Khumbu glacier

The Khumbu Glacier at the foot of Mount Everest is apparently even more endangered by climate change than previously assumed. British glaciologists, who measured the ice temperature of the glacier in 2017 and 2018, point to this. At three drill sites up to an altitude of about 5,200 meters near Everest base camp, they used a specified adapted car wash unit to conduct hot water under high pressure into the ice. The scientists hung strings with temperature sensors in the resulting holes, the deepest of which reached about 130 meters deep into the ice. “The temperature range we measured was warmer than we expected – and hoped – to find,” says Duncan Quincey of Leeds University, leader of the “EverDrill” project.

Warmer than the outside air

The drill sites near Everest BC

According to the glaciologists’ study, the minimum ice temperature was minus 3.3 degrees Celsius, “with even the coldest ice being a full two degrees warmer than the mean annual air temperature”. A similar study carried out near Everest Base Camp in 1974 found ice that was two to three degrees colder. “’Warm’ ice is particularly vulnerable to climate change because even small increases in temperature can trigger melting,” explains Quincey. “Internal temperature has a significant impact on the complex dynamics of a glacier, including how it flows, how water drains through it and the volume of meltwater runoff.” Millions of people in the Himalayas and Hindu Kush are affected by these processes because they depend on glacier water, says the researcher.

“Water tower for Asia”

Five years ago, scientists at the University of Milan pointed out that the ice masses around Everest had shrunk by 13 percent over the past 50 years. “The Himalayan glaciers and ice caps are considered a water tower for Asia since they store and supply water downstream during the dry season,” said the Nepalese geoscientist Sudeep Thakuri at that time. “Downstream populations are dependent on the melt water for agriculture, drinking, and power production.”

Ogre II and I (r.), they reached the col

Three attempts, then it was over. As reported, Alexander Huber, the Swiss Dani Arnold and the two East Tyroleans Mario Walder and Christian Zenz abandoned their expedition on the 7285-meter-high Ogre I in Pakistan and returned home. They had wanted to reach the summit of the mountain, which so far has been scaled only three times, over the still not mastered East Pillar. I spoke to Alexander, aged 48, the younger of the two Huber brothers, about the failed expedition.

Alexander, you wrote on Facebook that you knew what the mountain wanted to tell you. What was the message?

We set off to the mountain three times and were able to control the situation with maximum risk management three times. But we noticed every time that we were running extremely late. There was only a very short time window to move safely on the mountain. In this case you have to be en route with full steam to get out of the danger zone on time. We did it three times, and it turned out well. But one day it won’t work so well, and then you are in the middle of this extremely dangerous terrain and can not get out.

In addition, we had such a bad snow. We fought through slush, at 6,100 meters, and in the middle of the night! Those were brutal conditions. This is clearly due to climate change. So better stay away if you want to survive.

Alexander Huber

Was it an unanimous decision to abandon the attempt?

Absolutely unanimous. It was clear to all of us that under such circumstances we do not even have the slightest chance of coming close to the summit at all. And if I know I’m not going to reach the summit, because the snow is so lousy, it’s better to leave it be. We have also seen the snowfields above and realized that an avalanche had swept down there. Of course, it doesn’t ensure a good atmosphere if you see that the snow conditions above are still problematic and very dangerous.

Climate change leaves traces

You mentioned climate change. Once again, it was extremely warm in the Karakoram this summer. Do you think it’s an alternative to arrive at a later date?

I experienced it two years ago on Latok, last year in Greenland and now again: Climate change is so clearly noticeable that it almost hurts. As in the Alps, mountaineering will also have to change in the Karakoram. Probably in the future climbers will first acclimatize on an easy seven-thousander and then travel to such a difficult mountain as Ogre towards the end of August, for only two or three weeks. This is the only scenario I can think of so far, so that you can tackle such a dangerous mountain with the strength you need. For sure, I’m going to do it this way next time.

So, you will try for the third time to scale Ogre I?

Maybe. In 1993, I first envisaged this mountain as a goal, along with some friends from the Bavarian town of Traunstein. However, in the end we decided to go to Latok II, where I went with Thomas in 1997. [With Toni Gutsch and the American Conrad Anker, they succeeded the first ascent via the West Face of Latok II]. In 1999, we tried to climb Ogre I [With Gutsch and Jan Mersch, they tried in vain to climb via the South Pillar to the summit]. This was the beginning of my thinking about mountaineering and climbing on the very high mountains. That’s why Ogre is somehow anchored in me. If it fits, I’ll go back there. But if I do so, then certainly with completely changed tactics.

Charly Gabl

“I’ve got some more gray hair,” said Karl, called “Charly” Gabl. “It was terrible.” The world-famous meteorologist from Austria was talking about the freak weather on Mount Everest during this spring season, which had made predictions as difficult as rarely before. Once again, Charly had pulled numerous all-nighters to advise top climbers from all over the world who trust him almost unconditionally. “The one computer model showed two and a half meters of fresh snow during a week, another one no precipitation. Which one should I take?”

Traditional good weather window stayed away

Hans Wenzl was among those who reached the top of Everest without bottled oxygen

This year, there had been simply no longer period of good weather on Everest, the meanwhile 70-year-old told me when I met him last weekend at the trade fair “Outdoor” in the German town of Friedrichshafen. “Normally we have a few days in a row between 15 and 25 May without jet stream, with relatively high temperatures and best conditions, this time not. Instead cumulus clouds, in the morning sunshine, in the afternoon again and again precipitation.” How unpredictable the weather was this season, proved the last weekend of May: Eight climbers set off towards the summit without bottled oxygen. Only three of them reached the highest point without using breathing masks, in worse weather than predicted.

Father-to-children relationship

Nevertheless, he was satisfied with the balance of climbers he had been advising, said Gabl. Thus the blind Austrian climber Andy Holzer had reached the top of Everest, the German David Goettler had climbed through the Shishapangma South Face. “Tamara Lunger and Simone Moro were insofar successful that they did not have to make the Kangchenjunga traverse and returned home healthy.” Charly fears with the extreme climbers. “They’re friends. I have almost a father-to-children relationship to them. I look after them, I am happy if they are successful and stay healthy.”

Climate change says hi

K 2

Gabl is again advising some climbers during the current summer season on the eight-thousanders in Pakistan, among others on K 2, the second highest mountain on earth. Do the summit aspirants – like in the past years – have to reckon with high temperatures in the Karakoram? “I believe that the generally accepted climate warming, which Donald Trump has not yet noticed, does affect mountains and glaciers,” replied the meteorologist. “Rockfall has increased.” Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Ralf Dujmovits had already pointed out after their failed attempts on the Pakistani south side of K 2 some years ago that the Abruzzi Spur, actually the normal route, had become life-threatening, said Charly, adding that also the Cesen Route via the Southsoutheast Ridge, which was considered to be safer, “is meanwhile with all guns blazing. There is rock and icefall. The climate warming doesn’t stop at any mountains of the world.”

Draining canal on Imja Tsho

It’s like handling a water butt. The amount of rainfall is not manageable. If you want to prevent the butt from overflowing, you must drain the water. According to this model, the water level of Imja Tsho has now been lowered by a total of 3.40 meters over a period of two months. The glacial lake in the Everest region, which is almost 150 meters deep in some places, has steadily expanded over the last few years as a result of climate change, and has become a threat to the downstream villages, especially the nearby located Chukhung and Dingboche. A bursting of the natural dam at an altitude of about 5,000 meters could have devastating consequences. Soldiers from the Nepalese army were involved in the construction work for the canal, via which a total of four billion liters of water were drained. According to the government in Kathmandu, “an estimated 96,562 people, including tourists” – for this exact estimate Nepal earns an entry in the Guinness Book of Records – are expected to benefit from the project, which cost about three million US dollars and was funded by the United Nations. Daene McKinney, professor of Environmental and Water Resources Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, was on site and has replied to my questions.

Professor McKinney, you were involved in the Imja Lake lowering project in the Everest region. How dangerous did you assess the situation before starting to drain the water?

Imja Tsho, seen from space

We have been researching this question of the risk of Imja Lake for a number of years now. This work has involved field observations and measurements, community consultations and detailed computer modeling.  Our most recent publication on this, Rounce et al. (2016), notes that the risk of the lake is “moderate”. This categorization is based on both the current status of “low” hazard of the lake and future hazard status of “very high” due to the continued expansion of the lake that will result in the possibility of avalanches falling into the lake in the future (but not at the present time).

Do you think the situation is now under control?

The recent lowering of the lake by 3-3.5 m has certainly reduced hydrostatic pressure from the lake on the terminal moraine to some extent and this helps. However, the lake continues to expand and in the future, the situation will become a problem. In addition, the small lakes that make up the outlet channel of the lake continue to deteriorate and coalesce into the main body of the lake due to the ice-cored nature of the moraine.  This will act to increase pressure on the moraine and increase the risk to some extent.

Daene McKinney on the lakeside of Imja Tsho

The Nepalese government talked about a “milestone adaption work not only for Nepal but across globally”. It was a pilot project. How realistic is it to transfer the Imja model to other potentially dangerous glacier lakes?

The construction experience of Imja is of great value to the region, demonstrating the ability to perform such work at high altitude remote locations.  However, the design criteria for lowering the lake (lower the lake at least 3 m) were arbitrarily selected with no scientific or engineering basis.  This was similar to the situation at Tsho Rolpa (in the Rolwaling Valley), the only other lake that has been lowered n Nepal.  It is hoped that when considering the design of lake lowering systems for other lakes in Nepal, e.g.  Thulagi Lake (located near the eight-thousander Manaslu), that a more systematic and scientific method will be used to decide of the “safe” lake level.

It is to be expected, that climate change will cause more glacial lakes in the Himalayas or aggravate the situation at already existing lakes. Do you think the problem can be handled?

Definitely, more lakes are appearing and expanding every year in the Himalayas and this will continue for the foreseeable future. Some of these will turn out to pose risk to downstream communities and infrastructure. The level of risk posed by these lakes must be assessed (something that we are working on now) and acceptable risk levels must be determined to protect downstream people and assets. In cases where the risk is too high, new lake safety systems must be properly designed and implemented.

Alexander Huber had already visited East Greenland last year, but in another season. “You just cannot imagine in arctic winter that everything is completely free of snow in summer. This shows quite clearly the effect of climate change”, tells me the 47-year-old, the younger of the two Huber brothers. “It’s very unusual that the zero-degree line in Greenland is permanently at a height of 2500 to 3000 meters.”

Attractive alternative destination

Ritterknecht

Huber and Co. re-planned without further ado and decided upon an attempt on the East Pillar of the 2020-meter-high Ritterknecht, which many climbers know under the Danish name Rytterknægten. The distinctive mountain in the so-called “Schweizerland” (Swiss land) was first climbed in 1938 by an expedition of the “Academic Alpine Club Zurich”. The group led by climber André Roch had scaled more than a dozen peaks in East Greenland for the first time. Alexander had picked up the East Pillar as a possible goal last year. “That was part of the motivation to start the journey. A 1000-meter-high pillar with an impressive massive shape. Of course, it’s an attractive goal for an alpinist to climb such a pillar.” Huber found out that apparently no one had climbed it so far. “We made a first ascent of this pillar, which was a great thing.”

Made what was possible

Successful team: Schneider, Huber, Zenz, Walder (f.l.t.r.)

Within 24 hours the quartet climbed via the pillar to the summit and back to their camp on the glacier. It was “a powerful ascent,” Mario Walder wrote in his expedition report. The climbers called their new route “Carpe diem”, what literally means “Pluck the day”. The motto also applies to the expedition, says Alexander Huber: “We have used and enjoyed our chances. We have just done what was possible and accepted it contendedly.” The climbers were on the way for three weeks. The special attraction of an expedition to the Arctic lies in the “absolute remoteness,” says Alexander. “An Inuit has led us to the end of the fjord. And from that moment we were the only people who were traveling in this mountainous region.”

Vulnerable

Immediately prior to departure from Iceland to Greenland Alexander Huber was informed about the 16-meter fall of his brother Thomas from a rock face in the Berchtesgaden region. “For me this was quite a dramatic moment, because I did not know whether I should set off or not. Before I flew, I wanted to know that he was alright.” Although Thomas – as reported – got off lightly, Alexander was shocked.: “Things like that bring to your mind how vulnerable you are as a human.”

P.S. Alexander Huber has just returned from the rocky mountain massif Picos de Europa in northern Spain. There he and his German climbing partner Fabian Buhl succeeded in free climbing the classic route “Suenos de invierno” (Winter Dreams) on the 2518-meter-high Naranjo de Bulnes for the first time – within nine hours. The Spanish climbers who had done the first ascent of the route in winter 1983 had spent a total of 69 days in the wall.

After the huge ice avalanche

This summer a mega ice avalanche has swept down on the Tibetan plateau. In the Aru Range in northwestern Tibet a whole glacier tongue broke off and tumbled down into the valley. Scientists say it was one of the largest ice avalanches ever recorded. According to the Chinese authorities this natural event, which already occurred on 17 July, killed nine Tibetan herders. More than 350 sheep and 110 yaks were buried under the ice and rock masses. The American space agency NASA now published satellite images which show the dimension: The ice covered an area of ten square kilometers, the lake down in the valley was colored white and the debris piled up 30 meters in some places. The cause of the collapse is still unclear. “Climate change is causing more glacial hazards through mechanisms we do not fully understand,” said the Chinese glaciologist Tian Lide. “There is an urgent need for more monitoring and research efforts, especially in populated areas in high mountains.”

I called the Swiss scientist Samuel Nussbaumer. The 35-year-old glaciologist is working for the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS) in Zurich, which is observing and analyzing the fluctuation of glaciers worldwide.

Before the collapse

How unusual is this massive ice avalanche in Tibet?

The way I see it, really the complete glacier tongue has broken off, the entire lower part. I don’t know about another event of that extent – but of course we only know about what has been documented. In 2002, there was a case of a similar dimension at the Kolka Glacier in the Russian Caucasus (about 140 people died then). But there had been a rockfall first that carried away the ice. We know pretty well, what happened back then. The exact circumstances in Tibet, however, are not yet known.

Samuel Nussbaumer

Are such massive glacial ice avalanches predictable? Are there alarming hints?

Glaciers are in constant movement. Signs are for example the crevasses which can be observed with cameras or high-resolution satellite images. Doing this, such an event could be foreseen. But of course it is not practical to monitor all glaciers worldwide. In the Alps many glaciers are observed. The dimension, however, is much smaller. There are e.g. steep hanging glaciers, where parts are in danger of breaking off and impacting on villages or cable car stations. These glaciers are monitored by automatic cameras. Such glacial collapses can be predicted – e.g. when the ice is flowing faster or the crevasses are getting larger.

Are huge ice avalanches like in Tibet a result of climate change?

You can’t make a statement about it as long as the cause of the event in Tibet is not yet finally clarified. But melt water plays an important role in the process of a sliding glacier tongue. In 1965 we had such an event on the Allalin glacier in Switzerland (88 people died), where the complete glacier tongue broke away too. In these cases there is often plenty of water in the glacier bed on which the ice can slide, and then suddenly it breaks. It’s a well-known phenomenon in steep glaciers, but of course in a much smaller extent than now in Tibet. If the temperatures are higher, the chance is greater that there is more meltwater and that the water on the surface acts like a lubricant.

Melting glacier on Mount Stanley in Uganda (© www.25zero.com)

It is no more than a coincidence, but a suitable one. This year the “International Mountain Day”, which, since 2002, is observed every year on 11 December, coincides exactly with the final day of the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris – that will end tomorrow hopefully with an agreement on climate protection which is more than just hot air. Mountains are considered as early warning systems for climate change (see the video below). Everyone who is often in the mountains would have to be blind not to perceive the changes. Glaciers are melting almost everywhere at record speed. For instance, more than two dozen mountains in Asia, Africa and South America, which are located near the equator and were once glaciated, will probably be completely ice-free within the next two to three decades. Permafrost in the mountains is in retreat too: soils that were permanently frozen before are thawing. Increased rockfall, more frequent landslides or mudslides are the result – not only in the Himalayas.

More than just environmental problems

“Saving our Himalayas means saving ourselves and our future generations”, said Ang Tshering Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) when he visited the climate conference in Paris these days. “The Himalayas are water towers for three billion people in Asia. If these water towers for almost half the world’s population are empty, it will not only create environmental problems but a humanitarian and political crisis.”

DAV calls for new ideas in tourism

On occasion of the “International Mountain Day”, the German Alpine Club (DAV) pointed to the impacts of climate change for the Alps. Even with a successful conclusion of the summit in Paris these consequences could be “possibly mitigated but not stopped”. In addition to melting glaciers and less permafrost, more extreme weather events and lack of snow are expected, the DAV stated. “We need new ideas in tourism”, said DAV Vice President Rudolf Erlacher. “Unfortunately, in many places the imagination is only sufficient to construct snow-making equipment.” The resorts had to make their offerings more sustainable and diverse, said Erlacher: “The Alps offer unique winter experience also off-piste.”

Update 11.12.: Now the two dates don’t coincide at all. The UN conference in Paris has been extended until Saturday. That does not sound like a good omen.

Imja Tsho, glacial lake in Everest region

It’s five to twelve, maybe later. Time is running out to tackle man-made climate change. The impacts of global warming can be observed also in the Himalayas, gpt instance in Nepal. “Largely because of climate change and the recent impacts of the earthquake and aftershocks, Nepal has entered an era of accelerated catastrophic events that will impact the country’s population, their lives and livelihoods for several years to come”, US and local scientists said after having researched the greatest and most dangerous glacial lakes in Nepal after the devastating 25 April earthquake.

In these days, delegates from all over the world are debating a new climate change agreement in Paris. On this occasion, I called Dawa Steven Sherpa in Kathmandu. Along with his father Ang Tshering Sherpa, the president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA), the 31-year-old is managing the expedition operator “Asian Trekking”. Dawa Steven scaled Everest twice (in 2007 and 2008) and in addition the eight-thousanders Cho Oyu (2006) and Lhotse (2009). For years he has been engaging for environmental and climate protection. He is a climate change ambassador for WWF.

Khumbu Icefall

Dawa Steven, what changes caused by global warming do you notice in Nepal, particularly in the Everest region?

The whole mountainous region of Nepal is changing, including Everest region of course. As a climber you can see these changes. New routes have to be found, like the Icefall Doctors did in Khumbu Icefall this year. The dangers associated with climbing are changing too. We are seeing more rock fall because the snow and ice that used to hold the rocks in place on the slopes are gone. We also notice more avalanches and collapses of seracs. Of course it’s a natural process that these things happen on high mountains but it has never happened so often and in such big magnitude.

What do you consider to be the greatest dangers for Himalayan people in the future?

I have just talked about the dangers for climbers but there are many, many other problems. Glaciers are melting and turning into huge lakes with water that can burst out and strike the lower valleys where people are living. That is one direct concern, but there are others as well. For instance, weather patterns are changing. It’s no longer possible to predict when rain will come or stop, how dry, how cold it will be. Before, you could rely on historical patterns, now it is very difficult to say that. So for people who rely on agriculture it is becoming very difficult, not only in the mountains but in the valleys too. Furthermore, due to increasing temperatures, more insects are able to survive in higher altitudes. Pests are seen in places where they didn’t use to exist. Mosquitoes and parasites are also moving higher up where people never had seen them before. In effect they are destroying the crops and the health.

Dawa Steven Sherpa

Climate change is also impacting on tourism which is very important for Nepalese economy. For instance in 2013, Lukla airport [entry for climbers and trekking tourists to the Khumbu region] was closed for twelve days in October, what should have been the busiest month in tourism. But when more than a third of a month is blocked because of bad weather, it has a serious impact on the livelihood of the local people, on the health of the local economy but also on the health of the nation, because it is not good for Nepal’s reputation as a solid and reliable tourist destination.  

Nepal is currently facing other major problems: the consequences of the devastating earthquake, shortages due to the blockade of the border to India, a new government. Is there any scope left for the awareness of climate change at all?

We have to distinguish between urgent and important needs. Right now there are more urgent needs in Nepal like to get the blockade lifted. So of course people are not so concerned about the long-term climate change. But climate change or the blockade or the earthquake, they all have a direct impact on the livelihood of the people. After the earthquake, hundreds of thousands people can not return to their houses, because due to the blockade there is no help coming in and construction has even halted. These people don’t know what to do. They can’t go on the fields because their crops were destroyed. It’s not black and white that climate change is one problem and earthquake another one. It is all related because at the end of the day it all impacts the ability of the local people to look after themselves.

What do you expect from the climate summit in Paris?

I hope that not only powerful nations but all nations reach an agreement of reducing carbon dioxide to keep the global warming well below two degrees Celsius and to make it legally binding – so that if one country is found not to be following the rules, they are liable. Because it’s not just our but everybody’s future. I hope that this sense will be there when they negotiate and sign those papers that they say, it’s not just an economic incentive. At the end of the day, when the earth starts to collapse, I think economic reasons will be a joke. Nobody will look back and say, well, me made that decision. It should be based on future generations and not on economic concerns that we are facing today.

Do you think it’s one of the last chances because time is running out?

The chances are running out, things are getting worse and worse. Maybe some people in some parts of the world which are better developed and more industrialized have more chances in the future. But for the people of Nepal or other people who live in these developing countries in the world, chances have been running out very fast. They are already feeling the impacts.

Heidi Sand (© AthletenWerk/Bob Berger)

Heidi Sand knows how it is to accept a seemingly hopeless fight. “Since my cancer, I have a special relationship with probabilities and chances”, the 49-year-old German climber and sculptor write to me. “You have to believe in yourself and you should use any chance, no matter how small it is.” In 2010, Heidi was diagnosed with colon cancer at an advanced stage. She accepted the fight. Two years later, she climbed Mount Everest. In 2013, she summited Cho Oyu, her second eight-thousander. The following year, Sand and Billi Bierling were the first German women on top of Makalu. Now Heidi is committed to a climate protection project called “25zero”. During the upcoming climate summit in Paris, the Australian adventurer Tim Jarvis and his team want to point out the consequences of climate change for 25 still glaciated peaks at zero latitude, around the Equator. If nothing is done, says Jarvis, no ice or snow will remain on these mountains at the latest in 25 years – therefore “25zero”.

Six peaks on three continents

Mount Stanley

While a new climate change agreement will be debated in Paris starting next Monday, “25zero” teams will climb six mountains with melting glaciers in equatorial areas: Carstensz Pyramid (4,884 meters) in Indonesia, Mount Stanley (5,109 meters) in Uganda, Mount Kenya (5,199 meters), Mount Kilimanjaro (5,895 meters) in Tanzania, Chimborazo (6,268 meters) in Ecuador and Nevado del Tolima (5,215 meters) in Colombia. By sending live reports and pictures of these mountains, the adventurers want to show the decision-makers in Paris the already dramatic situation quite plainly. “I have decided to climb Mount Stanley, because the Rwenzori Mountains are particularly bad hit by climate change”, says Heidi. She will climb along with Tim Jarvis, the founder of “25zero”, and the Briton Ed Wardle. After his expedition with his Australian compatriot Peter Treseder in 1999, Jarvis was holding the world records for the fastest unsupported trip to the South Pole and for the longest unsupported Antarctica journey for a few years. Even after that, he made headlines with various expeditions in the Arctic and Antarctic. Wardle is a filmmaker and mountaineer who has scaled Everest already three times.

Glaciers in retreat

There is no more time to be lost, believes Heidi Sand. “When you’re for instance in Grindelwald in the Swiss Alps, you can see it quite clearly. 100 years ago, the great Grindelwald Glacier still ranged to the village. Today the glacier has melted so far that you must hike up six hours from the village”, says Heidi. “This year, the north faces in the Alps resembled south faces – hardly any ice or snow in the walls. So I had to postpone my next big project, the Eiger North Face, to next year.”

Optimist

Again and again, climate conferences have failed in the past. There was nothing more than hot air at the end. What makes Heidi confident that these Paris negotiations might end otherwise? “If I did not believe in the success and did not have an optimistic attitude that enabled me to achieve my goals, I would not take part in ‘25zero’”, Heidi replies. “We all have the belief and optimism to do our part to a better world.”

It’s melting away

200 meters as the crow flies away from my desk, nothing less than the future of the planet is negotiated. Until Friday representatives from around the world are debating at the World Conference Center Bonn on a new climate agreement. It is to be adopted at the global climate talks in Paris, which will begin in late November. Once again the negotiations are long and tough. The solidarity with the states that are already feeling the effects of climate change is within limits. In most cases economy beats ecology. But the clock is ticking. With only a few exceptions, glaciers are melting worldwide. Glacier Works, an organization founded by US mountaineer David Breashears in 2007, has impressively documented how far for instance the glaciers around Mount Everest have retreated during the past decades. Now the Dalai Lama has pointed to the consequences of climate change for his Tibetan homeland.

The Third Pole

“This blue planet is our only home and Tibet is its roof. As vital as the Arctic and Antarctic, it is the Third Pole”, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan Buddhists says in a video message (see below) from exile in India. “The Tibetan Plateau needs to be protected, not just for Tibetans but for the environmental health and sustainability of the entire world.”

The 80-year-old emphasizes that he wants people to understand his words not as a political message, but as a humanitarian.

Drinking water for more than one billion people

Even Chinese scientists have been warning for a long time about the effects of climate change on the glaciers in Tibet. The average temperature on the more than 4,000 meter high plateau has increased by 1.3 degrees Celsius over the past five decades and thus significantly faster than the global average. The Tibetan glaciers are the source of water in rivers that support about 1.3 billion people in Asia. Against this background, the Dalai Lama appeals to the young generation of the 21st century to become more engaged in protecting the planet – thus also fighting for the environment in the Himalayas, especially in Tibet. Will his message be heard by the negotiators here in Bonn and later in Paris? That would not be bad.

Garbage at the South Col

When, finally, will a piggy bank be placed in the editorial offices, into which everyone has to pay five Euros, who calls Mount Everest the “highest garbage dump in the world”? The money could then be donated to environmental projects in Nepal. These days, the phrase again was often used in the German press. And hardly anyone made the effort to look at this more closely. What has happened? There is a new rule to remove garbage from Everest, no more and no less.

Weighed portions for descending climbers?

Oxygen bottles and waste, collected on Everest

Madhu Sudan Burlakoti of the Nepalese tourism ministry announced that from April onwards every climber ascending beyond Everest basecamp had to bring back eight kilos of garbage. He should then leave it at the government office at base camp. Those who were not sticking to the rules, would be punished, said Burlakoti without going into details.

The outpost of the government in the tent city at 5300 meters will be firstly established in this spring season. Actually it was thought as arbitration board to prevent clashes between Sherpas and climbers like in 2013. Now the office is to be a waste collection place too. Right now I do not see how the rule can be implemented in practice. Should climbers after their successful or failed summit attempts swarm out at the South Col and look for garbage to fill up their eight-kilo-contingent if they do not yet have produced enough waste? Or will there be special Sherpas, who collect the garbage, bring it to certain points and distribute it in weighed portions to descending climbers?

Old stuff

Most reports fail to mention that there have been garbage regulations for Everest expeditions for decades. The mountaineers are obliged to dig or burn their organic waste. Recyclable material such as plastic or glass must be returned to Kathmandu as well as empty oxygen bottles or batteries. Anyone who breaches the rules risks not getting back his garbage deposit of US $ 4000. The Nepalese government also wants to ensure that old rubbish is removed from Mount Everest. A part of this garbage is already lying there for decades and dates back to the time when there were hardly climbers on the highest mountain in the world so that hardly anyone thought about environmental protection.

Climate change brings it to light

Dawa Steven (r.)

Since 2008, Dawa Steven Sherpa has rendered outstanding services to tackling this garbage problem by organizing his “Eco Everest Expeditions”. Year after year he is not only bringing clients to the summit but also thousands of kilos garbage back to Kathmandu. “There is no way to say how much garbage is still left on the Everest”, says Dawa Steven. “It is impossible to say what is under the ice.” In recent years, climate change has also left its traces on the highest of all mountains. Glaciers are melting and revealing garbage – and also the bodies of climbers who died on Everest many years ago. So there is enough to be collected.

Ang Tshering Sherpa

Ang Tshering’s biography can be assumed to be symbolic of the success story of the Sherpas in the past six decades. He was born in 1953, half a year after the first ascent of Mount Everest. In his home village Khumjung, on 3780 metres near the highest mountain of the world, Ang Tshering attended the school that was founded by Sir Edmund Hillary. The English skills which he had aquired there enabled him to work as a porter and interpreter for expeditions. In 1982 Ang Tshering founded „Asian Trekking”, today one of the leading agencies for expeditions and trekkings in Nepal. He married a Belgian woman, his son Dawa Steven studied in Scotland. Ang Tshering was and is not only a successful businessman with best worldwide contacts but has always been engaging for mountaineers. Since 1990 he is a member of the executive board of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, for nine years he was the president of the organization. In addition the 59-year-old Nepalese is the Immediate Past President of the Union of Asian Alpine Associations (UAAA) and Honorary Member of the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA). „Everest has put Nepal on the map as an ultimate (adventure) tourism destination”, Ang Tshering wrote to me after I had asked him for his thoughts about Everest on occasion of the 60-year-jubilee of the first ascent.

Threatened by the effects of climate change

As a young man

„Everest is regarded as a Goddess Mother of the Universe in Sherpa folklore. She is the guardian in who’s shadow sherpa children grow up. We think of Everest as massive, solid, unchanging, strong, lofty and unable to be hurt.” But according to Ang Tshering the truth is that only few people know that Everest is one of the most endangered places on earth due to the effects of climate change. „There are over 3000 glaciers in the high Himalaya and in the last 50 years, almost as many glacial lakes have formed.” This urgent message has been less immediately noticed at lower altitudes, Ang Tshering says.

Eco Everest expeditions

Garbage collecting on Everest

Since 2008 Ang Tshering and his son Dawa Steven organize the so called „Eco Everest expeditions” of Asian Trekking. The goal is that the mountaineers do not only reach the summit but also carry down garbage from the slopes of Everest on their way back. „It is the entire world’s responsibility to help conserve the mountain and its surroundings from environmental degradation. We need to respect and protect Mother Nature’s treasures”, Ang Tshering writes. (You find his full statements on the two Everest-60-pinboards on the right side of the blog.)

Only with Mother Nature’s blessing

On occasion of the diamond jubilee of the first ascent Ang Tshering wishes Mount Everest, that it „continues to keep inspiring people to explore their boundaries and push their limits, all the while realizing that only with Mother Nature’s blessing do we reach the top.” He himself has not stood on top of the world. In 1977 Ang Tshering Sherpa reached the South Col on nearly 8000 metres. But weather turned bad and he couldn’t reach the summit.

Dawa Steven Sherpa

Mount Sherpa. That would be a better suited name for the highest mountain of the world, which instead was named after Sir George Everest, a Surveyor-General of India in the 19th century. The history of Mount Everest is also a history of the Sherpas. The „eastern people” who had fled from Tibet to Nepal in earlier times were engaged for the early British expeditions in the 1920s. One of the two climbers who scaled Everest first in 1953 was a Sherpa: Tenzing Norgay. At the latest since commercial climbing was established on Everest sherpas have become indispensable. Without their support most of the clients wouldn’t have any chance to reach the summit. Due to this important role sherpas have an excellent reputation all over the world, many have achieved modest prosperity. Sherpas are also working as successful entrepreneurs, doctors or pilots. They know that these achievements are due to Everest. „As a Nepali, Mount Everest is my identity to the world. As a Sherpa, Mount Everest is the reason we have education, health care and prosperity”, Dawa Steven Sherpa wrote to me. „As a mountaineer, Mount Everest is the playground where I learned to explore myself, my limitations and my abilities as a person.” 

Twice on the summit of Everest 

Dawa Steven (r.) cleaning garbage on Everest

The 29-year-old Nepali belongs to a generation of Sherpas that has benefited from Everest from an early age. Together with this father Ang Tshering Sherpa Dawa Steven is managing „Asian Trekking“, a leading agency for expeditions and trekking in Nepal. His mother comes from Belgium, he studied in Edinburgh in Scotland. In 2006 Dawa Steven summited Cho Oyu, in 2007 for the first time Mount Everest. The following year the young Sherpa scaled Lhotse and five days later Everest again. For the last five years he has been leading „Eco Everest Expeditions“, which combine business and ecology: The clients are led to the summit on 8850 meters. In addition all members collect garbage from the slopes and bring it down to the valley. 

Basecamp bakery 

Dawa Steven is creative in raising money for ecology. In 2007 he founded the „world’s highest bakery” at 5350 meters in the basecamp on the Nepalese south side of Everest. Chocolate cake, apple pie, doughnuts and croissants went fast. The climbers were willing to pay higher prices because it was to a good cause. The money was used for projects to prepare local villages in Nepal for the effects of climate change. To raise awareness to the dangers of global warming Dawa Steven in 2012 walked together with Everest record climber Apa Sherpa on the „Great Himalaya Trail” 1555 km from the east to the west of Nepal. Later he was awarded with a first ever WWF award for outstanding achievements of people under the age of 30 for nature conservation around the world.   

Love for mountains and ecology 

On Island Peak (Ama Dablam r.)

On the 60th anniversary of the first ascent of Mount Everest Dawa Steven wishes a „next generation of adventurers, who will love the mountains and protect them from harm”. (You really should read his full statements on the two Everest-60-pinboards on the right side of the blog.) For Sherpas Dawa Steven hopes that the mountain will provide opportunities furthermore. „For the Nepali, I wish that Mount Everest will continue to make them proud to be a Nepali”, he writes. „For all the people in the world, I wish that Everest will continue to remind them that it is the highest mountain in the world.  Therefore, as citizens of this world Mount Everest belongs to all of us.”