Collapsing Ice on Mount Everest Injured Two Climbers and Prompted a Dramatic Rescue

There was a dramatic rescue in Mount Everest’s Khumbu Icefall in the early hours of Tuesday, May 5. Two climbers were airlifted to a hospital after an ice serac collapsed and buried them.

Outside was in Base Camp and listened to radio communications during the rescue and watched it unfold. Officials with Nepal’s Department of Tourism also released a statement providing further details of the accident and lifesaving mission.

The incident occurred at 5:45 A.M., as teams of climbers and guides were ascending through the glacier to make their first acclimatization round on the peak. More than 100 climbers and guides ventured into the glacier during the night of May 4-5, taking advantage of safer ice conditions caused by the cooler temperatures.

A group of climbers was making its way through the glacier when a serac abruptly crumbled, sending boulder-sized blocks of ice onto the route. An eyewitness said that multiple people were buried when the serac fell, and that climbers sprang into action to save the two who were fully buried.

“We were together when the incident happened,” Pastemba Sherpa, a mountain worker with guiding company Summit Force told Outside. “I was on the front row and behind me I couldn’t count but I think almost seven or eight people were part of the accident.”

Pastemba Sherpa also captured a chilling video of the rescue, which he uploaded to his Instagram page.

The group was crossing an area of the glacier that is several meters below the large serac that had previously delayed the climbing season on Mount Everest. According to the Department of Tourism, the serac that prompted the delay is not the one that fell on May 5.

One of the injured climbers is a 40-year-old client from India named Nimish Kumar Singh. Singh is part of an expedition led by Nepali guiding outfitter Pioneer Expeditions.

The other injured climber is a veteran Nepali guide named Pema Thenduk Sherpa. The 44-year is affectionately known within the Nepali guiding community by his nickname, “Black Yak.”

Pema Thanduk Sherpa has been working as a high-altitude guide since 2011, and has completed 34 successful summit ascents on peaks above 8,000 meters. He’s reached the summit of Mount Everest on 12 occasions. He was working with guiding outfitter Seven Summit Treks when the incident occurred.

The collapse triggered a massive response from safety personnel, helicopter pilots, and other climbing teams. By 6:15 A.M. helicopters had lifted off from Lukla airport, approximately 40 miles away.

On the icefall, climbers and safety personnel with outfitters Asian Treks and Seven Summit Treks helped the stricken climbers out of the ice and prepared them for medevac. A rescue helicopter then picked the two up and flew them to a hospital in Kathmandu.

According to a statement from the Department of Tourism, both individuals are currently receiving medical care at HAMS hospital in Kathmandu and are stable and expected to recover. Sources at Seven Summit Treks told Outside that they are hopeful that Pema Thanduk Sherpa will be discharged from the hospital within 24 hours.

This is a developing story