Despite concerns about the weather and, particularly, high winds
over the summit, climbers appear to be taking advantage of a window
of better conditions to summit Everest.
Information is somewhat disjointed, but it seems that at least
seven climbers climbed the mountain yesterday (Tuesday) from two
different expeditions. The first team to summit was a Japanese
expedition with one Japanese climber, a French guide and three
Sherpas making the summit.
Meanwhile two Sherpas from the IMG expedition also reached the
top, fixing rope on the summit ridge along the way.
There are still worries about the numbers of climbers attempting
the summit. One despatch on the excellent Everest News site describes
the volume as 'overwhelming' and leading to fears of 'a huge traffic jam right below the summit'. Those attempts will be going on right now.
The nightmare scenario is a repeat of the 1996 disaster when a combination of slow-moving inexperienced climbers, a bottleneck below the Hillary Step and a savage storm, killed eight climbers in one day. The positive news is that weather forecasts for both
today and tomorrow are apparently good.
If you want to know what's happening on the mountain, check out
the Everestnews.com
site for the latest info and updates from various expeditions.
