Kathmandu, May 23: At least 21 mountaineers climbed Mt Lhotse with Seven Summit Treks, a leading Kathmandu-based expedition operator, so far since a Sherpa team fixed a route to the peak on May 6 for this season.
The climbers accomplished the incredible feat on different dates. Two climbers made the ascent on May 12 while a group of six reached the top of the peak on May 18. Notably, Italian mountaineer Mario Casanova conquered the formidable mountain without supplemental oxygen. The list of the summiteers is as follow:
12 May Lhotse Summiteers:
- Mostafa Ehsanpour (Iran)
- Geljen Sherpa (Nepal)
18 May Lhotse Summiteers:
- Oleg Ivanchenko (Ukraine)
- Dawa Sangay Sherpa (Nepal)
- Lakpa Temba Sherpa (Nepal)
- Ang Sumba Sherpa (Nepal)
- Sumba Chhiring Sherpa (Nepal)
- Rinurbu Sherpa (Nepal)
20 May Lhotse Summiteers:
- Mohammadrezashahram Shahlaei (Iran)
- Lakpa Sherpa, makalu.lakpa (Nepal)
- Mingma Jangbu Sherpa (Nepal)
- Mario Casanova (Italy) (No O2)
21 May Lhotse Summiteers:
- Mahdi Norouzi, 14mount8000 (Iran)
- Jorge Egocheaga Rodriguez (Spain)
- Piotr Jerzy Krzyzowski (Poland) (No O2)
- Mingma Nurbu Sherpa (Nepal)
- Pema Gyalgen Sherpa (Nepal)
22 May Lhotse Summiteers:
- Afshin Asgharzadehledari, afshin_asgharzadeh, 14mount8000 (Canada)
- Seyedhamidreza Hashemi, 14mount8000 (Iran)
- Ridar Lama Bhote (Nepal)
- Pasang Bhote (Nepal)
Earlier on May 6, a team of SST’s seven Sherpas fixed ropes, opening a route to the summit of the the world’s 4th highest mountain (8,516m) for this season.
The rope fixation took place under the management of the Expedition Operators Association Nepal (EOA-Nepal).
Mt Lhotse
At an elevation of 8,516m (27,940 feet) above sea level, Lhotse is the fourth highest mountain in the world after Everest (8,848.86m), K2 (8,611m) and Kanchenjunga (8,586m) located on the border of Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.
The name Lhotse is derived from the Tibetan words ‘lho’, which stands for ‘south’ and ‘tse’ meaning ‘peak’. The peak is sometimes referred to as ‘Lhotse Shar’ to differentiate it from Lhotse Middle (8,414m) and Lhotse South (8,383m).
The mountain was first scaled on May 18, 1956 by a Swiss team of Ernst Reiss and Fritz Luchsinger. On May 12, 1999, Czech climber Sona Vomackova stood atop the main summit becoming the first woman to scale it without supplemental oxygen.
The normal route for climbing the mountain is the same route as Everest through the Khumbu icefall and the Western Cwm. It is connected to Mt Everest through the South Col and Mt Everest and Mt Lhotse share the same base camp for climbers.
Climbing Lhotse involves challenges including harsh weather conditions, altitude sickness, crevasses and technical difficulties. It requires careful planning, mountaineering experiences and skills, physical and mental fitness to navigate the challenges on the mountain.
