Climbing
(Video 1: Before the cornice collapsed.)
(Video 2: After the cornice collapsed.)
(Video 3: After repairing the route, climbers are passing.)
Footage captured near the summit of Mount Everest on Tuesday shows both the moments before and the aftermath following a large snow cornice collapse that involved six climbers, two of which are still unaccounted for. At 6 a.m., IFMGA guide Vinayak Malla reached Everest’s summit with Elite Exped clients. The summit appeared busy in the first video posted on Malla’s Instagram account, showing climbers in a queue moving shoulder to shoulder on a fixed rope. Malla reported unstable snow conditions on the summit of Everest in the post, sharing that it felt different than his previous experiences on the mountain.
“There was soft snow, many cornices, and rocky sections covered in snow. Even the weather station was half buried in snow.”
On their descent, a large cornice broke throwing several climbers over the edge. Four were hooked up to the fixed line and were able to climb back up to the ridge while a 40-year-old British Climber and his Nepali guide were reported missing, according to CBS News. Malla captured a second video showing the moments just after the cornice collapsed on the Hilary Step with climbers desperately scaling back up the mountainside toward their partners.
According to Malla, they were not able to traverse and look for the climbers due to traffic on the fixed line.
“Many climbers were stuck in the traffic and oxygen was running low. I was able to start breaking a new route for the descending traffic to begin moving slowly once again.”
Following the collapse, Malla and the other climbers descended and safely returned to rest at Camp 3 before proceeding back to Base Camp on May 22. Search parties are currently looking for the missing climber and his guide whose identities have yet to be released.
