23-05-2025
Everest: The Final Wave Begins, Amid Rumors of an Early Closure
Everest has had nearly 500 summits so far, but patient climbers waiting for a quieter mountain during the last week of May likely won't have a chance. The unofficial word around Base Camp is that the Icefall Doctors, who maintain the Khumbu Icefall, will close it soon. Forecasts also predict that the weather will worsen beginning on Sunday, so many of those climbers who have not yet summited are going up tonight.
As we post this story, a significant number of groups are leaving Camp 4 for the summit. Among them are Madison Mountaineering, Alpine Ascents International, and Brazil's Grade 6. Many of these climbers have been in their tents at the South Col at 7,950m for two days, waiting for the wind to abate.
For Marcelo Segovia of Ecuador, who is climbing without supplementary oxygen, the prolonged delay has been a sufferfest. Segovia reached Camp 4 yesterday and spent his "hardest night on a mountain in 17 years," he admitted on Instagram. "I just pray for the strength to endure one more night."
This morning, Segovia was relieved to see the sun. He decided to leave on his final push at 7 pm local time this evening. Yet, three hours before departure, thick clouds had wrapped the South Col.
Mountain runners Tyler Andrews of the U.S. and Karl Egloff of Ecuador are also about to leave, each following his own strategy and timing. Both have the same objective: to climb Everest faster than anyone else (and each other), without supplemental oxygen. They expect to summit on May 24. Andrews is timing himself just to the summit; Egloff is timing the round trip.
Egloff had hoped to wait until the typically stable days at the end of the month before the monsoon hits. But given the uncertainty of next week, he has decided to leave Base Camp tomorrow at 6 pm.
Andrews had originally aimed to set off on Friday, May 23, but instead will leave tomorrow at precisely one minute to midnight, six hours after Egloff. They hope to make their way up after most of the oxygen-supported teams finish. We can expect news from this pair at around noon Nepal time on Saturday, just before 2 am Eastern Time.
The question is, why the big rush this weekend? Statistically, the last days of May are usually the best, but this season, the weather has been particularly hard to read. The jet stream has changed its altitude constantly. When it dips, it hits the upper slopes of Everest. When it lifts, the risk of serious frostbite diminishes. Teams check the latest forecasts hourly but don't entirely believe them, because they've been misled so often this spring.
Another reason is the Khumbu Icefall. Reportedly, conditions below Camp 1 are degrading quickly under the hot spring sun. Ladders are shifting, and some seracs are showing signs of instability. No one has announced an official closing date, but several climbers don't like what they've been hearing around Base Camp and have chosen to hurry up right away.
