The deadliest single day on Everest at the time, it prompted a Sherpa work stoppage that halted the entire 2014 climbing season.
Key Facts
- Deaths
- 16 Sherpas killed
- Bodies recovered
- 13 of 16
- Bodies unrecovered
- 3 (too dangerous to retrieve)
- Location
- Khumbu Icefall, western spur of Everest
- Sherpa response date
- 22 April 2014
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Seracs on the western spur of Mount Everest became unstable and failed, a hazard inherent to the Khumbu Icefall, the same area where the 1970 Mount Everest disaster had previously occurred. The icefall is a notoriously dangerous section of the standard climbing route, subject to constant glacial movement and collapse.
On 18 April 2014, the serac collapse triggered a massive ice avalanche through the Khumbu Icefall, killing sixteen Sherpa climbers. Thirteen bodies were recovered within two days, but the remaining three were never retrieved due to the extreme danger of recovery operations in the unstable terrain.
Angered by what they considered an inadequate government compensation offer to victims' families, Sherpas threatened a strike. On 22 April 2014, they announced they would not work on Everest for the rest of the season as a mark of respect, effectively ending all summit attempts for the 2014 climbing season.