Emilio V. EscuderoSEGUIR Updated: Save Send news by mail electrónicoTu name *

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After a 2019 plagued expeditions to the Everest , only one will be able to climb it this spring. The coronavirus has forbidden mountain tourism in the Himalayas, and just a group formed by mountain climbers and chinese scientists have obtained the permission to climb on the roof of the world with the aim to perform various scientific experiments and to assist in the collection of accumulated trash.

The image of the Everest base camp, almost desert contrasts with that of just a year ago. Then, thousands of people crowded at the foot of the giant, waiting the good time to make your attack on the summit. That resulted in one of the great tragedies of modern of the mountain, with the death of a dozen climbers because of the funnel that is formed in the “bottle-neck”, one of the last sections of the climb, where you can barely pass a person at the same time.

This time, the situation is similar in the hopes of good weather, although there will be an avalanche of people going to the top. is Just make a tiny group of mountain climbers , whose aim does not go through the personal realization, but who has a background scientific.

The image that went around the world with the jam in the top of mount Everest – Nirmal Purja

The absence of expeditions has allowed this chinese team to carry out experiments and studies of different kinds, but the most important of all, perhaps, is the measurement of the colossus of the Himalayas. With the help of the satellites of the company BeiDou , a rival of the american GPS (Global Positioning System) , want to confirm that the 8,848 metres which mark the roof of the world is still accurate.

The measurement dates from 1954, although it is estimated that the earthquake and climate change could have varied the height.

In 2005, China attempted to do an experiment similar, and cut that measurement in four metres , although neither Nepal nor in the rest of countries agreed to the methods used.

Now, the asian giant wants to end the controversy, and determine if those 8,848 meters are actually the roof of the world . To do this, a team of 53 people live these days to the foot of Everest with the hope that a good window of time allowed for the final assault to the top.

In recent days, mountain climbers chinese have had to turn in two occasions, because of the snowfall and risk of avalanches desaconsejaban the attack to top . In the group, in addition to expert mountaineers, there are several scientists, and surveyors, managers these last put in place a system of antennas to confirm the height of the mountain.

This window of good weather could arrive this weekend or at the end of next week. Meanwhile, the team continues with their experiments in the field base , where they are collecting data on the depth of the snow, the weather and wind speed in order to study and control the deterioration of the glaciers and climate change.