Bhadra Sharma
13 May 2026•Update: 13 May 2026
A team of 10 veteran Sherpas on Wednesday opened the summit route on Mount Everest for the spring 2026 expedition season.
The team reached the mountain’s 8,848.86-meter (29,031-foot) summit at 10.25 am local time after completing the rope-fixing route, according to Khim Lal Gautam, coordinator of the Everest Base Camp Field Office.
With the route now open, the 492 climbers who received permits for this season, along with their guides, are expected to begin moving toward the higher camps in preparation for summit attempts on the world’s highest mountain.
This year’s summit route was opened five days later than during the 2025 spring season, when Sherpas completed the work on May 9.
Traditionally, the Expedition Operators Association of Nepal is responsible for fixing ropes from Camp II to the summit, while the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee clears the route from Everest Base Camp to Camp II.
This year, the veteran Sherpas known as “Icefall Doctors,” who work for the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, were forced to delay operations for two weeks after a massive serac -- a large block or wall of unstable glacial ice -- collapsed on the route to Camp I.
The team waited for the ice mass to melt before installing ladders across crevasses and reopening access to Camp I through the dangerous Khumbu Icefall section.
Data compiled by Nepal’s Department of Tourism show that three mountain guides involved in Everest expeditions have died since the climbing season began in March.
The department said a record 492 climbers obtained permits for Everest expeditions this spring despite the government raising climbing royalties.
Under the revised fee structure, foreign climbers must now pay $15,000 for an Everest climbing permit.
Dambar Parajuli said the highest number of permits issued from the Nepal side came after China halted commercial expeditions on the mountain.
Mount Everest, which straddles the border between Nepal and China, attracts hundreds of climbers every year during the spring climbing season, with ascent routes available from both sides of the mountain.
