China to close north slope of Mt. Everest - Finnish expedition in jeopardy

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China has closed the northern approach to Mt. Everest to mountain climbers. According to official explanations, the northern slope of the world's highest mountain will remain closed until the Olympic torch is brought to the summit.
      According to the web pages maintained by Mt. Everest climbers, only Chinese students carrying the Olympic flame will have access to the top in March through May. Other climbers have been asked to postpone any expeditions until May 10th.
      The reason given by the Chinese authorities was security concerns. There is speculation that the real reason is to keep Tibet activists out of sight during the event.
     
China's decision came as a complete surprise to a Finnish expedition, which was planning to scale the mountain by way of the north slope and be the first Finnish group to scale the peak.
      "On Wednesday we got news that the northern approach is closed until May 10th", says Arri Leino of the group.
     
The expedition has been long in the making. The original climbing permit came from a very high-ranking official.
      "There had been rumours that the mountain would be closed, but officials denied this."
      The group held an emergency meeting on Wednesday to recalculate the schedules.
      "We have our cargo waiting for us in Kathmandu, and there is plenty of stuff", Leino says.
     
The total budget of the project is about a quarter of a million euros. The group will travel to the area on Sunday next week.
      "If the borders are completely closed, the prospects of our expedition and those of all the others are in a bad situation", Leino says. "It is a big loss also for the local people, whose livelihood depends on these expeditions."
      Shifting the expedition to the southwest slope would raise costs by tens of thousands of euros. In addition, the website everestnews.com says that China is also pressuring Nepal to close its routes to the mountain as well.
     
In the worst case, the Finnish expedition will have to be postponed by a year.
      If this happens, Leino says that his group will climb some other mountain in the area in preparation for the main goal.
      The time of year cannot be changed for the expedition, because there is not enough light in the autumn, and in the summer, the monsoon period causes problems.
     
Three other Finns have climbed to the summit of Mt. Everest before - Veikka Gustafsson reached the top in 1993. Two others, Ari Piela and Antti Mankinen reached the top in the spring of 1999.


Links:
  EverestNews.com: Everest closed and where we are right now ...

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