KATHMANDU, May 10, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Eight Nepali climbers reached the summit of Mount Everest on Friday, kicking off this year's climbing season for hundreds of others.

The first Everest summit climb every year is managed by a team from a local expedition organiser, which opens the route for paying customers to follow.

"The route has opened. The team reached the summit this evening," said Pemba Sherpa of 8K Expeditions.

Nepal has issued around 456 permits to mountaineers for this year's spring climbing season, which runs from April to early June.

"The route has opened a bit earlier so we hope it will help manage the climbers and decrease traffic," said climber Purnima Shrestha at base camp.

Over-crowding has become a serious issue on Everest where in 2019 a human traffic jam meant teams were forced to wait for hours at the summit in freezing temperatures, risking depleted oxygen levels that can lead to sickness and exhaustion.

At least four of the 11 deaths on the peak that year were blamed on overcrowding.

Everest climbers are each usually escorted by a Nepali guide, meaning more than 900 people will tread the same path in the coming weeks.

Among them is Nepali climber Kami Rita Sherpa, on his way to make his record 31st summit of Everest.

Nepal is home to eight of the world's 10 highest peaks.

Last year, over 800 climbers made it to the peak of the world's highest mountain, including 74 from the northern Tibet side.

A boom in climbers has made mountaineering a lucrative business since Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa made the first ascent in 1953.