Everest blocks 100-foot ice serac
- Nepal’s south-side route up Mount Everest remains blocked after a giant serac above the Khumbu Icefall halted rope-fixing, leaving hundreds of climbers and support staff waiting at Base Camp in late April. - Nepal has issued 410 Everest permits so far, near record pace, and officials say the icefall doctors cannot move the hanging ice wall and must wait for it to collapse naturally. - The delay is squeezing Everest’s short May summit window on the mountain’s busiest route, reviving fears of bottlenecks after China closed the north side to foreign climbers. (bbc.com)
A giant hanging block of glacier ice is blocking the standard south-side route up Mount Everest, delaying the 2026 climbing season in Nepal. (bbc.com) (usnews.com) The obstruction is a serac above the Khumbu Icefall, the shifting maze of crevasses and ice towers climbers must cross between Base Camp and Camp I. Nepal tourism officials said the route cannot be opened until the danger eases. (dw.com) (kathmandupost.com) Nepal had issued 410 permits for foreign Everest climbers by April 24, putting the season close to the 2023 record of 479 permits. Around 1,000 people, including guides and support workers, were waiting at Base Camp as teams paused acclimatization rotations and freight carries. (kathmandupost.com) (dw.com) The Sherpa route setters known as icefall doctors usually install ladders and ropes through the icefall each spring. This year they stopped work for nearly two weeks because the serac could collapse without warning and send an avalanche onto the route. (dw.com) (kathmandupost.com) Officials have said the ice cannot simply be cut down or moved. Department of Tourism spokesperson Himal Gautam said teams may use helicopters to move some supplies so upper-route preparation can stay on schedule if the blockage lasts longer. (dw.com) (usnews.com) The timing is tight because Everest’s main summit window usually falls in May, before monsoon weather closes the mountain. A late route opening can force more teams into the same few weather days high on the mountain. (dw.com) (bbc.com) The Khumbu Icefall is already the most dangerous section of the Nepal route even in a normal year. In 2014, a collapsing serac there triggered an avalanche that killed 16 Sherpa guides and shut down that season. (kathmandupost.com) (apnews.com) This season is even more crowded because Everest’s north side in Tibet is closed to foreign expeditions, pushing more operators onto Nepal’s South Col route. Nepal also raised its spring Everest permit fee to $15,000 from $11,000 starting in September 2025. (explorersweb.com) (kathmandupost.com) For now, climbers are waiting for the serac to break up on its own and for the icefall doctors to resume work. Every lost day in late April leaves less room for error on the world’s busiest high-altitude route. (dw.com) (bbc.com)
