Unstable Glacier Block Halts Everest Route Preparations in Nepal

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.

' Sherpas hope the rope-fixing work to Camp 2 will be completed within a few days after the ice melts, and the summit route within a week. Favourable weather for Everest ascents is expected only until the end of May. 86m (29,031 feet) above sea level.

Purnima Shrestha is acclimatising at Base Camp to summit Everest for the sixth time. She summitted Everest three times in a single season in 2024, with her first push for the summit on 11 May 2024. Shrestha stated, 'We usually climb between Camp I, Camp 2 and Camp 3 back and forth during this acclimatising process.

' She added, 'I am not worried that the route won't open because we still have time for that. ' Dambar Parajuli, president of the Expedition Operators' Association, said there has been a slight decrease in attempts due to the impact of the Iran war on fuel costs and travel.

' According to the Department of Tourism, 367 people have obtained climbing permits for Everest so far this year, most of them Chinese nationals.

China has not issued permits for foreign nationals from its territory this year, according to climbing organisers. More than 700 people, including guides, summited Everest from the Nepalese side last year, while about 100 people climbed from China. Nepal has been tightening its permit system and increasing prices since photos of climbers queuing on Mount Everest went viral in 2019.

Climbing fees for Everest in spring have been hiked to $15,000 (£11,105) from $11,000 for foreign nationals this year. Fees for Nepalis have doubled to $1,000 this year.