Mt. Everest slopes mimic ‘traffic jam’ as climbers flock to take advantage of weather window
Dwivedi showed video from May 20 where he was waiting in a single climbing lane with dozens if not hundreds of climbers all trying to make the summit.
'Traffic jam' atop Mt. Everest as dozens of climbers await weather window
Dozens of climbers lined up to try to summit Mt. Everest via single climbing lanes as a brief break in the weather allowed safer conditions at the summit. (Video: Rajan Dwivedi /TMX)
Hundreds of climbers attempt to summit Mt. Everest each year, but with only narrow windows of opportunity to avoid dangerous winds and weather, it leads to long lines awaiting turns to move up and down the world’s tallest peak.
"Mt. Everest is not a joke and in fact, quite a serious climb," said Rajan Dwivedi in a post on Instagram.
Dwivedi showed video from May 20 where he was waiting in a single climbing lane with dozens of climbers all trying to make the summit.
(Rajan Dwivedi /TMX / FOX Weather)
"This video captured shows what we face on one rope line and negotiating interchanges during the traffic for upstream and downstream!" he said.
Mt. Everest stretches over 29,000 feet above sea level which means the summit is up near the jet stream. Dwivedi says climbers have to wait for weather patterns when the jet stream pulls away from the mountain, otherwise wind speeds along the summit can reach 100-240 mph, he said.
Dwivedi said for him, "coming down was a nightmare and exhausting while huge line of climbers were coming up to maximize on the weather window!!"