At 4a.m. onThursday, a 300-foot section of Mount Everest’sKhumbuIcefall collapsed, , who both work for Nepal-based .
Reports indicate thataseracfell onto the route, hitting the Sherpas. The full extent of their injuries isn’t immediately clear. According to , NgimaSherpa’s injuries were the mostsevere and he had to be airlifted toNorvic International Hospital in Kathmandu.Dendi Sherpa is being treated at aclinic set up at Base Camp by the Himalayan Rescue Association. Kuntal Joisher, an Indian climber who is on the Satori team, said via Facebook that“Ngima's injury is moreon the ribs and he’s inKathmandu right now and doing good. And Tendi is in camp right now and resting and recovering for the next fewdays.”
Climbers making acclimatization trips to higher camps usually make their way through the Icefall in the early hours of the morning, before the sun heats up the ice and makes the area more erratic and unstable. After the seraccollapsed, the damaged route was closed for two hours while a specialized team ofSherpas, known as the Icefall Doctors, climbed to the location withnew ropes and ladders to make repairs.
The Icefall varies in width, from over half a mile to athird of a mile. As with manyglaciers, the Khumbu moves as much as threefeet a day in the center, while its edges remainstilldue to frictionagainst rock walls. The top of the glacier moves faster than the bottom as well. It’sthis dynamic of fast and slowmoving sections that creates ice seracs that are over 30 feethigh and crevasses, some of which are over 150 feet deep.
These towering pillars of ice cancollapse without warning. When they do,ice particles, some the size of cars, explodeacross the route. In 2014, a collapsing serac killed 16 Sherpaswho were waiting for a ladder to be replaced over acrevasse as they were ferrying loads to the higher camps. In 1970, six Sherpas werekilled while supporting a Japanese expedition when a similar incident occurred.