The season for mountain climbers who want to dare to climb the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest, should be in full swing. However, there is a major problem: a glacier block of about 30 meters blocks the route. Fears are growing that climbers will line up again this year to reach the summit. That had rather fatal consequences.
To get to the top of Mount Everest, at an altitude of 8,849 metres, climbers visit several camps to acclimatize and rest. To make everything right for them, ‘ice doctors’ are already busy providing the routes with ropes and ladders, but they see a big problem.
Getting to the first of the four camps, at an altitude of about 6,000 meters, is now impossible for the ice doctors. There is an ice block about 30 meters high just below the camp. Other routes are also not possible; all you have to do is wait for the ice to melt.
Big problems
The fact that preparation is now at a standstill could cause problems. It is in the middle of the mountain climbing season on Mount Everest, which falls between March and May. Ropes and ladders cannot be laid above the camp. Normally the route would now be in order up to camp three.
Those ropes and ladders can only be constructed once the glacier has melted; that may take a few more days. Due to the delay, there are concerns about long traffic jams towards the top. Where people cannot climb now, this will be postponed to later or even to the next season.
Busy climbing season on Mount Everest
The fears are not without reason: it promises to be one of the busiest climbing seasons ever at the mountain. Through Thursday, the government has issued climbing permits to 410 people, nearly breaking the record of 479 permits set in 2023. The Kathmandu Post.
To prevent these traffic jams, other solutions are being looked at. It is not possible to melt the ice block artificially. Nepal’s tourism ministry says it is also looking at airlifting teams to camp two by helicopter.
11 deaths in 2019
In 2019 there was large traffic jams at the top, which led to a total of eleven deaths. Alpinists who wanted to reach the top of the highest mountain in the world ended up in a traffic jam of about two hundred people. When there were problems, they had nowhere to go.
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