Nepal finalized rules for foreigners entering Nepal including they must stay quarantined for 7 days upon arrival. This alone precludes most visitors for 2020.
A well-connected Bahrain military team has been granted an exception to climb the 8000er Manaslu in Nepal this autumn. Meanwhile, summits in Pakistan.
A well-connected Bahrain military team has been granted an exception to climb the 8000er Manaslu in Nepal this autumn. Meanwhile, summits in Pakistan.
A few teams are climbing this summer, including in Pakistan. However, many of the world’s best guides are simply saying it too dangerous, primarily to the locals who might become infected with COVID-19 from visitors. It appears the financial incentives are trumping health considerations.
In 2014, Jim Geiger at age 68 met an unlikely sponsor to fund his Everest dream and setting an age record. The film, “Accidental Climber” beautifully tells his story. I Interview Jim.
Nepal announced it will issue trekking and climbing permits for autumn, 2020 but the news is weak on details so I remain cautious.
The hold that COVID-19 has on mountaineering appears to be easing. Viewed another way, some guides are taking more risks, so now it’s up to the clients to make their own decisions. However, it’s easy to hear what you want to hear, so this is a critical period for due diligence.
The Prime Minister of Pakistan made a startling statement recently, as reported in the media by Dawn. His comment was met with disbelief by many due to the dramatic increase in COVID cases and deaths. I reached out to my contacts in the Pakistani mountaineering community for their reactions. The bottom line, summer climbing looks bleak but perhaps in autumn.
With our Virtual Everest 2020 – Support the Climbing Sherpas fictional story now over it’s time to check on climbing for the rest of 2020. Spoiler alert, it doesn’t look good.
The #Everest2020 fictional team is home. Thanks, to everyone who followed the story, and especially those who donated to support the climbing Sherpas. The End.
