Mount Everest collapse caught on camera; overpopulation takes center stage again as climbers disappear

A mountain guide has shared a video of a cornice collapse on Mount Everest on Instagram, detailing the ordeal of climbers he led as they descended from the mountain’s highest peak. His message brought renewed focus to overpopulation on Nepal’s Everest.

A cornice (snow cornice) is an overhanging edge of snow that forms on the crest of a mountain ridge or along the sides of ravines. These are created by windblown snow that accumulates on steep breaks in the terrain and are extremely dangerous for climbers and hikers.

The guide shared that four climbers almost perished when the cornice collapsed but were “fortunately” rescued. However, two climbers are still missing.

Chaos, tense moments, deaths

International Federation of Mountain Guides (IFMGA) guide Vinayak Malla shared clips of his group of climbers showing the many challenges they faced on Everest, including chaos, tense moments and death.

Malla shared an incident that occurred on Tuesday, May 21, saying that the summit ridge of this trip was different from his previous ones.

Sharing the ordeal, Malla wrote in an Instagram post: “On May 21, 2024, along with @luchin.vig and Budhha, I stood on top of the highest peak in the world and am now safely back at camp basic. The summit ridge of Everest was different from my previous experiences on the mountain. There was soft snow, many cornices and rock sections covered in snow. The weather station was even half buried in snow.”

“After the summit we crossed the Hillary Step, traffic was moving slowly then suddenly a cornice collapsed a few meters in front of us. There was also a ledge below us. When the cornice collapsed, four climbers nearly perished but were attached to the rope and self-rescued. Unfortunately, two climbers are still missing. We tried to cross but it was impossible due to traffic on the landline,” the statement added.

The IFMGA guide said several climbers were stuck in traffic and oxygen was lacking.

“I was able to start plotting a new route so that the downbound traffic would start moving slowly again. We returned to camp 3 to rest and returned to base camp on May 22,” he added.

Malla shared three videos from his expedition. Where the first showed an extract from before the collapse of the cornice, after the collapse of the cornice and after the repair of the route, and the passage of climbers.