Mount Everest Route Shut By Huge Glacier Chunk Amid Climbing Rush

An enormous slab of glacier ice has blocked the path of Mount Everest climbers at the base camp right at the start of the busy climbing season.

Those who set up ropes and ladders along the base camp, also known as the "Icefall doctors," haven't been able to find an alternate way around the approximately 100-foot chunk of ice blocking the path near Camp 1.

As per the stranded climbers, the only resort is to wait for the ice block, called a serac, to melt, which they are hoping will happen within a few days.

This blockade will lead to a delay in preparations for ascents on Mount Everest in the spring season, which is considered the best time for it. On top of that, there is fear that this will add to the queues of climbers wanting to reach the summit.

Purnima Shrestha, who is a photographer and climber from Nepal also raised her concerns regarding the traffic jam issue that could be caused due to the delay.

"We usually climb between Camp I, Camp 2 and Camp 3 back and forth during this acclimatising process. Delays in the opening of the route have added concerns of possible 'traffic jams' to the peak this year," she told the BBC from Base Camp.

The icefall doctors working for the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC), whose job is to secure a rope long enough to reach as far as Camp 2 on Everest, which is 8,848.86m (29,031 feet) above sea level arrived at the Base Camp as early as three weeks ago but are currently stranded due to the blockade.

By this time, those doctors would have fixed the route up to Camp 3, but could not due to the huge piece of ice 600m below Camp 1.

"We haven't found artificial ways to melt it so far, so we don't have any options other than to wait for it melting and crumbling itself," SPCC base camp co-ordinator Tshering Tenzing Sherpa told the BBC.

Ang Sarki Sherpa, who has been an icefall doctor for years said that they are hoping for the serac to melt because of its weak lower part.

"We reached it on 10 April. The crevasse below is melting," he said, adding that Sherpas after him said it had melted further and was close to collapsing.

He further said that no path of bypassing the huge ice block could be found and the alternate route to Camp 1 is very difficult to put up this year.

Nepal's Department of Tourism is pondering on different ways to safely drop help the climbers reach Camp 2, which also includes airlifting.

"We are thinking about airlifting the rope-fixing team and their logistics to Camp 2 by helicopter, so they can open the route above that altitude for now," Ram Krishna Lamichhane, the department's director general, said.

"We will wait for the ice to melt at the place where there is an obstruction and work there when everything is safe."

The favourable weather for climbing the summit is only expected to be until the end. While the ice melting is currently obstructing the route, the Sherpas are still hopeful that the fixing of the rope till Camp 2 will be finished in a few days and the summit within a week.

Sharp Increase In Ticket Prices

Most of the ascents on Mount Everest are from the Nepal side rather than via the easier route from Tibet because of easier permits. Last year, while 700 people, including guides, summited from Nepal, only 100 from Tibet, mostly Chinese.

However, in 2019, a picture of climbers queuing on Mount Everest went viral, and since then, the Nepalese government has tightened its permit system and hiked the prices. This year, the prices have increased from $11,000 to $15,000 for foreigners, while for Nepalis, they have doubled to $1,000.