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Through the Icefallpart 3 | back to part 2 The Icefall Base Camp sits beneath the Khumbu Icefall, perhaps the most difficult part of the climb up Everest. It was this impassable barrier that stopped many of the early expeditions in the 1950s. Riddled with deep crevasses and huge ice blocks, the Icefall can only be traversed with the use of ladders and rope. Oddly enough, it is here at the beginning of the climb where more lives are lost than on any other part of the mountain. 
Imagine trying to hopscotch uphill through a field of ice
boulders the size of houses and weighing some 30 tons, each of
which could shift at any moment without warning. Add to this
the presence of blinding sunlight and you'll understand that
one badly placed step is all it takes. It's like a jigsaw
puzzle of giant blue ice puzzle pieces.
Click here to hear Ed describe the Icefall and the rest of
the route up Everest
(RealAudio).
With the puja behind them, the climbers are ready to venture
into the Icefall and climb up to Camp 1, which sits at 19,900
feet in the Western Cwm, a large glacial valley of snow
riddled with crevasses. At 4:30 a.m. the climbers meet to have
a quick breakfast in the dining tent and then start to make
their way up to the Icefall. Predawn is the best time to start
as the sun quickly melts the ice and snowpack, making the
route not only blinding and hot, but more susceptible to
moving and fragmentation. The team hopes to make it to Camp 1
by 8:00 a.m. and then back down to Base by 11:00.Continue Photos: (2) courtesy Araceli Segarra. Lost on Everest | High Exposure | Climb | History & Culture | Earth, Wind, & Ice E-mail | Previous Expeditions | Resources | Site Map | Everest Home Editor's Picks | Previous Sites | Join Us/E-mail | TV/Web Schedule About NOVA | Teachers | Site Map | Shop | Jobs | Search | To print PBS Online | NOVA Online | WGBH © | Updated November 2000 |