Watch: Chinese Drone Flies Over Mount Everest Summit, Captures Stunning Footage

A video trending on social media shows a Chinese drone flying to the summit of Mount Everest at 29,032-foot all the way from the base camp while capturing stunning images of the landscape below.

The footage was shared on social media by Shenzhen-based drone manufacturer DJI. The drone used to capture the footage is a Mavic 3 Pro drone.

The footage begins at an altitude of around 17,600 feet, with the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flying near Base Camp on the south side of the mountain in Nepal.

It gives a bird’s-eye view of the treacherous Khumbu Icefall, snow-dusted tents strewn across the landscape, Camp I and Camp II and Nepali glacier valley Western Cwm, which is about 20,000 feet high.

In high definition 4K resolution, the drone also captures mountaineers climbing in single file and past the third and final camps ahead of reaching the summit.

Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa were the first to ascend Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain.

The New Zealander and his Nepalese guide reached the summit of the 8,849-metre (29,032-foot) peak on May 29, 1953 as part of a British expedition led by John Hunt, paving the way for thousands of others to make the daring attempt to reach the “Roof of the World”.

Nepal has issued 414 permits to mountaineers for this year’s spring climbing season, which runs from April to early June.

Most Everest hopefuls are each escorted by a Nepali guide, meaning more than 800 climbers will tread the same path to the top of the 8,849-metre (29,032-foot) peak in the coming weeks.

This year, China reopened the Tibetan route to foreigners for the first time since it closed in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The northern summit route opened earlier in May, according to social media posts by expedition organisers.

Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 10 highest peaks and welcomes hundreds of adventurers each spring, when temperatures are warm and winds are typically calm.

Last year, over 600 climbers made it to the peak of the highest mountain in the world.

It also became the deadliest season on the mountain with 18 deaths.