The spring season on Mount Everest is turning into the home stretch. For this Wednesday the possibly last summit day of the season is expected. After that, the weather will probably become more unstable and windy. Traditionally, the season ends at the end of May, only in exceptional cases it is extended by a few days at most. Then the “Icefall Doctors” dismantle the route through the Khumbu Icefall. So far, about 300 summit successes have been reported.
Today Pasang Dawa Sherpa climbed – with bottled oxygen – to the highest point on earth for the second time this spring. This time, the 46-year-old led a client from Hungary to the highest point on earth. With 27 ascents now, he shares the title of man with the most Everest summit successes with Kami Rita Sherpa – but probably only temporarily, as Kami Rita is also on his way to his second ascent this season. It would be his 28th.
Double leg amputee Nepalese at summit
Last Friday, Nepalese Hari Budha Magar, a double leg amputee former soldier of the British Gurkha Regiment – wearing a breathing mask and accompanied by four Sherpas – also reached the highest point at 8,849 meters. The 43-year-old had lost both legs above the knees in a 2010 bomb blast in Afghanistan. He climbed with prosthetic limbs.
“That was tough. Harder than I could have ever imagined,” Hari said via satellite phone from the summit. “If I can climb to the top of the world then anyone, regardless of their disability, can achieve their dream. No matter how big your dreams, no matter how challenging your disability, with the right mindset anything is possible.”
The families of the Everest aspirants who died this spring probably wouldn’t subscribe to that. Their number has now risen to eleven. Since Friday, one Malaysian, one Australian and one Sherpa have died on Mount Everest. Two more people – from Malaysia and Singapore – are missing.
