Huge Chunk of Glacier Blocks Everest Route in Peak Climbing Season

A huge, unstable chunk of glacier is blocking the route up Mount Everest from Base Camp in Nepal just as peak climbing season gets under way in the Himalayas.

"Icefall doctors" – who fix ropes and ladders on the lower part of the route up the world's highest peak - can find no way round the 100-foot-high (30m) block of ice just under Camp 1.

They say the only option is to wait for the ice block, called a serac, to melt – which they hope will happen within days.

The delay means preparations are weeks behind schedule for the spring season when weather for Everest ascents is usually best, and fears are growing that climbers will be queuing to reach the summit again this year.

Purnima Shrestha, a prominent climber and photographer from Nepal, is currently acclimatising to summit Everest for the sixth time.

"We usually climb between Camp I, Camp 2 and Camp 3 back and forth during this acclimatising process. Delays in the opening of the route have added concerns of possible 'traffic jams' to the peak this year," she told the BBC from Base Camp.

The icefall doctors work for the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC) that is responsible for securing ropes as far as Camp 2 on Everest, which stands 8,848.86m (29,031 feet) above sea level. They reached Base Camp three weeks ago.

- Author: Ashok Dahal and Simon Fraser (BBC)