A huge, unstable chunk of glacier is blocking the route up Mount Everest from Base Camp in Nepal just as peak climbing season gets under way in the Himalayas.Icefall doctors” – who fix ropes and ladders on the lower part of the route up the world’s highest peak – can find no way round the 100-foot-high (30m) block of ice just under Camp 1.
They say the only option is to wait for the ice block, called a serac, to melt – which they hope will happen within days.
The delay means preparations are weeks behind schedule for the spring season when weather for Everest ascents is usually best, and fears are growing that climbers will be queuing to reach the summit again this year.
Ang Sarki Sherpa, who has worked as an icefall doctor for years, said he expected the serac to melt because its lower part was weak.
“We reached it on 10 April. The crevasse below is melting,” he said, adding that Sherpas after him said it had melted further and was close to collapsing.
He and other climbers have not seen a way of safely bypassing the serac and say a possible alternative route to Camp 1 would be challenging to put up this year. Scaling the huge serac has been deemed too risky.Favourable weather is expected only until the end of May, and with the melting of the ice currently obstructing the route, Sherpas hope the rope-fixing work to Camp 2 will be completed within a few days – and the summit within a week.”I am not worried that the route won’t open because we still have time for that. But the window could be narrow – with lots of climbers having to make their attempts in a short period of time.”
Despite the Iran war – and its impact on fuel costs and travel – large numbers of people are expected to attempt Everest this year.
“There has been a slight decrease due to the impact of flights, but mountaineering has not been affected as much as trekking,” said Dambar Parajuli, president of the Expedition Operators’ Association.According to the Department of Tourism, 367 people have so far obtained climbing permits, most of them Chinese. According to climbing organisers, China has not issued permits for foreign nationals from its territory this year.
Most Everest ascents are from Nepal rather than via the easier route from Tibet. Last year, more than 700 people, including guides, summited from the Nepalese side, while only about 100 people climbed from China.
Since photos of climbers queuing on Mount Everest went viral in 2019, Nepal has been tightening its permit system and sharply increasing prices.
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