By Santosh Raut
Solukhumbu, Apr. 11: Road construction work has been completed for scaling the highest peak, Mount Everest. A nine-member team including six icefall doctors sponsored by the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC) Namcheka has completed the ascent from the Everest base camp.

After the start of the ‘spring’ season of climbing Mt. Everest, the team of icefall doctors started construction of the road in the second week of March.
An experienced and skilled person who makes a path in the snow is called an icefall doctor.
The construction has been completed under the leadership of Angsarki Sherpa, said Yangjidoma Sherpa, Information Officer of the SPCC Namcha. For years, the government has been assigning the task of building the path to Everest to the SPCC.

Every year a new path is built by replacing the old road damaged by snow. Icefall doctors will build a path to the summit of Mt. Everest by connecting aluminium fences. Climbers can reach the peak of Mt. Everest only after clearing the snow-covered road from Icefall to Camp-2, hanging ropes and placing staircases.

From the Everest base camp at an altitude of 5,364 metres to the camp at an altitude of 6,400 metres, there are up to two dozen small icebergs. Since there are many crevasses below Camp II, a lot of road construction work has to be done there. There are no glaciers on Camp II. The technician team paves the way for Camp II and ties the ropes during the climb.

As the construction of footpaths in the base camp would be very risky, the site was to be built according to Buddhism. Necessary preparations are made in the base camp for a week for road construction. Sherpas, who have been working as icefall doctors for years, risk their lives to pave the way.
Icefall doctors said that the road to climb the mountain has to be built with the help of ropes by digging snow and ice.

In case of an avalanche, the road-building will be damaged, so the road has to be built again and again in the same place. The base camp is the same to climb Mt. Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse. The same route is used for climbing all three mountains from base camp to Camp II.

Climbers can trek to the Second Camp only after being permitted by SPCC. To make the body suitable for climbing, the climbers have to go from the base camp to the second camp and back, so the second camp is set up soon.
Two hundred people from 21 groups have so far taken permission to climb Mt. Everest this spring. According to the Department of Tourism, 52 people have taken permission for Lhotse and 23 for Nuptse.