Early on the morning of May 5, two climbers were seriously injured when a snow bridge collapsed beneath their feet on the Khumbu Icefall, one of the most dangerous sections of Mount Everest. Thanks to the incredible skill of the Nepali rescue teams and the helicopter pilots involved in the rescue, both are stable and expected to make full recoveries.
The Khumbu Icefall is a wild part of one of the world’s wildest mountains. It sits at the head of the Khumbu Glacier, some 18,000 feet above sea level. Recently, a massive piece of ice blocked the route. Although it’s not all that far from Base Camp, it is widely regarded as one of the most dangerous sections of the South Col route to the summit of Everest.
According to reports the incident occurred just before 6 a.m. on Tuesday morning. Teams of guides and climbers were heading up the glacier to begin acclimatization. The previous night saw an influx of climbers who were taking advantage of the safer conditions that come with colder temperatures.
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“A group of climbers was making its way through the glacier when a serac abruptly crumbled, sending boulder-sized blocks of ice onto the route,” Outside magazine reported. “An eyewitness said that multiple people were buried when the serac fell, and that climbers sprang into action to save the two who were fully buried.”
Pastemba Sherpa, a guide who was there when the incident happened, captured video of the rescue. “Faced serious avalanche on Khumbhu Icefall Everest route,” he wrote. “Few climbers got into the accident and by God’s grace we were safe by a minute and could be able to help the victims. Mountains are unpredictable so be cautious and stay safe everyone.”
According to reports, one of the climbers who was injured is a a 40-year-old client from India named Nimish Kumar Singh. The other is a veteran Nepali guide named Pema Thenduk Sherpa, who is known as “Black Yak.”
Within half an hour of the collapse, helicopters took off from Lukla airport, some 40 miles away. The injured climbers were pulled from the ice and prepared for their ride off the mountain. They were flown to hospital in Kathmandu, where they are expected to recover fully.
