KATHMANDU, May 8: This year's Spring mountaineering expedition including to Mount Everest has begun. Fixing ropes on the world's highest peak by a group of Sherpa climbers was completed on Saturday, expedition competitions said.
As part of the rope fixing, mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa, 52, scaled the world's highest peak (8,848.86 meters) for a record 26th time, breaking his own previous record for climbing Mt Everest most times.
Tourism department issues 128 climbing permits for spring
The Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and the Department of Tourism confirmed the beginning of the mountaineering season from Saturday.
At present, around 90 percent of mountaineers in the Mt Everest Base Camp are waiting for fair weather to climb the peak, said Surya Prasad Upadhyay, Director of the DoT’s Mountaineering Section.
"As part of the rope fixing, Kami Rita Sherpa is said to have reached atop the peak for a record 26 times. We will officially announce the news after verifying it," he said. The Department is expected to get the highest number of climbers making it to the top of Mount Everest as this season is favorable.
A team of 11 Sherpa summiteers from the Seven Summit Treks Pvt. Ltd. successfully scaled the peak as a part of the rope fixing team. The team at 6:55PM on Saturday announced the beginning of the climbing season this year. Last year, the spring climbing season began from April 27.
