Mount Everest 'traffic jam' as climbers stuck in huge queues piling up on perilous stretch of mountain
Huge queues have been seen amassing across a dangerous patch of Mount Everest as hundreds attempt to climb the world's tallest peak.
Listen to this article
Images show climbers waiting in a long line as huge numbers of thrill-seekers prepare to scale the iconic Nepalese mountain.
The queues have been piling up between Everest Camp III and Camp IV, a particularly dangerous part of the climb branded the Death Zone, where visitors require supplemental oxygen due to the high altitude.
Nearly 500 tourists were granted permits to climb the Himalayan mountain this year and started arriving at the base camp last month.
It means over 1,000 climbers will be heading for the summit over the next few weeks, officials say.
They waited a few weeks to get used to the altitude before a batch of them reportedly set off on Sunday.
It comes after hundreds of mountaineers and their guides were left stuck at the Everest Base Camp after a massive chunk of ice blocked their only route through.
Climbers managed to mend ropes and ladders to navigate past the blockage, allowing others making the journey to use these ropes.
This is not the first time an "Everest traffic jam" has formed.
Last year, days of poor weather near the summit forced large numbers of climbers to line up attached to a single safety rope.
Pictures show a huge queue running down vast stretches of the peak in single file as they battled through the harsh conditions.
At least three people have died on the mountain this month while readying for the climbing season.
Among the deaths was Bijay Ghimere, the first climber from the Hindu Dalit community in Nepal to scale Everest
Phura Gyaljen Sherpa, 21, died after plunging into a crevasse near Camp 3.
Another Nepali climber, Bijay Ghimire Bishwakarma, 35, died during an acclimatisation exercise at the mountain's Khumbu icefall, while 51-year-old Lakpa Dendi Sherpa died on his way to base camp early this month, hiking officials said.
Earlier this month, American Johannesen Shelley,53, died on Mount Makalu, the world’s fifth tallest peak, at 8,463 m (27,765 ft), while David Ronbinek of the Czech Republic died on nearby Makalu II, which is 7,678 m (25,190 ft) high, officials said.
Nepal has opened more than 400 Himalayan peaks to climbers but the most popular number just over two dozen, including Everest, which is 8,849 m (29,032 ft) tall.
Authorities have issued 492 permits at a cost of $15,000 each this climbing season from April to May for Everest, Gautam added, an increase from 478 in 2023, which in turn exceeded the figures of the two subsequent years.