China restricts access to Everest

The World
The World

In theory this is a wonderful tribute to the Olympic spirit. On the other side, closing the mountain down and paying the Nepalese government to close down their side, I don’t understand why they’re doing that. On the Nepal side, it shouldn’t be an issue. I wonder if they’re just trying to keep things under control. (Give us the lay of the land there.) Everest lies on the border of Tibet and Nepal, the north side is the Tibetan or Chinese controlled side and the southern side is the Nepalese side and the border runs right over it. (So what is the problem in closing part of or all of the mountain and how difficult is it?) it’s not that difficult. They can just bar any movement at any point. This will be closed from May 1st through May 10th, which is peak climbing season. The issue is you’ve got to acclimate to the atmosphere, which takes about a month. (I wonder if Everest has been enmeshed in politics like this before?) It has, but it also hasn’t. the first expedition was very nationalistic.

Sign up for our daily newsletter

Sign up for The Top of the World, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.