KATHMANDU, MAY 8

A group of Sherpa climbers from 8K Expeditions made the season's first summit of the world's fourth highest mountain this afternoon, according to expedition organiser.

"Our five-member rope-fixing team stood atop Mt Lhotse at 5:40pm opening a summit route to the top of the mountain," Said, Lakpa Sherpa, Managing Director and Expedition Leader of the 8K Expeditions. According to him, a rope-fixing team on Mt Everest is also on the way to the summit opening a climbing route.

Now, the world climbers will attempt to scale Lhotse as Sherpa climbers fixed a route to the summit point of the mountain, Lakpa, who is now at the Everest base camp, informed.

The Lhotse summit team comprised Pasang Tenje Sherpa (also known as Dhaulagiri Pasang), Lakpa Sherpa (Jilke Lakpa), Migma Dorjee Sherpa (Saila Mingma), Ming Dawa Sherpa, and Pas Rinzi Sherpa.

Another team of rope fixing climbers from 8K also reached above the South Summit on Mt Everest by fixing ropes along the summit route. "The team is attempting to open the summit route on Mt Everest now," Pemba Sherpa, chairman at 8K Expedition said. The early summit route will help reduce risk and crowding, and urged all expedition operators to monitor weather conditions closely before launching summit pushes, Sherpa added.

A team of eight Sherpa climbers, led by Aspirant Guide Ashok Lama, Karma Gyaljen Sherpa, Pem Nurbu Sherpa, Ming Dawa Sherpa, Tashi Sherpa, Pasang Rinjee Sherpa, Pashtanjen Sherpa, and Tashi Nurbu Sherpa had already opened climbing route to the Camp IV on Everest.

The Expedition Operators Association of Nepal (EOAN) has assigned 8K Expeditions to build summit routes above Camp II on Mt Everest and Mt Lhotse. Earlier, icefall doctors from the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC) fixed the route from the base camp to Camp II on Mt Everest