As some teams cancel, others say they are undeterred by COVID-19 cases; Nepalese officials downplay situation, apparently out of concern of creating chaos and confusion
A year after Mount Everest was closed to climbers as the pandemic swept across the globe, hundreds are making the final push to the summit with only a few more days left in the season, saying they are undeterred by a coronavirus outbreak in base camp. Three expedition teams to Everest canceled their climb this…
The fact that two experienced climbers died near the summit of Everest last week is sad but unsurprising. As Alan Arnette pointed out, expeditions on the Nepal side of the mountain alone have been averaging almost four deaths a year since the turn of the century. But the situation this year is a little more fraught, with a severe wave of coronavirus ripping through Nepal and a worsening outbreak at Everest Base Camp.
Authorities in Nepal were quick to dismiss any link between the deaths and the virus. “Reaching to that height is impossible if someone is infected with the COVID,” the director general of Nepal’s tourism department, Rudra Singh Tamang, told the