Climbers attempting to ascend
Everest by the popular South Col route from Nepal will follow a new path to
avoid a repeat of last year’s avalanche, which killed 16 Nepali guides.
The new route, set by local
authorities and Sagarmatha Polution Controller Committee (SPCC), will deviate
from that followed since the first ascent of the highest mountain in the world
in 1953 and pass through the centre of the mountain’s infamous Khumbu icefall,
rather than follow its left side, where the recent tragedy occurred. Tulasi
Prasad Gautam, director of the Nepali government’s Department of Tourism, said
that the new route would be closer to the centre of the icefall, where the
avalanche risk is deemed to be considerably less.
In response to the last year’s
avalanche Nepal government is trying to make Everest climbing a little safer by
avoiding the old route. The fatal avalanche last year led to a boycott by
Sherpa climbers and the cancellation of all expeditions on Everest. The vast
majority of climbers over the decades and today have stuck to the original
route pioneered by Sir Edmund Hilary and Sherpa Tenzing 60 years ago. The new
route will safer for all climbers, especially guides and porters, to danger
from snow and ice slides.
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