Destination Review: Everest Melting: What the Thawing Ice Is Revealing

Yes, Everest is melting. The glaciers around it have been shrinking for decades, and the thinning ice now shows old trash and the bodies of climbers lost long ago. Most of this happens high on the climbing route, far above where trekkers go. Base camp treks still run every season, and you will see the change with your own eyes.

The mountain is not the same anymore

The white summit & the long river of ice. The colourful tents at base camp. But the Everest in those old photos is not quite the Everest you will see today.

Everest melting is not just a news headline. It is real, and people who live and work in the Khumbu talk about it all the time. Sherpa families tell you the snow line sits higher than it did when they were kids. Guides point at bare grey rock where ice used to be.

And the ice is giving things back. Old oxygen bottles. Torn tents. Food cans from the 1990s. Sometimes, sadly, the bodies of climbers who never came home.

So what does this mean for you? Can you still trek to base camp? Is it safe? Short answer: yes, and our team at Himalaya Guide Nepal walks this trail every season. If you are thinking about going, talk to us and we will help you plan it the right way.

Let’s look at what is really happening up there.

Everest melting: what is really shrinking

The glaciers around Everest are pulling back. This is not a guess about the future. Scientists have measured it for years.

The Khumbu Glacier

The Khumbu Glacier is the big river of ice you walk next to on the way to base camp. Studies show it shrank back by roughly 18 metres every year between 1976 and 2007. That adds up to more than half a kilometre in one lifetime.

And it is not only getting shorter. It is getting thinner too. Much of the lower glacier is now covered in grey rock and dust, so it looks more like a rubble field than a sheet of ice.

Other glaciers nearby

The Khumbu is not alone. Here is a simple look at what researchers recorded in the Everest area over those same years.

Glacier	Side of Everest	Retreat per year (approx.)
Khumbu Glacier	Nepal	18 m
Rongbuk Glacier	Tibet	20 m
15 Everest-area glaciers (average)	Both	28 m

Why does this matter to you? Because when ice shrinks, the mountain changes how it behaves. Cracks open in new places. The Khumbu Icefall moves in less predictable ways. And meltwater collects in glacial lakes that can burst, like the flood that hit Thame village in

2024.

Why it is happening

The simple reason is warmer air. The Himalaya is heating up faster than many other places in the world. Less snow falls at some heights, and more of it melts each summer than comes back each winter.

It sounds heavy, I know. But here is the good part. The trail to base camp is still well used, the lodges are still warm, and a hot plate of dal bhat still waits for you at the end of the day.

Why the ice is giving back lost climbers

This part is hard to write. These were real people with families, so we will keep it simple and respectful.

People have climbed Everest for more than 70 years. In that time, around 340 climbers have died on the mountain. More than 200 of them are thought to still be up there.

Most of these climbers died high up, above 8,000 metres. People call it the death zone because the air holds about a third of the oxygen you get at sea level. Carrying a body down from there is slow, costly and very risky for the rescue team.

So for many years, the snow simply covered them. The cold kept them frozen in place.

Now the snow is thinner and the ice is moving. Things that stayed hidden for decades are coming to the surface. In 2024, a team found an old boot melting out of a glacier on the Tibet side. It likely belonged to Andrew Irvine, who went missing with George Mallory in 1924.

That find made world news. But for Sherpa teams on the mountain, finding old remains is a sad, quiet part of the job. They treat it with care and try to bring people home to their families when they can.

Who is cleaning up the mountain

For years, people called Everest the highest trash dump in the world. Sad, but not wrong. Old expeditions left oxygen bottles, tents, ropes, cans and human waste behind.

The good news? Nepal is fighting back.

In 2008, Eco Everest expeditions started carrying trash off the mountain. They also wanted the world to notice how fast the Khumbu Icefall was melting.

Since 2019, the Nepal Army has run big clean-up campaigns on Everest and other high peaks. Teams of soldiers and Sherpas spend weeks at high camps. In some seasons they carry down more than 10 tonnes of waste, and in a few seasons they have also brought down human remains. The exact numbers change every year.

Nepal now asks Everest climbers to pay a garbage deposit and bring their waste back down. Climbers also carry special bags for human waste above base camp. These rules matter because cold, high ground does not break waste down. Whatever gets left stays there for decades.

You won’t be climbing to Camp 4. But knowing this helps you understand why responsible trekking matters so much here.

What Everest melting means for your trek

Let’s be clear. None of the sad stuff happens on the trekking trail.

On the Everest Base Camp trek, you top out at about 5,364 metres at base camp, or 5,545 metres if you climb Kala Patthar for the sunrise view. The bodies and the death zone sit thousands of metres higher, on the climbing route. Trekkers never go there.

What you will actually see

You will see the changes, though. And honestly, that is part of why the trek feels so special right now.

• The Khumbu Glacier looks grey and rocky, not bright white like in old postcards.
• Small meltwater ponds sit on top of the ice near Lobuche and Gorak Shep.
• Teahouse owners in Dingboche and Namche will happily tell you how the mountains looked 20 years ago.
• You may pass porters carrying trash bags down the trail, part of the local clean-up work.

Want a quieter trail? Try Manaslu

Everest gets busy, especially in October and April. Some days the trail near Namche feels like a slow line of hikers and yaks. If that worries you, there is another option.

The Manaslu Circuit trek loops around Manaslu, the eighth highest mountain in the world at 8,163 metres. It sees far fewer people than Everest. The villages feel more remote, the culture feels more Tibetan, and the trail climbs over the Larkya La pass at 5,106 metres.

Everest Base Camp vs Manaslu Circuit

 

	Everest Base Camp	Manaslu Circuit
Highest point	5,545 m (Kala Patthar)	5,106 m (Larkya La)
Usual length	12 to 14 days	14 to 16 days
Crowds	Busy in peak season	Much quieter
Getting there	Flight to Lukla	Long jeep ride from Kathmandu
Permits	National park and local permits	Restricted area permit, guide required

Manaslu has glaciers too, and they are changing just like the ones near Everest. So whichever trail you pick, you will see the same story of a warming Himalaya up close.

Not sure which one fits you? That is a very normal question. Tell our team your fitness, your dates and what you want from the trip, and we will help you choose.

How you can trek without adding to the problem

You can’t stop glaciers from melting on your own. But you can make sure you leave the trail better than you found it. Small habits add up when thousands of trekkers pass through each year.

Carry out what you carry in

Pack a small bag for your own wrappers and batteries. Bins in high villages fill up fast, and someone has to carry that trash down on their back. So take it with you to Lukla or Kathmandu.

Skip plastic bottles

Bring a refillable bottle and purification tablets or a filter. Many teahouses also sell boiled or

filtered water for a small price. One trekker can easily save 30 or more plastic bottles on a two-week trek.

Pick a responsible team

Choose an agency that pays porters fairly, keeps loads reasonable and follows the waste rules. It costs about the same, and you know your trip is helping local families, not hurting the place they live. That is how we work, and our porters and guides are part of the family.

Final thoughts

Everest melting is a sad story in many ways. The ice is shrinking, old trash is coming up, and lost climbers are slowly being found. But it is also a story of Nepali soldiers, Sherpas and local people working hard to clean up and care for their mountain.

For trekkers, base camp is still open, still safe with the right plan, and still one of the best walks in the world. Want to see it for yourself, then you can talk to our team at Himalaya Guide Nepal and we will help you plan a trek that is safe, fair, and respectful to the mountains.