Nepal government has started preliminary work to look into the shifting of the Everest Base Camp in an attempt to protect the Everest area from rising temperatures and uncontrolled human activities. 

Formation of a seven member study committee led by National Mountaineering Association’s head Nima Nuru Sherpa has been proposed by the Department of Tourism. The purpose of this committee is to study the current situation of base camp and possibility of its shifting. The committee will include a director from the Department of Tourism, representative from the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, Department of Survey and three other members chosen by the Tourism Ministry. The committee is expected to visit the base camp, consult with all stakeholders and submit a report to the government.

“It will take at least six months to finalize the report,” said Surya Prasad Upadhyay, director at the Department of Tourism. “The department has already tabled this proposal before the ministry. Actual work will begin when the ministry gives us the go ahead.” 

The idea of shifting base camp came into the spotlight in April of this year. A 7-member task force called Mountaineering Monitoring and Facilitation Committee formed to monitor and facilitate the spring Everest expedition suggested relocation of Everest base camp. They argue that the artificial rise in local temperature due to unchecked human activities in the base camp have posed a threat to the icefall and snow layers around it.

They have suggested shifting the base camp to the rocky and snow-less Kala Patthar, at a slightly lower elevation than the current basecamp along the Khumbu icefall. They argue that the new location will have less impact on Everest icefall. 

Each year, more than 1500 people spend at least two months in the base camp during the Everest climbing season.

Everest’s highest glacier has lost 2,000 years of ice in 30 years, according to the findings from the 2019 National Geographic and Rolex Perpetual Planet Everest Expedition.

“In 2013, the minimum temperature of the base camp was recorded as -27 degree celsius. In January 2022, the minimum temperature was recorded as -23 degree,” said Khimlal Gautam, a surveyor and two-times Everest climber. 

Experts say that the rampant use of LPG gas and kerosene for cooking is turning once icy surface of the base camp into an arid rocky mass. The base camp -which serves as base camp for Lhotse, Nuptse and Everest -uses around 50 cylinders of 14.2 kg LP gas every day, and thousands of liters of kerosene every season, according to Gautam. 

Expedition agencies use ice as the main source of water during the entire expedition period. In recent years, many trekkers also stay overnight at the base camp which is against the rules due to lack of oversight from the authorities. 

While some of the reasons behind melting of snow in the Himalayas is global and not addressed by shifting of the base camp, the artificial rise of temperature during the 3 months of Everest season is contributing to faster melting of ice in and around base camp according to the committee.

Some in the Nepali mountaineering community, however, say that the idea of shifting Everest base camp is impractical and unnecessary.

Famed mountaineer Kami Rita Sherpa argues that there is no alternative to the current base camp. "Even if the base camp is shifted somewhere else, it has to be used as higher camp," he told Everest Chronicle.

Kami Rita, who has a long experience of climbing 8,000m peaks, says it is too long of a trek to reach Camp I from the proposed base camp. "Climbers simply cannot reach Camp I from the proposed base camp. Besides, the proposed site lacks any source of water. Hotels in Gorakshep are already facing water crisis." Kami Rita says further adding, "And most of all, there is constant risk of avalanche from Mount Pumori on that site. Who will be responsible if avalanche hits mountaineers?"