Mountaineers are waiting for the serac above the Khumbu icefall to melt before marking the rest of the route for the spring climbing season

But a dangerous serac – a block of glacial ice – above the already treacherous Khumbu icefall has disrupted their work for nearly two weeks.

“We are waiting for it to melt, and expect that it will clear in a few days,” icefall doctor Dawa Jangbu Sherpa said on Friday.

Climbers must cross the Khumbu icefall, a constantly shifting maze of crevasses and ice blocks, to reach higher on Everest.

The route typically opens by the third week of April, said Himal Gautam, spokesman for Nepal’s tourism department.

Source: News - South China Morning Post