A team of icefall doctors, tasked with opening up the Everest climbing route through the Khumbu icefall by fixing ropes, successfully opened the climbing route on Wednesday, officials said.
Rakesh Gurung, Director of the Department of Tourism, said that climbers and high-altitude workers can now cross the Khumbu Icefall to get to the upper camps, as ladders and ropes have been laid up to Camp II.
“The team was forced to turn back twice from Camp I on the usual route. Then, the team followed the old route, along the western spur, and succeeded in opening up the passage up to Camp II,” he told Everest Chronicle.
The icefall doctors, team of experienced Sherpas responsible for setting up routes in the Khumbu Icefall, have been working for over a month since March 14. Several attempts to open the route had failed due to encounter with large ice boulders and seracs in the ever-changing icefall, causing weeks of delays in the opening of the route and preventing climbers from moving upward.
The Khumbu icefall is the only access point to climb Mount Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse in Nepal.
The opening of the route has now made it possible for climbers to acclimatize at higher camps and for expedition agencies to transport necessary supplies to higher camps.
Mingma Sherpa, chairman of Seven Summit Treks, said that several agencies are planning to airdrop supplies to Camp 2 using chartered helicopters due to delay in opening of the routes.
Various stakeholders, including government authorities, local bodies, agencies, the Nepal Mountaineering Association, and non-profits like SPCC, collaborate to ensure expedition success. Responsibilities are divided, with the SPCC managing routes up to Camp 2 and the expedition operator’s association handling the route from Camp 2 to the summit with fixed ropes. Additionally, climbers are charged USD 600 by the SPCC for using the icefall route, on top of the USD 11,000 permit fee paid to the government.
The team responsible for managing the 2024 spring icefall route includes Tshering Tenzing Sherpa as the Base Camp Manager, eight icefall doctors (Ang Sarki Sherpa, Dawa Nuru Sherpa, Pemba Tshering Sherpa, Ngima Tenzi Sherpa, Ngawang Chimmi Sherpa, Dawa Chhiri Sherpa, Dawa Zangbu Sherpa, and Mingma Gyaljen Sherpa), two kitchen staff (Ngawang Thanten Sherpa and Wangdi Gelbu Sherpa), and a garbage management staff (Yam Bahadur Lama), according to SPCC.
