New rules to limit numbers on Everest are delayed

LIKE BEADS on a slender string, a long queue of mountaineers clings to a single safety rope. They are waiting to ascend to the icy peak of the world’s tallest mountain: Everest. The climbers and their guides have braved sheer rock, avalanches and wild winds. But the crowds that await interludes of good weather to rush for the summit can be just as deadly. Climbers jostle and bicker; long delays deplete supplies of oxygen. Last year four of the 11 deaths on the mountain during the spring climbing season were blamed on overcrowding.