Everest 2025: Weekend Update April 27–On the Move!
Drone crash, Icefall collapse, ropes to Camp 3, and climbers tag Camp 2. 374 Everest permits thus far, but only 48 on the Tibet side. It’s been a busy week on Everest. #everest2025
Category: Everest Popular Posts
Everest 2025:Remembering The Day Nepal Shook–10 Years Later
April 25 is always a difficult day in Nepal. This year, 2025, marks the tenth anniversary of the deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake that occurred in Nepal, taking 9,000 lives, including 19 at Everest Base Camp. I’m sure there will be many services, memorials, and simple, quiet moments to honor those who died and keep their memories alive.
In current news, a multi-ladder crossing collapsed in the lower Khumbu Icefall, which is not unusual. The Icefall Docs have already fixed the crossing. However, some climbers will have a day off from going to C1 to acclimate. Most are still in EBC anyway. A few teams have begun their trail to the Chinese Base Camp on the Tibet side. So, no big update today on what’s happening on Everest, other than everything seems to be progressing according to traditional schedule, with teams on both sides on their acclimatization rotations. I’ll get back to the regular updates for the Weekend update.
I wrote this narrative a few years ago about my experience that day. I was going between Camp 1 and Camp 2 when the quake hit. It’s a moment in my life that I will never forget. Now for this memory. #everest2025
Everest 2025: When Will They Summit?
The Khumbu is busy. Base Camp is filling up. Climbers are posting selfies and are already acclimatizing at Camp 1. Everest 2025 is underway, but when will they summit? #everest2025
Everest 2025: Weekend Update April 20–BaseCamp Sprawl
The 2025 season is well underway, and more teams arrive at Everest Base Camp each day. The Icefall Doctors have the fixed line to Camp 2, where 8K Expeditions will take over and fix the route to the summit. I expect them by early May. It’s a tough job, to be sure. Also, a short narrative on the puja ceremony.
This may go down as the season of stunts, pleasing those who have called Everest a circus for years. Game on!
#everest2025
Everest 2025: April 18, A Day to Remember
On April 18, 2014, at 6:35 am, an ice serac released a small section onto the Khumbu Icefall. 16 Sherpas were killed in a moment as tons of ice fell, leaving the mountain workers with few options and nowhere to hide. Historically, on April 18, there was no climbing to honor the fallen, but memories fade, and today, eleven years later, in 2025, there is climbing on Mt. Everest. Only a few guides, mostly Western, acknowledge the day on their sites. #everest2025
Everest 2025: Weekend Update April 13–Icefall In, Summits and Deaths
It was a tough week in the Himalayas. We saw summits on two 800ers, two Sherpas died, and the Icefall Doctors finally got the route to Camp 1 through the Khumbu Icefall. Also, it feels like the early predictions of a record and crowded Nepal side are coming true, with more permits issued at this time than last year. #everest2025
Everest 2025: Weekend Update April 6–1st 8000er Summits
Despite ominous weather and route conditions, various media reports have at least four climbers summiting Annapurna on Sunday, April 6, 2025. Early reports of disturbing conditions on Annapurna seem to be mirrored on Everest. The Kumbu is buzzing with activity, and the Icefall Doctors are struggling again this year to get the route through the Icefall. In other words, busy as usual in the mid-2020s. #everest2025
Everest 2025: Weekend Update March 30
Early data suggest Everest will see a record year, primarily driven by Chinese and Indian clients. I won’t be surprised to see over 1,000 total summits from both sides. The Icefall Doctors are already at work. Sherpas are setting up Base Camp, which is starting to look like a small city.
The Himalayan winter was warm and dry, causing the snow line on Everest to move higher and increasing the chances of rockfall. Climbers need to be very aware and stay safe this season. #everest2025
Everest 2025: Weekend Update March 23
This is the Weekend Update for Everest 2025. The season is about to get started in earnest. Climber after climber and team after team are leaving home. In many cases, scores of Sherpas are on their way to Everest Base Camp to begin the arduous process of establishing a home for over 1,000 people this spring season. The Icefall Doctors are already at work. #everest2025
Everest 2025: Welcome to Everest 2025 Coverage
Welcome to the kick-off for my Everest 2025 coverage! 2025 will be my 25th season of all things Everest: 19 times providing coverage, another four seasons of climbing on Everest, and two years attempting Lhotse.
I summited Everest on May 21, 2011, and have climbed on it three other times (all from Nepal) – 2002, 2003, and 2008, each time reaching just below the Balcony around 27,500′ (8400 meters) before health, weather or my judgment caused me to turn back.
I attempted Lhotse in 2015 and 2016. When not climbing, I cover the Everest season from my home in Colorado as I did in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and now the 2025 season. In 2020, when both sides of the mountain were closed due to COVID, I did a virtual series, Virtual Everest 2020 – Support the Climbing Sherpas, to raise money for the out-of-work Sherpa community working with nine commercial guiding companies.
If you are one of my millions of regular readers, hello again; if you are new, welcome! I aim to provide insight and analyze the activity without favorites or agendas. I write my posts using sources from the mountain, public information, and my experiences.
I often post as the season starts in early April and ramps up during the intense summit pushes in mid-to-late May. I spend several hours a day creating these updates. You can sign up for (and cancel) email notifications on the lower right sidebar or check the site frequently.
As of this post, the Icefall Doctors have arrived at Everest Base Camp on the Nepal side to begin setting the fixed lines from EBC to Camp 2. After that, one of the commercial teams, 8K Expeditions, will fix the route to the summit, opening it to all climbers on the mountain. The Tibet side usually lags behind Nepal, with teams arriving later. The climb on that side is slightly shorter due to higher camps.
The climbing headline is we can expect a couple of interesting climbs, like speed climbs or using Nobel gases to shorten the expedition length. Also, more experiments with oxygen delivery systems might be conducted, such as using a nasal cannula or a lightweight tube with prongs that fit inside the nostrils instead of a full face mask, especially while sleeping above Camp 2 or the North Col. Overall, 99% of activity will be traditional commercial teams guide clients on the two commercial routes.
The financial headline for 2025 is that prices continue to increase for all Western and some Nepali operators on the Nepal side and stay flat or slightly lower for most Tibetan-side operators. The increases are due to inflation, labor wage increases, higher pay for Sherpas with IFMGA certification, more Nepalese regulations around minimum salaries and insurance, and a strong client demand environment.
#everest2025