Kathmandu // Nine Nepalis reached the top of Mount Everest on Wednesday, the first group of climbers to summit the world’s highest mountain in three years after deadly disasters forced a shutdown.
The team reached the summit at 5:02pm local time while fixing ropes for foreign climbers, who will try later this week to ascend the mountain, which was hit by tragedy in 2014 and 2015.
“A team of nine Nepalis have set the route and reached Everest’s summit,” Nepal tourism department director general Sudarshan Prasad Dhakal said.
“This opens the doors for other climbers to reach the summit as well. This is very good news after two years of disaster and has shown that the road up Everest is safe,” he said.
Climbing teams announced plans to summit Everest after disasters cut short campaigns to the 8,850-metre high Himalayan peak and raised fears for Nepal’s lucrative trekking industry.
Hundreds of climbers abandoned the mountain last year after an earthquake-triggered avalanche killed 18 people at Everest base camp.
Only one climber summited the peak in 2014 after an avalanche killed 16 Nepali guides. China’s Wang Jing reached the top after using a helicopter to transport tent equipment to higher camps following the closure of the year’s climbing season.
Hopefuls are now massing at different camps on Everest after Nepal issued 289 permits to mountaineers for this year’s brief spring climbing season, which runs from mid-April to the end of May.
Many – including tour operators whose colleagues were killed in the disasters – are preparing to make the final ascent in coming days.
British expedition operator Jagged Globe, which lost a guide and a client in the 2014 and 2015 tragedies, posted a message on its blog on Wednesday, saying “all on track for summit 13 May”.
“If the rope fixing is completed, the team will move to Camp 4 tomorrow in preparation for the summit,” said Rachel Tullet, base camp manager for the team.
May marks the crucial weather window when winds are mild and before the monsoon blankets the region in snow.
Last year, Japan’s Nobukazu Kuriki, 33, was forced to abandon his solo attempt to climb the peak in winter because of heavy wind and deep snow.
* Agence France-Presse
