Mount Everest’s brief spring weather window brings a rush to the summit
May is the busiest month on Mount Everest, when hundreds of climbers chase a brief summit window as an unstable block of ice adds more danger near the route.
This year, drones from Airlift Technology, a drone-mapping start-up, can now deliver supplies including ladders, ropes and medical equipment to climbers on Mt. Everest, the world’s tallest mountain.
May is the busiest month of the year on Mount Everest, when climbers rush to take advantage of the Himalayas’ short spring weather window for a chance to stand atop the tallest mountain on Earth.
Around the middle of the month, the brutal cold and fierce winter winds begin to ease before moisture from the annual monsoon makes conditions worse again.
Mountaineers participate in a training session at the Khumbu Icefall as they prepare for their ascent to the summit of Mount Everest, Nepal, Saturday, May 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Pasang Rinzee Sherpa)
Hundreds of climbers and Nepali guides are preparing to make the high-risk push to the top of the 29,032-foot mountain. Reaching the summit means crossing the Khumbu Icefall, navigating steep terrain and trying to beat both the weather and the crowds packed onto the route.
This year, the climb has become even more hazardous because a massive, unstable block of ice, known as a serac, has been hanging over part of the route not far above base camp. The route did not open until April 29, but the serac still has multiple cracks and could collapse at any time, according to The Associated Press.
The exact timing of the best summit window changes from year to year, so climbers must be ready to move on short notice. That scramble can create long lines of people on the narrow trails leading toward the peak. Crowding on Everest has been a recurring problem during busy May climbing seasons.
There is also a smaller climbing window in September, after the monsoon ends and before winter tightens its grip again. But by then, fresh snow left behind by the monsoon can make the route even harder to climb.
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