Kathmandu, May 18: A climbing team with a single Chinese member, Shi Jungi, has become the first of this spring season to summit both Sagarmatha (widely known as Mt. Everest) and Lhotse in a single continuous ascent, according to expedition organizer.
The team reached the summit of the world’s highest mountain-Mt. Everest-at 8:56 am on May 14 before going on to scale another towering mountain in its adjacent-Lhotse-at 11:25 am today, said the Himalayan Mountaineering Expedition which organized the expedition.
Nepali guides Ningma Dorje Tamang and Dawa Nuru Sherpa were the members of the support Sherpa team for the Chinese climber. The expedition organizer stated that, unlike the conventional approach used by climbers attempting both peaks, this team descended to Camp II on Everest after summiting Everest instead of remaining at Camp IV in the “death zone” before proceeding to their final ascent of Lhotse.
According to the organizer, this represents a deviation from the standard and most efficient strategy typically used in Everest-Lhotse double summit attempts.
Utsav Pathak, expedition operator, said that the team is supposedly the first this spring season to complete successful ascents of both the 8,848.86-meters Everest and the 8,516-meters Lhotse.
Furthermore, this spring climbing season has also witnessed other remarkable achievements on Everest. Veteran Nepali climber Kami Rita Sherpa scaled Everest for a record 32nd time on last Sunday, once again breaking his own world record for the highest number of ascents of the world’s tallest mountain.
Likewise, Lhakpa Sherpa, popularly known as the ‘Mountain Queen’ summitted Everest for the 11th time on the same day, setting a new record for the highest number of Everest ascents by a female climber.
