The corona tsunami that rages in India has reached neighboring Nepal – the mountainous region in the Himalayas that is the starting point for most of the people who conquer Mount Everest. The annual climbing season is currently back on the highest mountain in the world. Nepal urgently needs foreign currency and lets mountaineers from all over the world into the country. This is despite the fact that the corona virus has also broken out in a base camp at the foot of Everest, according to reports.
From China one leads a northern, less used ascent route up the mountain. This China now apparently even fears a risk of infection on the Everest peak, 8,848 meters above sea level. China will therefore set up a “dividing line” at the summit, like Chinese state media to report. This is despite the fact that there is probably no better protection against the virus than the rigid climbing suits, mountaineering goggles and oxygen masks that Everest conquerors wear.
Overzealous Chinese
How exactly the dividing line should look like is silent about China, which announced the precautionary measure on Mount Everest on Sunday. Such a line, it is said, should prevent the mixing of mountaineers from Covid-stricken Nepal and those who ascend from the Tibetan side. The northern Chinese side is safe from infection, a senior official is quoted as saying: “The most important focus for preventing infection is on the summit.”
According to China’s state news agency Xinhua, a 21-strong Chinese group is currently en route to the Everest summit. According to this, Tibetan mountain guides will draw a kind of boundary before the group arrives. It will be a difficult endeavor for China to make virus territorial claims.
The Tibetan leaders should set up the dividing line before their group arrives. What this protective line should look like is not described in detail. The highest spot in the world is a tiny, dangerous and inhospitable area the size of a dining table.
Dividing line makes no sense
It also remains unclear how these Tibetan leaders would enforce the dividing line if a group from the Nepalese side were to be on the summit – or on the last few meters. The extreme altitude is considered a death zone, where people don’t want to stay a minute longer than necessary.
Irish mountaineer and Everest author Fergus White told the Hong Kong newspaper “South China Morning Post” that hardly anyone spends more than 20 minutes in the few square meters of the death zone. It makes no sense trying to control crowds up there. At this height, says White, every step is exhausting and everyone is wearing airtight masks.
The idea that someone infected with breathing difficulties should make it to the summit seems even more surreal. China, which is considered the country of origin of the Covid lung disease, did not issue Everest ascent permits to foreigners last year or this year. (kes)