No room at the top!
29,000 ft up — but when they reach Everest summit they have to wait in this queue
IT was once seen as an insurmountable challenge that few would even have dared to attempt.
But nowadays, almost exactly 66 years after Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary became the first to reach the top of the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest can seem a little crowded.
Climber Nirmal Purja captured this remarkable shot of a tailback snaking its way around the final snowy obstacles near the 29,029ft summit this week.
Mr Purja, who served in the British Armed Forces for 16 years, said he managed the ascent ‘despite the heavy traffic’ of around 300 climbers.
Tragically, the congestion was caused by the deaths of two climbers in recent days. Donald Lynn Cash, 55, collapsed near the summit as he was taking photos, while Anjali Kulkarni, 54, died after falling ill while descending from the top.
So far this season four people have died while climbing Everest. An Irish mountaineer, Seamus Lawless, 39, is missing, presumed dead, after falling close to the summit last week. Irish premier Leo Varadkar said he hoped university professor Mr Lawless could be found and brought home to his family.
May offers the best weather for intrepid climbers, making it ‘rush hour’ at the top of the world. There are 41 teams with a total of 378 climbers permitted to scale the mountain during the spring climbing season, with an equal number of Nepalese sherpas helping them.
Yesterday the first black African woman to conquer Everest urged fellow Africans to ‘never give up’ on their dreams. South African Saray N’kusi Khumalo succeeded on her fourth attempt to reach the top last week having been foiled by frostbite, an avalanche and an earthquake.
The 47-year-old business executive said her latest expedition was a ‘humbling experience’ riddled with challenges.