ShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleKelly NgReutersTourism to the world's tallest mountain has surged despite a mark-up in permit feesA record number of 274 people scaled Mount Everest via Nepal on Wednesday, after a late start to this year's spring season due to a huge chunk of ice blocking the climbing route.
Everest aspirants seized the good weather conditions to attempt the summit, tourism department official Khimlal Gautam told Everest Chronicle. The climbs began at 03:00 local time and continued for 11 hours, he added.
Wednesday's milestone surpassed the previous high set on 22 May 2019, when 223 climbers scaled the mountain from its southern side in Nepal.
An additional 113 climbers also summited via the northern route in Tibet on 22 May 2019, but China has closed this route to foreign climbers this season.
Almost 500 foreign climbers have been given permits to scale the 8,849m (29,032ft) peak this year – also a record high – as experts warn of overcrowding and other safety risks.
Most climbers attempt the ascent with at least one Nepali guide, who do not require permits.
Photographs circulating on social media this week show a long line of mountaineers winding across the snowy slopes in what's known as the "death zone" – the section of the mountain that sits at least 8,000m above sea level.
Most climbers rely on supplemental oxygen at this altitude, and even then mountaineering experts advise against staying in the zone for more than 20 hours.
Tourism to the world's tallest mountain has continued to surge this year despite a mark-up in permit fees.
Since September last year, climbers have had to pay $15,000 (£12,180) for a permit, up from the longstanding fee of $11,000, in the first fee increase in nearly a decade.
Expedition organisers have acknowledged the risks of congestion but say they can be managed.
"If teams carry enough oxygen it is not a big problem," Lukas Furtenbach of the Austria-based Furtenbach Adventures told Reuters news agency.
Some mountains in the Alps see thousands of climbers on their summits each day, he added. "So 274 is actually not a big number, considering this mountain is 10 times bigger."
Veteran mountaineers and Everest novices were among those who reached the summit in the last week, and many of them also set new benchmarks with their climbs.
On Sunday, renowned Nepali mountain guide Kami Rita Sherpa, 56, smashed his own world record for the most summits of Everest, after scaling it for a 32nd time.
That same day, 52-year-old Lhakpa Sherpa, who's also known as the "Mountain Queen", broke her personal record for the most ascents by a female climber, after her 11th Everest summit.
And then there's Russian double-leg amputee Rustam Nabiev, 34, who reached the top on Thursday without the use of prosthetics.
However, this climbing season has also seen several deaths.
The casualties include Bijay Ghimere, the first mountaineer from Nepal's underprivileged Hindu Dalit community to scale Everest. The 35-year-old had suffered from altitude sickness, reports say.
Phura Gyaljen Sherpa, 21, died after slipping on snow and falling into a crevasse near Camp 3 on Monday, while another guide, 51-year-old Lakpa Dendi Sherpa, died on his way to Base Camp on 3 May.
