On Makalu, the fifth highest mountain on earth, the ropes are now fixed up to the highest point at 8,485 meters. According to Nepal’s largest expedition operator Seven Summit Treks, the eight-man rope-fixing team reached the summit today together with a Nepalese client.
The team was led by the experienced Lakpa Sherpa, who is not called Makalu Lakpa for nothing. It was his eighth time on this summit. In 2022, he made headlines when he scaled Makalu three times in 16 days. The Nepalese Ministry of Tourism has issued 40 climbing permits for Makalu this spring so far (as of 9 April).
134 Everest permits issued so far
The “permit counter” for foreign climbers on Mount Everest currently stands at 134, with the USA being the most frequently represented nation with 42 permits. The Everest number is sure to rise considerably in the coming weeks. Many are using the last spring season before the price increase for permits announced for September to try their hand at the highest mountain on earth under the old financial conditions.
The Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee announced today that the Icefall Doctors have equipped and completed the route through the Khumbu Icefall with ropes and ladders. The commercial Everest season can therefore begin.
Search for the two missing climbers on Annapurna so far unsuccessful
There is still no trace of Rima Rinje Sherpa and Ngima Tashi Sherpa on Annapurna I. The two were swept away by a large avalanche between Camp 2 and Camp 3 on Monday (7 April). The search for them has so far been unsuccessful.
It has since been announced that the German climber Anja Blacha also reached the summit of Annapurna on Monday. The 34-year-old climbed without bottled oxygen. She is the first German woman to reach the summit.
It was Anja’s eleventh eight-thousander, the tenth without breathing mask. She only used bottled oxygen on her two summit successes on Mount Everest (in 2017 and in 2021). Blacha has a good chance of becoming the first German woman to scale all eight-thousanders. So far, from Germany only Ralf Dujmovits has summited the 14 highest mountains in the world – all without bottled oxygen apart from Everest.
