KATHMANDU: The climbing season for Mount Everest and various other peaks continues this spring, but adverse weather conditions have affected expeditions on Monday, including on Everest and Kanchenjunga.

According to the Department of Tourism, strong winds disrupted climbing activities on Everest. “Climbers could not proceed due to high-speed winds,” said Director Himal Gautam. Many climbers preparing for the ascent are now retreating to safer locations.

Those with sufficient oxygen supplies are waiting at Camps II and III for better weather. Pasang Bhote, a representative of the Department’s temporary field office at Everest Base Camp, confirmed that the bad weather has significantly impacted the summit plans.

The planned summit for May 15 has been called off due to the weather, and the May 14 attempt is also likely to be canceled. Climbers who had planned to reach the summit on those dates are now returning to Base Camp, according to Bhote. “Because of the weather, today’s summit attempt was not possible. Climbers at Camp IV are expected to return to Base Camp today or tomorrow,” he said.

It is expected that there will be no Everest summits for the next three to four days. If the weather improves, climbing may resume from May 18, as per the Department of Tourism.

One Take Expedition, the company responsible for managing Everest expeditions, had anticipated that the highest number of summits would occur from May 11 to 14. The “summit window” was predicted to last from May 12 to 15, with snowfall expected on May 16 and 17. However, adverse weather arrived five days earlier than expected, interrupting the climbs.

As of now, only four climbing teams have reached the Everest summit with fixed ropes, according to the Department’s field office.

The Department also reported that adverse weather disrupted climbing activities on Kanchenjunga. On May 10, Dawa Funjo Sherpa and Phur Sang Sherpa successfully summited Everest, followed by British climber Mitchell Leonard Dacre on May 11.

From Nepal, climbers Gyaltse Sherpa, Phuri Sherpa, and Ang Pemba Sherpa also reached the summit. Ecuador’s Patricio Arevalo climbed Everest the same day. On May 11, Dawa Funjo Sherpa also ascended Lhotse.

Currently, climbers are waiting near Camps II and III of Everest. Additionally, this season, five Nepali climbers, three Chinese, and one Kyrgyz climber successfully summited Makalu, according to the Department’s field office.
The spring climbing season on Everest began on April 9. A team of seven Sherpas from 8K Expedition opened the route by fixing ropes to the summit at 5 PM last Friday.

This season, a total of 1,127 climbers from 119 groups, including 240 women and 887 men, received climbing permits for 26 peaks, including Everest.

Among them, Everest has the highest number of climbers, with 456 individuals (84 women and 372 men) from 45 groups securing permits for the ascent.
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