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Unstable Glacier Block Halts Everest Route Preparations in Nepal
A 100-foot-high chunk of glacier is blocking the path from Base Camp to Camp 1 on Mount Everest, delaying the spring climbing season. Icefall doctors are waiting for the serac to melt, expected within days, as preparations lag weeks behind schedule. Climbers fear potential traffic jams due to a narrowed weather window until late May.
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A huge, unstable chunk of glacier is blocking the route up Mount Everest from Base Camp in Nepal, halting preparations for the spring climbing season. The 100-foot-high (30m) block of ice, located just under Camp 1 and about 600m below it, has left icefall doctors unable to find a way around it.
They reached the serac on 10 April and say the only option is to wait for it to melt, which is expected within days because its lower part is weak.
Icefall doctors, who work for the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC) responsible for securing ropes as far as Camp 2, arrived at Base Camp three weeks ago. Normally, they would have fixed the route to Camp 3 by this point in April, but the obstruction has put preparations weeks behind schedule.
Mount Everest Camp 1 has not yet been opened due to the glacier blocking the route, BBC News reported.
' Ang Sarki Sherpa, who has worked as an icefall doctor for years, said Sherpas after him reported the crevasse had melted further and was close to collapsing. He added, 'There is no choice. ' Climbers, including Ang Sarki Sherpa, have not seen a way to safely bypass the serac, and scaling it has been deemed too risky.
A possible alternative route to Camp 1 would be challenging to establish this year. Nepal's Department of Tourism is exploring options, including airlifting teams to Camp 2. Ram Krishna Lamichhane, the director general of Nepal's Department of Tourism, said, 'We are thinking about airlifting the rope-fixing team and their logistics to Camp 2 by helicopter, so they can open the route above that altitude for now.
