Everest shuts down

Kathmandu: China has cancelled permits for Mount Everest because of the coronavirus, expedition organisers said on Thursday, ahead of the spring climbing season on the world’s highest peak.

Last year’s traffic-clogged spring window saw a record 885 people summit Everest, 644 of them from Nepal and 241 from the northern flank in Tibet. The Nepal side remains open for now although some expedition operators have seen cancellations and climbers have been asked to submit a 14-day travel history and medical reports.

The Chinese authorities "have informed us that the mountain will close from the north side," Lukas Furtenbach of Austria-based Furtenbach Adventures told AFP. Furtenbach said that he will be shifting his 11 clients to Nepal.

Tourist areas in Tibet have been closed since January, according to the local tourism office. The China Tibet Mountaineering Association, which issues permits for Everest, declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

Another company, Alpenglow Expeditions, has cancelled its Everest plans. "I am in agreement with China’s decision. It is responsible... Climbing a mountain is not currently worth the transmission risk in the Base Camps, nor upon returning home," Adrian Ballinger of Alpenglow Expeditions said in a statement Wednesday.