The good weather window over the Himalayas with little wind seems to hold. And accordingly, it is hardly surprising that summit successes from the eight-thousanders are now being reported daily. After on Saturday – as reported – a nine-man team of the operator Imagine Nepal had fixed the ropes up to the summit of Mount Everest, on Sunday and today Monday also the first clients of the commercial teams reached the highest point on earth at 8,849 meters. Among them was the Pakistani Sajid Ali Sadpara, who climbed without bottled oxygen. For the 25-year-old son of Muhammad Ali Sadpara – the legendary Pakistani climber died on K2 in the winter of 2021 – it was the sixth eight-thousander and the second this spring after Annapurna, which Sajid had also climbed without a breathing mask.
Pasang Dawa Sherpa stood on the roof of the world for the 26th time – with bottled oxygen and a client whom he accompanied to the summit.. The 46-year-old thus caught up with Kami Rita Sherpa and can now also call himself the “climber with the most Everest summit successes” – at least temporarily: Kami Rita has set his sights on climb number 27 this spring.
Ski descent from Dhaulagiri
Summit successes have also been reported from other eight-thousanders. On Dhaulagiri in western Nepal, for example, the two Poles Oswald Rodrigo Pereira and Bartosz Ziemski reached the highest point at 8,167 meters, without bottled oxygen. In mid-April, both had scaled Annapurna I – also without breathing mask. As there, Ziemski also descended from Dhaulagiri on skis.
On Cho Oyu, the Mexican Viridiana Alvarez – with bottled oxygen and guided by the Nepalese climbers Pemba Tenjin Sherpa and Nima Rita Sherpa – reached the 8,188-meter-high summit. For the 40-year-old it was the tenth eight-thousander. On Lhotse, Tenjin Sherpa, Pasang Namgyal Sherpa, Tamting Sherpa, and Pemba Tamang stood at the summit today. The Nepalese from the team of the operator Imagine Nepal fixed the ropes to the highest point at 8,516 meters.
For this spring, the Nepalese government granted permission (as of 14 May 2023) to 156 mountaineers to climb the fourth highest mountain on earth. For Mount Everest, the Ministry of Tourism issued a record 478 permits.
