Every year the crowds flocking to climb Mount Everest grow, creating an annual jamboree that appals many mountaineers.
'That mountain turned into a circus long ago and it's getting worse,' said leading Basque climber Juan Oiarzabal. Every year climbers steal tents and oxygen bottles from other climbers. Manuel Pizaro's crampons - boot spikes - were stolen, but he made it to the summit on a borrowed pair.
This year more than 50 expeditions are established at the two base camps on the Tibetan and Nepalese sides of the mountain, with hundreds of climbers hoping to follow the 450 people who made it to the top last year.
So far this year, one Sherpa and two South Koreans have died while trying to ascend the mountain, while a 62-year-old Japanese climber died while descending from the summit.
A 'weather window' has opened up in the past few days, allowing climbers to push for the summit, although it will take time for the details to be logged and confirmed. On the northern side alone, as many as 200 people may have reached the top during the current 'summit wave'.
Among this year's hopefuls are Norwegian Cato Pedersen, 48, who could be the first man with no arms to conquer the mountain, and Canadian Phil Michael, 36, a heart patient with a robotic aortic valve. He is staying in close contact with his cardiologist throughout the expedition.
Others are even more unusual. Dutchman Wim Hof, 47, who calls himself 'the Iceman', plans to climb without trousers.
