Icefall doctors to open Everest route

Kathmandu: As the Spring season starts for mountain climbing, a team of icefall doctors led by Ang Sarki Sherpa has already headed towards Everest base camp from Namche Bazaar Tuesday to open the Everest routes for the climbers.

According to Nishan Shrestha- an official at the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC) the Icefall doctors will reach the base camp within a couple of days.

The SPCC annually deploys these Icefall doctors to clear the garbage from the Everest region and fix climbing trails for the alpinists, who make plans to scale various mountain peaks including Mt Everest in the Spring season which has already set in.

Opening the climbing routes means Icefall doctors fixing ladders and ropes for the main climbing routes. Rope fixing in the difficult icefall sections along the route is also part and parcel of opening routes for the climbers in the season.
The SPCC charges 600 US dollars from each of the foreign climbers who plan to summit Mt. Everest in the climbing season.

According to the expedition operators, despite global Coronavirus pandemic and many climbers canceling their earlier bookings for expeditions, as many as 30 teams of world climbers are going to attempt Mt. Everest in the spring season.

Many expedition agencies have started dropping loads in the Khumbu region as the preparatory arrangement for the summit.