While China keeps the North Col closed, the Icefall Doctors are already working on the Khumbu Icefall to open the season’s route.
COVER PHOTO: Everest North Side Base Camp, this year, as is usually the case in China, probably only for domestic expeditions.
The most significant event of the season is that the north face of Everest, in Tibet (China), will remain closed to foreign expeditions during the spring of 2026.
Access from the North Col was not authorized for international teams, according to some sources, which indicate that only Chinese teams will be permitted to operate, but not foreign commercial expeditions.
Some operators who traditionally work on this route had to relocate their expeditions to the Nepalese side or cancel them altogether. This creates a situation similar to the pandemic: Everest is left with practically only one operational commercial route, the southern one (Nepal).
Consequences for the 2026 Season
The closure of the Tibetan side has several implications:
Greater concentration of expeditions in Nepal
The classic route via the South Col will once again absorb the majority of expeditions.
This could lead to:
Increased pressure on the Khumbu Icefall
Higher occupancy at Camps 1, 2, and 3
More traffic near the Southeast Ridge and the Hillary Step
A potentially very busy season
Some analysts estimate that total summits could approach or exceed recent record numbers if the weather cooperates.
Impact of the Tibet closure on the 2026 Himalayan season
The closure of access to foreign expeditions on the north face of Mount Everest not only affects the world’s highest mountain. It also has direct consequences for other major Himalayan peaks located in Chinese territory.
These include Cho Oyu and Shishapangma, two of the most frequently climbed eight-thousanders by commercial expeditions.
Cho Oyu: Another Season Virtually Lost
Cho Oyu, the sixth highest mountain on the planet at 8,188 meters, is often considered one of the most technically accessible of the eight-thousanders and a popular choice for climbers seeking experience before attempting Everest.
However, since the pandemic, access to this mountain has been extremely irregular due to restrictions imposed by China.
For the 2026 season:
No international permits have been announced.
Several expeditions that were considering climbing it ended up canceling or relocating to Nepal.
In practice, Cho Oyu remains practically off the international commercial circuit.
This is significant because for years it was the eight-thousander with the most ascents after Everest.
Shishapangma: An Even More Restricted Mountain
The situation is even more complex on Shishapangma.
This 8,027-meter peak, the only one located entirely within Chinese territory, has been closed to foreign commercial expeditions for several recent seasons.
The reasons include:
political control of the area
safety regulations
Chinese administrative decisions regarding high-altitude tourism
As a result, many international expeditions have stopped including Shishapangma in their itineraries.
Affected Companies
The closure of the Tibetan side of Mount Everest also affects operators who traditionally worked on that side, considered by many to be objectively safer than the Khumbu Icefall route.
Among the companies that have historically organized expeditions on the north side are:
Lukas Furtenbach (Furtenbach Adventures expeditions)
Garrett Madison (of Madison Mountaineering)
China Tibet Mountaineering Association, responsible for coordinating activity on the Tibetan side.
Several of these expeditions relocated to Nepal or modified their plans.
Everest 2026: A Familiar Scenario
The most visible consequence is that the climbing season will once again focus on the South Col route, which ascends from Nepal through the famous Khumbu Icefall.
This scenario is reminiscent of what happened during the pandemic years, when access to the Tibetan side was also closed and expedition traffic was concentrated entirely in Nepal.
If weather conditions cooperate, 2026 could once again see a very high number of summit attempts, increasing logistical pressure on high-altitude camps and key sections of the route.
The north face of Mount Everest had only recently reopened to foreign expeditions in 2024, after several years of restrictions. The new closure for 2026 is once again generating uncertainty about the stability of access to the mountains of the Tibetan Himalayas.
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