Daily Dispatches – 27th May
The 2026 Everest spring season is now drawing to a close, and the final days on the mountain have delivered a mixture of extraordinary achievements, abandoned dreams, quiet summit ridges and life-saving rescues high in the Death Zone.
After weeks of historic summit traffic and record-breaking numbers, Everest has become almost unrecognisable. The giant queues are gone, most commercial expeditions are descending towards Base Camp, and only scattered teams remain high on the mountain as camps begin to shut down for the season.
One of the major stories of the day came from Norwegian climber Kristin Harila, who successfully summited Everest without supplemental oxygen alongside Mingtemba Sherpa and Dukpa Sherpa. Harila’s climb completed a remarkable Triple Crown challenge this season after previously summiting Nuptse and Lhotse earlier in May.
Seven Summit Treks described the ascent as the company’s final summit success of the 2026 Everest season, bringing a fitting end to another extraordinary Himalayan spring campaign.
Elsewhere on the mountain, Elite Expeditions confirmed another major summit success led by Nimsdai Purja. Nimsdai and climber Nikol Kovalchuk both completed their Everest ascents without supplemental oxygen as part of an exclusive VVIP summit team.
The summit party also included former UK Special Forces soldier and television personality Ant Middleton alongside his son Gabriel Middleton, plus members of the Saudi royal family and climbers from across the world. The team was guided from the front by Nimsdai, Mingma David Sherpa and Tejan Gurung in one of the final major guided summit pushes of the season.
Madison Mountaineering also wrapped up its Everest campaign in style as Garrett Madison guided the final members of his expedition to the summit before all climbers safely returned to Camp 4. Madison described quiet climbing conditions, light crowds and spectacular views — a completely different mountain compared to the chaotic summit surges earlier in the month.
For many climbers, though, Everest’s closing days have become a battle against exhaustion, unstable weather and time itself.
American speed climber Tyler Andrews launched another Everest Fastest Known Time attempt today after his previous effort ended unsuccessfully. This time Andrews is targeting the oxygen-assisted speed ascent record rather than a no-oxygen round trip.
Meanwhile Ecuadorian athlete Karl Egloff officially abandoned his own ambitious no-oxygen Everest speed challenge after reaching the South Col alongside Nicolas Miranda. The pair had climbed continuously from Base Camp through the Khumbu Icefall and up the Lhotse Face in a remarkable push lasting 13 hours.
However, Egloff later admitted both climbers were severely fatigued by the time they reached Camp 4, while Miranda was reportedly struggling physically. Rather than continue towards the summit alone, Egloff made the difficult decision to descend back to Base Camp.
The Ecuadorian explained that attempting the summit and full descent solo without oxygen simply carried too much risk under the circumstances — a reminder that even elite mountain athletes remain vulnerable high above 8,000 metres.
Weather conditions continue to deteriorate slowly as the season winds down. Although summit teams finally benefited from calmer winds overnight, cloud cover has increased and snow is forecast to return shortly. Camps are already beginning to close, and the Khumbu Icefall route could soon be dismantled entirely.
Despite the quieter conditions, Everest still produced late drama on the upper mountain today.
SummitClimb reported that two members of their descending team discovered a critically ill climber abandoned inside a tent near the South Col. According to the expedition, the climber belonged to another company and reportedly had no oxygen, food or water remaining.
In darkness, wind and freezing temperatures, the SummitClimb pair entered the tent and began administering oxygen, food and fluids in an attempt to save the climber’s life. The company later reported that the climber had appeared close to death when they found him.
The incident provided one final reminder of Everest’s unforgiving reality. Even as the mountain quietens and the season ends, survival above the South Col still depends on teamwork, judgement and the willingness of climbers to help one another in the harshest conditions on Earth.
The ropes may soon come down from the Khumbu Icefall, but the stories from Everest’s extraordinary 2026 season will be remembered for a very long time.
