We saw summit wave 3 today, Sunday, May 23 2021 on #Everest2021. Estimates range from 150 to 170 summits, including Sherpas. This takes the season total to around 300 total summits, way off from the 2019 record 660 just on the Nepal side. High winds delayed departure from the South Col by several hours. Another 100 or so climbers are staged ready to summit Monday morning, May 24 before a big change in the weather.
Last Week
The remnants of the last cyclone slowly moved away from Everest creating delays for many teams. At one point there were over 200 people at Camp 2 holding for the winds to calm, Some went as high as C3 and found themselves waiting there for two nights, unusual in that on the summit push you stay at C3 for one night. Then others found themselves at the South Col for an extra night. This wave was a serious exercise in patience. But obviously, they had enough supplies to add the extra time at the high camps.
Nepal’s charade of summits in order of when permits were issued and quota for how many climbers can go in one push vanished, just like their COVID rules for tourists. See who summited today at this post and on the location table.
Next Week
The next cyclone, Yaas, is forming in the Bay of Bengal as explained by Belguin meteorologist Marc De Keyse of weather4expeditions in the attached video. It’s expected to bring heavy cloud cover and significant snow to Everest starting on the 25th. If this materializes AND if the Icefall Docs remove the ladders on May 29, we may see the last summits tomorrow morning for this season.
UPDATE: Icefall route extended to May 31:
IMPORTANT NOTICE
Date: 23rd May 2021
To: all expedition groups at EBC and concerned stakeholders
We would like to inform that the closing date for Khumbu Icefall Route for this climbing season has been extended till 31st May 2021. This decision has been made at the request of expedition teams, in view of the adverse weather conditions of past few days. All expedition groups are requested to complete their expedition within this date.
For further information, please contact:
Tshering Tenzing Sherpa,
Base Camp Manager,
SPCC Everest Base Camp Office
My thanks to KuntalJoisher for bringing this to my attention.
Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything
Here’s the video version of this weekend update:
The Podcast on alanarnette.com
You can listen to #everest2021 podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Breaker, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Anchor, YouTube, and more. Just search for “alan arnette” on your favorite podcast platform.
