The skies above the highest mountain in the world are bustling with activity, and expedition operators are increasingly using drones to transport materials or medicines back and forth between camps. For some, this is progress, for others, it’s an outrage.
The Khumbu Icefall is a labyrinth of crevasses and enormous ice towers. Avalanches thunder down onto the glacier from the flanks of Mount Everest and Nuptse, and the ice masses are constantly moving. For climbers, guides and porters, the passage from base camp to high camp 1 can be a deadly trap. The route is mapped every season by the so-called Icefall Doctors, but accidents still happen. In 2014, an avalanche killed 16 Sherpas, and last April, three mountain guides were killed.