Navigating the Most Dangerous Part of an Everest Expedition
The Khumbu Icefall is a river of ice that moves up to a meter a day. For any Mount Everest expedition, it is the first and most terrifying obstacle on the way to the Mount Everest summit. Without the 'Icefall Doctors', the mountain would be impassable.
The Icefall Doctors are an elite team of Sherpas who arrive at Everest Base Camp weeks early. They find a path through the shifting towers of ice, fixing ropes and aluminum ladders across bottomless crevasses.
No amount of skill can protect you from a collapsing serac (ice tower). Climbers move through the icefall in the dark of night when the ice is most stable. It is the most adrenaline-pumping part of Everest trekking.
Because the glacier moves, the route can disappear overnight. The Doctors must inspect and repair the ladders every single day of the Mount Everest expedition season to ensure safe passage for summit teams.
The road to the Mount Everest summit is built on the bravery of these men. Every climber owes their summit to the work done in the treacherous Icefall.
