Daily Dispatches – 18th May
The Everest summit window is now fully open and the mountain has erupted into life over the past 24 hours with major summit success across Everest and Lhotse as climbers finally capitalise on favourable conditions high in the death zone.
Following yesterday’s history-making 32nd summit from Kami Rita Sherpa, more teams surged towards the top overnight and throughout the morning with operators confirming successful ascents from across the world.
One of the busiest teams on the mountain, Seven Summit Treks, celebrated another huge wave of successful Everest summits on 18th May with a large international and Nepali climbing team safely reaching the top of the world.
Among the successful climbers were Rajan Lal, Kris Kosciarz, Pawel Padusinski, Willem Kempen Claassens, Anastasiia Sharapova, Murilo Vargas De Vasconcelos Cancado, Flutura Ibrahimi, Petrit Kllokoqi and Francisco Marcio Da Silva Campos, alongside an enormous Sherpa support team helping guide climbers safely through the upper mountain.
The company confirmed that more Everest and Lhotse summits are expected in the coming days, highlighting just how busy the remainder of the summit window could become.
Meanwhile, Climbing The Seven Summits (CTSS) also celebrated their first Everest summits of the season with climbers successfully reaching the summit in good weather conditions.
Among those confirmed on the summit were:
Walter Kelleher, Sean Karls, Rahim Charania, Andrew Dawson, Philip Collins, Erik Christensen and Chris Lind, supported by a hugely experienced Sherpa team including Pasang Tendi Sherpa, who recorded his 19th Everest summit, and Pa Dawa Sherpa, who remarkably celebrated his 30th ascent of Everest.
For Irish mountaineering, it was a particularly special day as Philip Collins became the first Irish climber to summit Everest in 2026, reportedly becoming the 66th Irish climber ever to stand on top of the world and recording the 85th Irish Everest summit overall since Irish Everest history began in 1993.
Elsewhere in the Himalayas, success continued on Mt. Lhotse, the world’s fourth-highest mountain.
The Imagine Nepal team confirmed that Tobias Schwab and Lhakpa Tendy Sherpa successfully summited Lhotse at 10:39am, before safely returning to Camp 4.
At the same time, the Himalayan Mountaineering Expedition Team made history by becoming the first team of the Spring 2026 season to successfully climb both Everest and Lhotse.
After already summiting Everest on 14th May, climbers Shi Junji, Ningma Dorje Tamang and Dawa Nuru Sherpa returned to the upper mountain and successfully reached the summit of Lhotse earlier today in a remarkable display of endurance and strength.
The same expedition operator later confirmed another successful Everest summit as Niu Xiao, Bis Bahadur Gurung and Sante Tamang reached the summit of Everest at 1:45pm and safely began descending back towards Camp 2.
There was also welcome news lower down the mountain as Everest legend Kami Rita Sherpa safely returned to Base Camp following his record-breaking ascent yesterday.
Higher on the mountain, several climbers are now entering the crucial final phase of their summit bids.
Adam Sweeney and his team have now successfully reached Camp 4 at 26,085ft, reporting they are in “great spirits” and “feeling strong” ahead of their summit push tonight.
Meanwhile, climber Rich Draves confirmed he is now back at Everest Base Camp and plans to begin his summit push on 20th May following further recovery and acclimatisation in Namche Bazaar.
The mountain is now entering what could become its busiest period of the entire Spring 2026 season, with huge numbers of climbers and Sherpas continuing to move between Camp 4 and the summit during the coming nights.
