Helicopter flights should only have been allowed to transport fixed ropes and in emergencies. The Chinese have also closed Cho Oyu and Shishapangma. This can spoil mountaineers’ plans to conquer all 14 eight-thousanders.
Mount Everest (left), at 8,848 meters the highest mountain in the world.
Imago
On Mount Everest, the rerailing of climbs has fallen behind schedule. On the Nepalese southern side of the highest mountain in the world, the team of local icefall doctors was able to insure the route through the Khumbu Icefall with fixed ropes and ladders much later than in recent years. Dawa Steven Sherpa from the provider Asian Trekking says: “As a result, we deviated from the original schedule when setting up the higher camps and transporting the loads.” However, he does not see his group’s chances of success at risk; everything is still in the clear.
The glacier labyrinth above Everest Base Camp is generally considered the most complicated and dangerous passage on a climb from the Nepalese south side. Last year, three high porters died there when part of the glacier collapsed. The route fixing of the first Everest stage took longer this year because the winter was very dry and warm. All the crevasses have opened and the ice is quite fragile, said Dawa Steven Sherpa.
The “icefall doctors” therefore had to try out three different routes to find a way to the first high camp. Initially they were on the Nuptse side, where they were stopped by an insurmountable crevasse. The next time they tried the middle of the glacier and were stopped by a dangerous, overhanging serac. They waited for it to collapse, but it didn’t.
So they had to try the usual route near the western shoulder. The problem in this area of the Khumbu Icefall: Huge glaciers hang above, from which ice breaks off from time to time. On April 18, 2014, 16 local porters died due to such an ice fall.
Helicopters not only cause noise, they also reduce revenue
The first calls were loud for at least the expedition’s equipment and materials to be allowed to fly up over the Khumbu Icefall. “It would undoubtedly be safer for the Sherpas,” says Dawa Steven Sherpa, “but the question arises as to whether one can still speak of mountaineering if one begins to rely heavily on the help of machines.” What resonates with his vote is that at some point the expedition participants would also demand this shuttle service. There are rumors that some people are already doing this anyway.
And further questions arise: Should helicopters on Mount Everest – apart from rescue flights and to transport the “icefall doctors” material – also be allowed to fly to the high camps? How much luxury can there be at the base camp that is set up on the Khumbu Glacier every spring? And does the expedition equipment have to be brought to the base camp on the backs of yaks – as a kind of contribution to sustainable tourism?
A helicopter at an Everest base camp (April 2016).
Imago
There are always attempts to conclusively answer these questions. At the beginning of February there was great excitement after the local administration of the Everest region presented a new set of rules for expeditions to the “Roof of the World” with the “Base Camp Management Procedure 2024”. “Wait and see,” advised the expedition organizers. In fact, as is often the case, most of these rules did not even last until the expeditions arrived at base camp.
It was already starting to transport tents and equipment. During visits to the Everest region, lodge owners have previously been heard complaining about the sharp increase in the number of helicopter flights. Helicopters not only bring noise, they also reduce income if the expedition participants can be taken from Kathmandu to the base camp in a few hours instead of having to reach it on foot and with numerous stops at teahouses and lodges in a week.
The idea was therefore to only allow helicopter transport to Syangboche, also known for its “Everest View” hotel. Yaks and Jopkes (a mixture of yak and cattle) should then have been used as before. This would also have given local providers work. However, one crucial point was forgotten: there are simply not enough pack animals in the area. Since the tons of equipment have been brought to the base camp by helicopters, many local families have given up or at least reduced animal husbandry.
Restrictions on tent sizes will also not be pursued any further. The aim was to put a stop to offers that were too luxurious for some, such as the large dome tents in which the alpinists not only eat together, but also come together for yoga classes or to watch videos on large screens. These tents are an integral part of the base camp equipment and cannot be overlooked in photographs. According to Lukas Furtenbach, one of the few remaining western expedition providers on Mount Everest, significantly more tents would have had to be brought to the base camp.
Everest base camp at 5380 meters above sea level (May 2018).
Michael Gruber / Imago
However, the obligation to have so-called Wag Bags on the mountain remains. Western expeditions in particular have been using such waste disposal bags in high camps for years. Dealing with feces and urine in the base camp remains a problem. According to the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, around 21.5 tonnes of human waste was collected there last year. What happens to it, however, is not very appetizing: According to observers, human remains of this kind are disposed of untreated a few kilometers from the base camp next to the Khumbu Glacier and thus in the middle of the national park.
The Nepalese army announced that it would remove ten tons of garbage from the mountain
A commitment that has existed since 2014 was reaffirmed. Anyone who climbs above the base camp must take 8 kilograms of trash with them from the mountain on their way back. For decades, expeditions simply left the storm-torn tents, food cans, oxygen bottles (and even dead people) on the mountain. Now, in a bid to counter Mount Everest’s reputation as the highest garbage dump in the world, the Nepalese army has announced it will depute 10 soldiers to remove 10 tons of trash from the mountain this pre-monsoon season (and five dead climbers).
The Ministry of Tourism’s demand that every mountaineer be equipped with a Recco reflector this year misses the mark. This was intended to make the search for missing mountaineers easier. Recco is used to locate missing and buried people, primarily by searching from the air. Lukas Furtenbach says: “I don’t know how the customers of guided expeditions who were ‘lost’ on the summit ridge could have been prevented or found.” This required GPS trackers.
Despite the constant changes in regulations and the slight delay in insuring the route, nothing seems to stand in the way of a successful season on the south side. On the north side, where according to reports the fixed ropes have been laid up to the north saddle, the hanging section continues. After mountaineers from around the world waited in Nepal for entry permits and climbing permits for Shishapangma (8,027 meters) and Cho Oyu (8,201 meters), the China-Tibet Mountaineering Association declared the season over before it even began. These mountains remain closed in pre-monsoon.
Mario Vielmo, an Italian who has already climbed 13 of the 14 eight-thousanders without bottled oxygen and wanted to complete his series on Shishapangma this year, said he had a lot of patience. «If fate has it, the right time will come. We also heard that there is a lot of snow at Shishapangma.” Last fall, heavy snowfall and two deadly avalanches thwarted Vielmo’s summit success.
Everyone who wants to climb Mount Everest via the Tibetan North Col should soon receive their visas to enter China. This was initially promised for April 30th at the latest. As the Swiss Mount Everest expert Kari Kobler learned from China, it should now be ready by May 8th.