Trek Guide
The Khumbu Icefall above Everest Base Camp is the most dangerous section of the South Col route — and visible from EBC itself. Guide to what it is…
By Travel Himalaya Nepal · May 29, 2026
The Khumbu Icefall is the most feared section of the Everest South Col route — a constantly shifting maze of house-sized seracs between Base Camp (5,364m) and the Western Cwm (6,000m). The glacier moves up to 1 metre a day , so the route is re-fixed every…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
Altitude range: 5,364m (Everest Base Camp) to 6,000m (foot of the Western Cwm) Horizontal length: approximately 1.5km Glacier movement: up to 1 metre per day — route changes constantly throughout the season Average annual fatalities: 2–4 per climbing season…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
The Khumbu Icefall is where the Khumbu Glacier tumbles down from the Western Cwm at 6,000m to Everest Base Camp at 5,364m , breaking into a chaos of house-sized ice blocks called seracs and deep crevasses. The glacier moves up to a metre a day , which means…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
The Icefall is the most feared section of the standard South Col route on Everest. Climbers must cross it multiple times during acclimatisation rotations — typically four to six transits in each direction before a summit attempt — and the danger is largely…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
Each season, a specialist team of Sherpas known as the 'Icefall Doctors' fixes the route through the maze — placing aluminium ladders across crevasses and over ice walls, and stringing fixed ropes through the entire 1.5km passage. They are among the first…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
The Icefall's casualty record is long, but several events stand apart in scale and consequence.
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
On 18 April 2014 , a massive serac broke off from the west shoulder of Everest at approximately 6,400m and triggered an avalanche that swept through the upper Icefall while a group of Sherpas was carrying loads through it in the early morning. Sixteen Sherpas…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
On 25 April 2015 , a magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck Nepal and triggered an avalanche from the Pumori–Lingtren massif that swept through Base Camp itself, killing 22 people and injuring many more — the deadliest day in Base Camp history. While the Icefall…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
The spring 2023 season saw record summit numbers — over 600 people reached the top — but also renewed scrutiny of Icefall crowding, with climbers caught in long queues in the zone of highest objective hazard. The 2024 season brought continued debate about…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
Timing is the single most controllable variable in Icefall risk management. The near-universal protocol is to begin the crossing between 2am and 4am , well before first light reaches the upper glacier. The reasoning is thermodynamic: overnight temperatures…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
For those who have only seen photographs, the ladder crossings are difficult to internalise as a physical experience. The Icefall Doctors lash together multiple aluminium ladders end-to-end and anchor them across crevasse openings that may be 20 to 40 metres…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
Non-climbing trekkers on the Everest Base Camp route do not enter the Icefall, but they have access to two of the finest viewpoints for it in the entire range.
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
Plan your trek
NMA-certified guides · permits sorted · 5,000+ treks since 1998.
Free guide
Permits, costs, seasons and routes — the essentials we send every traveller, plus a free, no-obligation trip quote.
↑ Swipe up
Read the full report and grab the free Nepal Trek Insider Guide — or ask our Pokhara team for a tailored, no-obligation quote.
Read more & get the free guide Plan my trip — free quote