Hommam Al Nassim 
The 2024 Mount Everest climbing season in Nepal ended with several records, as well as eight deaths, according to the Ministry of Tourism and tour operators.
Rakesh Gurung, an official at the Nepalese Ministry of Tourism, said that more than 600 climbers and guides reached the summit of Everest during this season, which extends from April to the end of May, while the exact numbers are still to be confirmed.
Gurung confirmed in a statement to Agence France-Presse, “The teams have packed their bags, and the track will be closed for now. The season is over.”
The death toll among climbers this year amounted to eight people, which is lower than what was recorded last year (18 deaths), despite the crowding of mountaineers at the summit.
Among the dead were two Mongolian climbers, a Kenyan, an Indian and a Nepalese, and a British man and two Nepalese guides were missing and presumed dead.
Records were broken this year, most notably by Nepalese mountaineer Phungu Lama, who broke the record for the fastest mountain climb by a woman with 14 hours and 31 minutes.
It usually takes mountain climbers days to reach the highest peak in the world, at 8,849 meters.
Nepalese climber and guide Kami Rita (54 years old) reached the summit of Everest for the 30th time, achieving a new world record, as he had climbed the mountain for the first time in 1994, exactly 30 years ago.
Purnima Shrestha climbed the mountain three times in one season to become the record holder for women.
In turn, Briton Kenton Cole reached the summit for the eighteenth time, breaking the record for the number of times a non-Nepali person has climbed the mountain.
Poland’s Piotr Jerzy Krzyszowski was the first to climb Mount Lhotze and Everest without oxygen.