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Everest Sees Record Number of Climbers

There will be more climbers on Everest this season than every before. Rope fixing teams hope to summit by the end of April

So far, Nepal has issued over 450 permits to climbers hoping to summit Everest this spring. That’s up from 325 last year and 408 in 2021. Nobody registered to climb Everest in 2020 due to the pandemic. In 2019, 381 climbers registered to climb Everest. That year saw some of the worst traffic jams ever experienced on the mountain and several climbers died. A photo shared by Nirmal Purja went viral and led to countless stories in mainstream media about the state of climbing on the world’s highest peak.

This year, China lifted travel restrictions which has seen a surge in climbers heading to Nepal, 96 have permits. And there are less than 90 Americans with permits, so for the first time in 70 years, there will be less climbers from America than China. “This is the first time that Chinese climbers have topped the list,” said Bigyan Koirala, official at the Department of Tourism (DOT).

The DOT said they expect more climbers to register for Everest and for nearly 480 people to attempt it this year. According to Everest Chronicles, “In recent years, climbers acclimatize at home in a hypoxic tent, a low oxygen tent meant to mimic the thin air at high altitude, and then obtain their permits during the tail end of the season.”

The world will be watching to see if with a record number of climbers, another fatal traffic jam occurs. “Traffic jam depends on the weather window in the mountain. It has nothing to do with climbing permits,” said Koirala.

 

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