Foreign climbers have reached the summit of Mount Everest for the first time since deadly avalanches halted climbing for two seasons.
Just days before peak season in 2014, an avalanche left 16 dead on Mount Everest. In 2015, an avalanche triggered by a powerful earthquake killed 19 climbers and injured 61 others at base camp.
On Thursday, two British climbers, Kenton Cool and Robert Richard Lucas, and a Mexican climber, David Liano Gonzalez, summited the mountain with three Nepalese guides, officials told the Associated Press.
For Cool, 42, it was his 12th successful climb of Everest. Gonzalez, 36, is the record holder with six successful ascents of Everest from both its northern side in China and its southern side in Nepal in the same season.
Adrian Ballinger, who has summited Everest six times, is currently climbing the mountain and has been documenting his journey on Shapchat and Instagram using #EverestNoFilter.
"Everest has seen tragedy and controversy grow over the years and with this expedition, we hope to raise awareness and funds to directly impact local communities still devastated by the earthquake and lead the way in sustaining this mountain for both the people of her slopes, and those that dream about reaching her peak," Ballinger wrote on his website.
More than 4,000 climbers have scaled the summit since 1953, when it was first conquered by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay.
After the 2014 avalanche, climbers canceled their trips up to the peak of Mount Everest amid growing tension and threats of violence among Sherpa guides. Dozens of Sherpas refused to climb — or let others climb — the legendary mountain.
"The Sherpa are convinced the mountain doesn't want them there this year," Ballinger said in a 2014 interview. "The Sherpa believe that the mountains are home to the gods and this is a message that they are not supposed to be there this season." Ballinger's company, Alpenglow Expeditions, canceled its trip for 2014 out of concern for the safety of his hired Sherpa guides.
Michael Proulx, 41, of Boulder, Colo., was trekking near the village of Thame, Nepal in late April, during the anniversary of the 2015 earthquake and avalanche. "Superstitious elders were sleeping outside in tents on the night of the anniversary because they were worried about some sort of disaster. They figured they would be safer in tents. It was a big sigh of relief when that day came and went."
Earlier this week, two Nepalese Sherpa guides died of complications due to high altitude sickness at a lower camp on Mount Makalu, the world's fifth highest mountain.
Despite the danger, working on Everest is a goal for many of the Sherpa people. A top high-altitude guide can earn $6,000 in a three-month climbing season, nearly 10 times Nepal's $700 average annual salary.
Contributing: The Associated Press
