Record 274 climbers summit Everest from Nepalese side in single day

A record 274 climbers reached the summit of Mount Everest from the Nepalese side in a single day, following a spring season delayed by ice fall threats on the main tourist route.

The climbers took advantage of clear weather on Wednesday, said Rishi Ram Bhandari of the Expedition Operators Association Nepal.

“This is the highest number of climbers in a single day so far,” Bhandari told Reuters, referring to the Nepali record. He added the number could rise as some climbers who summited might not have informed base camp yet.

All but one climber reached the summit assisted by Sherpa guides and using supplemental bottled oxygen. Ecuadorian climber Marcelo Segovia summited while climbing independently and without oxygen.

Mountaineering experts often criticize Nepal for allowing large numbers of climbers on the mountain, which sometimes leads to risky jams or long queues in the “death zone” area below the summit, where natural oxygen levels are insufficient for human survival.

The large convergence on a single day appears to have occurred as climbers waiting in higher camps for better wind conditions were joined by climbers from lower camps, with some reporting queues and a slow pace of ascent.

The 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) peak can be scaled from either the southern side in Nepal or the northern face in China’s Tibet. On May 22, 2019, the Nepalese side had 223 climbers and the Chinese side had 113 climbers on the summit. Chinese authorities closed the route this year.

This week, veteran mountain guide Kami Rita Sherpa scaled the peak for the 32nd time, breaking his own record for the most summits of Everest. His closest rival, Pasang Dawa Sherpa, scaled the peak for the 30th time this week. Lhakpa Sherpa also scaled Everest for the 11th time, topping her own record for the most summits by a female climber.

This year’s Everest climbing season began late because of the risk from a huge serac, a glacial ice cliff, hanging over the key route to the summit.

There are 494 climbers and an equal number of Sherpa guides expected to attempt to scale the mountain by the end of May, when the climbing season ends.

Thousands of people have climbed Everest since it was first scaled on May 29, 1953, by Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and New Zealander Edmund Hillary.

Himal Gautam, a Department of Tourism official, said he received preliminary information that more than 250 people climbed the peak on Wednesday.

“We wait for climbers to return, give us photographs and other evidence to prove their ascents and provide them with climbing certificates,” Gautam told Reuters. “Only then we will be able to confirm the numbers.”

Nepal has issued 494 permits to climb Everest this year, each costing $15,000.

Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this article.