The team will use the period of quiet on Mount Everest to measure its height (Purbu Zhaxi/Xinhua via AP)A Chinese government-backed team plans to climb to the summit of a deserted Mount Everest this week to measure the world’s highest peak. Everest has been closed to commercial climbers following the outbreak of coronavirus, with China and Nepal worried about Covid-19 spreading among expedition teams. Bad weather forced the team charged with measuring the mountain’s current height to return to base camp, but they have since taken up their former position, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Depending on the weather, the team expects to reach the summit on Friday morning, Wang Yongfeng, deputy director of the mountaineering administrative centre of the General Administration of Sport, told Xinhua. China has also taken advantage of the lack of climbers to collect rubbish from Everest and other popular climbing peaks.

Source: Irish Independent May 17, 2020 06:56 UTC