Icefall doctors have successfully opened a route through the notorious Khumbu icefall enroute to Mount Everest as the world’s highest peak looks set for another chaotic spring climbing season.
Icefall doctor is a term used for seasoned Sherpa climbers who are responsible for opening up climbing routes by fixing ropes, setting up temporary bridges and clearing all possible obstructions in the Khumbu icefall.
It took 18 for a team of six Sherpas to clear the route, according to Tshering Sherpa, chief executive officer of Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC), a body responsible for the job. “The team of icefall doctors successfully opened the route up to Camp II (6400 m),” he said.
The clearing of the route along the Khumbu glacier is followed by fixing of ropes along the higher area up to the summit.
Another team led by Kami Rita Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks has already left for base camp to fix ropes from Camp 2 up to the summit.
Kami Rita, who hopes to improve his own record of the 25th summit of Everest, said that his team hoped to fix rope in Mount Everest and Lhotse by the first week of May.
The job of an icefall doctor is considered extremely dangerous because of the need to pave a new reliable way through the ever changing and treacherous landscape of creveasses and glaciers. In 2014, 16 Sherpa guides were buried to death when an avalanche hit them as they were ferrying loads for foreign clients to high camps.
The SPCC took the responsibility of laying out a route through Khumbu icefall in 2005. There has since been a significant drop in the number of incidents on Everest.
SPCC normally fixes the ladders and ropes upto camp II (6,400m), while expedition operators’ association fixes ropes above the camp II.
The route up to Camp II is commonly used for climbing Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse and icefall doctors are paid from 600 USD fees collected from each foreign climber.
In recent years, Spring has been the most popular climbing season in Everest because it allows a relatively longer weather window for climbers. Last year, Nepal issued a record number of 408 climbing permits, sparking speculation of possible traffic jams on the way to the summit. However, many climbers decided to quit due to an outbreak of coronavirus at the base camp.
In 2019, Everest witnessed a traffic jam at the death zone as everyone wanted to summit on the best weather window on May 21. That year, Nepal had issued only 385 climbing permits.
Governmental officials and agencies expect a slight decline in the number of climbers this year, owing to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and uncertainty over Chinese and Indian climbers. Until Friday, Nepal’s Department of Tourism (DoT) had issued 505 climbing permits for the spring. Of them, 204 are climbing permits for Everest. Permits are issued until early May, according to Bhisma Bhattarai of DoT.
“There won’t be a significant drop as China continues to restrict climbing from its side,” said Bhattarai.
Ukrainian climbers decided to boycott expeditions in protest of Russian invasion, while China has imposed a ban on travel from and in the country as a measure to control coronavirus.
Ukraine’s mission in India had even requested the Nepal government to ban Russians from climbing mountains. Nepal government, however, has been saying it never received such a request. Data shows that a total of 16 Russians have acquired permits to climb Everest.
Expedition operators say some climbers have abandoned their summit plans due to covid-induced economic crisis all across the world. “We lost almost half of the clients this year. Some of them canceled their expedition at the last hour,” said Chhang Dawa Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks, Nepal’s biggest outfitter, which had 132 clients just for Everest last year.
Elsewhere in Nepal’s himalayas, climbers look set for summit push in Dhaulagiri, Annapurna, Malaku and Kanchenjunga. “Tonight summit push on Dhaulagiri. We are at 7400m now,” Mingma Gyalje Sherpa of Imagine Nepal updated his facebook post.
Mingma, who is accompanied by 12 climbing Sherpa, is leading a team of 10 climbers on Dhaulagiri, according to Dawa Futi Sherpa, manager of the outfitter. This could be the first 8000m summit of the spring season.
