Everest: New Drone Service to Counter Delays in the Khumbu Icefall

April 22, 2026

Tensions have increased among Everest expedition leaders as work on the Khumbu Icefall remains stalled. The clock is ticking, as climbers need to begin their rotations as soon as possible to acclimatize. The good news is that a new drone-based carrier service is ready to start operating once the way to Camp 1 is cleared.

As we reported last week, the work to find and fix a route through the treacherous Khumbu Icefall to Camp 1 — common to Everest, Lhotse, and Nuptse — is seriously delayed. In the spring of 2025, the route was open by April 10. This year, two weeks later, there is no tentative opening date.

The problem is an unstable serac that threatens to collapse at any moment in the upper part of the Icefall. According to reports, the Icefall Doctors deployed by the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee were waiting for the huge chunk of ice to fall on its own. This has not yet happened, and there is no way to know when it will. EXPLORERSWEB