At least 570 climbers, including foreigners and locals, have climbed Everest so far this season, Nepal’s Department of Tourism (DoT) said today in a press release. A few more groups have summited since then, so the final figure will increase.
For example, SummitClimb put 10 people on top today. They reported great conditions, no wind, and — no crowds. Everyone made it back to Camp 2 on the same day.
Almost-final numbers
The DoT had listed 426 foreign permits for the South Side of Everest until May 22. Last year, the final number of permits was 478, and the final number of summits was 656. Remember that many of those permitted foreigners didn’t succeed in summiting, and the final tally includes the many sherpas who did.
On a somber note, the search for Daniel Paul Paterson and Pastenji Sherpa has been called off. The climbers presumably fell as a cornice broke meters from the summit. The sad tally of climbers who perished on Everest and Lhotse this year is seven, with Nawang Sherpa still reported missing.
Outfitters whose members have finished their summit pushes are dismantling their higher camps. The official end of the season is still a week away, but some forecasts suggest the monsoon could hit a couple of days earlier. Helicopters are currently busy carrying equipment and climbers back to Kathmandu.
Everest no-O2
The only confirmed no-oxygen Everest summits so far are those of Piotr Krzyzowski of Poland — he also submitted Lhotse no-O2 a day earlier — and Sirbaz Khan of Pakistan.
We are double-checking the no-O2 summit claim by Skalzang Rigzin of India and will confirm as soon as possible. His team claims Rigzin previously summited Lhotse without oxygen, but that information contradicts The Himalayan Database.
Suman Gurung — in yellow — greets Sirbaz Khan (smiling at right, without O2 mask) meters away from the summit of Everest. Check the video here.
Hugo Ayaviri from Bolivia summited Lhotse without oxygen but abandoned his plans to do Everest that way as well; Valery Babanov became ill and retreated; Asma Al Thani didn’t try; Moeses Fiamonci did try on May 22 but turned around at 8,700m; Tunc Findik of Turkey and Frank Loke of Norway finally summited with bottled O2.
We are waiting for news from Norrdine Nouar of Germany. According to his tracker, he has remained at altitude since arriving on Everest fresh from summiting Annapurna. He reached Camp 4 earlier this week, then retreated. His tracker located him at Camp 3 today.
One team on the North Side
On the North Side, a single client and a sherpa guide outfitted by Climbalaya finally summited yesterday. Lukas Furtenbach confirmed that he saw the small party two hours behind his own summit group. Only the Alpenglow team is currently on its way to the summit. The climbers spent a night on the North Col (Camp 1 at 7,000m). They are now ready for the final summit push on an empty mountain.
