Month: April 2026

The route is in to Camp 2, thus allowing Sherpa rope fixers to begin fixing it to the summit, starting with Camp 3. The serac has not completely fallen, so it brings the question of how much risk each individual – client and Sherpa is willing to take? While the route to Camp 1 is about two weeks late, there is still plenty of time this season, so, regardless of what you may read, the Everest 2026 season is not at risk—anymore. #everest2026

We may finally see how climate change has impacted climbing Mt. Everest: melting seracs threatening climbers, and helicopters used to bypass the icefall. #everest2026

After waiting as long as two weeks, climbers on Annapurna, Makalu and Dhaulagiri finally stood on the summit. But Everest lags as the route from EBC to the Western Cwm is stalled. EverestER is already busy, having seen over 100 patients thus far this season. It’s over for Ryan Mitchell. #everest2026

Teahouses are buzzing, the trails are full, the yaks are loaded–as are the porters bearing unbelievable loads. Yes, the Khumbu is alive. But the weather is poor for some of the 8000ers. #everest2026

In this weekend update, I cover a lot of ground, primarily around misinformation regarding “Everest Guides Poisoning Clients” – FALSE. The actual issue is a large-scale insurance fraud scheme targeting trekkers (not climbers) across Nepal’s trekking circuits, involving fake helicopter evacuations and hospital stays. Additionally, Global Rescue will not provide longline rescues above Camp 2 this year due to a lack of qualified pilots, which will fundamentally change expectations for climber safety.  We also look at heavy snow delaying summits on Annapurna and, of course, a status update on Ryan Mitchell. #everest2026