Chinese Survey Team Reaches Summit of Everest

After months of waiting in Base Camp to acclimatize, and then weeks of waiting for a weather window, the Chinese surveying team on Everest has finally reached the summit of the world’s highest mountain. The 16 climbers who summited are the first humans to stand atop the world this year, with COVID-19 closures in effect on both the Nepalese and Chinese sides of the mountain. The team is on the mountain to take new measurements of the summit elevation. For many years, the official height stood at 8848 meters (29,029 feet) but following the 2015 earthquake in Nepal and the fact that mountains change over time, it was time to make a new measurement. A highly accurate GPS reading was taken from the summit, but the result has not been published.

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While the surveying team summited on May 27, another commercial team is working their way up the mountain. Favorable weather will likely put another 20 climbers on top today or tomorrow.