Strong winds blow away several tents of mountaineers in Camp II on Mt Everest: Official

Kathmandu, May 1

Strong winds blew away several tents at Camp II of Mt Everest on Wednesday, temporarily halting the expedition of a 50-member mountaineers’ group staying at the tents, according to an official.

The wind with an estimated speed of 80 to 90 kph was still hitting the tents till Wednesday evening and is expected to recede by Thursday morning.

“Strong winds blew some tents in the mountain since Wednesday morning as dozens of mountaineers were sheltered in the camp on their way to scale the 8,848.86 m peak. There were around 50 mountaineers, including from the USA, Iran and Europe, besides the Nepalese mountain guides, when the incident occurred,” expedition manager Chhang Dawa Sherpa of Seven Summit Trek said.

He said that the camps are situated at an altitude of 6,500 m on Mt Everest, the world’s highest, and all the mountaineers were safe and shifted to other safer tents that were intact.

“Now the tents need to be reinstalled once the situation becomes normal on Thursday and the expeditions will move forward,” he said.

Nepal’s Tourism Board handles the permits for the expedition to Mt Everest and other mountains in the Himalayan nation.