'Icefall doctors' risk their lives as unsung heroes of Mount Everest

Climbers and mountain guides are stranded during their Mount Everest expedition after a collapse damaged the route secured with ropes. Photo: Narendra Shahi Thakuri/dpa

Ngima Gyalzen Sherpa, a Nepalese mountain guide, still feels a chill in his heart when he remembers the moment he slipped and fell into a crevasse on Mount Everest, the highest summit in the world, in the spring of 2022.

The Khumbu Icefall is one of the most dangerous passages on Everest. It is a huge mass of giant blocks of ice that move slowly but steadily towards the valley and which climbers have to overcome on their ascent to the peak.