Climbing Mount Everest used to be a rare and newsworthy achievement. Not any longer, as more and more athletes and sports aficionados make the attempt. In fact, as unbelievable as it may seem, now there are traffic jams on the slopes of the tallest mountain in the world.
Those who want to attempt the strenuous expedition have limited opportunities to do so each year, as there are often dangerous winds and dangerous weather conditions that subside only for narrow windows of time. However, this creates an issue of congestion for hikers who are all heading to the top at once.
This issue reached crisis proportions this week as climbers from around the world took advantage of the relatively benevolent weather, and yet multiple fatal accidents occurred.
A recent post shared to Instagram on May 20th by shows him waiting in a single climbing lane on the mountain with dozens of other climbers surrounding him.
“Mt. Everest is not a joke and in fact, quite a serious climb,” said Dwivedi in the post. “The video captured shows that what we face on one rope line and negotiating interchanges during the traffic for upstream and downstream!”
Dwivedi added that for him, “coming down was a nightmare and exhausting while a huge line of climbers were coming up to maximize on the weather window!!”
Sadly, in the chaos of the traffic, British climber Daniel Paterson, 39, and his Nepali guide Pastenji Sherpa, 23, are missing and believed to be dead after part of an icy ridge collapsed on them during this active week. A cornice–a chunk of hardened snow overhanging the edge of a cliff–suddenly came down on Tuesday, pushing climbers down the side of the mountain, as reported by the BBC.
Mount Everest extends over 29,000 above sea level, meaning the summit is up near the jet stream. According to Dwivedi, climbers have to wait for weather patterns when the jet stream pulls away from the mountain, otherwise wind speeds along the path to the summit can reach up to 100-240 mph.
In another accident that occurred this week, a Kenyan mountaineer named Joshua Cheruiyot Kirui, 40, was found dead after he and his Nepali guide, Nawang Sherpa, 44, went missing on Wednesday. Nawang is still missing, according to authorities.
