{"id":47705,"date":"2025-04-13T15:50:49","date_gmt":"2025-04-13T21:50:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/?p=47705"},"modified":"2025-05-11T08:37:07","modified_gmt":"2025-05-11T14:37:07","slug":"everest-2025-weekend-update-april-13-icefall-in-summits-and-deaths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/2025\/04\/13\/everest-2025-weekend-update-april-13-icefall-in-summits-and-deaths\/","title":{"rendered":"Everest 2025: Weekend Update April 13\u2013Icefall In, Summits and Deaths"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was a tough week in the Himalayas. We saw summits on two 8,000ers, and two Sherpas died. The Icefall Doctors finally established the route to Camp 1 through the Khumbu Icefall. Additionally, it appears that the early predictions of a record and crowded Nepal side are coming true, with more permits issued at this time than during the same period last year.<\/p>\n

Big Picture<\/h2>\n

Teams are streaming into Everest Base Camp on the Nepalese side, while those headed to the Tibetan side are finalizing plans and conducting last-minute gear checks before leaving home. The trekking peaks, including Island, Lobuche, and others, are busy with Everest climbers summiting as an alternative to one rotation through the Khumbu Icefall. In contrast, others reach their summit goals on those peaks independently.<\/p>\n

The Indian Army is back with three large teams, comprising 47 climbers, this year. After missing the last few, they have been regulars for years. In 2015, they stayed behind at EBC after the earthquake to help with the clean-up.<\/p>\n

Sherpas from a few teams have already carried gear to Stock Camp 2.<\/p>\n

In sad news, the first death of the Everest season has occurred at the EBC. Lanima Sherpa, 55, reportedly<\/a> died due to high-altitude sickness at the Base Camp of Mount Everest.<\/p>\n

Last Week – Icefall Reaches Camp 1<\/h2>\n
\"2025<\/a>
2025 Icefall Doctors at the top of the Khumbu Icefall<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Icefall Doctors completed the fixed ropes to the top of the Khumbu Icefall and will soon reach Camp 1, followed by Camp 2 at the base of the Lhotse Face.<\/p>\n

This progress clears the way for Sherpas from all teams at EBC to begin ferrying tents, food, stoves, fuel, tables, and chairs to these upper camps. It will still be a week or more before we see the first members go up.<\/p>\n

The first course of business is to have a Puja where a local Lama prays for forgiveness from the mountain gods for damaging the peak with sharp objects like crampons, ice axes, and ice screws, permission to climb on the peak, and also for the safety of everyone on the expeditions, climbers or not.<\/p>\n

The Icefall Doctors are experts at navigating the route, but it can be challenging at times, and this year is proving it. The abnormally dry winter and high winds have caused dangerous rockfalls from Everest’s West Shoulder onto the Icefall. This map illustrates that various routes have emerged over the years, depending on the prevailing conditions. This year, the Docs planned to use drones to identify the optimal one, but I have not seen any updates on their deployment.<\/p>\n

\"Khumbu<\/a>
Khumbu Icefall routes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The upper Icefall is a jumble of house-sized ice blocks strewn apart as the glacier falls from the Western Cwm. Gravity pulls them apart, while the friction at the base against the rocks keeps them in place. The result is enormous gaps that often require long ladders to cross.<\/p>\n

\"Khumbu<\/a>
Khumbu Icefall 2017. courtesy of Ben Jones<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Early<\/a>
Early Everest Crevasse Crossing. Courtesy of National Geographic<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1951, the British team, led by Eric Shipton, climbed through the Icefall but stopped just short of the summit 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

Contrary to popular belief and media reports, there are more dangerous sections on the Nepal side than the Icefall. Yes, if measured by single events, more deaths have occurred there, such as in 1970, when six Sherpas died in the Icefall, in 2014, when sixteen Sherpas died when a serac collapsed off West Shoulder, and in 2023, when three Sherpas died in the upper Icefall when it collapsed.<\/p>\n

I used the Himalayan Database and searched for deaths between 5,400 and 5,940 meters\u2014the altitude range of the Icefall. Of the 225 deaths on the Nepal side, 43 occurred in the Icefall. Virtually all these deaths were Sherpas ferrying loads to camps in the Cwm and above.<\/p>\n