The previous record was set on May 22, 2019
Credit: Getty/Westend61
NEED TO KNOW
- A record 274 climbers scaled Mount Everest on the southern side on Wednesday, May 20
- The previous record occurred on May 22, 2019, according to reports
- Permits to summit the mountain cost $15,000 each
A record-breaking 274 people have climbed Mount Everest in one day.
The climbers scaled the Nepali side of the 29,032-foot mountain after Chinese authorities closed the northern route this year.
The history-making number of 274 ascents occurred on Wednesday, May 20, amid clear weather, the Associated Press, the BBC and ABC News reported. It’s the highest number for the southern side, just behind the previous record of 223 climbers who scaled the mountain on that route on May 22, 2019, according to the AP. (Expedition Operators Association Nepal did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.)
This spring season was delayed as a large chunk of ice had blocked the southern route, the BBC reported. Wednesday’s milestone number of ascents began at 3 a.m. local time and continued for 11 hours, officials told the outlet.
Nearly 500 permits (costing $15,000 each) have been purchased by international climbers to climb the mountain this year, another record high.
Located in the Great Himalayas on the border between the Tibet Autonomous Region of China and Nepal, Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world, according to History.com. On May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa of Nepal, were the first climbers to reach the summit. There, oxygen levels are extremely low, with dangerous temperatures and weather patterns.
Despite the risks — and the numerous climbers who have died while scaling the mountain — adventure-seekers continue to scale the peak. On Sunday, May 17, Kami Rita Sherpa, a revered 56-year-old Nepali mountain guide, broke his own world record by scaling Everest for the 32nd time.
Credit: PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP via Getty
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Also on Sunday, 52-year-old Lhakpa Sherpa climbed the mountain for the 11th time, topping her personal record for the most climbs by a woman, the BBC reported.
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