But before leaving for Mount Everest in March, Tsheri said last year's ordeal had not destroyed his ambition. I want to climb the world's tallest summit for national vanity and for the pride of young people in the world to show that we are also capable of doing the hard job as done by elder people. Strong winds and heavy snow on Mount Everest have forced dozens of climbers to postpone their bid on the 29,035-foot summit, a tourism department official said Friday. With less than two weeks left in the spring climbing season, time is running out for the mountaineers to make their summit attempt. The season in Nepal ends May 31, when climbers must return from the mountains before the monsoon rains bring heavy snow.
Climbers begin their ascent of Everest from either Tibet or Nepal.
Noguchi said two Japanese, one South Korean and 30 Nepalese are expected to reach the base camp on the northern side of the 29,035-foot Everest on April 11. The actual cleanup will start in May at the advanced base camp, the site where climbers pitch their final camps before heading for the summit. Baba Munindra Pal, the leader of a seven-member Indian team, has one leg and uses a crutch and is the other disabled climber seeking to scale the mountain this season. If successful, Pal would equal the 1998 record set by disabled American climber, Tom Whittacker, who has an artificial leg. A Nepali mountaineering organization said it would encourage sherpa climbers to Mount Everest to collect garbage dumped on the world's highest mountain by paying for the trash they brought down.