Basecamp on the south side of Everest

One crisis meeting leads to another, at Everest basecamp at 5300 meters as well as at the seat of the Nepalese government in Kathmandu. It is still unclear whether there will be attempts to climb the highest mountain in the world via the Nepalese south side this spring. “Most teams are leaving the basecamp. They are afraid that something will happen (many avalanches are still coming down), but also that other Sherpas could punish them for going on”, German reporter Juliane Moecklinghoff, who accompanies the blind Austrian climber Andy Holzer, writes in her Everest diary. “There have been several meetings among the various team leaders, Sirdars and Sherpas but it remains unclear what the final decision will be”, reports Eric Simonson of the expedition organizer International Mountain Guides (IMG). Since the avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall last Friday killed 16 Nepalis, all mountain activities have been resting.

Fear of financial hardship

There are also discussions among the Sherpas about what to do. “The majority would rather not return to the mountain as there is an overwhelming sadness at the loss of so many members from their close knit community, and this is the sentiment expressed vocally at mass meetings by the younger sherpas”, writes David Hamilton, expedition leader of the British Jagged Globe team. “The older Sherpas are aware that without the wages from the Spring Everest season many of the climbing sherpas will experience financial hardship in the year ahead.” High porters can earn about US $ 5,000 in a climbing season on Mount Everest, Climbing Sherpas, who lead their clients to the 8,850-meter-high summit and get an extra bonus, even up to $ 10,000.

Some demands satisfied

“All climbing activities will surely resume in a day or two”, said Madhu Sudhan Burlakoti, Joint Secretary of the Nepalese Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation, trying to spread optimism. The government has now satisfied some demands of the Sherpas. So it announced to set up a relief fund for victims of mountain accidents and their families, for which a part of the climbing royalties shall be used. In addition, the insurance payout for those killed on the mountain shall be increased from a million to 1.5 million rupees (about 15,000 $).

Transport flights with helicopters?

Rescue flight on Everest

This is obviously not enough for the Sherpas at basecamp. The government announced to send a high-level delegation to Everest for negotiations on Thursday. The Tourism ministry has decided to reconsider its stance on not to let helicopters land above the basecamp for transport. So far, only rescue flights are allowed. The Nepalese, who were buried by the avalanche, had been carrying material and food for the Western climbers to the high camps. But even without their heavy loads they would have had probably hardly a chance to escape the deadly ice. “The mountain has been deteriorating rapidly the past three years due global warming, and the breakdown in the Khumbu Icefall is dramatic, especially at the upper icefall”, reports Tim Rippel from Peak Freaks Expeditions. “Each day we sit and listen to the groaning and crashing of the glacier. Political grievances aside, we are not here to kill people.”

It is still unclear when the climbing season on Everest will continue – and if at all. Alpine Ascents International (AAI) is the first of the big Everest players that has called off its expedition. “We have all agreed the best thing is to not continue this season’s climb, so that all can mourn the loss of family, friends and comrades in this unprecedented tragedy”, AAI writes on its website. Among the 16 avalanche victims of last Friday were five Sherpas working for AAI. They also supported the U.S. climber Joby Ogwyn, who planned to make the first wingsuit flight from the summit of Everest. Discovery Channel has meanwhile cancelled the live TV broadcast of the jump that was originally planned for 11 May. The team of Adventure Consultants that had lost three members in the avalanche has also decided to go home.

Boycott threat

The Nepalese government has been coming under public pressure after the avalanche disaster on Everest. It’s announcement  to pay an emergency aid of 40,000 rupees (about US $400) to the victims’ families invoked disbelief at the Sherpas. The mountain guides, the high altitude porters and the basecamp staff presented a list of demands and threatened to boycott all further work on the mountain. Among other things, they require that the government establishes a relief fund in which it shall pay 30 percent of the royalties from the climbing permits. That would be a million dollars this year. The local staff of the Everest expeditions also demand that they will not derive any disadvantages if they do decide not to return to the mountain this season because of the avalanche accident.

According to the Nepalese government 334 mountaineers from 41 countries have pitched their tents at the foot of Everest this spring. More than 400 Nepali support staff, mostly from the Khumbu region, is working for the 31 expedition teams.

Donations for the victims’ families

I had already informed you, that you can donate for the families of the avalanche victims via the Sherpa Support Fund of the American Alpine Club. Furthermore, Dawa Steven Sherpa informed me about the “Juniper Fund” that was founded by the US climbers Melissa Arnot and David Morton. Both have climbed Everest several times and support with their relief fund “individuals, families and communities in underserved countries adversely impacted by their work for the mountain-based adventure industry”.

My thoughts are with the 16 dead Nepalese from Mount Everest (R.I.P.) and those who mourn them.