Tico mountaineer Warner Rojas wants nothing more than to climb to the summit of Mount Everest and plant the flag of Costa Rica at the top of the world. That moment will have to wait for now, as the Himalayan Times reported a deadly ascent over the weekend that left two climbers dead and three missing.

The two climbers who died on Saturday from altitude sickness and exhaustion have been identified as Shriya Shah, a Canadian Non-Resident Nepali and Dr Schaff Erich, a climber from Germany. Both climbers died during their descent back to the safety of base camp. Experienced mountaineers often comment that the way down is often riskier than the ascent.

In the Himalayan Times article, journalist Rajan Pokhrel explains that while this has been a busy climbing season with warmer weather, the trails have turned inhospitable and the high winds are making the ascent twice as difficult as before. Mr. Pokhrel quoted Tilak Ram Pandey, Liaison Officer, Department of Mountaineering at the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation in Nepal:

“It takes nearly 5 to 7 hours to summit in normal days but the climbers are struggling for up to 15 hours this time. Some five teams have cancelled their summit plans. Nearly 25 teams have deferred their attempts to May 25/26 due to unfavourable weather. The route to Everest will be closed till May 24.”

On late Friday, Mr. Rojas and his expedition organizing team Jagged Globe announced that they were returning to Base Camp from Camp 2. One of the Sherpas in the team suffered an accident, and the rescue operations delayed the ascent. Mr. Rojas was slightly disappointed at the delay since that meant crossing the dangerous and challenging Khumbu icefall once again, but in light of the tragedy at the summit this weekend, he will have to wait along with the rest of Costa Rica.