Everest 2021: Climbers in Kathmandu and on the Trek

On the last day of March 2021 climbers are streaming into Kathmandu. Some have already flown to Lukla and have started their trek to Everest Base Camp. Still, others are climbing lesser peaks like Lobuche East or Island Peak for acclimatization hoping to reduce their trips through the Khumbu Icefall by at least one rotation.

Ropes To Camp 1

The Icefall Doctors have fixed the ropes through the Khumbu Icefall to Camp 1. This is about on time and good news for the climbers who will arrive in about a week.

Fire Delay

IMG reports that forest fires across Nepal are delaying flights to Lukla. They drove east to Phaplu where the smoke conditions were reported better than in Kathmandu thus they have a better chance to fly into the Khumbu Valley.  They have two teams already in Nepal following the COVID protocol.

Pujas

Ascent Himalayas is reporting they already had their puja! They were the first full team to arrive at EBC this season. Other teams have Shperas at EBC establishing their camps, they include IMG, AAI, 7 SUmmtis Club

Carlos on being 82 and Dhaulagiri

Since I am going to Dhaulagiri, which is the mountain that I most want to climb, because it has rejected me many times, I want that to serve as a tribute to people my age who have had such a bad time and are going through it. The beginning The pandemic was a terrible massacre, in residences, with poor conditions, without seeing the family … that people realize that the elderly also count, and that we are capable of having illusions and doing important things. It is an encouragement to serve as an example for many younger people. Life does not end when you retire, but it is fantastic if you take care of yourself and have projects. My idea is to do a tribute at the top, bring some flowers and leave some there . If I find any edelweiss on the way, I will also climb it

Quarantine Rules

These are the latest official rules for visitors entering Nepal from the Ministry of Tourism. Click to enlarge the pages.

Permits as of March 31, 2021

And these are the latest permits issued thus far. I know of several teams not planning on arriving until early April and some even into mid-April so we will not know the final count for several weeks. Everest shows 46 foreign permits and Annapurna with 40 and Dhaulagiri 12.

Follow Along!

I have begun to create my annual team location table and tracking climber’s blogs (see sidebar). If you have a team not listed, please let me know, and I will add them if I can track them. If you prefer not to be mentioned, please contact me.

I am posting background articles and interviews between now and early April when the teams arrive at the base camps. If you would like to see anything special this year, post a comment or drop me an email.

Here’s to a safe season for everyone on the Big Hill!

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything

The Podcast on alanarnette.com

You can listen to #everest2021 podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Anchor, and more. Just search for “alan arnette” on your favorite podcast platform.