The avalanche from Pumori on 25 April 2015

At 11:56 a.m. all hell broke loose. Exactly a year ago today, a magnitude 7,8 earthquake struck Nepal. About 9,000 people were killed, 23,000 were injured. However, these were only the victims registered by the government, it was probably more. Also on Mount Everest many people died on 25 April 2015. The quake triggered a huge avalanche on the nearby seven-thousander Pumori. It hit Everest Base Camp, 19 people lost their lives. On this anniversary of the disaster, climbers and the staff of the infirmary “Everest ER” gathered at the foot of the highest mountain on earth for a minute of silence – at 11:56 a.m.

“This was an opportunity to remember those who died, those who were injured and the many people who worked so hard to rescue and treat the 100 patients”, Rachel Tullet writes in the blog of Jagged Globe. An American climber from the team of the British organizer had died and two other team members had been injured in the avalanche. “We also remember the huge number of people affected across Nepal by the devastating earthquake, many of whom are still struggling to rebuild their lives”, Rachel continues.

Rural exodus could increase

Self-help (in the village of Kadambas) instead of waiting for help

I saw this with my own eyes during my visit in Sindhupalchowk District a month ago. People there are still living in shelters made of bamboo and corrugated iron. In no way could it be called reconstruction. People grumble about the government, they feel left in the lurch. “It is time that the money arrives that was promised to the people and should serve to ensure that they really can be at home in their villages again,” Ralf Dujmovits tells me. “As many developing countries, Nepal has already a problem with large rural exodus. This will continue, the villages will be deserted. This will harm entire Nepal which is depending on agriculture. It benefits no one if people migrate to the cities.” It will take Nepal “certainly ten years to recover from the earthquake,” says Ralf.

Reconstruction proceeds slowly

School in the village of Mailchaur

The hitherto only German who climbed all 14 eight-thousanders had visited Sindhupalchowk two weeks after the quake and had been shocked about the extent of damage. His emotional state has hardly changed in the last twelve months. “I’m especially worried about the children, because the reconstruction of the schools is proceeding very slowly,” says Ralf. “In most cases, nothing worth mentioning has happened. It is to be hoped now that building material reaches the villages, so that the schools finally can be rebuilt.”

Please continue to donate for “School up!”

Schoolchildren in Thulosirubari

Along with Ralf Dujmovits and Austrian top climber Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, I had initiated the donation campaign “School up!” to rebuild as soon as possible the school at the village of Thulosirubari that had been destroyed by the earthquake. So far we have collected more than one third of the required sum – thanks to your donations (!). The first of three construction phases is due to begin shortly, we are still waiting for the okay of the government in Kathmandu, hoping that they finally get their act together.

We need more donations for “School up” to finance also the second and third construction phase. Here again the bank account in Germany:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries e.V.
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

Please tell others as well! Thank you so much!

Trekking in Khumbu

Safety is primarily a feeling. Often we don’t even realize the lurking objective danger. And if we do, then usually only if we have no other option than facing the danger. A week ago I have returned from my trekking in Khumbu, the region around Mount Everest. Eleven months have passed since the devastating earthquake in Nepal. I think that my senses were quite sharpened because it was an objective of my journey to inform myself about the consequences of the quake. I can send all the people who want to travel to the region for trekking or climbing on their way with my experience: I felt perfectly safe in Khumbu.

Memories of civil war

Namche Bazaar, in the background Kongde Ri

This was not the case during my first visit to Everest region 14 years ago. In 2002, there was a night-time curfew in Namche Bazaar starting at 5 p.m. because of the civil war with the Maoists. The soldiers of the local military station were nervous, I heard shots. It was only when we reached Tengboche monastery at 3,860 meters, that my former mountain guide Gowa Lama said: “Now we are safe. The Maoists have not penetrated higher so far.” The civil war in Nepal has been over since 2006. Ten years later we were able to hike through the impressive mountains of the Himalayas without need to think about charges to pay to rebels or about getting caught in the crossfire.

Most of the debris cleared

Stupa in front of the Hillary School in Khumjung

The earthquake on 25 April 2015 has left marks also in Khumbu, but the area got off rather lightly compared for instance with the particularly hard-hit Sindhupalchowk District. Here and there some stupas (tombs of Buddhist lamas who according to religion were reborn) with deep cracks still witness the earthquake. But most of the debris has been cleared. In many places, new buildings have already replaced the collapsed houses, which had been mostly traditional Sherpa buildings. The trekking trails are well maintained, virtually no traces of the earthquake can be seen there.

Depending on tourism

Everest, Lhotse and Makalu (from l. to r.)

Maybe I also felt so safe in Khumbu because there was much less talk about the earthquake. People in the Everest region seem to have come to terms with last year’s natural disaster and ticked it off. Probably because they were affected not that bad. The consequences of the earthquake were more indirectly: The tourism market collapsed because foreigners were worried about their safety. My impression in Khumbu: These concerns are groundless. You can travel there without worrying. The mountain guides, porters, farmers, lodge owners and shopkeepers, who heavily depend on income from tourism, will thank you: with great hospitality and an honest smile.

First glance on Everest (l.) and Lhotse

“I don’t have any ambitions to climb Mount Everest,” says Ang Dorjee Sherpa. “Too dangerous! Finally, I have a wife and three children.” However, the 47-year-old was a member of Everest expeditions twice. At the end of 1991, Ang Dorjee worked as “Mail Man” for a Japanese expedition who wanted to climb the mighty Southwest Face for the first time in winter. The Sherpa brought the news of the failure at 8,350 meters as “postal runner” into the valley. Two years later the Japanese were back again – and successfully: A total of six climbers reached the summit on a partially new route, the first team on 18 December 1993. The first ascent of the wall in (meteorological, not calendrical) winter was done. That time, Ang Dorjee did not play the postman, but worked as a cook for the Japanese.

Again and again, Japan

Ang Dorjee Sherpa

To date, the Sherpa has a special relationship with Japanese mountaineers. In the guest room of his “AD Friendship Lodge” in Namche Bazaar at 3440 meters photos are hanging on the wall showing Ang Dorjee with Junko Tabei, the first woman on the Everest, or even with Uchiro Miura, who was, aged 80, the oldest man ever to climb Everest. For several years Ang Dorjee also worked in summer for three months as a cook at a Japanese mountain lodge. And many of the trekking groups he is nowadays guiding through the impressive mountains of Nepal, are from Japan.

Accustomed to earthquakes

Bridge across Dudh Cosi

During the devastating earthquake on 25 April 2015, Ang Dorjee was in Kathmandu to make final preparations for a Japanese travel group. “The Japanese did not even want to leave after the quake. They were accustomed to shocks from their home. But I sent them home. Their safety was for me more important than the money.” In Namche Bazaar, fortunately there was hardly no damage, says Ang Dorjee. adding that in the region the two villages Thame and Khumjung were hit, “especially the houses that had been built in the traditional way.” His own Lodge got only a small crack in the back wall. “Nothing bad!”

Icefall Doctors are making good progress

Namche Bazaar

For this spring season, Ang Dorjee is somewhere between slightly skeptical and cautiously optimistic. “But in spring even more climbers from expeditions arrive than trekkers. For us, fall is almost more important because it’s the main trekking season.” The Sherpa expects for the climbers who will come to Namche in the next few weeks a good summit chance to reach the summit. “I heard that the Icefall Doctors have already made good progress in preparing the route,” says Ang Dorjee. When I ask him about the mood among the Sherpas – after two years of deadly avalanches and without summit successes on the Nepalese side of Everest – Ang Dorjee smiles: “No matter how bad it is, we Sherpas are very good at forgetting and restarting.”

Dorje Sherpa in front of his lodge in Phakding

Dorje Sherpa is familiar with Everest disasters. In 1996, 20 years ago, he reached the summit of the highest mountain on earth for the first time. Then he belonged to the IMAX film team of the American David Breashears, when a storm in the summit area killed eight climbers within 24 hours. “We were then in Camp 2 at 6,400 meters”, the 50-year-old tells me in his “Buddha Lodge” in the village of Phakding, which lies on the popular trekking route to Everest Base Camp.

Rescue in Khumbu Icefall

Numerous certificate are hanging on the walls of the guest room, including a thank-you note by the Nepal Mountaineering NMA for Dorje’s participaton in the rescue operation on Everest in spring 2014. Two years ago, 16 Nepalese climbers died in an ice avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall. Then Dorje was Sirdar of the “Altitude Junkies” team, meaning the boss of their climbing Sherpas. From the base camp, he ascended to the scene of the accident and helped to recover the dead and injured.

Family says: No!

The avalanche from Pumori

And also in 2015, the Sherpa was at the foot of Mount Everest, when the earthquake on April 25 triggered an avalanche from Pumori that hit the base camp and killed 19 people. “We were sitting in the mess tent and were eating. It was a huge avalanche. One team member tried to run away, stumbled, fell and lost two teeth.” 2014 and 2015 were really bad years on the highest mountain, says Dorje: “Therefore, I won’t climb Everest this year. My family does not let me go.“ The experienced climber has reached the 8850-meter-high summit already six times. He wants to hang up, not stop, says the Sherpa: “Maybe it works again in 2017.”

Ready for guests – if they come

Construction work in the Khumbu area

His wife and son are living in the capital Kathmandu. Dorje has monitored the reconstruction of his lodge in Phakding, which was destroyed in the earthquake almost eleven months ago. Everywhere it is still smelling of fresh processed wood. The outer stone walls were built very solid. “Now we are ready for new guests,” says Dorje Sherpa, when he proudly shows us the completed rooms of htis lodge. “Hopefully, they’ll come.”

P.S.: The art of brewing beer done in my home town Cologne seems to have reached the Everest region. Here – as the picture testifies – you can buy „Khumbu-Kölsch“.

Earthquake wounds in Chautara

Chautara appears as if the devastating earthquake had hit it recently, not almost eleven months before. About 15,000 people are living in the city at an altitude of 1,500 meters, the administrative headquarter of Sindhupalchowk District, which was particularly hard-hit by the earthquake on 25 April last year. On the main street many ruined houses still witness to the disaster that killed more than 3,500 people in this mountain region. In many villages about 90 percent of the houses collapsed. The cleanup is progressing slowly. Too heavy are the wounds that the earthquake has ripped, not only at the buildings, but also for the city’s inhabitants. “There is still a very great problem of health,” says doctor Sabina Parajuli. “Those who were injured that time, have not fully recovered because of lots of problems, especially in their limbs. They were operated at that time and not able to do their normal activites. They were the only family members with income, but they are not working and are not getting money. And the other family members are busy with taking care of them.” In addition, infectious diseases such as vomiting or diarrhea spread quickly because the people live in crowded shelters.

Still a tent clinic

Emergency room in a tent

Sabina works in the hospital of Chautari. The large building was so badly damaged in the quake that it can not be used without extensive repairs. Therefore, Sabine and her colleagues are still working mainly in tents on the grounds of the clinic. Only a small building with an office and a treatment room was newly built after the earthquake. “Some of the tents have been destroyed by the strong winds in recent times,” says the 25-year-old.

The doctors are treating not only physical diseases but also mental. “Many suffer from post traumatic disorders, means stress after many months of the traumatic event. They are afraid of minor things, don’t sleep properly and they are not interested to have food properly”, says Sabina Parajuli, adding that some patients are highly depressed because they lost relatives, their house or the entire property. She estimates that only about 30 to 40 percent of the mentally ill visit the hospital: “In our communities psychological injuries are very stigmatized and there is very discrimination.” In addition, many are not aware that they are suffering from a desease and that this can be cured, she says.

Politics, Politics, Politics

Sabina Parachuli treats a young patient

The doctor is in no way satisfied with the government – like actually all I talked to in Sindhupalchowk. “They have to help us as early as possible. But the government is only making politics, politics, politics and is not acting where it is needed. So there is very slow help and progress. Nowadays we are not hoping anything from them. And we are just trying to do the best ourselves.”

For the doctors at the hospital of Chautara that means still working up to their personal limits. In the first weeks after the quake, Sabina was deployed nearly around the clock. “Of course we were tired. But the other people were injured and more stressed than us. Compared with these other people we were healthy. They needed our help”, said the young doctor. “I was not forced by anyone, but by my heart. I had to do something for my home village Sangachok and the villagers. It was my chance and opportunity to serve them.”

Hoping for the straight stretches

Life in tin sheds

There are still aftershocks in the region. People fear that another, perhaps even heavier earthquake than that on 25 April 2015 could occur. There is still no sign of normality in Sindhupalchowk District, says Sabina: “Of course there will be a light at the end of the tunnel. But the tunnel is not straight, it’s curved. And because of these curves we can’t see the light nowadays. If we get to the point where the tunnel is straight, we can see it. We haven’t yet reached that point. But I hope we’ll do it in very near future.”

Children play “Hot Potato”

“They lost their houses and all their property, but they didn’t lose their plans,” says Arjun Gatraj about the people of his native village Thulosirubari. “There is still hope.” Not only for better times for themselves, but also for their children. “They feel that education is important for their children. They sent them directly after the earthquake as soon as we started the school again.” Arjun is the chairman of the school committee of Thulosirubari, a small mountain village, about 70 kilometers from the Nepalese capital Kathmandu. Almost every family has been affected by the earthquake. “75 people died, among them eight of our students”, Arjun tells me during my visit in Thulosirubari. “About 1800 houses were destroyed, only 30 to 40 are still intact.”

Teaching outside

Earthquake damage in Sangachok

Also almost eleven months after the devastating earthquake on 25 April 2015, the damage in Sindhupalchowk District, east of Kathmandu, is obvious. Most people, whose houses collapsed in the quake, are still living in tin sheds. They have cleared the debris, provisionally, if at all. As reported, the “Gerlinde and Ralf-School” in Thulosirubari had been damaged so badly that it had to be demolished completely. The teachers are currently giving lessons to about 700 students in temporary classrooms with tin sheets – or outside. Even today, the younger children have gathered outside. They work on a quiz. In teams of three, they lean over their wooden desks and put their heads together. The best of the ten teams will represent the school in the near future in a competition with other schools. Each correct answer is accompanied by large applause from the audience.

Shortly before take-off

Who will represent the school?

“Even in winter, the teachers often moved outside,” says Arjun.”We could not heat the sheds. In the midday sun it was warmer than inside.” For a long time the staff meetings were held beneath a large tree on the school grounds. Now the teachers use a tent. “If strong wind is blowing, we think it is going to fly into the air,” says the head of the school committee and laughs. The people of Thulosirubari have not lost their sense of humor and regained their courage.

Jumping out the window

Shailaja Kasaju

Immediately after the quake, that was different. Many residents of the villages were traumatized, among them also the children. “I could read it in their faces,” English teacher Shailaja Kasaju recalls. The 27-year-old is giving lessons at the school in Sangachok, not far from Thulosirubari. „A week back I had seen them smiling, very happy. And these faces turned into very sad faces. They even stopped talking to each other, what was very sad.“ The children were so traumatized that they often jumped out of the windows of the temporary classrooms when an aftershock occured. Meanwhile, they have become adepted to the situation, says Shailaja: “They have a kind of accepted it. In case of earthquake they know we can do this, we cannot do that. So they know the concept of earthquake, how to be safe.“ Like the school in Thulosirubari, the school in Sangachok had to be demolished completely. Both had been built and supported by the “Nepalhilfe Beilngries“.

Waiting for the go-ahead

The German aid organization is awaiting the approval of the Nepalese government for reconstruction. The process has become much more bureaucratic. Before the earthquake, the “Nepalhilfe” could manage the construction of new schools directly with the local school committees, now there are two more intermediary instances. “We hope that we can start in April,” says Shyam Pandit, who coordinates the school projects of the “Nepalhilfe” in the country. The government has adopted new rules to make the buildings earthquake resistant. So the schools must not have more than two floors now.

Loud and stressful

Badly soundproofed tin sheds

The teachers long for the new buildings. The lessons in the badly soundproofed tin sheds are “very stressful,” says Shailaja. “If I teach in one class, the other two classes are disturbed. We can hear everything from the other classes coming in. The teachers have to go on top of their voice. This is very tiring.” In addition, the students get distracted a lot, because they can see what happens outside, says Shailaya. And then there is also the risk of injury: “The children are cutting their hands on these tin sheets.”

The place for the new school in Thulosirubari is already chosen. The wooden doors and windows of the demolished school store in a shed. “So we can save money,” says Arjun Gatraj, the chairman of the school committee. “We are ready for reconstruction.”

P.S.: The people in Thulosirubari asked me to tell you a heartfelt thank you. Your donations for our aid project “School up!” have made the hopefully soon start of the construction works possible in the first place. More than a third of the necessary amount is already met. But the prices of construction material in Nepal have increased by 50 percent after the earthquake and the long blockade of the Nepal-Indian border. We are not there yet. Please continue to donate for “School up!” and tell others of this project! Here again the account information:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany

IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP

Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

Construction work in the tourist district of Thamel

“I am now 57 years old,” says Sunil. “And that was the most dramatic experience I ever had.” The Nepalese is talking about 25 April last year, when the earth shook Nepal. Nearly 9,000 people were killed. Then Sunil was among 2,500 guests of an event in a hall in the capital Kathmandu.”Suddenly the whole building began to shake. All people hurried towards the exit, which was much too small for this sudden rush”, Sunil recalls. “The people fell over each other, there was a panic. I thought there’s no point, I have to stay inside. If I will not survive, so be it.” The hall withstood the tremors. Sunil escaped with a fright.

Visa at high speed

Life in Kathmandu now feels almost like always: chaotic, loud, colorful. But it is apparent that significantly fewer tourists are in town than usual. In the airplane that I used there were only about a dozen tourists, except them only Nepalese guest workers from the Gulf region. Never before I received my visa at the airport as quickly as this time: no queues at the officer’s desks. After only ten minutes I stood at the baggage carousel. Also Thamel, the main tourist district of the capital, appears at lunch time as if it was after the closing hour. A few backpackers get lost in the small streets. How on earth should all the shopkeepers make ends meet?

Death at lunchtime

Stupa of Swayambhunath

Up in Swayambhunath, one of the oldest Buddhist temples worldwide, some debris still testify the quake nearly a year ago. “A monastery building collapsed. Six construction workers, who were doing their job there, had just gone to lunch,” says one of the self-appointed tourist guides on the temple hill, who try to get a few rupees tip by any visitor from abroad. “One of the workers did not want to join his collegues. He died in the rubble.” The center of the temple complex, the Buddhist stupa, remained intact. Only one of the two Hindu towers on its side collapsed.

Without the head

Closed due to reconstruction

At the other end of the city, the stupa in Boudhanath, a UNESCO World Heritage, was hit worse. The complete top with the striking eyes of Bhudda broke off. The reconstruction has begun recently. Generally, there is a lot of construction works in Kathmandu. The earthquake damage is to be eliminated as quickly as possible so that the tourists return. Finally, the Himalayan state depends primarily on tourism. According to official figures, last year one third less tourists came to Nepal than 2014. In truth the tourism market has collapsed much more clearly, almost everyone in Kathmandu with whom I talking about this topic is saying.

Camped in the garden for two months

Near the airport, right next to the huge property of a luxury hotel, about 450 people are still living in a tent city. Their houses collapsed in the quake. Sunil belonged to the luckier one. Only a wall at the boundary of his property collapsed. “Nevertheless, we lived in a tent in the garden for two months after the quake – and along with us many neighbors who have no garden,” says Sunil. “We only went into the house when we needed something really urgently.” Although there are now only a few and very weak aftershocks, the fear is still there. “Finally, there are scientists who are expecting an even stronger earthquake in our area in the near future.”

The site where the school was located

“We feel very sad to see ‘Ground zero’ of this huge school building”, says Sunil Krishna Shrestha, representative of the German aid organization “Nepalhilfe Beilngries” in Nepal. As reported before, the devastating 25 April earthquake had damaged the “Gerlinde and Ralf School” in the small mountain village of Thulosirubari so badly that it had to be demolished. The ruins had posed a danger to the children who had continued to play there after the quake. Meanwhile, the destroyed school building, where about 700 students from the region around the village had been taught before the quake, was leveled to the ground. “We were able to recover windows, doors and a few school desks and boards from the rubble”, Arjun Gatraj, the chairman of the school management committee at Thulosirubari, writes to me, adding that the old bricks could not be saved because the IOM (International Organization for Migration) had used heavy machinery to demolish the building.

Provisional classrooms

The winter is coming soon. The lessons are still held in tin sheds. “We haven’t any plan how to heat the rooms during winter because there is not enough money”, says Arjun. “The tin sheds are too cold in winter.” Nevertheless, the teachers want to continue their lessons. The ongoing blockade of the Nepalese-Indian border by opponents of the new constitution has consequences for Thulosirubari too. “Important goods and medicines are running short because it is hardly possible to find a vehicle to transport them here”, says Arjun Gatraj.

From Cologne Cathedral to Aachen Cathedral

Cologne Cathedral

Last June we started our donation campaign “School up!” to rebuild the “Gerlinde and Ralf School” as soon as possible. The well-known climbers Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner from Austria and Ralf Dujmovits from Germany are collecting donations for “School up!” during their lectures and other events. The slogan of my next activity for the project is “Power pilgrimage for Nepal”. Two weeks from today, on 18 November, I will set off in my hometown Cologne from the Cathedral for a (tough) two-day sponsored hike in all weathers on the Way of St James. The end of the hike should be the Aachen Cathedral, about 100 kilometers away. Because of my no longer quite new knees, I will not walk nonstop but stay overnight halfway and continue my hike early the next morning. That should be tough enough.

Donation per kilometer

Aachen Cathedral

I am looking for sponsors for my “Power pilgrimage for Nepal”. The revenue is used one hundred percent for “School up”. This is how it works if you join in: Before I start you determine an amount for every kilometer that I will hike between 18 November, 8 a.m. and 19 November, 8 p.m. Means: If you want to give for instance ten cents per kilometer, it would be a total of ten euros at 100 kilometer – if I really succeed in hiking this distance within the time indicated. Those who prefer to contribute a fixed amount of money can of course do so. I am grateful for any euro for the school in Thulosirubari.
While I’m on the road, I will inform you via Twitter where I am and what I am experiencing. At the end I will tell you how far exactly I hiked within these 36 hours. Then you should transfer your donation directly to the bank account of “School up!”:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

You may wonder why I’ll go on a pilgrimage, albeit a short one. Very simply, because I am a Christian. And a bit of assistance from above for our project in Nepal cannot do any harm.

P.S.: You can inform me by email (you find the address on the bottom right) about the amount that you have decided to give for “Power pilgrimage for Nepal” – of course, under the pledge of secrecy, as an additional information and motivation for me. Many thanks in advance!

Peter Habeler in the German town of Leverkusen

You would not estimate that Peter Habeler has really 73 years under his belt. Slim, wiry, tanned – just one who is still climbing mountains. Along with friends, he is currently repeating many routes in the Alps that he climbed when he was young, the Austrian told me when I met him at a mountaineers’ event in Leverkusen near my hometown Cologne last weekend: “Thankfully, I feel physically very well. But it’s going round in circles: If you train and climb a lot, you’re just in better physical shape.” Even 37 years after Habeler climbed Mount Everest along with Reinhold Messner for the first time without bottled oxygen, the highest mountain on earth is always in his mind – of course also due to the fact that he as a pioneer is questioned on Everest again and again.

Accidents in a way “homemade”

In the Khumbu Icefall

“It was good that the mountain had its peace this year”, says Habeler, when I mention that 2015 will be the first year on Everest since 1974 without summit successes: “Everest doesn’t deserve a thousand people.” Many of the numerous summit aspirants are not up to the mountain, says the Austrian, adding that the avalanche incidents in the past two years were to an extent “homemade”. The site in the Khumbu Icefall, where an ice avalanche killed 16 Nepalese climbers in spring 2014, had been an “extremely tricky place” even in his own active years, Habeler remembers: “When Reinhold (Messner) and I climbed through the Khumbu Icefall in 1978, we and all the others remained in the right part. Even in 2000, when I was there again, we didn’t climb on the left side of the Icefall because it was too dangerous.”
Habeler means that this spring’s avalanche, which hit Everest base camp and killed 19 people, did not take place without warning too. One of the reasons that the avalanche triggered by the earthquake could reach the base camp at all was that the tent city has spread more and more towards Pumori, “like a millipede”, says Habeler: “It has been known for a long time that avalanches often occur on this mountain.”

Limit for Everest

Habeler (r.) and Messner (in 1975, after having climbed Gasherbrum I for the first time in Alpine style)

Habeler is in favor of limiting the number of climbers on Everest but considers the probability to be small: “Tourism is the number one source of income in Nepal. It will be very difficult to make an example on Everest, of all mountains, because a lot of money is involved. It’s not incredible much money coming from the climbing royalties, but Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world. Therefore every dollar or cent counts. Nevertheless, a limit should be set, at least for Everest.”

Next year to Nepal
He has traveled to Nepal almost 70 times so far, says Habeler adding that he has many friends there and tries to help them after the devastating 25 April earthquake. Next year, he wants to fly to Nepal again and calls on all mountain lovers to do the same in order to support the country. “I plead one hundred percent: Go to Nepal!”, says Peter Habeler and continues with a smile: “But not all need to go to Everest.”

Village of Gandao in northern Pakistan

Again, a mountainous region was hit. Yesterday, nearly half a year after the devastating earthquake in Nepal, which had killed closed to 9,000 people, the earth trembled in northern Afghanistan and northern Pakistan. The number of registered deaths has been rising to nearly 400 so far and reportedly several thousand people were injured. As after the quake in Nepal, the rescue teams have not yet reached many remote mountain valleys in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Roads are blocked by landslides. Along the Karakoram Highway, the main connecting axis to the north, 45 landslides were recorded. Meanwhile more than half of the blocked places have been cleared up again. Landslides were also reported from the area around Skardu, the town that many climbers know because it is the starting point of most expeditions to the Karakoram.

More than 200 km below the mountains

Epicenter of the quake (© USGS)

The US Geological Survey (USGS) and the German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam located the epicenter of the earthquake 212 km below the Hindu Kush Range: in the Afghan province of Badakhshan, about 30 kilometers north of the 6,843-meter-high mountain Kuh-e Bandaka. The USGS stated that the quake was “the result of reverse faulting”, means: a stratum moves up at the edge of another one. The tremors reached a magnitude of 7.5. For comparison: the 25 April earthquake in Nepal was measured 7.8. The tremors were felt in Tajikistan, the western Chinese province of Xinjiang, northern India and Nepal too. It will probably take a few weeks to get an overview of the full extent of damage. My thoughts are with the earthquake-hit people in the mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Run on scarce petrol

At last! Many Western governments have now canceled their general travel warning for Nepal that they had imposed after the 25 April earthquake. Instead, they are now only warning not to travel to certain regions of the Himalayan state. So the German Foreign Office called the trekking regions Langtang and Manaslu problematic areas, where access “is not possible or only with considerable difficulties”. The British Foreign Office advises against traveling  to these regions too and calls in addition the districts Sindhupalchowk and Dolakha. From the perspective of the German Government “particular caution is advised” when traveling in these or other areas that were hit hard by the quake. The US Department of State notes that “the frequency and severity of aftershocks have greatly diminished”, but encourages travelers “to consult carefully with their travel and trekking agencies for current, location-specific information and to heed warnings of potential danger”.  All those governments point to a new problem in Nepal – a political one.

Everything is short in supply

For two weeks, the border to India is next to closed due to political protests in the Terai districts. Fuel, gas, basic food, medicine – everything is running short in Nepal. “Several hotels are serving sandwiches and salad only. Many small restaurants already had to close”, Michi Muenzberg writes from the capital Kathmandu. “At normal mealtimes thick trails of smoke are billowing through the streets, as people are cooking on open fires.”

Stranded in Kathmandu

Michi Muenzberg (r.) in Kathmandu

Three years ago, the German woman, who is living in the small town of Wilthen in Saxony, traveled to Nepal for the first time. Since then, the country has become her second home. Michi founded a private aid project, “Hope for Nepal”. She arranges school sponsorships for Nepalese children and supports a children’s home in Kathmandu. Now Michi traveled to Nepal again to help the earthquake victims. But she is stranded in Kathmandu for two weeks because of the border blockades in the Terai districts.

No material transports possible

“Sure, we could rent one of the few still driving taxis, but that would generate horrendous costs so that it would be simply useless. And the transportation of construction materials could not be done this way”, Michi writes. “I feel very sorry for the people in these areas who were hoping that things turned better after the monsoon. There is an urgent need to build shelters for winter and sanitary facilities. How, in any way, can we manage this?”

Mahesh Kumar Budha

It is far from easy to survive in the highly competitive tourism market in Nepal. Under normal circumstances, but all the more after the earthquake last spring. There are hundreds of trekking and expedition agencies in Kathmandu that compete to get any clients. Most of them are small companies, and the owners often live from hand to mouth. Small entrepreneurs like my friend Mahesh Kumar Budha suffer most from the economic consequences of the earthquake. The government estimates that the tourism market has slumped by 50 percent, local operators assume that it is up to 70 percent.

No income since January

In 2003, Mahesh was my trekking guide when I did a one-week-trip to the Annapurna region to report for DW radio about the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP).  In 2011, after having worked for about 20 years for other trekking companies, he founded his own agency “Joy Treks”. His bureau is located in Thamel, the popular tourist quarter in Kathmandu. “I have had no income since January“, the 40-year-old writes to me. „Actually one group wanted to visit Nepal in May and another in June, but the devastating quake didn’t let them come.” Before the earthquake Mahesh also had enough inquiries for this fall. “But most of them are silent now, and I think it is because they are scared to travel to Nepal.”

Suicides of business men

Mahesh in front of his bureau

Mahesh has to feed his family. His four children are attending school, the eldest twins are in the tenth class preparing their final year on high school before going to college. That costs money. “The living costs in Kathmandu have also increased in recent years”, says Mahesh. “I am very worried about that all.”
He reports about some Nepalese people who took advantage of the earthquake by providing fake information to their foreign friends and clients. “But my moral, my heart doesn’t allow me to do it like them. I never had my own house in Kathmandu and I cannot post pictures of a collapsed building pointing ‘This is my house’!”
The bad economic consequences of the earthquake have also led to human tragedies. “Two of the tourism businessmen in Kathmandu (they were holding travel companies) committed suicide, and I am sure this number will increase in future days”, writes Mahesh. “Bitter, bitter!”

People like Mahesh Kumar Budha do need our support. The best way to do so is to travel to the country again. Don’t forget Nepal!

Manaslu, “Mountain of the Spirit”

The 8,136-meter-high Manaslu is probably the only mountain in Nepal, where currently almost everything is as usual in fall. “We have about 15 expeditions here, many of them small teams”, Dominik Mueller tells me by satellite phone from the about 4,800-meter-high Manaslu Base Camp in western Nepal. “All in all we have probably 120 to 130 summit aspirants.” Dominik is leading an expedition of his German operator Amical alpin, along with the mountain guide Rainer Pircher. The other members are ten clients, three Climbing Sherpas, a cook and four kitchen helpers. The Base Camp is not too crowded, says Dominik. “We have found a very nice place for our tents.” On Wednesday, the puja will be held, the traditional Buddhist ceremony to get the gods’ blessings for the climbers. Some expeditions – such as the group of Himalayan Experience that is led by the New Zealander Russell Brice – have been on the mountain for a while already.

Neither better nor worse

Dominik Mueller

“The route is already secured with fixed ropes as far as up to the plateau (on about 7,400 meters) “, says Dominik. “There was a long period of fine weather. Accordingly, there is very little snow.” Three steep steps in the icefall above Camp 1, which are ten to 15 meters high each, could become the key points of the route. Yesterday there were 30 centimeters of fresh snow. “The conditions on Manaslu are neither better nor worse than in previous years”, the 44-year-old resumes. Before reaching the Base Camp, Mueller had been hiking with his group first on the Annapurna side, had crossed the Larkya La, a 5,135-meter high mountain pass, and reached Samagaon, a village located at an altitude of 3,500 meters at the foot of Manaslu.

Even closer together

“On our way, we have seen virtually no earthquake damage”, says Dominik, “only one or two minor rockfalls, but it was not clear whether they were triggered by the earthquake or the monsoon.” Heavier damage was reported from the other side of Samagaon, in the region below the village. “The residents have already begun to rebuild. I have the feeling that the earthquake has brought them even closer together.”

Up to 70 percent fewer tourists

During the trek to Manaslu

Neither in the capital Kathmandu nor during the trek, he and his teammates felt aftershocks, says Dominik: “I feel absolutely safe. There was a very peaceful and positive atmosphere everywhere. We were extremely well received. The Nepalese people are happy about every trekking tourist and expedition climber who comes to Nepal.” The tourism market has obviously slumped much more than officially announced. “The government estimates that the number of tourists has declined by 50 percent. But the representatives of the Nepalese agencies who I met, spoke of up to 70 percent”, says the head of Amical alpin. “When we were hiking on the Manaslu Circuit, we met only seven other trekking tourists. This is as good as nothing, compared with previous years.”

The school in Thulosirubari is going to be demolished

It was simply too dangerous. In the village of Thulosirubari in the Nepalese earthquake zone, residents and helpers of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) have begun to remove the debris of the school. The building that was heavily damaged by the quake on 25 April “stands dangerously on the side of the ground where children use to play”, Arjun Gatraj, chairman of the School Management Committee, writes to me. As reported, the ground floor of the “Gerlinde and Ralf School” had collapsed, the building cannot be maintained. “These days, we have the big problem on how to destroy the main building and how to clear the rubble”, says Arjun. “We have no money for that ant the Government of Nepal is also not able to support us.”

Highly motivated

The school, that was built and maintained by the German aid organization “Nepalhilfe Beilngries”, was inaugurated in 2009. The professional climbers Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Ralf Dujmovits had made the construction possible with their financial support. Before the earthquake, 700 students per year attended the school. They came not only from Thulosirubari but from other small mountain villages in Sindhulpalchowk District too. The students are now taught in tin sheds, in groups of up to 70 students. “The temporary classrooms have proved to be useful”, Arjun writes. “The teaching is more or less the same as before the earthquake, but there is a great lack of teaching materials and school furniture. The children are just as excited to learn even after the earthquake.”

No family left the village

Living and learning in tin sheds

In Thulosirubari, located about 40 kilometers east of the capital Kathmandu as the crow flies, 75 people died in the earthquake, among them seven students of the “Gerlinde and Ralf School”. The villagers have overcome the monsoon – most of them in shanties with corrugated iron roofs and tarpaulins to protect against heavy rainfall. Despite the difficult living conditions, no family has left the village because of the earthquake, says Arjun. “They are struggling with the current situation. Those families who were temporary staying in Kathmandu returned to the village. The greatest concern of the people in Thulosirubari is: How can they build new and safe houses again? And who can rebuild the school for their children?” But of course they do not have the money for that. “So please help us to rebuild it!”, Arjun Gatraj appeals.

Every Euro or Dollar helps

This is precisely the goal of the fundraising campaign “School Up!” which I started in late June along with Gerlinde and Ralf. With your help, we want to ensure that the school in Thulosirubari will be rebuilt as soon as possible. The campaign had a promising start, but it is like being on expedition: If you have left the base camp, you are still far from the summit. You need patience and staying power. Once again, here are the bank details:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

Every single Euro, Pound or Dollar is helping. A big thank you in advance to all donators!

Enthusiasm for Japanese climber Kuriki

The despair in Nepal must be great. There is no other explanation for the fact that the government in Kathmandu called a press conference these days only to hand out a permit for an expedition. Japanese climber Nobukazu Kuriki received the written permission to climb Mount Everest this fall from the hands of Tourism Minister Kripasur Sherpa. “Kuriki is climbing at a time when there is confusion in the world about the safety in Nepal after the earthquake”, the Minister said. “This will be an example for other visitors to come to Nepal which is safe for mountain climbing.” The 33-year-old Japanese climber sang the same tune: “The main purpose of my climb is to spread the message that Nepal is safe for climbers and trekkers even after the earthquake.”

Kuriki – as reported – wants to climb Everest from the Nepal side, after the Chinese authorities gave all expeditions to Tibet the cold shoulder. Today Kuriki flew from Kathmandu to the Khumbu region for acclimatization. In 2012, in his last attempt to climb Everest in fall, the Japanese had suffered severe frostbite. Nine fingers had to be amputated. Like then, Kuriki again plans to climb solo and without bottled oxygen, this time on the normal route. The “Icefall Doctors” will prepare for him the route through the Khumbu Icefall.

A handful of expeditions

On Everest Base Camp Trek

The PR offensive of the Nepalese government is neither to express a special admiration for Kuriki because of his prior Everest adventures nor to give him major support for an outstanding sporting goal. In fact, the government fears a slump in tourism market by 50 percent this fall season in consequence of the devastating earthquake on 25 April. The authorities in Kathmandu issued not much more than a handful of permits for fall expeditions. That alone would not be so dramatic, but the demand for trekking trips in Nepal, the main source of income in the post-monsoon period, was poor too.

Light at the end of the tunnel

German operators confirm to me this trend. Amical alpin recorded for the upcoming fall season a drop in bookings for trekking trips to Nepal by about 30 percent and for expeditions by 50 percent. The DAV Summit Club also estimates the market slump for Nepal to be about 50 percent. However, both agencies see light at the end of the tunnel. “For several weeks now, we can say that the demand for traveling to Nepal, especially to the Annapurna and Everest region, is increasing again”, Marcus Herrmann, product manager at DAV Summit Club, writes to me. “We expect a significant recovery of the market for spring 2016.” Amical also registered new bookings for Nepal since early August and is cautiously optimistic for next spring season. The recovery of the tourism market would be really desirable for the troubled country and its people who were hit by the disaster. In this case the government in Kathmandu might no longer be forced to organize press conferences for the handing over of permits.