Everest climbers left hanging after giant ice chunk blocks path to summit

A large ice chunk is blocking the climbing route to Everest’s summit, risking delays in the summit season at the world’s highest peak, according to officials.A team of highly skilled mountaineers, known in Nepal as “icefall doctors”, began fixing ropes and ladders on Mount Everest last month to prepare for the coming spring climbing season.But a dangerous serac – a block of glacial ice – above the already treacherous Khumbu icefall has disrupted their work for nearly two weeks.“We are waiting for it to melt, and expect that it will clear in a few days,” icefall doctor Dawa Jangbu Sherpa said on Friday.Climbers must cross the Khumbu icefall, a constantly shifting maze of crevasses and ice blocks, to reach higher on Everest.A member of an expedition team looks at the Khumbu icefall on Wednesday. Photo: ReutersThe route typically opens by the third week of April, said Himal Gautam, spokesman for Nepal’s tourism department.