Under moderate weather conditions, the Everest fixing team reached the last high camp.
COVER PHOTO: Camp 4 on the South Col route of Mount Everest (Credit: Tirthakanji)
At 7:15 p.m. local time today, May 8, the anchor team reached Camp 4, the highest camp on the South Col route of Everest, in remarkable time, following the opening of Camp 1 a few days ago, after having partially overcome the Serac problem, as recently anticipated by the 14 Peaks team.
During these last few days, most teams have been rotating between Base Camp and Camp 2, although some have managed to advance a little further, such as American Justin Sacket, who reached the 7200m mark, coinciding with Camp 3. Meanwhile, today, the experienced and Everest-knowledgeable Brazilian Carlos Santalena reached 7100m under unfavorable weather conditions.
In fact, this situation has been developing in recent hours, especially in the lower camps and at Base Camp, where some teams have retreated. However, it appears that conditions are more favorable higher up.
Given the current situation and the weather conditions, which are expected to be optimal, it wouldn’t be surprising if the anchoring team could complete their work on the summit of Everest by next Tuesday, May 12th, or perhaps Wednesday, depending, of course, on the weather.
In this sense, we can conclude that an exemplary effort has been made, despite the delays caused by the serac, which lasted almost two weeks. If the anchoring is completed by the middle of next week, the lost time will have been recovered.
A large number of climbers are expected starting in the third week of May.
Without a doubt, this will be a record-breaking season for four Everest contenders. This morning it was confirmed that Nepal has registered its highest number of Everest climbing permits ever this spring, with 492 climbers paying the required fee and receiving authorization to ascend the world’s tallest mountain, according to the Department of Tourism. This surpasses the previous record of 473 climbers set in 2023.
This undoubtedly raises significant concerns, given the reduced climbing times due to the serac and the potential for overcrowding resulting from the closure of the north face. Expert Ang Tshiring Sherpa stated that careful coordination will be crucial to avoid dangerous overcrowding. «If the weather cooperates, it’s possible to manage around 200 climbers per day,» he said. «It all depends on the weather.»
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