The mountain is calling … The mountain is calling …

… and people flock back: While the summit of Mount Everest was surrounded by silence last year, there is now almost as much hustle and bustle there as before the pandemic … and people flock again: During the summit of Mount Everest in the previous one The year it was surrounded by silence, there is almost as much hustle and bustle as before the pandemic

Despite the corona pandemic, dozens of mountaineers now want to climb the highest point on earth. Among them is a prince from the Kingdom of Bahrain and a Qatar woman who wants to be the first woman in her country to climb the 8,848.86 meter peak of Mount Everest. Spring is now the main season with the best weather conditions and therefore the greatest chances of making it to the top after a few weeks of acclimatization to the thin air.

A year ago, the government of Nepal had closed Everest shortly before the start of the season – because of Corona. But now the adventurers from abroad are very welcome again. Your money is important to the Himalayan state, which, according to the United Nations, is one of the least developed countries in the world.

In the meantime, Nepal has given 65 women and 256 men from abroad the permits they need to climb them for 11,000 dollars each (around 9,100 euros). That is a little less than in spring 2019, when there was a traffic jam at the very top of the death zone, where the human body breaks down and cannot recover. Eleven people died at that time. A photo of the traffic jam went around the world – and earned criticism from the Nepalese government for allowing too many people upstairs who were not suitable for the adventure.

Ascent should be safer

Since then, the Nepalese Ministry of Tourism has announced several rules. One of them is that the daring could take photos and videos of themselves and their group – but not of other people on the mountain. The responsible boss, Mira Acharya, said that this was an old rule that no one had adhered to so far. There is now a penalty, she said – but without specifying it when asked.

For the experienced mountaineer and blogger Alan Arnette, this rule is censorship – and not enforceable, since most of the photos show other people. He has been there again and again since 1997 – and so far no one has ever pointed out these rules to him. Alpinists also have to take photos of themselves if they want to receive an ascent certificate. Because nobody can wait for newcomers up in the death zone. For example, a photo is considered evidence by the Nepalese authorities. And you are rarely alone upstairs.

Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism has announced other rules since the traffic jam photo was circulated. The mountaineers must submit a medical certificate and take out rescue and corona insurance before the ascent. If they are recovered, they would have to be flown to well-equipped hospitals. In addition, all those entering the country should be vaccinated against corona or submit a negative PCR test. At the airport in Kathmandu there will be a quick test, it said.

But mountaineer Arnette doubts that these rules would change much. Some of the measures announced are not new either – a medical certificate, for example, has been a requirement for a long time. Rather, the problem is that the rules are often not strictly adhered to. Some expedition companies would talk about isolating their groups from other people. In fact, this is difficult, as members of the Sherpa helper teams usually visit their families in the mountain villages before climbing the summit.

Whether there will be a traffic jam again this spring in the death zone of Mount Everest depends not only on the presence of many inexperienced participants, according to Arnette. The weather is also particularly crucial. It will be similar to spring 2018, when there were eleven consecutive days with wind speeds below 50 km / h, in his estimation there should be no traffic jam. But if it becomes similar to spring 2019, where this was only the case on three days, there should be problems again. Roshan Sedhai and

Anne-Sophie Galli, dpa