Body Discovered in the Khumbu | Everest says NO (For Now), The Khumbu Icefall Has Stopped the Icefall Doctors Cold

A body* was discovered in the Khumbu Icefall this week at the base of Mount Everest, just as the 2026 climbing season is struggling to begin. This discovery comes as over 3,000 people are gathered at Everest Base Camp, waiting to ascend the icefall. This tragic event adds to the ongoing discussions about the dangers of mountaineering in the Himalaya, especially with the increasing number of everest bodies being found.

* As of the time of this video being posted there is very, very little information available about the discovery of the human remains on Everest. This channel will be posting more as further information comes in. 

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 1:04

A body was discovered in the Kumbu ice fall this week at the base of Mount Everest. It was discovered on the glacier just as the 2026 season is struggling to begin. There's a deep irony in the timing of this discovery, as over 3,000 people are now in Everest Base Camp awaiting their opportunity to get up into the Kumbu Ice Fall in order to make their climb of Mount Everest. As reported in the Katman Dew post, they're waiting rather impatiently and tension is rising as the ice fall doctors are struggling to find a safe route through the Kumbu Ice Fall, and that is the only way to get up the mountain. There's no other way. So until this problem is solved, they will have to continue waiting. It's been reported that there is a giant sarak, which is a massive chunk of ice just above where the ice fall doctors, and I'll explain a little bit about them and their job shortly. That giant chunk of ice is threatening to fall and collapse down into where they're doing their work with the hundreds and hundreds of people who will soon follow after those ropes are fixed. That was a risk they were not willing to take. It's been said that it could be maybe 10 more days until a safe passage is found up into the Kumbu Ice Fall toward Camp 1 and then onward to Camp 2. Now, given that the Kumbu icefall is by far the most dangerous part of the mountain, nearly 50 people have lost their lives over the years. It is certainly being taken seriously that the ice fall doctors, the best of the best, have said we're not working until we know it's as safe as it can be. By the end of April every year, the ropes are typically fixed all the way to camp two, and then the teams go up to begin fixing to the summit. But that has not begun. Nobody has been able to get into the ice fall, but there have been some occasional excursions into the ice fall. Typically, these would be not warranted or against the rules for lack of a better term. Dan Mazur was there with his summit climb team on an excursion to get some exercise into the ice fall. And after they had stopped to have a bite to eat, they said that the ice fall doctors were coming back down from their attempt to find a safe passage upward. Dan stopped and said, Hey, so give us an update on what's taking place up there. And they came up with a consensus and they just said that this giant block of ice or several big blocks of ice are not easy to go around and might threaten any climbers trying to pass with falling debris. Some of these chunks of ice falling down could be the size of a basketball, some are as size of a car, and if an entire Sarak goes down, that could be the size of a building or a house, and obviously not safe. And when Dan asked how long it might be before the ice fall is safely navigable, one Sherpa said four days, another said maybe a week, and another said possibly two weeks, and then another said, not this season. Absolutely fascinating. That tells it all. Nobody knows what's going on there. I can only imagine the sense of tension and anticipation that's taking place right now. I've been in touch with a young man, Xavier Ladesur. He's attempting to climb Mount Everest at 23 years of age. He's been up many 6,000 meter peaks, and he's expressed to me some sense of anxiety about this. He's stolid and hanging tight, but it appears across Basecamp that the tension is rising, and he can only hope that everybody stays calm and makes rational decisions based on health and safety. Dan Mazur goes on to say that his summit climb team descended in somewhat of a state of shock. The point is that this ice fall, Mount Everest, is saying you are gonna have to work on my terms. And in this day and age, in this modern era of commercialized mountain climbing on Mount Everest, teams, expedition operators, clients, these people are not used to waiting. They want to pay their money and get on that mountain and get on top. The Kumbu Icefall is essentially a gauntlet, and it is the only way you can get up to the higher parts of the mountain. Other alternatives have been explored, it just doesn't work. It's essentially imagine a river of ice that moves three, sometimes four feet downhill every day at that steep part, and as the ice and the weight of that ice, and then the sun burning down on it as the season goes onward, as that ice moves out over, it calves off and splits off and tumbles downhill. The idea is that most of the climbers go up through the Kumbu ice fall in the dark of night when things are frozen and stuck in place, but even then the danger is there that the ice could fall. And as we know, a human body is not going to do well under the weight of a giant block of ice falling at a high rate of speed. Almost 50 people have lost their lives in the Kumbu ice fall over the years since the 1950s, and the majority of them have been mountain workers. There have some people from climbing expeditions in there, but the majority are mountain workers, and it looks quite innocuous when you're in there on a quiet time of day, but occasionally you might hear the crack of ice. There are numerous bodies still encased in the ice. And now this harkens back to 2012 when the legendary expedition operator and mountaineer Russell Bryce saw a massive block of ice up high upon the west shoulder, the left side of the Kumbu Ice Fall, as you're looking into it. And he did not want to put his teams of Sherpa at risk, nor did he want to put his clients at risk. On the spot, he canceled his Mount Everest expedition. And he had clients suing him, angry that he had robbed them of their opportunity to go up the mountain. But he stood firm on that. And while nothing really happened that year, other than Russell pulling his team two years later, on April 18th, 2014, that block of ice, some have said that it's the size was the size of a six-story apartment building, broke off, tumbled down, and exploded into the Kumbu ice fall. And in an instant, 16 souls lost their lives. Three of them are still encased in that ice, not yet found. So Russell Bryce was correct, and certainly the ice fall doctors, and then another team of from the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal with them can remember viscerally that day in 2014. They are finally putting their foot down, they're making the right call. This is a good thing that is happening. Now, one of the other interesting things that's taking place on the mountain is it's kind of going old school now. I have been in touch with Mike Hamill, who runs and owns Climbing the Seven Summits, an amazing expedition firm. And he said that entire groups of all the expedition operators are gathering in base camp to discuss the logistics and sending teams of people up into the ice fall. When I learned that, I immediately was reminded of 1999 on the north side, the expedition that discovered the remains of George Mallory. We had a big meeting with all the team leaders. I was there with Eric Simonson. Russell Bryce was there on the north side that year, and we all discussed how the ropes were going to fit and be fixed up to the summit of the mountain. And that was before there were such things as icefall doctors. And so all the teams chipped in to get those ropes fixed. It was really energizing. It was amazing to be with all these different teams from all around the world, different languages, different cultures, different mindsets, different temperaments, and we found a way to get those ropes fixed. So Mike Hamill wrote in a post just uh on the 27th, the day that as I record this today, he said that a team of 20 from the Icefall Doctors, the EOA, the Expedition Operators Association, and other teams, including some of Mike's Sherpa and himself, were assessing the state of the route to look for options. And then they all turned in agreement that the route above is still too dangerous. It's beyond fascinating and actually potentially terrifying as well. But that they're playing it safe is really encouraging to me. And another post from Mingma Gi of Imagine Nepal. He said that yesterday a team was sent up with others in there and they reached the ice blockage area, tried to find alternative ways, and what they did was they made the decision to climb that wall. And they said that once they did that, they were close to camp one, and they said that they believed that it was possible to get up there. And so he posts this picture of where he would put a ladder and a rope. Now, just what's going to become of that, I have no idea, but nonetheless, you can see that all the expedition operators are doing everything in their power to try to get their people up the mountain safely. Number one. And this is essentially where the narrative shifts a little bit from the logistics of mountaineering to a technical aspect. And I've reported on this numerous times, the the drones, and now in 2026, they're moving from an assistance or or some additional help for these Sherpa teams to becoming an absolute necessity given the timeline that is compressing, the drones are going to become absolutely critical in not only navigating through cameras on safe ways to get up through the ice fall, but in carrying that equipment up. And they have a seductive pitch. It says, we are saving Sherpa lives, and on the surface, that's absolutely true. Every time a drone load is carried up, that's one less load that has to go on the back of a mountain worker. But anything that should be carried by a client or a guide should remain on their back. They should not really get credit if they use those drones. And and then as you get a cut deeper, peel back another layer of this by removing that physical aspect. Now, granted, these mountain workers put in peril every day that they enter the ice fall. We're not just making Mount Everest safer, but possibly making it somewhat meaningless. Is this really climbing a mountain? If the ice fall is impassable, shouldn't people just turn around and go home? And so let's move on to the next topic in here. I read this in Everest Chronicle just the other day. With this major stoppage, something has changed on the mountain. For the first time in history, special permission has been granted for a fleet of ten helicopters to ferry supplies directly up to Camp 2. Previously, the only time a helicopter would ever go there, unless it was against regulations, would be to save the life of a human being who needed emergency rescue from the mountain. Now it's to keep the business machine moving forward. We've got hundreds and hundreds of paying customers, and our reputation is on the line. So maybe let's take this opportunity to fly a helicopter up there. Listen, if you have to have all your stuff flown up to camp two and then go climb the mountain after all the work has been done, it doesn't really count. Now, I'm not trying to cut down on Evers. This is just a business model that is endeavoring to continue moving forward and turn their wheels. So this year they're giving some alternative plans, but perhaps the Kumbu Ice Fall is saying something stronger that people need to be listening. Certainly, this year, early in the season, Mount Everest appears to be taking back control, stymieing any upward progress on the mountain. It could be, as you said earlier in the video, could be days, it could be a week. It might not happen at all this year. And it reminds me of that Tolkien-esque metaphor, if you will, as the fellowship stands before the doors of Durin, which refuses them entry into this mysterious realm in order to go and complete their mission. They needed to come up with the password and solve a riddle inscribed in the door. And the door opens only to those who can solve that riddle, a riddle in ancient languages like the tree of the high elves. And then we find out ultimately that the password is friend. Speak friend and enter. And that could be what's happening on Mount Everest in 2026. So we ask the question are we the friends of Mount Everest? Will we find that password? And will the doors of Durin open and allow people up that mountain this year? It only remains to be seen. And so now perhaps it's time to step back and ask why we want to step upon the sacred Sagramartha, Mount Everest, in the first place. Is it a humble quest for knowledge or is it for one's own vanity? And I want to know what you think. Please take a moment to leave your comments in the section below. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. And if you're still here and haven't subscribed to this channel, please take a moment to subscribe. And if you want to find out more about Mount Everest, I've got tons of exclusive content. Check out the members section where there are different levels of membership. Also, you can find some free exclusive content over on patreon.com slash Everest Mystery. And check out our merch store at Everest Mystery.com. These really cool lids, which I love so much. I've got these hat, these shirts, the truth is out there, Everest Mystery, organic cotton tees. There's hoodies and silk sun shirts. 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