登珠峯遭遇“交通擁堵”致多名登山者喪生

Kevin Hynes, 56, from Ireland, died in his tent at 7,000 meters early on Friday, having turned back before reaching the summit. The father of two was part of a group from the UK-based 360 Expeditions.

來自愛爾蘭的56歲男子凱文·海因斯於上週五凌晨在海拔7000米高的帳篷中去世，他在到達峯頂前折返。這位兩個孩子的父親是英國360探險公司團隊的一員。

The climbing company said: “It is with the greatest sadness that we have to confirm that one of our Mount Qomolangma team has passed away. Kevin was one of the strongest and most experienced climbers on our team, and had previously summited Mount Qomolangma South and Lhotse.”

這家登山公司表示：“我們非常悲痛地確認，我們的珠穆朗瑪峯登山隊成員之一已經去世。凱文是我們隊裏最強壯、最有經驗的攀登者之一，並曾登頂珠穆朗瑪峯南坡和洛子峯。

Hynes had been accompanied by an experienced Sherpa, who had himself climbed to the summit of Mount Qomolangma South twice, Mount Qomolangma North and Makalu twice, according to 360 Expeditions.

公司表示，一位經驗豐富的夏爾巴人陪同海因斯登山，這位夏爾巴人曾兩次親自登頂珠峯南坡，並曾兩次登頂珠峯北坡和馬卡魯峯。

His death came a week after the Trinity College professor Seamus Lawless, from County Wicklow, fell during the descent after achieving a lifetime ambition of reaching the summit.

一週前，來自愛爾蘭威克洛郡的劍橋大學三一學院教授西莫·勞利斯在下山途中墜落，此前他實現了登頂珠峯的畢生抱負。

Overcrowding and safety have been a growing cause for concern in recent years, not least since the emergence of cut-price Nepali trekking companies that offer Mount Qomolangma packages for half the price of trips organized by foreign companies.

近年來，過度擁擠和安全問題日益引起人們的擔憂，尤其是在尼泊爾出現降價登山公司之後，這些公司提供的登峯套餐價格只有外國公司攀登活動的一半。

The deaths occurred despite Nepal’s tourism authorities instituting, but not implementing, plans to timetable ascents to avoid congestion.

儘管尼泊爾旅遊部門爲了避免擁擠制定了攀登時間計劃，但沒有實施，最終導致了死亡事件。

This season’s summit crowds – the worst since 2012 – had been exacerbated by unsettled weather which meant there had been only five possible summit days in May so far, compared with between seven and 12 in recent years. This had caused hundreds of climbers to converge on several notorious sections where they can only pass one at a time.

今年的峯頂擁擠是2012年以來最糟糕的，而不穩定的天氣加劇了這一情況，到目前爲止，今年5月只有5天適宜登頂，而在近些年，這一天數在7到12天之間。這導致數百名登山者聚集在幾個以擁擠著稱的路段，一次只能通過一人。

"It's normally that crowded," says Mingma Sherpa, chairman of Seven Summits Treks, adding that climbers sometimes queue between 20 minutes, and 1.5 hours, in order to reach the summit.

“七峯之旅”的董事長夏爾巴人明馬說：“擁擠的情況很常見”。爲了登頂，登山者有時要排隊等候20分鐘至1個半小時。

It often depends on how long the window for suitable climbing weather is.

通常這要看適合登山的天氣能持續多長時間。

"If there's one week [of safe weather], then the summit isn't crowded. But sometimes, when there's only a window of two or three days, it gets very crowded" as all the climbers try to reach the summit at the same time, Mingma Sherpa tells the BBC.

明馬告訴英國廣播公司說：“如果適宜天氣有一週之久，人流就比較分散，但有時候登山窗口期只有兩三天，就會十分擁擠”，因爲都想同時上山。

Experts say crowds at Mount Qomolangma have also increased in recent years because expeditions have become more popular.

專家認爲近年來攀登珠峯的人羣增加，是因爲探險活動日趨流行。

Nepal has issued 381 permits at $11,000 each for the spring climbing season at the world's highest peak.

在春季的登山高峯期，尼泊爾已經發放了381張許可證，每張證11000美元（約合人民幣75900元）。

Andrea Ursina Zimmerman, an expedition guide who reached Mount Qomolangma's peak in 2016, says that many "traffic jams" are caused by unprepared climbers who "do not have the physical condition" for the journey.

2016年曾登上珠峯山頂的探險嚮導安德烈婭·尤拉西納·齊默爾曼說，很多“擁堵”是因爲登山者準備不足造成的，他們不具備登山的“身體條件”。

The problem hasn’t been avalanches, blizzards or high winds. Veteran climbers and industry leaders blame having too many people on the mountain, in general, and too many inexperienced climbers, in particular.

導致擁堵的原因不是雪崩、暴雪或者強風。資深登山客以及業內領袖將其歸咎於登山的人太多了，而且很多人都是沒有經驗的登山者。

Fly-by-night adventure companies are taking up untrained climbers who pose a risk to everyone on the mountain. And the Nepalese government, hungry for every climbing dollar it can get, has issued more permits than Qomolangma can safely handle, some experienced mountaineers say.

一些不負責任的探險公司把未經培訓的登山者送上山，這些人對大家都會構成威脅。一些資深登山客表示，尼泊爾政府急於從登山項目中牟利，發出的登山許可證數量已超出了珠峯可以承受的範圍。

Norbu Sherpa has reached the summit seven times. He adds that the most dangerous part is often the descent.

夏爾巴人諾布曾7次登上峯頂。他還說最危險的部分往往是下山。

A lot of people push themselves to the summit, but, once they reach it, "lose their motivation and energy on the way down", especially when they realize it's a long, crowded journey.

很多人竭盡全力登上了山頂，但一旦登了頂，“下山時就失去動力和體力了”，特別是他們意識到下山路途遙遠且擁擠不堪時。

A mountaineering guide collects garbage at an altitude of 7,928 meters near Qomolangma in the Tibet autonomous region in May. THE TIBET HIMALAYA EXPEDITION CO

尼泊爾旅遊局否認“過度擁擠”導致死亡發生

Nepal's tourism authority has denied accusations that the rise in Mount Qomolangma deaths is solely due to overcrowding.

尼泊爾旅遊局否認了有關珠穆朗瑪峯死亡人數上升完全是因爲過度擁擠的指責。

The department's director general Dandu Raj Ghimire said other factors including adverse weather conditions had also contributed.

旅遊局局長丹杜·拉吉·吉米爾表示，惡劣的天氣條件等其他因素也是導致擁擠的原因。

Mr Ghimire said 381 people had ascended Mount Qomolangma this spring but as periods of fine weather had been short, the number of people on the routes had been "higher than expected".

吉米爾表示，今年春天已有381人登上珠穆朗瑪峯，但由於好天氣持續時間較短，這條線路上的人數“高於預期”。

"The weather has not been very great this climbing season, so when there is a small window when the weather clears up, climbers make the move," Ghimire said.

吉米爾說:“這個登山季節的天氣不是很好，所以當天氣轉晴時，出現短暫的登山窗口期，登山者就會採取行動。”

"On May 22, after several days of bad weather, there was a small window of clear weather, when more than 200 mountaineers ascended Mount Qomolangma. The main cause of deaths on Mount Qomolangma has been high altitude sickness which is what happened with most of the climbers who lost their lives this season as well."

“5月22日那天，在幾天惡劣天氣過去之後，有幾天天氣放晴，200多名登山者攀登珠峯。珠峯攀登者死亡的主要原因是高原反應，過去在這個季節登山，大多數死亡的攀登者也是因此喪生。”