Drones Are Changing Mount Everest – and Making the Khumbu Icefall Safer

For generations, some of the most dangerous work on Mount Everest has fallen to Sherpa climbers carrying heavy loads repeatedly through the Khumbu Icefall.

That is now beginning to change.

During the 2026 Everest season, heavy-lift drones moved beyond experimental trials and became a genuine part of expedition logistics on the mountain, carrying oxygen, ropes, ladders and supplies upwards while bringing rubbish and human waste back down.

For the Sherpas who traditionally make repeated journeys through one of Everest’s most dangerous sections, the technology could prove transformational.

Cutting Dangerous Journeys Through the Icefall

The Khumbu Icefall lies immediately above Everest Base Camp and is notorious for collapsing seracs, deep crevasses and constantly shifting ice.

Sherpa guides traditionally carry expedition supplies through the Icefall towards Camp I and Camp II, often leaving Base Camp around midnight and spending six or seven hours moving through the dangerous terrain.

One guide, Lakpa Ringi Sherpa, told the Kathmandu Post that he would normally expect to make between eight and ten supply journeys during a season.

In 2026, he made just four.

The difference was the growing use of cargo drones.

Supplies that once required hours of climbing could now be transported between Base Camp and Camp I in minutes, substantially reducing the amount of time guides needed to spend exposed to danger in the Icefall.

More Than Ten Tonnes Moved by Drone

Nepalese company Airlift Technology operated heavy-lift drones on Everest throughout the spring season.

According to the company, more than 10 tonnes of material was transported up and down the mountain.

That included oxygen cylinders and general expedition supplies travelling upwards, while approximately 3.5 tonnes of rubbish was flown back from Camp I towards Base Camp.

Much of that waste consisted of human waste collected higher on the mountain.

The scale of the operation represents a considerable change from only a few years ago, when drone deliveries on Everest were still being treated primarily as experimental technology.

DJI conducted a major Everest delivery test in 2024, carrying approximately 15 kilograms of supplies to Camp I while returning waste from the mountain.

By 2026, commercial drone operations had become an established part of the season.

Oxygen, Ladders and Ropes Delivered by Air

The drones were not simply being used to carry food and personal equipment.

They transported equipment essential to establishing Everest’s climbing route.

During the early stages of the season, Airlift Technology used drones to carry aluminium ladders and rolls of rope towards Camp I for the Icefall Doctors – the specialist Sherpa team responsible for creating and maintaining the route through the Khumbu Icefall.

Oxygen cylinders were also transported by drone.

The DJI FlyCart 100 being used on the mountain can carry considerably less weight at extreme altitude than it can at sea level, but was still capable of moving loads of around 40 kilograms in Himalayan conditions.

That may sound modest compared with conventional aviation, but on Everest it represents several human load-carrying journeys removed from the Icefall.

Helping the Icefall Doctors See Danger Before Entering It

Cargo transport is only part of the story.

During the 2026 season, drones were also used to map the Khumbu Icefall and monitor changing hazards.

DJI said its Matrice 4E drone mapped more than three square kilometres around Base Camp, the Icefall and the area above Camp I in approximately three-and-a-half hours.

Operating at elevations of around 6,450 metres and temperatures below -20°C, the drone produced detailed terrain information that could be used to identify hazards and help the Icefall Doctors plan safer routes before physically entering dangerous areas.

That capability became particularly relevant during the 2026 season when a serac collapse disrupted the established route through the Icefall and injured a Sherpa guide and an Indian climber.

Expedition teams wanted drone reconnaissance to help assess the unstable area before more people were sent through it.

Drones Join Everest’s Clean-Up Effort

Everest’s rubbish problem has become almost as famous as its climbing queues.

Decades of expeditions have left abandoned equipment, oxygen cylinders, tents, plastics and human waste scattered across the mountain.

In 2026, Nepal introduced another significant change by establishing its first Everest Rangers Base at Camp II.

Mountain rangers monitored climbers and guides and enforced new requirements for waste to be brought down from the higher camps.

The Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee reported recovering 1.22 tonnes of non-recyclable waste from Camp III and the South Col, along with 210 empty gas canisters and approximately 1.76 tonnes of human-waste bags.

Waste brought down to Camp II could then be transported towards Camp I before drones completed the journey to Base Camp.

The combination of mountain rangers and cargo drones therefore created something approaching a new waste-management system on Everest.

Will Drones Replace Sherpa Jobs?

The arrival of heavy-lift drones inevitably raised questions about employment.

For decades, expedition logistics have depended on Nepalese high-altitude workers transporting enormous quantities of equipment around the mountain.

But many Sherpas involved in the new system do not see drones as competitors.

The distinction is important.

A drone can carry an oxygen cylinder through the Icefall.

It cannot guide a climber towards the summit, assess their physical condition, fix a dangerous section of route, conduct a high-altitude rescue or make critical decisions when conditions deteriorate.

As Lakpa Ringi Sherpa explained, guiding climbers is the real job.

Removing unnecessary load-carrying journeys simply means guides have to expose themselves to the Icefall fewer times.

Technology Is Becoming Part of Everest

Everest has always evolved alongside technology.

Modern clothing, satellite communications, detailed weather forecasting, lightweight oxygen systems and improved helicopter capabilities have already transformed the way expeditions operate.

Drones now appear likely to become another permanent part of that progression.

And their capabilities are still developing.

During additional trials in 2026, DJI tested high-altitude mapping, longer-range delivery systems and atmospheric research applications on both sides of Everest.

The technology will not make Everest safe.

Nothing can eliminate collapsing ice towers, avalanches, storms or the physiological dangers of extreme altitude.

But reducing the number of times a human being needs to carry a load through the Khumbu Icefall is one of those rare changes where the benefit is difficult to argue with.

For decades, Sherpas have shouldered much of the physical risk involved in making commercial Everest expeditions possible.

If a machine can safely carry some of that burden instead, then the buzzing of drones above Base Camp may become one of the more welcome sounds on the world’s highest mountain.