Daily Dispatches – 22nd May
Everest’s extraordinary summit window continued on May 22nd with more major summit success stories unfolding high on the mountain — but the season has now also been struck by tragedy as climbers paid the ultimate price during the dangerous descent from the summit.
The biggest story of the day belonged to legendary British mountaineer Kenton Cool, who successfully completed his 20th summit of Mount Everest with Furtenbach Adventures, further cementing his place among the greatest non-Sherpa Everest climbers in history. Cool was part of a massive Furtenbach summit wave which saw an astonishing 42 team members stand on top of the world in a single morning.
The operator described the summit day as a showcase of modern expedition climbing, with all climbers using pre-acclimatisation methods before completing their expeditions in under four weeks. The team are now descending safely back towards Camp 2 and Everest Base Camp.
Furtenbach Adventures also confirmed a remarkable speed achievement from Sherpa climber Furdiki Sherpa, who completed a record ascent from Everest Base Camp to the summit of Lhotse in a single push — another extraordinary display of endurance during this relentless summit period.
Elsewhere on the mountain, Imagine Nepal celebrated another huge day of success with a remarkable 44 summits on May 22nd alone, following additional summits on May 21st. Their summit teams moved through the night and early morning in waves, with climbers reaching the summit continuously from 2:25am through to 9:00am Nepal time.
The company described the season as “a season of courage” after weeks of dangerous conditions, route delays and traffic high on the mountain before the weather window finally opened.
SummitClimb also confirmed another successful Everest ascent as Tim and his Sherpa team safely summited before descending back towards Camp 2 in excellent weather conditions. The company reported calm winds, sunshine and stable conditions on the mountain while additional Everest-Lhotse climbers continued preparing for further summit pushes from Camp 2 and Camp 3.
However, alongside the celebrations, Everest has once again reminded everyone of the extreme dangers that remain high above the South Col.
At least two Indian climbers have died following summit attempts during the current summit window. Arun Kumar Tiwari and Sandeep Are both reportedly reached the summit on May 21st before becoming seriously ill during their descent.
Tiwari died near the Hillary Step while being assisted by Sherpas during the descent from the summit. Meanwhile Sandeep Are was brought down to Camp 2 by rescue teams but sadly later passed away there.
The deaths underline the brutal reality of Everest’s summit ridge, where exhaustion, altitude, dehydration and prolonged exposure continue to take a devastating toll after climbers spend many hours in the Death Zone.
Despite the tragedies, summit teams are still spread across the upper mountain with more climbers moving upwards from Camp 2 and Camp 3. The current weather window continues to offer one of the busiest periods of the entire 2026 Everest season, with huge numbers of climbers now successfully completing summit bids after weeks of waiting at Base Camp.
