Videos showing 'traffic jam' on Mount Everest go viral, 2 climbers feared dead: 'It was a nightmare'

An Indian man recently shared a gripping video on Instagram, depicting the "traffic" on Mount Everest and emphasising the seriousness of the climb. Rajan Dwivedi, who fulfilled his ten-year-old dream of reaching the world's highest peak, posted the video on May 21, illustrating the perilous conditions climbers face.

The clip was recorded in the aftermath of a harrowing incident on Tuesday, when British climber Daniel Paterson and his Nepali Sherpa, Pastenji, were struck by falling ice while descending from the summit. "Mt. Everest is not a joke and in fact, quite a serious climb," Dwivedi wrote in his Instagram post. His video vividly captured the congestion on a single rope line, with climbers navigating both upward and downward traffic.

In his Instagram post, Dwivedi explained, "This video captured shows what we face on one rope line and negotiating interchanges during the traffic for upstream and downstream! The main reason is the weather window to avoid the fierce cruising jet streams that could be 100-240mph! For me, coming down was a nightmare and exhausting while a huge line of climbers was coming up to maximize the weather window!”

He also detailed the three hardest segments of the climb: “1) Khumbu Icefalls 2) C3 to C4 and 3) C4 to Summit during the entire night in the death zone in the frigid air!” Dwivedi noted that approximately 500 climbers, including amateurs and those inexperienced, attempt to reach Everest's summit each year, but only a few succeed. Many climbers, he added, suffer from frostbite, snow blindness, and other severe injuries. Despite these challenges, Dwivedi successfully reached the summit at 6 am on May 19.

The video is just one of many clips circulating online that depict the constant rush hour on Everest, which has been dubbed a "traffic jam" by social media users.