The Sherpa team in charge of opening a route through Everest’s Khumbu Icefall is about to begin their annual high-risk job.
A team of eight Sherpa climbers and a small camp staff left Namche Bazaar yesterday for Everest Base Camp. The Sherpas’ task is to find a route through the maze of seracs and crevasses from the broken Khumbu Glacier. They have been doing this every spring since 1993.
Every Everest climber, as well as those doing Lhotse and Nuptse, relies on them to forge a passage through this deadly obstacle course, which runs from the base of the mountain at 5,400m to the Western Cwm at 6,000m.
Deadlier-than-death zone
The Icefall Doctors at work in the Khumbu Icefall. Photo: SPCC
Out of 340 people who have died on Everest since 1953, 48 have perished in the Icefall. Most of them were Sherpa climbers who were working on the mountain. In 2014 alone, an avalanche fell on the Icefall and killed 16 workers.
To minimize risk, this specialized crew seeks a relatively stable route and maintains it throughout the season.
Guardian angels
Icefall Doctors at work some years ago. Photo: SPCC
The Icefall Doctors will remain in place for the next three months since the route has to be constantly checked and maintained. The anchors on ropes and ladders weaken quickly as the Khumbu Glacier moves about one meter every day.
Fixing the Icefall was a task assigned to Sherpa climbers since the first expeditions to the South Side of Everest. Often, young Sherpas lacking money or experience take on this high-risk job.
A history of risk
Things have gradually improved. The Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC), an NGO created by the local Sherpa community of the Khumbu Valley, has organized the work of these Icefall Doctors since 1993. Since 1997, the SCPP has a yearly contract by Nepal’s Department of Tourism (DoT) to continue the work that is still dangerous but is now better paid and includes better equipment and resources.
The SPCC is also in charge of managing the waste from the huge Everest Base Camp during the climbing season and minimizing damage to the environment.
Additionally, the SPCC checks climbing permits, monitors illegal climbing, and implements waste management strategies at the various base camps in the Khumbu Valley, including Everest’s.
In a documentary on the history and work of the Icefall Doctors, Ang Nima Sherpa, who worked as one of them for 37 years, explained that New Zealand guides Rob Hall (who died in the 1996 disaster) and Gary Ball bestowed the Icefall Doctor name when they saw how this group of Sherpas used ice screws and hammers to cobble together a path through this broken terrain. It reminded them of the work of a surgeon. Watch the documentary below.
