Olympic torch scales Everest
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The main Olympic flame began its three-month trek through China on Sunday after a global torch relay.
The flame reached the top of the world Thursday morning, carried to the summit of Mount Everest by climbers wearing oxygen masks to breathe in the thin air of the earth’s highest point.
The climbers, braving gusty winds and freezing windchill, relayed the flame — ignited from the main Olympic flame, now making a course across China en route to host city Beijing — to the summit by 9:15 a.m. (9:15 p.m. ET Wednesday), about two hours ahead of schedule.
Two groups climbed to the summit: a 12-person team of torchbearers and a supplemental seven-person pickup team, officials said. The team of about 50 includes 31 climbers along with coaches, advisers and other support staff members.
The flame is burning in a lantern designed to protect it from low-oxygen conditions of the high altitude.