The Icefall Doctors, a team of Nepalese workers who set the ladders and fixed ropes through聽the Khumbu Icefall聽up to Everest鈥檚 Camp 1, arrived at Base Camp on Monday to begin repair work on the route, . The route was damaged in the April earthquake that struck Nepal and killed thousands of people in Kathmandu and the surrounding area. The Icefall Doctors are aiming to fix the route in time for the fall season.
Most climbers on Everest canceled their spring expeditions聽in the wake of the earthquake. But more than five climbing teams from the United States, Austria, Japan, Germany, and the UK聽applied for permits to climb peaks聽including Everest and Mount Manaslu聽this fall,聽a Nepali tourism official聽told the Himalayan Times. Two Japanese climbers plan to summit Everest before the end of the month.
鈥淲e plan to begin rope-fixing work in the treacherous icefall section after conducting a ground survey by next week,鈥 Ang Kami Sherpa, the lead Icefall Doctor, told the Himalayan Times.