It looks like ten people summited Everest in the leading part of the first wave. Scores, if not over a hundred, are staged at Camp 2, waiting for the South Col camps to be fully stocked. The weather continues to hold with good conditions and winds under the 30 mph threshold through May 20. Many teams are eyeing Wednesday, May 17th for their summit day. Look for summits each day this week.
Other 8000ers
There are teams ready for the summit on Makalu, Kangchenjunga. Over on, Dhaulagiri, Carlos Soria, Sito Carcavilla and their Sherpa team have cached gear at Camp 1 and are holding for better conditions after horrendously heavy snowfall the past few weeks.
Potpourri
The American who illegally paraglided from C3, Darren Verploegen was fined $11,000 (cost of a permit) by the Nepal Ministry of Tourism but allowed to resume the Everest expedition.
Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything
Nepal RECORD Permit Update as of May 14, 2023
Government officials say they will not issue any more Everest climbing permits this season, stopping at a record of 478. The previous Everest record was 408 for the 2021 season of 408. Nepal issued climbing permits for 1,176 climbers from 80 countries for 27 peaks. Looking at Everest only, China has the largest representation with 97 members, followed by the US at 89, India–at 40, Canada-21, and Russia-20. There are 44 countries represented by three or fewer climbers.
These permits have generated $5.8M in royalties for the government. Almost all of this revenue stays in Kathmandu, with some in various personal pockets and none to the Sherpas, porters, or other high-altitude workers. The Nepal Ministry of Tourism posted these foreign permit tallies as of May 14, 2022:
- Everest: 478 on 47 teams
- Lhotse: 156 on 17 teams
- Ama Dablam: 79 on 8 teams
- Nuptse: 63 on 6 teams (only a few will attempt to summit, most will stop at C2)
- Makalu: 63 on 9 teams
- Annapurna I: 54 on 5 teams
- Kanchenjunga: 44 on 5 teams
- Himlung: 41 on 5 teams
- Dhaulagiri: 37 on 4 teams
- Manaslu: 15 on 4 teams
Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything
The Podcast on alanarnette.com
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Climbing to the South Col
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