South African game ranger Sibusiso Vilane summited Mount Everest for the second time on Friday morning, his sponsor said on Saturday.
Vilane, who was the first black African to reach the top of Everest in May 2003, summited with fellow mountaineer Alex Harris, said Harmony Gold, which helped sponsor the expedition.
The two are reported to have reached the summit via the North Ridge by 7.20am SA time.
”Mountaineers Alex Harris and Sibusiso Vilane stood on top of the world early Friday morning,” Harmony said in a statement.
The two climbers finished their acclimatisation preparation two weeks ago. They had been waiting for the weather to improve on Everest’s North Side.
”For the past few weeks pro-longed Jet Stream winds — high-speed winds exceeding 400 kilometers per hour — aggravated weather patterns towards to the top of the mountain — approximately 8848m above sea level,” Harmony said.
Jet Streams are usually followed by the annual monsoon in the Tibetan area. Between these weather occurrences there is a calmer weather pattern called the window period, which allows the climbers to summit.
The team were reported to have spent an hour and a half at the top before beginning the descent.
Harris became the youngest person at the age of 25 to lead an expedition to Everest and in 1998 he became the first South African to have climbed on all seven continents.
The Cape Argus newspaper said was Harris’s third — and only successful — attempt to conquer the world’s highest peak.
”The first two times he tried the climb he had to turn back because of bad weather,” the newspaper quoted Harris’ mother Eva as saying.
”This morning he called me to say he was standing on top of the world,” she said.
”He said the weather was beautiful and he and Sibusiso were planning to take lots of photos before coming down,” she said. – Sapa