2-year-old Abandons Climb In Nepal Due To Bad Weather And Coronavirus, Others Still Waiting

KATHMANDU, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th May, 2021 ) :-- An 82-year-old climber and a number of other mountaineers attempting different Himalayan mountains in Nepal have given up their plan citing bad weather and COVID-19, while others are still waiting for the right time to try their chances in the final stretch of this spring season.

Carlos Soria, the 82-year-old Spanish national, backed down from his attempt on Mt. Dhaulagiri, the world's seventh-tallest at 8,167 meters, in his effort to become the oldest person to summit the tallest 14 peaks on earth, all above 8,000 meters.

He has already scaled 12 of them, including Mt. Qomolangma, the world's highest at 8848.86 meters that straddles Nepal and China, in 2001.

Carlos cited bad weather conditions and the risk of COVID-19 for his abandoned attempt on Mt. Dhaulagiri, which he had tried several times before.

"The Spanish Embassy in Delhi recommends that we leave the country on a flight that has been arranged from Spain. The international confinement will surely continue beyond May 31, indefinitely," Carlos wrote in a social media post on May 17, referring to flight suspension being enforced in Nepal due to the COVID-19 crisis.

"The situation of the mountain and the weather do not offer very good expectations until the end of the month. We must leave the Dhaulagiri base camp," wrote the climber.

According to mountaineering expedition organizers, the Himalayas have seen snowfalls since Tuesday, as cautioned by Nepali authorities over the potential impact of the TaukTae cyclonic storm that originated from the east-central Arabian Sea.

The storm has caused a great loss of lives and properties in India and its impact is being felt in Nepal as well.

Earlier, a number of climbers who attempted Mt. Dhaulagiri tested positive for coronavirus.

Carlos had planned to climb Mt. Shishapangma, the world's 14th highest at 8,012 meters in Nyalam County of Xigaze in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China after he conquers Mt. Dhaulagiri.

Earlier, on May 15, Lukas Furtenbach, managing director of Furtenbach Adventures, an Austria-based mountaineering expedition company, announced that the company had canceled its current expedition to Mt. Qomolangma due to increasing coronavirus infections at the base camp of the world's tallest mountain.

"To climb above base camp with these massively increasing coronavirus numbers and risk the lives of our 20 customers, 4 mountain guides and 27 Sherpas carelessly would be irresponsible," Furtenbach said in a statement.

Nepal's tourism authorities said, however, that they have not received any information about the cancellation. "Nobody has notified us about the cancellation of the expedition officially," Mira Acharya, director at the Department of Tourism, told Xinhua.