KATHMANDU, APRIL 28
The Khumbu Icefall route on Mt. Everest is open.
After eight days of delays, mounting institutional pressure, and a week that tested the nerves of hundreds of climbers stranded at Base Camp, a joint team of mountain guides and icefall doctors punched through to Camp I on Monday morning - clearing the way for what promises to be one of the busiest Everest seasons on record.
The breakthrough came when 13 mountain guides from the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal (EOAN) joined eight icefall doctors from the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC) for a coordinated push through the section that had stalled the season. Two guides each from Seven Summit Treks, Pioneer Adventure, and 14 Peaks Expedition, four from 8K Expeditions, and three from TAG Nepal made up the EOAN contingent. The rope-fixing team confirmed it reached Camp I and was pressing on toward Camp II.
The route opened eight days later than last year, when the icefall was cleared on April 17, 2025.
"I thank the EOAN and SPCC teams for successfully opening the icefall route," EOAN General Secretary Rishi Ram Bhandari said Monday.
SPCC base camp manager Tshering Tenzing Sherpa confirmed the team had reached Camp I and was continuing upward.
EOAN field coordinator Lakpa Sherpa, who has managed base camp operations throughout the crisis, added a note of caution: "The exact condition of the hanging serac near the Western Cwm will be known only after the team returns to base camp."
A season that nearly stalled before it began
The story of how Nepal's most consequential climbing season in years almost unravelled before the first rope was fixed above Camp I begins in March - and runs through a week of competing assessments, institutional disagreements, and one unauthorised push that may have changed everything.
SPCC signed its route-setup contract on January 20. By end of February, ropes, ladders, and equipment had been delivered to Base Camp. The icefall doctor team arrived on March 4 and completed advanced refresher training in mountaineering, mountain rescue, and crevasse rescue at the Khumbu Climbing School before formal route-opening operations began on March 16 following the season's Puja ceremony.
Then the weather closed in.
Strong winds and continuous snowfall through the third and fourth weeks of March repeatedly shut down operations, though the icefall doctors worked whenever conditions permitted. By mid-April the route had been established as far as the Rockfall Area below Camp I - but a large, unstable hanging serac blocked the final critical section.
Three inter-agency coordination meetings had already been held in March under the Department of Tourism's leadership, bringing together SPCC, EOAN, TAAN, the Guide Association, NNMGA, NMA, and other stakeholders.
None produced a solution.
With the route still incomplete well past the point it would normally be open, the Department of Tourism, acting on a minister-level decision, granted EOAN special authorisation to mobilise skilled mountain guides from its member agencies to supplement the icefall doctors. It was a significant intervention, and one that carried political weight.
"Now there is no suspicion left to blame icefall doctors for delaying route fixing," Tshering said at the time.
The Serac: Three feet, then eight
At the heart of the delay was a single unstable mass of hanging ice. SPCC's position throughout was that no ladder or rope could be safely placed until the serac collapsed on its own. By the time the situation had drawn national attention, Tshering was reporting that the gap in the serac, originally around three feet, had widened to eight feet, a sign he believed pointed to an imminent natural fall.
On April 25, icefall doctor team leader Dawa Zangbu Sherpa and EOA representative Pasang Kami Sherpa conducted a helicopter inspection of the blockage to identify the safest possible line. The following morning, Sunday, April 26, a joint team of eight icefall doctors and 17 senior Sherpa guides from EOAN descended on the blocked section on foot. Their conclusion was unanimous: conditions were still not safe. Another wait of a few days was recommended.
That assessment was challenged the same afternoon.
An independent, uncoordinated group of six, including one foreigner, entered the icefall and crossed through the most dangerous section of the blockage, suggesting a viable line might exist.
Among them was a five-member team from Imagine Nepal, Elite Expeditions, and Altipro, joined by Polish mountaineer Bartek Ziemski, who fixed ladders and ropes toward Camp I before being forced to retreat just short of it by a whiteout.
Imagine Nepal's account was strikingly different from the official one.
"All climbers who have been above the ice blockage think the route is safe," the expedition said in a statement. "We believe Mother Qomolangma has shown us a path to make a safe climb." The team's drone footage was said to show safer routing options through the contested section.
Mike Hamill, owner of Climbing The Seven Summits, who had attended a base camp meeting with leaders from the various expedition teams the same day, was measured in his read of the situation. "A team of 20-plus from the icefall doctors, the EOA, and other teams went up to assess the state of the route and look for options. They all turned back in agreement that the route above was still too dangerous," he wrote.
"Another smaller independent team did make it above this section but it remains to be seen if their route is reasonable to send hundreds of climbers through."
He added: "I am inspired to see the entire Everest community coming together to work towards a common goal and find solutions."
The SPCC and EOAN teams returned Monday to inspect the line opened by the independent group. The full joint team followed - and succeeded.
A season under pressure
Throughout the delay, expedition operators were blunt about what was at stake. Acclimatisation rotations above Base Camp cannot begin until the icefall route is open. EOAN cannot begin fixing ropes from Camp II toward the summit until teams have cleared the icefall.
Every day lost compressed an already narrow summit window and raised the spectre of a dangerous rush when conditions finally permitted.
EOAN had formally requested government authorities to allow helicopters to airlift logistics and summit-route-fixing Sherpas directly to Camp II, bypassing the icefall entirely.
Extension of the climbing season beyond the usual May 29 closing date, by one to two weeks, in EOAN's proposal, had also been under active discussion. A drone had been placed on standby.
"Ferrying logistics and rope-fixing by Sherpa climbers to the high camp, as well as an extension of the climbing period, are also being discussed, as the delay in route-fixing could result in congestion during the peak season," Bhandari had said last week, appealing for patience. "It's a mountain, and everyone needs patience rather than indulging in the blame game," Lakpa echoed.
SPCC Chairman Lama Kazi Sherpa defended the icefall doctors throughout.
"They have a long legacy in Everest climbing. They know the dos and don'ts in rope fixing when it comes to placing ladders in the icefall section," he said.
With the route now open, those contingencies may no longer be necessary - though no official confirmation has been issued on whether the extension proposal has been formally dropped.
425 climbers waiting on Everest
What is clear is the scale of what now resumes.
As of April 27, the Department of Tourism has issued permits to 996 climbers across 116 teams on various peaks this spring season, collecting royalties of USD 7,235,071 - approximately Rs 1.07 billion.
Everest accounts for 425 of those climbers across 42 teams, making it by far the season's dominant peak. Lhotse has 111 permitted climbers across 9 teams, and Ama Dablam follows with 92 across 8 teams.
All foreign climbers on Everest, Lhotse, and Nuptse, and their Sherpa guides, must traverse the Khumbu Icefall to reach Camp II, making Monday's opening consequential for the entire high-altitude operation.
On Everest specifically, China leads with 98 climbers, followed by the United States with 57, India with 46, the United Kingdom with 29, and Russia with 18. Japan has 14 and Nepal 12. Climbers from 77 countries in total have received permits across all peaks - the broadest international representation the season has seen in years. Across all peaks, China, the United States, India, Germany, and the United Kingdom are the largest national contingents.
With the icefall now open, the season's attention shifts from whether Everest will open at all to whether the compressed schedule, and a mountain crowded with climbers from across the world, can be managed safely in the weeks ahead.