Tikaram Pandey, an official from Nepal's Tourism and Civil Aviation Authority, told The Himalayan Times on Sunday that the official spring climbing season in Nepal has ended. Currently, apart from a few climbers who will attempt to reach the summit in the coming days accompanied by local Sherpas, most have already returned or are in the process of returning to Everest Base Camp. Over the past 48 hours, approximately 250 climbers successfully scaled the world's highest peak under favorable weather conditions.
Last weekend, overcrowding at the summit led to "congestion," resulting in the deaths of four climbers who were unable to descend in time due to oxygen deprivation or altitude sickness in the "death zone" between the summit and the southern slope. The deceased included one German, one South Korean, one Chinese, and one Canadian. Experts say that in recent years, an increasing number of climbers from around the world, driven by personal goals and dreams of breaking various records, have come to climb Everest, putting immense pressure on the mountain. As a result, unforeseen dangers caused by congestion are inevitable.
A renowned Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer who has successfully summited Everest twice told the media, "Last year, I was at 8,500 meters when I was delayed for several hours due to congestion at the summit, and I eventually decided to abandon the summit and return to base camp."
According to expert statistics, the highest number of climbers to summit Everest on the same day was set on May 23, 2010, when 169 people successfully reached the top.
According to Nepali official statistics, since May 29, 1953, when Nepali Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and New Zealander Edmund Hillary successfully summited Mount Everest, more than 3,000 climbers from various countries have successfully reached the summit from the southern slope on the Nepali side. (End)