A total of 500 climbers have successfully scaled Mt Everest during the current expedition season to the world’s highest peak, Nepal’s tourism department said on Monday. Nepal’s Tourism Board, which handles the permits for the expedition to the 8,848.86 metres-high Mt Everest and other mountains in the Himalayan nation, issued a record 478 permits to mountaineers from various nations, including India, for the climbing season that started on May 13.
“A total of 478 mountaineers received expedition permits to climb Mt. Everest in this season. The 500 who reached the Everest Summit also include the Sherpa guides from different expeditions,” the tourism department said. Permits are mandatory for every new person qualified to climb Mt Everest, but there is no such requisite needed for the Sherpa guides, who are permanently authorised.
Officials said that so far 12 climbers, four Nepalese, one Indian and one Chinese died during their respective expeditions to Mt Everest. This season of the Mt Everest Expedition also saw some unusual people making efforts to scale the world’s highest peak.
Hari Budhamagar, a 43-year-old double amputee ex-British Gurkha soldier, scaled Mt. Everest, scripting history by becoming the first in the category to scale the world’s highest peak with an artificial leg.
Expedition to atop Mt Everest is generally considered to be a herculean task, with authorities repeatedly asking climbers with even minor health issues to not try it. Last week, Indian climber Suzanne Leopoldina Jesus died after facing difficulties during the acclimatisation exercises at the Mt Everest base camp. Suzanne, who was aiming to set a new world record of becoming Asia’s first woman with a pacemaker to scale Mt Everest, was asked to withdraw her attempt but she had adamantly refused to do so. PTI
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