At 10:25 am local time in Nepal, 1:30 am today, Argentina time, the Everest anchoring team reached the summit of the world
A truly impressive task, carried out by the fixing team who, on March 1st, embarked on a very complicated journey from Namche Bazaar to the summit of the world.
The fixing team with 11 members
Mingma Dorchi Sherpa, Pam Dorjee Sherpa, Pasang Tashi Sherpa, Lopsang Bhutia, Ming Nurbu Sherpa, Chhomba Tenji Sherpa, Guru Bhote, Mingma Tenje Sherpa, Ming Temba Sherpa, Dendi Sherpa, and Pasang Nurbu Sherpa.
Imagine Nepal
Behind the fixing team, Sherpas and Imagine Treks clients reached the top of the world:
Ila Nuru Sherpa, Fura Namgya Sherpa, Pasang Ngima Sherpa, Dawa Tenjin Sherpa, Lakpa Tamang Sherpa, Jit Bahadur, Lakpa Nuru Sherpa, Angdu Sherpa, Ngima Nuru Sherpa, and Jangbu Sherpa.
International climbers: Hakon Andreas Hyttedalen (Norway), Hanne Nicole Briedis Hyttedalen (Norway), Charles Antoine Lanthire (Canada), Li Yitong (China), Hu Haina (China) and Él Haibo (China)
And we say complicated because this time, a serac located at the end of the Khumbu Icefall, very close to Camp 1, caused significant problems for the entire climbing community aspiring to summit the world’s highest peak this season.
This serac, part of which is still there, paradoxically, caused a delay of more than two weeks in the route openings, which are usually completed by the first week of May, or before the middle of the month.
After the route through the icefall was opened, a rapid development of the line between Camp 1 and the summit ensued. In approximately two weeks, this progressed until its completion just a few minutes ago, a task of a high technical level. This has now breathed new life into an activity that was—paradoxically—on a ledge, hastened by the monsoon season, which—despite some attempts to ignore it—is decisive. I say this because it has been said that they were going to extend the season for another week, as if the weather had given its approval.
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But that’s all in the past now, today is May 13th. The path to the summit is open, and everything is ready for the start of the show ahead, with almost five hundred customers crowding in, like in a store on a sale day, to achieve nothing less than the glory embodied in a certificate for which they paid a hefty sum.
Those of us who love the mountains, and what humankind does to them, find these things a bit unsettling. Personally, I have for several years now, but oh well, that’s the way it is, and we get down to the task of reporting on it.
The more astute, on the other hand, those who prefer tranquility and embrace the spirit of pure mountaineering, have gone to other mountains, for example, without going so far, the one next door, very close to Everest, its younger sibling. There, at this very moment, three Argentinians are making their way, relying solely on their lung capacity, without the «false air» that that great climber of the last decade once described—the one who, on a miserable day in April 2017, left us on a mountain so absurd that it usually, year after year, looks jealously sideways at its older sister, but that day, it exacted its toll, taking with it the beloved Ueli, the «Swiss machine.»
Everest is now open. May it be for the best, and may all who climb it return home safe and sound. That is the only thing that matters.
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