![\"Everest](\"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/everestsouthroutemap.jpg\")
<\/a>As with all glaciers, the Khumbu moves,\u00a0as much as 3’\/1m a day in the center while barely\u00a0moving at\u00a0the edges due to friction against\u00a0rock walls. The top of the glacier moves faster than the bottom\u00a0due to friction against\u00a0the earth. It is this dynamic of fast and slow moving sections plus the precipitous drop that create the deep crevasses, some over 150’\/45m deep and towering ice seracs over 30’\/9m high.<\/p>\n
Melting<\/strong><\/p>\n According to Kathmandu-based mountain research institute,\u00a0ICIMOD<\/a>, the Khumbu Glacier is melting but not as fast as many other glaciers due to it’s altitude. It is the highest glacier on earth. It is estimated to be retreating about 65’\/20m\u00a0per year and has shrunk about 3,100’\/940m\u00a0between the 1960s and\u00a02001. 1<\/sup><\/p>\n The glacier\u00a0has\u00a0thinned\u00a0by\u00a040-50’\/12-15m over most of the length. Everest Base Camp is lower today due to the ice melting. In 1953 when Hillary and Tenzing summited, EBC was about 17,454’\/5320m; today it is 17,322’\/5280m.<\/p>\n Between 1962 and 2002 the Icefall\u00a0thinned by an average of 56’\/17m, about a rate of 1.3’\/39cm per year.<\/p>\n Long-time Everest guide Russell Brice commented in my recent interview<\/a> with him that this melting may result in a safer Icefall for climbers. But he added\u00a0the Western Cwm may one day become the major obstacle of the South Col route:<\/p>\n But on Everest looking at photos from above, it seems that the Icefall between BC and C1 is actually getting easier and arguably safer. It also seems that several of the hanging glaciers above the Icefall are now leaning back and seem to be less active than what we experienced in 2012, again this can be explained by the warm temperatures at this altitude.<\/p>\n However it seems to me that the crevasses between C1 and C2 are getting deeper and are now longer which results in climbers having to walk longer distances as they zig zag through these crevasses, and of course this has also resulted in some longer ladder crossings over very deep crevasses. I will not be surprised to see that we will need more ladders between C1 and C2 than before. Maybe even at the bottom of the Lhotse Face as well.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n George Mallory while seeking a route to climb to the summit of Everest is said to have sighted the Icefall in the early 1920s and said it was “terribly steep and broken …\u00a0all in all the approach to the mountain from Tibet is easier<\/a>“5<\/sup> thus\u00a0shifted his efforts to Tibet.<\/p>\n It wasn’t until 1950 when Charlie Houston\u00a0and\u00a0Bill Tilman led a British reconnaissance team to scout a possible route from Nepal that the Khumbu Icefall was considered feasible.<\/p>\n In 1951, another British team lead by Eric Shipton climbed thru the Icefall but stopped just short of the top due to a wide crevasse. To cross the crevasses, the early expeditions used long tree trunks brought up from tree line after they ran out of ladders.<\/p>\n A Swiss team\u00a0in 1952 overcame that\u00a0obstacle by climbing into the crevasse and crossing a dangerous snow bridge. They reached 8500 meters using today’s Southeast Ridge route but failed to summit. Of course John Hunt’s 1953\u00a0British expedition that made the first summit using that same route.<\/p>\n There are multiple hazards within the Icefall that have taken lives. I used the Himalayan Database<\/a> to analyze the non-illness deaths between 17,500’\/5400m and 19,500’\/5940m and that were in the Icefall proper. There were 44 total deaths in the Icefall or 25% of the 176 total deaths on the Nepal side from 1953 to 2016.<\/p>\n The 44 deaths broke down as:<\/p>\n While I cite specific deaths to help others, I extend my condolences to all family, friends and teammates of these tragic events.<\/p>\n Crevasse: 6 or 14%<\/strong><\/p>\n Falling into a crevasse is quite common on mountains from Mont Blanc to Rainer to Everest. I\u00a0fell in one above Camp 1 in 2002! \u00a0On Everest the standard protocol is to be clipped into the fixed rope\u00a0at all times while moving up or down the Icefall so that if you step on a soft snow bridge and fall into a crevasse or slip off a ladder, the rope will catch you. Sadly, many\u00a0falls into crevasses were the result of not being clipped in.<\/p>\n In 2005, a westerner fell into a crevasse while crossing a soft snow bridge. \u00a0Adventure Consultant team members who witnessed the fall all agreed: \u201cIt was clear that this climber was not clipped into the fixed ropes at the time of his fall; thus, a slip which should have been quickly arrested resulted in a fatal fall over a 10m drop.\u201d\u00a03<\/sup><\/p>\n In 2012, a Sherpa fell from a ladder while not clipped into the fixed ropes and fell 150’\/46m into a crevasse.\u00a04<\/span><\/sup><\/p>\n Icefall Collapse: 9 or 21%<\/strong><\/p>\n The next hazard is being hit by an ice structure\u00a0collapsing within the Icefall itself. There are many towering seracs (ice towers) that can fall over as the Icefall shifts or an entire section can simply collapse under a climber – remember it can move a meter\u00a0each day and can\u00a0shift suddenly\u00a0with no warning. Amazingly, this event is not very common but can easily\u00a0be the cause\u00a0of death.<\/p>\n A tragic example is from 1972 when an Australian climber\u00a0supporting Chris Bonnington’s\u00a0British Everest SW Face Expedition was ferrying loads. He entered the Icefall, but was not seen again. A search team found a big area of the Icefall that had collapsed and assumed he\u00a0was in that area when it happened. In 2008, his body was found at the foot of the Icefall. 2<\/sup><\/p>\n Avalanche: 29 or 66%<\/strong><\/p>\n Ice falling off the West Shoulder of Everest has resulted in massive casualties and is widely considered the most pressing danger in modern times. This is the serac, Russell Brice mentioned earlier.<\/p>\n There have two major events. In 1970, six Sherpas\u00a0were killed while supporting a Japanese expedition and in 2014, one of the worse days in Everest history, 16 Sherpas died on 18 April when a hanging serac released\u00a0as the Sherpas were waiting for a ladder to be replaced over a crevasse\u00a0as they were ferrying loads\u00a0to the higher camps.<\/p>\n The route thru the Icefall to Camp 2 is put in and maintained by a small team of Sherpas aptly called the Icefall Doctors. After the fatalities in 2014, Everest veterans huddled on changing the route thru the Icefall.<\/p>\n In the past decade it had shifted more towards the West Shoulder because it was faster for the Icefall Doctors to create the route. But the danger was obvious with the serac looming overhead. Looking at old maps and pictures, long time veterans\u00a0Pete Athens and David Breashears suggested\u00a0the route should return towards Nuptse as it was in the 1950s..<\/p>\n In 2015, the Doctors did just that making it shorter and safer. The route was not fully tested as the earthquake ended that season early but in 2016 they used the same path with good results, albeit with some section being\u00a0steep and difficult.<\/p>\n With all of this history, how do you protect yourself while climbing in the Khumbu Icefall?<\/p>\n For foreigners it may take over 6 hours to climb to Camp 1 on the first rotation. Once they are acclimatized, that time can be cut in half but most people still take four to five hours. This means leaving base camp no later\u00a0than 6:00 am. However, most teams are on the ice by 4:00 am.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nThe First Icefall Climbs<\/h3>\n
<\/a>The Hazards<\/h3>\n
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<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>The Icefall Route<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/a><\/a>\u00a0Safety in the Icefall<\/h3>\n