KATHMANDU: The Department of Tourism has granted the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal (EOAN) special authorisation to mobilise skilled manpower from its member agencies to complete route-fixing and rope-laying work through the Khumbu Icefall on the climbing routes to Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse as quickly as possible, in response to the special circumstances that have developed in the icefall this season.

The authorisation in accordance with the decision of the ministerial level meeting held on Friday, permits EOAN to coordinate with the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC) in carrying out the work. 

The SPCC in Solukhumbu has also been separately requested to provide the necessary facilitation and coordination. SPCC, however, said that it would review the latest decision. “During today’s aerial survey, neither the SPCC officials nor the icefall doctors were involved,” SPCC’s chief executive officer Tshering Sherpa said.

The move comes as a hanging serac has been obstructing icefall doctors from completing the route from Base Camp to Camp II, a critical section that must be traversed repeatedly during acclimatisation rotations, load carries and summit attempts on Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse. 

Earlier, Tshering Tenzing Sherpa, SPCC base camp manager, said icefall doctors had visited the site and found that a small section of the serac had already collapsed, and that they hoped the remainder would fall within days, allowing normal route-fixing to resume.

In previous seasons the icefall route was typically open by the first week of April. This year, the unstable serac combined with erratic snowfall and strong winds has caused an unusual and costly delay. 

More than 350 foreign climbers with their support staff have already arrived at Everest Base Camp, and acclimatisation rotations above base camp cannot begin until the route to Camp II is open. EOAN officials had warned that delays in rope fixing cause significant financial losses to expedition companies and cautioned that a late opening risks severe congestion during the peak summit window in May.

The Spring 2026 Icefall Doctors team, led by Ang Sarki Sherpa as chief leader and Dawa Jangbu Sherpa as team leader under base camp manager Tshering Tenzing Sherpa, has been monitoring the serac situation closely. 

The government's authorisation for EOAN to supplement the effort with skilled manpower from member agencies is intended to accelerate the opening of the route once conditions allow.