Gansu climber completes season's first Qomolangma-Lhotse double summit

A climbing team led by Chinese climber Shi Junji became the first this spring to scale Mount Qomolangma, also known as Mount Everest, and neighboring Lhotse during Nepal's 2026 climbing season, expedition organizers said.

Shi, 34, from the Gannan Tibetan autonomous prefecture in Gansu province, reached the 8,848.86-meter summit of Mount Qomolangma, the world's highest peak, at 8:56 am local time on May 14. At 11:25 am on May 18, he stood atop the 8,516-meter Lhotse, the world's fourth-highest mountain.

The feat, known among climbers as a "Qomolangma-Lhotse double summit", is regarded as one of the most demanding challenges in high-altitude mountaineering. Although the two mountains share part of the climbing route and camp system on the Nepal side, completing both ascents within a single expedition cycle requires extraordinary physical endurance, rapid recovery ability, precise oxygen management, and accurate judgment of narrow weather windows in the Himalayas.

Shi was supported by two Nepali guides throughout the expedition. Organizers described the success as a symbol of close cooperation between Chinese climbers and Nepali Sherpa teams.

According to Nepal-based Himalayan Mountaineering Expedition, his team adopted a less conventional but safer strategy.

Instead of remaining at Camp IV in the "death zone" above 8,000 meters after summiting Qomolangma, the team descended to Camp II at around 6,400 meters for rest and recovery before launching the push toward Lhotse. Organizers said the approach deviated from the standard fast-track strategy commonly used in double summit attempts.

His achievement came during one of Nepal's busiest climbing seasons in recent years. According to Nepal's tourism authorities, by May 15, the country had issued climbing permits to 1,181 mountaineers from 79 countries and regions during this year's spring climbing season, with Chinese climbers accounting for the largest number, Nepal News reported on Tuesday.

Tourism Info Nepal, another local news portal, described the achievement by Shi's team as "one of the most significant expedition milestones of the spring season in the Himalayas".