By Alan Arnette6 min read

Everest 2026: April 19 Weekend Update – 8000er Summits, Icefall Woes

April 19 Weekend Update
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.

Big Picture

Ryan Waters of Mountain Professionals tells me from base camp:

Confirmed that above the #4 SPCC  [Sagamartha Pollution Control Committee] marker, the doctors have stopped progress out of caution for a section of Seracs to have some downhill movement in the warming temperatures. Yesterday, our Sherpas mentioned that around the 20th, a small team of icefall doctors plans to go up and check on any changes.

Groups are trickling into Basecamp and or working their way to the Lobuche climb in the interim. Our team plans to have a puja ceremony on the 19th, and then take some days to relax before heading down to climb Lobuche, as there is no rush with the Everest route due to the delay. 
The Icefall Doctors have every right to be cautious. On April 18, 2014, similar hanging seracs collapsed onto the Icefall, taking 14 Sherpa lives. In the autumn of 2019, several teams, including Maddison Mountaineering, had to abandon their effort due to the hanging serac. It finally fell, but no one was there at the time.
 
2026 EBC. Courtesy of Ryan Waters, Mountain Professionals
2026 EBC. Courtesy of Ryan Waters, Mountain Professionals

Climbing the Seven Summits uses Lobuche East as an acclimatization climb, as do many teams, but here is their rundown:

One unique aspect of our Everest program is that we set up a dedicated Lobuche base camp to allow our teams to climb Lobuche East peak en route to base EBC. We use Lobuche as a warm-up climb to practice techniques and acclimatize in a safer, less consequential environment than the Khumbu icefall. This is not only fun and a great addition to our main objective, Everest, but it also allows us to skip a rotation through the Khumbu icefall, which keeps our teams safer. They are more acclimatized once they do move through the icefall, allowing them to move faster: speed is safety in the high alpine.
We do extensive training before the Lobuche climb and enjoy a superbly well-appointed, hygienic camp, rather than staying in Lobuche town, where sickness can run rampant.
We have been using Lobuche as a shakeout and acclimatization climb since the beginning, and remain one of only a few teams to employ this strategy. We have seen greater success on Everest because of this.
So, is this a problem? Yes and no. In 2026, most teams will make only one or two rotations to Camp2 before making their summit attempt. It is April 19, and most summits occur between May 15 and 23, so there is plenty of time and no need to worry…yet.

Ryan Mitchell Update & No O’s Climbers

Ryan Mitchell, 21, is returning to the US after developing HAPE and enduring a dangerously low blood-oxygen saturation level of 35. The normal EBC range is 80-90 for most people. He and his climbing partner, Justin Sackett, 28, arrived in mid-March to acclimatize before an attempt on Everest/Lhotse without oxygen.

They decided to take a few days’ break in Kathmandu while the doctors figured out the route.  They flew back to Gorak Shep and returned to EBC when Ryan became ill. He flew to Lukla to recover, where he was diagnosed with HAPE. He then flew to Kathmandu and is in transit home. He’s in good spirits but obviously disappointed. Justin will continue his no-Os quest. Justin is a professional mountain guide and the founder of Skyline Mountain Guides.

Another no-O’s person I’m following is Summit Coach client Reid Tileston. He summited from Tibet last year with Alpenglow and was returning with them, but since the Chinese closed their 8000er, this spring switched to Maddison Mountaineering to the Nepal side.

He’ll be on a private climb with Maddison’s lead guide, Terray Sylvester. Reid has been training hard, and it shows. “Got a VO2 test yesterday. Came back at the 99th percentile. Feeling happy to be in the 1%. Nice to see the results of the hard training.”

Other no Os climbers include:
 
Ecuadorian Karl Egloff, 44, and American Tyler Andrews, 35, are back this year for no O’s attempts plus FKT records. Karl will climb without oxygen from Base Camp to the summit and back down. At the same time, Tyler is reportedly climbing without Os only from Base Camp to the summit.
 
Norwegian mountaineer Kristin Harila, 39, who holds the record for the fastest ascent of all 14 eight-thousanders, is back to summit Nuptse, Lhotse, and Everest without supplemental oxygen. She will use Seven Summit Treks expeditions for all three mountains.
 
Also, Saulius Damulevicius (Lithuania) — A veteran with nine expeditions and six 8,000m summits without supplementary oxygen or personal Sherpa support, and Marcelo Segovia (Ecuador) — A policeman and mountain guide on his second no-O2 attempt.

Other 8000ers – Summits!!!

The Nepali operators dominated the popular 8000ers of Annapurna, Dhaulagiri and Makalu, with scores of summits over the weekend.
 
A team of 8 Sherpas from 14 Peaks Expedition fixed the route to the summit of Annapurna I on Friday, April 18, marking the first 8000er summit of this spring 2026 season. Two foreign climbers also summited after the Sherpas. Seven Summits Treks noted 10 people summited, 5 Sherpas with 5 clients. Elite Expeditions also claimed six clients summiting.
 
Teams summited Dhaulagiri, including Pioneer Adventure with 9 Sherpas and 8 clients. Imagine Nepal saw summtis as well. And on Makalu, Seven Summits Treks reports their 6 Sherpa rope team also summited.

Next Week

Teams continue to arrive at EBC, but nothing really happens until the Icefall Doctors get the route fixed to at least Camp 1. Hopefully, we’ll see some progress this week, as they have been very quiet thus far.

Nepal Permit Update

As of April 15, 2026, Nepal has issued 700 climbing permits to 69 teams for 23 peaks. This is the current tally for the 8000ers. The Ministry of Tourism is not reporting as readably as in prior years, thus some banks.

8000erTeams  Male ClientsFemale ClientsTotal
Annapurna I419827
Dhaulagiri3161228
Everest3023463297
Kanchenjunga2121022
Lhotse4251641
Makalu8401454
TOTALS51346123469

Here’s to a safe season for everyone on all the peaks.

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything

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3 thoughts on “Everest 2026: April 19 Weekend Update – 8000er Summits, Icefall Woes”

  1. Ryan Mitchell, for his No Oxygen attempt of Everest had gone back to USA, due to HAPE. Surprisingly, he has been acclimitising in EBC, since March, but why did he go back to Kathmandu ? He should have gone to Lukla instead. At 21 ,probably he needs more Experience to Do Everest with NO Oxygen..

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  2. The serac collapse in 2014 claimed the lives of 16 people in the icefall, not 14. Of the 16 high altitude workers who died that day, 13 were Sherpa, 3 were Nepali but not Sherpa by ethnicity. 3 of the 16 bodies were never found. A very distressing few days, and a period that many of us who were there at that time will not soon forget. Hopefully the icefall doctors find a way to steer well clear of the danger this season.

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