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3mo ago

Unstable Ice Block Halts Everest Route as Nepal OKs Helicopter Supply Runs

The blockage threatens a shorter May weather window, raising crowding risks for more than 400 permit-holders.

An expedition team hikes near the Khumbu Icefall on April 22, 2026, with the route to Camp One still closed.
Image
A general view of base camp overlooking Mount Everest, the world's highest peak and other peaks of the Himalayan range in Solukhumbu district, also known as the Everest region, Nepal, April 17, 2025. REUTERS/Purnima Shrestha
Several hundred people are estimated to be at Everest Base Camp, practicing technical skills as they wait.

Overview

  • Officials said Friday the 30‑metre serac in the Khumbu Icefall has stopped route‑fixing below Camp 1, leaving teams on hold at base camp.
  • Nepal approved helicopter shuttles to Camp 2 to ferry ropes, oxygen and food, aiming to open the upper route while the lower blockage clears.
  • Authorities have issued 410 Everest permits this season, so delayed acclimatisation could compress summit attempts into a narrower weather window.
  • Icefall Doctors paused work after finding no safe bypass and are monitoring the serac with aerial surveys, drones and 3D imagery.
  • The Khumbu Icefall shifts day by day and has caused deadly avalanches, including a 2014 collapse that killed 16 Sherpa guides.