An unstable ice block dangerously hanging over the key trail on Mount Everest, high travel costs and increased permit fees haven't deterred hundreds of climbers from attempting to scale the world's highest mountain.
Around 410 climbers and an equal number of their Nepali climbing guides are at the base camp gearing up for the ascent to the nearly 8,850-meter-high (around 29,000-foot-high) peak this month during the much anticipated window of good weather on the mountain.
