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Early last summer there were already and again rumors that China is probably closing Everest on Tibet side this spring. Those rumors aren't disappeared and avoiding any further risk to cancel or postpone the expedition we have decided to move to Nepal's side. The change of plans was stretched until this but we have been doing serious preparations for this and everything is supposed to be ready.

So what's the difference on ascent between Nepal and Tibet then? There's nothing changed in altitude or weather at the summit, so we still have hard work to do. The huge difference is the level of the base camp. In Nepal the base camp situates at 5300 m and respectively 6400 m in Tibet. This means that we have some more vertical distance to carry equipments but on the other hand we've got a chance to come down for better recovery.

We still have a plan to go without Sherpas as planned. Nepal side is a little bit better sheltered against winds than Tibet because in Tibet one has to climb on the ridge above 7000 m until summit. Another remarkable difference is cost; the more expensive climbing permits will rise our total budget up to 350 000 €.

We provide later some information about Nepal's side route.