A group of Sherpa climbers reopened the Mount Everest route after a two-week ice blockage, allowing expeditions to resume during the peak April-May season, officials said on Tuesday (Apr 28).
The peak’s annual climbing season runs from April to May, when weather conditions are most stable, providing the optimal window for summit expeditions, but this year the path was blocked by a huge 100-ft serac, or column of ice.
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However, some parts of it either broke or melted away, allowing Sherpa climbers, called the icefall doctors, to secure a safe route through Khumbu icefall to Camp I located at 6,060 metres (19,880 ft).
Lhakpa Sherpa of the 8K Expedition hiking company, the one coordinating the clearance of the route, said that the 19 Sherpa climbers crossed the crucial portion of the icefall and have reached the site of Camp I, according to news agency Reuters.
“They are expected to fix ropes to Camp II, which is not difficult,” Sherpa told Reuters from the base camp.
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Hundreds of mountaineers from different countries were stranded at the Everest base camp for over two weeks ahead of making summit attempts in May.
‘Such a delay will push summits back’
Nisha Thapa Rawal, the Department of Tourism official, said that the climbers could now begin to climb from the base camp.
Despite the delay, some climbers expressed their resolve to finish the expedition in time.
“I think there is some hope … But such a delay will push summits back and possibly create crowding in the icefall and maybe the summit as teams try to make up for lost time,” said British climber Kenton Cool, who is trying to climb the peak for the 20th time, the most by any foreigner.
Authorities issued 425 permits for Mount Everest this season, with additional climbers heading to Lhotse and Nuptse also using sections of the same route.
Department of Tourism official Nisha Thapa Rawal said climbers could now begin to climb from the base camp. 
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