A South African woman’s bid to claim the title of the first black African woman to conquer Mount Everest was officially called off today after the devastating earthquake and avalanches that have marred the 2015 Climbing Season on the highest mountain on earth.
Katlego Letheo tweeted this morning that the China Tibet Mountaineering Association (CTMA) “has announced that all mountains in Tibet will be closed this season”.
“It’s all over. Thanks 4 all support!‚” she wrote.
The record attempt is likely also over for Saray Khumalo‚ who had hoped to achieve the same feat from the Nepalese side of Everest. However‚ the Ubuntu Everest team posted this message on Facebook: “There is a lot of news coverage about ending the climbing season on Mt Everest. We… will post information regarding the future of Saray’s expedition once official confirmation is received”.
Another SA team was also uncertain about their next move‚ with climber Sean Wisedale saying they were “reflecting on what we have just survived”.
“Right now we are safe. We believe that the seismicity of the region has stabilized. We have little more to offer to assist the dead and injured‚ most of whom have been evacuated from Base Camp‚” he said in a blog post yesterday.
“Historically we know that after great earthquakes things tend to settle down even after the aftershocks and this is what we are relying on right now. We are quite uncertain about our future because decisions can’t be made immediately.”
He praised his team of four other climbers for being “altruistic in every way”‚ in helping the injured get to treatment in a makeshift medical tent.
“I am very fortunate to be in the company of people I would go to war with‚” he wrote.