On Cho Oyu (8,188 m) in Tibet

China is closing Tibet for climbers for the rest of this year. “That is correct”, Dawa Steven Sherpa from the Nepalese expedition operator Asian Trekking confirms to me by email. “The Chinese authorities have decided not to issue permits for climbing in the autumn season in fear of further seismic activity telling that the mountains may be in a dangerous condition. They will issue climbing permits from 2016.” Furthermore, says Dawa Steven, the road that connects Nepal and Tibet, is still closed as it is under repair after the earthquake. “That means that equipment and logistics for the expeditions would not be possible to be transported via Nepal.”

Xi comes

Shishapangma (8,027 m) in Tibet

The Swiss operator Kari Kobler has abandoned the expeditions to the eight-thousanders Cho Oyu and Shishapangma that he had initially scheduled for next fall. Apart from the earthquake damage on the road to Tibet Kari tells me another reason for China not to issue permits: “The Chinese president will visit Tibet in the first two weeks of September.” 50 years ago, in September 1965, China had declared the previously occupied Tibet an “Autonomous Region”. The Chinese government will celebrate itself with some events in Tibet, probably with a large contingent of security forces to nip potential protests by Tibetans in the bud – especially when President Xi Jingping shows up in person. Foreign eyewitnesses have already been undesirable on similar occasions in the past. This is probably the main reason for giving no permits to expeditions next fall, as the example of International Mountain Guides (IMG) shows. Due to the earthquake damage in Nepal, the US operator had planned to travel directly via the Tibetan capital Lhasa to Cho Oyu, but did not get a permit too, with reference to the jubilee events in Tibet.

Alternative destination Manaslu

Manaslu (8,163 m) in Nepal

“Due to the current political fragility of Tibet we are unable to obtain guaranteed access for expeditions”, also the New Zealand operator Himalayan Experience informs. Himex has replaced the expedition to Cho Oyu by one to Manaslu in Nepal. The eighth highest mountain in the world is a popular alternative destination in case that China is closing the borders to Tibet. Already in fall 2012, many operators had offered expeditions to Manaslu instead of the cancelled one to the Tibetan eight-thousanders. The base camp at the foot of the “Mountain of the Spirit” might become crowded. Teams of many western operators (including the German operator Amical alpin) will set off to Manaslu in the upcoming post-monsoon period. Despite the earthquake with nearly 9,000 registered deaths and more than 22,000 injured, the Nepalese authorities have no doubt to issue permits for eight-thousander expeditions.

Update: Dan Mazur from the operator Summit Climb has informed me that they also have moved all their Cho Oyu and Shishapangma teams for this fall to Manaslu: “We were informed by our contact at the CTMA that because of the magnitude 8.1 devastating earthquake, the authoritative geologists in China surveyed the mountains. They decided that it is unsuitable to climb this year.”

Everest basecamp

The base camp on the Nepalese side of Mount Everest is getting empty. Government officials denied that the climbing season on the highest mountain in the world was officially ended. “The ones who want to leave will leave and those who want to continue climbing would not be stopped or threatened,” said Tourism Minister Bhim Acharya after a crisis meeting at the basecamp, where he had tried to convince the teams to continue the expeditions. The Sherpas had assured him that there would be no trouble, he said.

Threats of a small group of Sherpas

Previously, there had been reports of threats of some Sherpas. “The ambience at basecamp is becoming increasingly tense. There is a small group of renegade Sherpa from peripheral teams who are threatening violence towards anyone who chooses to stay and climb”, wrote Monica Piris, expedition doctor in the team of Alpenglow, that had declared its expedition ended before the arrival of the government delegation. Similar comments were made by the German reporter Juliane Moeckinghoff in her Everest diary. She is accompanying the blind Austrian climber Andy Holzer.

Other teams cancel their expeditions 

International Mountain Guides (IMG), Adventure Consultants, RMI Expeditions, Jagged Globe and Peak Freaks also abandoned their Everest expeditions. All show their compassion with the Sherpas on the death of 16 Nepalis in the avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall last Friday. At the same time they point to the organizational difficulties that have arisen because many Sherpas have already left the basecamp or refuse to return to the mountain.

Too few Sherpas left

“The Icefall route is currently unsafe for climbing without repairs by the Icefall doctors, who will not be able to resume their work this season”, Eric Simonson wrote about the reason to end the IMG expedition. “We have explored every option and can find no way to safely continue the expedition.” David Hamilton and Tom Briggs of Jagged Globe argued the same way: “We are cancelling the expedition as there is no prospect of replacing our Sherpas and because there aren’t now sufficient Sherpas in basecamp to fix ropes on the mountain and make it safe to climb.” According to the Nepalese Ministry of Tourism the climbing permits of the teams to leave, remain valid for five years.

Update April 25: Obviously, Himalayan Experience and Altitude Junkies have meanwhile cancelled their Everest expeditions too. Asian Trekking is also going home. “We have also decided to leave base camp”, writes Dawa Steven Sherpa to me. “ We are amongst the last left in base camp.”