23 hours ago
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Malaysian mountaineer Mohd Khafiz Bachok successfully reached the summit of Mount Everest as part of a Spring 2026 expedition alongside a multinational team.
Supported by experienced Sherpa guides, Mohd Khafiz reached the 8,848.86 m peak on Monday after a carefully planned climb in harsh conditions. He was joined at the top by climbers from Mongolia and Nepal, while another group from Australia and Nepal reached the highest point shortly afterward, New Straits Times reported.
Organized by Altipro Adventures, the successful ascent was praised for the team's "extraordinary resilience, strength and expedition spirit." The company confirmed that the climbers and their Sherpa team have since safely begun their descent back to base camp.
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Mohd Khafiz Bachok during a climb. Photo by Instagram/@khafizalkicok |
Mountaineering has been steadily growing in popularity in Malaysia, with several citizens having previously conquered high-altitude peaks around the world.
The first Malaysians to reach the summit of Mount Everest were Datuk M. Magendran and N. Mohanadas, who achieved the feat in 1997.
This year's climbing season has been quite busy. On May 8, officials announced that Nepal had issued a record 492 permits to climb Mount Everest for the spring 2026 season.
"We have issued a historic high number of permits for Sagarmatha," Tourism Department spokesman Himal Gautam told AFP, using the Nepali name for the mountain.
However, the unprecedented surge in climbers has reignited concerns over potential congestion and bottlenecks on the route to the summit, especially during narrow weather windows.
Overcrowding on the mountain can be incredibly dangerous. In 2019, a long queue forced climbers to wait for hours in freezing temperatures, which rapidly depleted oxygen levels and increased the risk of severe altitude sickness and exhaustion.
That year, at least four of the 11 recorded deaths on Everest were directly attributed to the severe overcrowding.
