Mount Everest season opens late with climbers undeterred by huge ice block

Khumbu Icefall between two peaks in the background at the Everest Base Camp (Pasang Rinzee Sherpa/AP)

An unstable ice block dangerously hanging over the key trail on Mount Everest, high travel costs and increased permit fees have not deterred hundreds of climbers from attempting to scale the world’s highest mountain.

About 410 climbers and an equal number of their Nepali climbing guides are at the base camp gearing up for the ascent to the 29,000ft peak this month during the much anticipated window of good weather on the mountain.