Khumbu Icefall

As climbers begin to reach the summit of Mount Everest, some veterans are avoiding the Nepali side of the world's highest peak because melting ice and crowds have made its famed Khumbu Icefall too dangerous.

Ang Kami Sherpa is one of Nepal's most experienced "ice doctors" - the mountaineers who brave Mount Everest's treacherous Khumbu icefall to prepare it for the climbing season - but even he is more nervous than usual this time round.

Guy Cotter was so concerned about the safety of Sherpa guides and porters through Mount Everest's notorious Khumbu Icefall that he and another commercial guide operator hatched a plan: Before this year's climbing season began, they would use helicopters to transport 4 tons of equipment above the icefall.

On Everest, everybody knows that the Icefall is dangerous. They've known it for generations, since the first great Everest mountaineer, George Mallory, turned away from the Khumbu Icefall in 1921, insisting it was impossible to pass.

An Australian mountaineer who narrowly escaped the deadliest accident ever on Mount Everest said on Saturday some local guides and climbers were questioning whether to scrap their summit plans after 13 Nepalese were killed in an avalanche.

As climbers begin to reach the summit of Mount Everest, some veterans are avoiding the Nepali side of the world's highest peak because melting ice and crowds have made its famed Khumbu Icefall too dangerous.

Ang Kami Sherpa is one of Nepal's most experienced "ice doctors" - the mountaineers who brave Mount Everest's treacherous Khumbu icefall to prepare it for the climbing season - but even he is more nervous than usual this time round.

Guy Cotter was so concerned about the safety of Sherpa guides and porters through Mount Everest's notorious Khumbu Icefall that he and another commercial guide operator hatched a plan: Before this year's climbing season began, they would use helicopters to transport 4 tons of equipment above the icefall.

On Everest, everybody knows that the Icefall is dangerous. They've known it for generations, since the first great Everest mountaineer, George Mallory, turned away from the Khumbu Icefall in 1921, insisting it was impossible to pass.

An Australian mountaineer who narrowly escaped the deadliest accident ever on Mount Everest said on Saturday some local guides and climbers were questioning whether to scrap their summit plans after 13 Nepalese were killed in an avalanche.