KATHMANDU: A record number of climbers reached the summit of Mount Everest in a single day from the southern face of the peak in Nepal, officials said Thursday (May 21), estimating the total at about 275.
The world’s highest peak can be scaled from either the southern side in Nepal or the northern face in China’s Tibet, but Chinese authorities have closed the route this year.
Nepal’s tourism department said an estimated 275 people scaled the 8,849-metre (29,032-foot) peak on Wednesday, noting that a higher number had reached the peak in 2023 from both sides.
Officials said the final number will be tallied after the climbs are verified, which require photographs and statements from the climber’s expedition company and guides.
“This is the highest ever number of single-day summits in the history of Mount Everest expeditions who have reached the peak of Mount Everest,” Himal Gautam, spokesman for the department, told AFP.
“We still need to verify the official data, as we must issue certificates to them.”
In 2023, a higher number of mountaineers from China and Nepal sides reached the top of the Everest in a single day, he added without giving a number.
