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Sherpas Open Everest Summit Route for Record 492-Climber Season
(MENAFN) An elite team of 10 veteran Sherpas successfully opened the summit route on Mount Everest Wednesday, marking the official start of the spring 2026 expedition season on the world's highest peak.
The team crested the mountain's 8,848.86-meter (29,031-foot) summit at 10:25 a.m. local time, completing the critical rope-fixing operation, according to Khim Lal Gautam, coordinator of the Everest Base Camp Field Office.
With the route now cleared, all 492 permit holders for this season — accompanied by their guides — are expected to begin ascending toward the higher camps as they mount their bids for the summit.
This year's opening arrived five days behind the pace set during the 2025 spring season, when Sherpas completed the same work on May 9. The delay stemmed from a significant setback earlier in the season, when a massive serac — a large block of unstable glacial ice — collapsed onto the route leading to Camp I, forcing the veteran rope-fixers, known as "Icefall Doctors" and operating under the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, to suspend operations for two weeks. The team held back until the ice mass melted sufficiently before reinstalling ladders across crevasses and restoring access through the treacherous Khumbu Icefall.
Under the traditional division of responsibilities, the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal handles rope-fixing from Camp II to the summit, while the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee manages the route from Everest Base Camp to Camp II.
The season has already been marked by tragedy. Data from Nepal's Department of Tourism confirm that three mountain guides involved in Everest expeditions have lost their lives since the climbing season opened in March.
Despite the dangers — and a government-imposed increase in climbing royalties — demand for permits reached record levels this spring. Foreign climbers now face a $15,000 fee for an Everest climbing permit under the revised structure, yet the 492 permits issued represent the highest number ever recorded from the Nepal side.
Dambar Parajuli attributed the surge in Nepal-side permits in part to China's decision to halt commercial expeditions on its flank of the mountain.
Mount Everest, straddling the frontier between Nepal and China, draws hundreds of climbers annually during the spring window, with viable ascent routes accessible from both sides of the peak.
The team crested the mountain's 8,848.86-meter (29,031-foot) summit at 10:25 a.m. local time, completing the critical rope-fixing operation, according to Khim Lal Gautam, coordinator of the Everest Base Camp Field Office.
With the route now cleared, all 492 permit holders for this season — accompanied by their guides — are expected to begin ascending toward the higher camps as they mount their bids for the summit.
This year's opening arrived five days behind the pace set during the 2025 spring season, when Sherpas completed the same work on May 9. The delay stemmed from a significant setback earlier in the season, when a massive serac — a large block of unstable glacial ice — collapsed onto the route leading to Camp I, forcing the veteran rope-fixers, known as "Icefall Doctors" and operating under the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, to suspend operations for two weeks. The team held back until the ice mass melted sufficiently before reinstalling ladders across crevasses and restoring access through the treacherous Khumbu Icefall.
Under the traditional division of responsibilities, the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal handles rope-fixing from Camp II to the summit, while the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee manages the route from Everest Base Camp to Camp II.
The season has already been marked by tragedy. Data from Nepal's Department of Tourism confirm that three mountain guides involved in Everest expeditions have lost their lives since the climbing season opened in March.
Despite the dangers — and a government-imposed increase in climbing royalties — demand for permits reached record levels this spring. Foreign climbers now face a $15,000 fee for an Everest climbing permit under the revised structure, yet the 492 permits issued represent the highest number ever recorded from the Nepal side.
Dambar Parajuli attributed the surge in Nepal-side permits in part to China's decision to halt commercial expeditions on its flank of the mountain.
Mount Everest, straddling the frontier between Nepal and China, draws hundreds of climbers annually during the spring window, with viable ascent routes accessible from both sides of the peak.
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