Trail Breaking

For the expedition groups that aspire to reach the summit of Mt. Everest the hike from Lukla to Gorak Shep is only the beginning of all the hard work. Base Camp for Mt. Everest sits just a couple of hours beyond the village of Gorak Shep, and with all the equipment involved in an ascent over the Khumbu Ice Fall and beyond the Sirdar (the Sherpa mountain guide) and the other skilled mountain crew begin to set up base camp and prepare to break the trail ahead. After sufficient time to set up the basic services and to acclimate to the elevation and the cold the clients will be ready to move ahead.

The Sirdar starts very early in the morning (around 3 a.m.) to capitalize on the deep cold that clears the skies, freezes and packs the ice, and holds the dicey avalanches back. He will scout out a safe route for crossing the ice, watching for seracs (latent fissures masking perilous ice crevasses) and potential hazards. As the path leads across an open icy maw his team will rope aluminum ladders end-to-end and set them across for the group to pass. This is tedious and treacherous work because at any time the crew count land in bad luck and fall victim to the capricious wrath of nature.

As soon as dawn lights the horizon the crew must get back to safe ground. The warmth of the sunlight quickly raises the risk level of all dangers. During the day there is little strenuous activity as the group members bide their time acclimating and performing menial tasks. The camp leader closely watches the health of the group members. The work of breaking the trail can go on at each stage for many days as the landscape shifts. Finally above Camp #1 the dangers of the ice and snow subside significantly and the work can progress more steadily. The snow and ice don't melt and the crew can spend more daylight hours breaking the trail toward the summit.