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Sherpas Reach Everest Summit, First of the Year

The Mount Everest season has officially started with eight Sherpas making the first ascents of 2018 from Nepal.

The conditions haven’t been the best, but the team with Sherpas from Himalayan Guides Nepal and Adventure Consultants were able to fix ropes to the top.

The climbers were Pasang Tenjing Sherpa, Tenzing Gyaljen Sherpa, Lakpa Dendi Sherpa, Jen Jen Lama, Siddi Bahadur Tamang, Pasdawa Sherpa, Pemba Chhiri Sherpa and Datuk Bhote.

There were 346 permits issued for Everest this spring from Nepal. There are already 240 climbers up on the mountain, many ready to make a summit push this week.

Guy Cotter, CEO of Adventure Consultants said, “My respect for the task the Sherpa team had accomplished was phenomenal. It is certainly the hardest route led by a Sherpa team I have climbed on before. And the views! To have spent so much of my life here in this region and not seen this perspective of Everest and Lhotse has been rewarded by this experience in abundance.

“We came here with a quest to climb Nuptse and we have not been successful. However, I can say that I am incredibly satisfied with our achievement and will hold it as one of my most treasured mountain experiences. I cannot express enough respect I have for the commitment and raw strength and talent of our Sherpa team made up of Passang Bhote, Prakash Sherpa, Nima Tsheri Sherpa and Dawa Bhote in making this adventure happen.”

Photo 3/4: After what was a wait of close to an hour, we got word from above that Prakash and Nima were going to forge ahead. The route was unrelenting. We kept climbing, yet still seemed to be a long way from the summit after every pitch. There was no point on the route where we could stop to rest or put a pack down, so we just had to keep climbing. The wind died off some and we caught up with Prakash and Nima around 9am. The pair forced another 200-metre rope length higher then with the impacts of the challenging conditions and deep snow they finally decided we could go no further. Slab conditions had formed and equipment was running out. We were only 200 or so metres from the summit but to go on would have been too risky for a team who had given it their all just to get too this point. While we would have loved to have reached the summit, the intensity of the situation and massive adventure we experienced thus far was significant. #nuptse #everest #everest2018 #triplecrown #ACteam ?: @cotterguy

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