Sherpa Team Reaches Everest’s South Col As Summit Push Nears

After two days of fierce winds halted progress high on Mount Everest, a team of Sherpas has successfully reached the South Col, the site of Camp 4 and the final staging point before the summit.

The 10-member rope-fixing team, led by Migma Dorchi Sherpa, arrived at the South Col at approximately 7:15pm local time on Thursday evening after conditions finally improved on the mountain.

Situated at around 7,900m, Camp 4 is the highest camp on the standard South Col route and serves as the final rest stop before climbers launch their summit bids into the death zone above 8,000m.

Expedition organiser Chhang Dawa Sherpa believes the weather window is now improving and, if conditions remain stable, the Sherpa team could push on to the 8,849m summit within the next couple of days to complete the route fixing process.

The summit route must be fully secured before the majority of commercial teams can begin their own summit attempts.

Camp 4 is also stocked with vital supplies including food, fuel, climbing equipment and large reserves of bottled oxygen, which most commercial climbers begin using before reaching the South Col.

After a short rest at Camp 4, summit teams typically depart during the late evening hours in an attempt to reach the summit the following morning. Some teams opt for even earlier departures to avoid the heavy traffic that can build on busy summit days, although this often means reaching the summit before sunrise.

The successful move to Camp 4 comes after difficult weather earlier in the week. Strong winds had previously forced the Sherpa team to retreat from Camp 3, while climbers completing acclimatisation rotations to Camps 2 and 3 also encountered rough and exhausting conditions on the mountain.