Trail & Weather

Everest's Khumbu Glacier Could Lose 70% of Its Ice by 2100: What a New 2026 Study Means for Trekkers

International scientists have modelled the future of the glacier under Everest — and a warmer monsoon is the only thing slowing the melt.

By Laxman Rawal · Jun 28, 2026

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Every trekker who reaches Everest Base Camp spends their final days walking on a glacier that is quietly disappearing. Now an international team of scientists has put hard numbers on just how fast — and the findings, published in the journal The Cryosphere on…

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What the scientists found

The Khumbu Glacier is the frozen highway of the Everest trek — the debris-covered river of ice that trekkers cross between Gorak Shep and Base Camp. A team led by Anya Schlich-Davies (University of Leeds) and Ann Rowan (University of Bergen) ran a model of…

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The monsoon twist

Here is the surprise. Most glacier headlines are uniformly grim, but this study found that the same warming climate is also expected to deliver more precipitation to the high Himalaya — and that extra monsoon snowfall could offset about half of the…

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What this means for trekkers

You will not see the glacier vanish in your lifetime as a hiker — but you are already walking a different trail than your predecessors did. As debris-covered glaciers thin and retreat, trekkers face longer, looser moraine sections, shifting paths near Gorak…

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See it for yourself

The classic 14-day Everest Base Camp Trek puts you on the Khumbu itself, while the Gokyo Lakes route traverses the giant Ngozumpa glacier and its turquoise melt-lakes. Weighing the options? Compare them in our guide to the Everest region's main treks…

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