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An estimated 275 mountaineers achieved a record-breaking single-day ascent of Mount Everest on Wednesday from its southern face in Nepal, tourism officials announced on Thursday.
While the world’s tallest peak is traditionally accessible from both its Nepalese southern slope and its northern face in Chinese Tibet, the closing of the Chinese route this year concentrated all expeditions on the Nepalese side.
Although a higher cumulative number of climbers reached the summit in a single day in 2023 across both territories, Wednesday’s feat marks the highest volume of single-day summits originating exclusively from the southern face in the mountain’s history.
The Department of Tourism emphasised that this total remains an initial estimate, with official certification pending rigorous verification procedures.
To receive their climbing certificates, mountaineers must submit photographic evidence alongside formal corroborating statements from their respective expedition agencies and guides.
This surge in volume highlights the lucrative nature of Nepal’s booming mountaineering industry, which has expanded dramatically since the historic first ascent by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa in 1953.
For the current spring season, Nepal issued a record 492 climbing permits, resulting in a massive city of tents at base camp to accommodate the influx of international adventurers and local Sherpas.
Approximately 600 individuals have successfully reached the 8,849-metre peak since the season commenced last month.
However, this massive turnout has renewed persistent global anxieties regarding dangerous overcrowding near the summit, a logistical bottleneck that becomes particularly hazardous if volatile Himalayan weather patterns suddenly compress the remaining climbing window before the season concludes in early June.
