MOUNT QOMOLANGMA BASE CAMP, May 27 (Xinhua) -- An eight-member Chinese surveying team set off to reach the summit of Mt. Qomolangma, the world's highest peak, from a mountain camp at an altitude of 8,300 meters at around 2:10 a.m. Wednesday.
The team of surveyors arrived at the camp at around 3:40 p.m. on Tuesday and rested for about 10 hours. Meanwhile, six mountaineering guides reached the summit and finished installing facilities at 4:35 p.m., after which they descended.
Members of Chinese surveying team head for the summit of Mt. Qomolangma on May 27, 2020. (Xinhua/Penpa)
Chinese surveying team prepares before setting off to reach the summit of Mt. Qomolangma, the world's highest peak, from a mountain camp at an altitude of 8,300 meters, May 27, 2020. (Xinhua/Tashi Tsering)
Members of Chinese surveying team head for the summit of Mt. Qomolangma on May 27, 2020. (Xinhua/Tashi Tsering)
Members of Chinese surveying team head for the summit of Mt. Qomolangma on May 27, 2020. (Xinhua/Penpa)
A member of Chinese surveying team prepares to set off to reach the summit of Mt. Qomolangma, the world's highest peak, from a mountain camp at an altitude of 8,300 meters, May 27, 2020. (Xinhua/Penpa)
At a height of 8,600 meters, the team will ascend through the "second step", an almost vertical wall of several meters high and extremely difficult to climb, even for professional climbers.
A party of Chinese climbers placed a semi-permanent "China ladder" there in 1975, consisting of several metal ladders which reduce climbing difficulty. The "China ladder" has been replaced by new ladders at the "second step" to aid climbers.
China initiated a new round of measurements to determine the height of Mount Qomolangma on April 30, but bad weather twice delayed plans to reach the summit.
Photo taken on May 27, 2020 shows a view at the Mount Qomolangma base camp in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Jigme Dorje)
Wang Yongfeng, vice director of the mountaineering administrative center of the General Administration of Sport, speaks to surveying team members at the altitude of 8,300 meters, from the Mount Qomolangma base camp in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, May 27, 2020. (Xinhua/Sun Fei)
