Mount Everest Summit Route Blocked by Immovable Slab of Ice

April 23, 2026

The route up Mount Everest from the Base Camp in Nepal is blocked by a massive block of ice. It’s bad timing for would-be climbers, because peak climbing season at the world’s most famous mountain is just beginning.

“This is not something you can fix or move,” said Himal Gautam, spokesperson for the Department of Tourism. “It’s natural. We can only wait and assess.”

The ice block, which is a chunk of glacier, is called a serac. It’s about 100 feet tall, and despite many efforts, there doesn’t appear to be a way around it. The only option, according to reports, is to wait for it to melt. Climbing season on Everest is a busy time of year. For such an inhospitable place, it gets dangerously crowded. Litter abounds there — trash and bodies as well — and the lineup to the summit can resemble an August weekend afternoon at Disneyland. It’s not a cheap excursion, either.

The blocked route has the Icefall Doctors worried. Who are the Ice Doctors, you ask? Well, they are a particularly skilled set of Sherpas who spend a few months before the spring climbing season managing the routes in preparation for the busy months ahead. The Inertia