Tico climber makes for Everest Peak

Tico mountaineer Warner Rojas left Camp 4 high on Mt. Everest’s South Col Route at approximately 8 p.m. Nepal time Thursday with the rest of his expedition team to make a push for the highest point on Earth.

At press time, there were no new updates on Rojas’ status. If he succeeds, he will become the first Costa Rican to summit the world’s tallest peak.

The team, led by David Hamilton of the Jagged Globe guiding company, will have to ascend from 7,950 meters (26,000 feet) to the summit at 8,848 meters (29,000 feet). The plan, according to an update posted on Rojas’ Facebook page, is for the team to climb through the night, a 10-12-hour effort, to summit by early morning with plenty of time to descend.

Last week, an accident, in which a Sherpa porter was injured by falling ice and evacuated, derailed a planned summit attempt during a window of good weather. The porter, Pem Chirri, has been released from the hospital.

Ten climbers have died on Everest this season. Unusually dry conditions on the mountain have made falling ice and rock a constant hazard, and 337 climbers and more than 400 Sherpa porters have caused bottlenecks at key points on routes. Bottlenecks can cause climbers to arrive at the summit late in the day and then have to descend in dangerous conditions with night approaching.

Good weather, which means low winds, is expected to last until Sunday.