Photo taken on May 7, 2020 shows that clouds swirl around the Mount Qomolangma. (Xinhua/Jigme Dorje)
An eight-member Chinese surveying team will attempt to reach the summit of Mt. Qomolangma, the world's tallest peak, Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the team left Camp Two at an altitude of 7,790 meters and plans to reach the assault camp at an altitude of 8,300 meters later in the day.
If the weather holds, the team will head for the summit in the early hours of Wednesday. Meanwhile, two mountaineering guides will provide support from the assault camp.
A road construction team is expected to complete building a route to the summit Tuesday afternoon, which will be crucial for Wednesday's planned summiting.
Two professional surveyors have been withdrawn from the peak-climbing squad due to uncertainties about the weather and insufficient supplies such as oxygen.
The peak-climbing squad reached the camp at an altitude of 7,790 meters Monday afternoon. It took the squad members several hours to pitch their tents amid strong winds.
"For fear that the tents would be blown away, the team members had to huddle inside a tent and rest," said Tsering Samdrup, leader of a support team. "They also made great efforts to take good care of the surveying equipment."
China initiated a new round of measurements to determine the height of Mount Qomolangma on April 30. Plans to reach the summit were delayed twice by the bad weather.
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Chinese surveyors have conducted six rounds of scaled measurement and scientific research on Mount Qomolangma and released the height of the peak twice in 1975 and 2005, which was 8,848.13 meters and 8,844.43 meters, respectively. Enditem
