India's National Security Guard, the elite federal counter-terrorism force better known as the Black Cats, has flagged off its Mt. Everest Expedition 2026, with a 16-member team now in Kathmandu and set to fly to Lukla tomorrow before making their way to Everest Base Camp.
The Department of Tourism has issued an official confirmation that the Khumbu Icefall route from Everest Base Camp to Camp II has been fully established, bringing to a close one of the most closely watched route-fixing episodes in recent Everest history and formally opening the 2026 summit season.
Seventy years after two of the world's great 8,000-metre peaks were climbed for the first time, Nepal is preparing to mark the occasion with ceremonies that will take the celebrations back to the very communities that live in the shadow of those mountains.