More than 270 climbers from Nepal reached the summit of Mount Everest on Wednesday, setting a new record for the number of people climbing the world’s highest mountain from the Nepali side in a single day.
Local officials said 274 people climbed the 8,849-metre (29,032-foot) peak on the border between Nepal and China’s Tibet region, breaking the previous record of 223, set on May 22, 2019.
The record for the highest number of summit climbs in one day by both the Nepali and Chinese sides was set the next day, May 23, 2019, when a total of 354 climbers made it.
Chinese authorities have not issued any permits to climb Everest from the Tibetan side this year, so all climbing must currently begin in Nepal. Photos and videos showed hundreds of climbers lining up near the summit on Wednesday.
“It was a historic day,” said Himal Gautam, a Nepali tourism department official. He said there was a possibility of overcrowding given the large number of climbers.
“At one point on Wednesday, there was a line from the ‘balcony’ to the summit,” he said, referring to the final section of the climb. “But the department is doing everything for good management through better coordination.”
Everest: Nepal issues record number of climbing permits
Nepal issued a record 494 climbing permits this season to 389 men and 105 women from 55 countries. With each permit costing $15,000 (about €12,950), the Everest climbing season generates more than $7.4 million in revenue for one of the world’s poorest countries.
Mountaineering experts often criticize Nepal for allowing large numbers of climbers on the mountain, sometimes leading to overcrowding and long queues in the so-called “death zone” below the summit, where natural oxygen levels are lower than necessary for human survival.
Nepal has acknowledged the risks and hoped tighter controls and higher permit fees would discourage inexperienced climbers, but three deaths have been reported so far this season, the start of which was delayed due to a large ice block known as a “serak” blocking the infamous Khumbu Icefall.
Despite the danger and expense, thousands of people have climbed Mount Everest since it was first climbed on May 29, 1953 by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and his local Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay.
Earlier this week, veteran mountain guide Kami Rita Sherpa climbed the peak for the 32nd time, breaking her own record. His nearest rival Pasang Dawa Sherpa reached the summit for the 30th time this week.
Meanwhile, her colleague Lakpa Sherpa climbed Everest for the 11th time, breaking her own record for the most number of climbs by a woman.
Everest: ‘It’s not a big problem if teams carry enough oxygen’
But for foreign permit holders, climbing Everest is usually a once-in-a-lifetime accomplishment.
“We wait for the climbers to return and give us photographs and other evidence to prove their climb and then provide them with climbing certificates,” tourism department official Gautam told Reuters news agency. “Only then can we confirm the numbers.”
Lucas Furtenbach of Austria-based Furtenbach Adventures, organizer of the expedition, said the presence of large numbers of people on Everest is not a problem, as long as expeditions are adequately stocked and managed.
“If the teams carry enough oxygen it’s not a big problem,” claimed Furtenbach, who has 40 paying climbers currently waiting in various camps for the chance to move on.
He added, “We have mountains like the Zugspitze in the Alps where 4,000 people climb per day. So 274 is actually not a big number, considering that this mountain is 10 times larger.”
The Zugspitze is the highest mountain in Germany and stands at 2,962 meters high, one third of the height of Everest, not far below the zone where extra oxygen tanks are required to climb the summit.
Edited by: Shawn Sinico