Standing in a long line is bad enough. But standing in a long line in the sub-zero cold sounds like a nightmare of the worst kind. Long lines at Mount Everest make me never want to visit even if I did work up the courage and skill to scale its peak.
Hundreds of climbers wanted to climb the highest mountain in the world. And they all had the idea at the same time. Photos from May 18 showed a winding line queuing up to make from Camp 4 to the summit. Nature waits for no man. So they had to deal with extreme cold and high winds while inching along at a snail's pace.
'According to the Department of Tourism, over 500 climbers, including Sherpa guides, have successfully summited Everest so far this spring season,' the Everest Chronicle reported.
Mount Everest Lines
That number is likely to only climb with lines like that. Still, those who try to scale Mount Everest remain undeterred.
"It started out a little blustery, but the winds abated by midday when we reached Camp 3," expedition leader Garrett Madison said via Daily Mail. The long line comes as Mount Everest celebrates the 72nd anniversary of the first summit on May 29.
"We are celebrating May 29 as the international Sagarmatha (Everest) day because the world needs to continue to recognise the achievement and contribution of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay," said Ang Tshering, who runs Kathmandu-based Asian Trekking.
Many hope to follow in Hillary's footsteps. But Mount Everest can be a dangerous place even without long lines. Last year, Mount Everest and its longlines came under fire after two climbers went missing.
Mountaineer Rajan Dwivedi, who previously climbed Mount Everest, criticized the conditions there. He said, "Mt. Everest is not a joke and in fact, quite a serious climb."
"I believe so far (more than) 7,000 have summited since 1st ascent in May 1953. Many end up with frost bites, snow blindness and various type of injuries that are not counted in any database," he wrote on a post. The long lines made it miserable for him.
"This video captured shows [sic] what we face on one rope line and negotiating interchanges during the traffic for upstream and downstream! The main reason is weather window to avoid the fierce cruising jet streams that could be 100-240mph!! For me, coming down was a nightmare and exhausting while huge line of climbers were coming up to maximize on the weather window."
