KATHMANDU: The joint team of icefall doctors and expedition operators has completed route fixing all the way to Camp II on Mt. Everest, clearing the final obstacle in a season-opening effort that had kept hundreds of climbers waiting at Base Camp for the better part of two weeks.

After opening the Khumbu Icefall route to Camp I on Monday morning, the team pressed on — fixing ropes along the Nuptse face and ascending to Camp II before beginning their descent back to Base Camp.

The team just arrived at the base camp, said officials. As per the preliminary information given by team, the route passed through the beneath of the hanging serac. They used five ladders beneath the hanging serac, according to the information received from the base camp

Photo Courtesy: Manish Maharjan via 14 Peaks Expeditions/facebook

Lakpa Sherpa, Expedition Director at 8K Expeditions and EOAN's field coordinator throughout the operation, confirmed that the season can now move forward in full. "Climbers will begin acclimatisation rotations in the high camps and logistics will be supplied to Camp II," he said.

EOAN’s rope fixing coordinator Pemba Sherpa said that another team of mountain guides would soon start fixing route from the Camp II to the summit points of Mt Everest and Mt Lhotse. EOAN’s base camp coordinator Ang Babu Sherpa said that the team would leave for Camp II with necessary logistics for summit route fixing.

Photo Courtesy: Manish Maharjan via 14 Peaks Expeditions/facebook

The development marks a decisive turn in a season that had stalled well past the point the route would normally be open. A large hanging serac had blocked the critical section of the Khumbu Icefall for nearly two weeks, preventing icefall doctors from placing ladders and ropes through the most treacherous passage on the mountain. Last year the route was open by April 17; this year's completion came eight days behind that timeline.

With acclimatisation rotations now set to begin, EOAN's summit-route-fixing team can also start moving ropes and logistics above Camp II toward the higher camps — work that had been held up entirely while the icefall impasse continued.

Photo Courtesy: Manish Maharjan via 14 Peaks Expeditions/facebook

The route to Camp II runs through the Khumbu Icefall, across the Western Cwm, and up the Nuptse face — a section all climbers attempting Everest, Lhotse, and Nuptse must traverse. With 425 climbers permitted on Everest alone this season across 42 teams, and a further 111 on Lhotse, the opening sets in motion the bulk of the season's high-altitude activity.

Options including airlifting logistics to Camp II and extending the climbing season beyond the May 29 deadline had been under active discussion throughout the impasse. With the route now fully open and rotations beginning, the pressure behind those contingencies has eased significantly, though no official confirmation has yet been issued on whether the proposed season extension has been formally set aside.

Icefall route last spring (blue) now (red)