. Pemba Sherpa estimated the rope fixers will summit from May 7 to 9, and the weather will improve even before that.
The jet stream over Asia today. Chart by Meteoexploration
Weather forecast
“This first week of May looks relatively good — a few minor troughs coming across, and the jet stream that is close but not overhead,” meteorologist Marc de Keyser of Weather4Expeditions told ExplorersWeb.
De Keyser explained that today’s snowfall will soon give way to good weather from May 2-5, except for some wind gusts on the lower levels. Then another front will come across. However, it does not seem too extreme or long-lasting for now, although it will be necessary to check day to day and see how it evolves.
Meteogram for Everest’s South Side by Meteoexploration.
Xenon climb begins on May 15
Also ready at home in the UK are the one-week climbers, including Alistair Carns (a Member of the British Parliament) and three colleagues from his time in the special forces: Garth Miller, Kevin Godlington, and Anthony Stazicker.
The team is keeping a relatively low profile after the controversy generated after their outfitter, the high-end Furtenbach Adventures, gave them the opportunity to breathe Xenon gas to increase the production of EPO in their bodies to boost acclimatization.
They are also doing hypoxic training, and Carns says it is going well and that they’ll leave for Nepal on May 15. From Kathmandu, they’ll head directly to Base Camp and immediately begin their summit push, using bottled oxygen.
Ex-military and UK MP Alastair Carns during a hypoxic training session. Photo: Alastair Carns/X
More records ahead
Meanwhile, record-seeking climbers currently on the mountain include:
- Lhakpa Sherpa, known as the “Queen of Everest” and featured on a Netflix documentary, is back aiming to reach the summit for the 11th time.
- Chinese climber Jing Zhang, 32, will attempt a ski descent of Everest, the Everest Chronicle noted. It’s not the first time it’s been done, but this would be the first Chinese descent.
- Marcelo Segovia of Ecuador, a captain in his country’s national police, will attempt to climb without supplementary oxygen.
