Enthusiastic welcome für Ralf Dujmovits (r.)

A joint week in Nepal is behind Ralf Dujmovits and me. As reported before, we inaugurated the first two parts of the new school building in Thulosirubari, a small mountain village about 70 kilometers east of Kathmandu, which could be built thanks to our aid project “School up!”. And we laid the foundation for the second construction phase. In Kathmandu I conducted some interviews – you could already read those with the expedition operators Arnold Coster and Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, more will follow shortly. Ralf took the time to meet old acquaintances and to visit some of his favorite spots in the capital. The 56-year-old is so far the only German mountaineer who has scaled all 14 eight-thousanders. Only on Mount Everest in fall 1992 he used bottled oxygen. Later he tried seven times to climb the highest mountain in the world without breathing mask, seven times he failed to reach the summit – most recently in spring 2017 at 8,580 meters on the Tibetan north side of the mountain.

Ralf, we are now here in Kathmandu, not far from Mount Everest, about 160 kilometers as the crow flies. Is it not itching you a bit?

Not at all, at the moment. I have completed this story for me. Of course, I follow what’s happening on Everest. This is still very exciting. But for myself, I have closed the chapter Everest. 

Ralf, in the background Mount Everest

You have followed the events on Everest for decades and also experienced what has been going on there. How do you assess the development of recent years?

It seems that more and more people are coming to Everest. Actually I expected the number to decrease after the serious avalanche disaster in 2014 when 16 climbers died in the Khumbu Icefall. I thought that people would realize the dangers especially on the south side, in particular more and more climbers in a certain way jamming up to death. But apparently the opposite happens. The agencies speak of good booking numbers. Especially the Nepalese agencies are very active. I think it will be busier than ever before.

Does what’s going on on Everest have anything to do with climbing?

Of course, real climbing falls on the wayside when so many people try to climb on fixed ropes at the same time. People evaluate climbing differently. Maybe one or the other perceives climbing with 30 or 40 others within 50 meters of fixed rope as exciting. But that’s not my way. However, I think that’s up to each. And as long as the regulations to limit the number of climbers do not work, even actually do not exist, the situation will not change.

Queue on Everest

This discussion has been going on for years, not to say for decades. Do you think there will ever be rules that will make Everest less busy?

I am very skeptical because the Government of Nepal is not taking the problem seriously. It’s all about money. The rules that were issued most recently with the aim of excluding disabled climbers were completely wrong. Later the government had to withdraw this regulation. That was really no way to find a solution. I think it’s just about asking and proving whether people have been on a seven-thousander or maybe even on another eight-thousander before coming to Everest. I mean that’s the only way to reduce the number. But as long as some Nepalese agencies take every client who has the wherewithals, the situation will not change.

In recent years the Kangchung side of Everest, the eastern flank of the mountain, was completely deserted, and the attempts on the North Face or the Southwest Face could be counted on the fingers of one hand. It almost feels as if top climbers stay well clear of Everest.

Among so called “real” climbers it is almost frowned upon to be on Everest. The more modern destinations are unclimbed, difficult six-thousanders and challenging routes on seven-thousanders. In Pakistan, there are ten still unclimbed seven-thousanders. I think the younger, ambitious climber will find their destinations there as well.

Ralf in Everest high camp (in 2014)

Is it possible to speak of guaranteed safety on Everest when so many people ascend on the same route, even if they lay two parallel tracks?

There has never been a guaranteed safety. But even what is called a “99 percent safety” in the brochures does not work if so many people are en route at the same time. There are some bottlenecks on Everest, e.g. the “Yellow Band” (at 7,500 meters below the South Col) or the exposed summit ridge. Traffic jams will continue to occur there. And these jams remain a great danger in case of sudden changes in weather, which can never be ruled out.

Do you think that many climbers switch to the north side of Everest for safety reasons?

The tendency for more people climbing Everest from the Tibetan north side is noticable. Some big operators have switched to the north. Kari Kobler has been over there for a long time and does really a good job. The Chinese take their task very seriously, both as organizer of the base camp and in terms of mountain infrastructure. On the north side, the regulations are taken more seriously. It’s not just about money, but also about the climbers’ safety. Therefore, I can currently only advise: Go to the north side!

Arnold Coster

The Everest spring season is on. This Saturday, eight “Icefall Doctors“ will be celebrating a puja in the base camp on the Nepalese south side of the highest mountain in the world, a Buddhist ceremony, during which the gods are asked for their blessing. Next week, the Sherpas, who are specialized in this task, will prepare this year’s route through the Khumbu Icefall. At the beginning of April the first commercial teams are expected in the base camp. “I’m wondering how busy it will be on the south side with every year we see the numbers increasing significantly,“ says Arnold Coster, when I meet him today in Kathmandu. “And I wonder how many actually switch to the Tibetan side.“

Only one new operator in Tibet

Tibetan North side of Mount Everest

In truth, only the expedition operator Altitude Junkies of the British Phil Crampton has been added, says Arnold: “It sounds in the media as if a lot of people are switching but I think most of the regular companies will be there, but with bigger groups – including myself.“ The 41-year-old Dutchman will lead an internationally mixed team of twelve clients. Already last year, Arnold was en route on the Tibetan north side. “The main reason why I climb in Tibet is that it’s too busy in the Icefall on the South side. There are too many people who are too slow and it’s easy to get stuck in a traffic jam.“ Moreover, the objective dangers on the north side are much lower, says Coster, adding that after heavy snow fall, there is only, if at all, a low avalanche danger on the way up to the 7,000-meter-high North Col. “On the south side, however, you are constantly in danger in the Icefall, but also in in the Western Cwm by avalanches if there is a lot of snow. And even in the Lhotse Face.“

Three times on the summit

Arnold on expedition

Coster has been living in Nepal since 2004. He is married to Maya Sherpa, one of the country’s most famous female climbers (my interview with her will follow later). They have a daughter aged seven. This spring, Arnold will lead his 15th Everest expedition. He has been on the summit at 8,850 meters three times – more than any other mountaineer from the Netherlands. “My job is taking care of the people and not going to the summit myself,“ says Arnold, pointing out that he has been already eight times on the 8,748-meter high South Summit of Everest. “Very often I climb with my group but I turn around with somebody who needs help.“ In spring 2016, however, any help came too late for two of his clients. Within 24 hours, a Dutchman with whom Coster was a friend and an Australian woman died – even though both had reached the South Col after their summit attempt. In social networks, Arnold was subsequently accused of not informing the families of the deceased in time.

Liaison officer passed on sensitive information

In the Khumbu Icefall

“That is not the truth. The truth is that I got an emergency contact for all of my members. So as soon as I called this emergency contact, and I did that, I felt that my part of the job was done. And they should spread the news between friends and family. That part didn’t happen, but I got accused of that,“ says Coster. “At this point I was busy on the mountain with the rescue of other team members and with the recovering of the victims.“ According to Arnold, the liaison officer in the base camp was responsible for the fact that the families learned about the death of their relatives from the internet. The officer had nothing better to do than to reveal internal information from the radio in an interview, says Arnold.

“Quite silly“

Coster does not favour the new rules for expeditions in Nepal. As reported, the government had decided not to grant permits to double amputees and blind climbers and to prohibit solo climbs. Meanwhile Nepal’s Supreme Court overruled the permit ban for disabled climbers. “The rules are quite silly because those people don’t cause the problems on Everest,“ says Arnold. “The big problem on the south side are unexperienced people.“ It would make much more sense, finds Coster, to demand for example from Everest aspirants to have climbed previously at least a seven-thousander in Nepal: “Then you can check it because the records are in the (Tourism) Ministry. And you also don’t lose the income, because tourism is one of the biggest sources of income in Nepal.“

The main reason that proposals like this come to nothing is that the Nepalese government has changed every six to eight months since the end of the monarchy in 2008, says Coster: “There is a new government now and people hope for – and I also hope – that this government is gonna stay the full term. It doesn’t even matter who is there. As long as people stay, we’re gonna make a plan. But if people are always changing, how can we make a plan?“

Newly car-free zone in the tourist quarter of Thames

P.S. You may be wondering why I am currently visiting Nepal. Tomorrow, in Thulosirubari, 70 kilometers east of Kathmandu, the first two buildings of the new school will be inaugurated, which could be built with your donations for our aid project “School up!“. In addition, German climber Ralf Dujmovits and I will lay the foundation for the second construction phase. Then I will report on the celebration in the small mountain village. In addition, I use the opportunity to conduct some interviews on the upcoming climbing season in the Nepalese capital. I will publish these interviews by and by in the blog.

Alex Txikon on Everest

It is a race against time. Another storm front is approaching Mount Everest. The meteorologists expect the small weather window with relatively favorable conditions in the summit region to remain open only until Wednesday and then close for a longer period of time. Therefore Alex Txikon, who wants to climb Everest in winter without bottled oxygen, has to push now. In two weeks, the meteorological winter will end. On Monday, the 35-year-old Basque and his five-man strong Sherpa team climbed up to Camp 2 at 6,400 meters. Today Txikon and the Sherpas Nuri, Gesman, Temba, Sanu and Pasang Nurbu want to reach the South Col at 7,950 meters. All Sherpas use supplemental oxygen. Three weeks ago, Txikon’s first summit attempt had failed on the South Col. “We hope to reach the summit on Wednesday ,” Alex said.

Two on the last stage

Climb light

Light and fast, this is Txikon’s tactics. He is climbing with a light backpack. On the first attempt, the team had deposited sleeping bags in Camp 2 and on the South Col. “Although I am no specialist in this modality, we are good connoisseurs of the route,” said Alex. He wants to climb to the highest point with Nuri, the other Sherpas are to wait on the South Col. However, Txikon warns against too high expectations: “ I recognize that the possibilities are very small because the weather does not help us.” While ascending to Camp 2, the wind was still strong. “There were times with speeds of up to 60 kilometers per hour, in which we could not even move forward,” Alex said.

Energy kick by Messner

Alex along with his idol Reinhold Messner (l.)

Just before his departure on Monday, Txikon had received an unexpected visit at the Base Camp: Everest legend Reinhold Messner came along. The 72-year-old has been staying in the Khumbu area for film recordings. In 1978, Messner – along  with Peter Habeler – had climbed Everest for the first time without breathing mask. In 1980 the South Tyrolean succeeded in doing the first solo climb of the highest mountain, again without the use of bottled oxygen. “The support he has given us is indescribable,” said Alex, “an energy kick from the hand of the greatest.”

I suppose he needed this encouragement. The eight-day interruption of the expedition had brought the Basque climber out of the rhythm. In addition, Txikon had returned with an almost completely new Sherpa team. Nuri Sherpa is the only member left from the original crew. The other Sherpas had stayed in Kathmandu to recover for the upcoming commercial spring season on Everest. It will start in a few weeks.

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

It is the old road, but due to the increased traffic the (digital) emergency lane is used too. From now on,  expedition teams heading for Nepal can register with the Himalayan Database, the high mountaineering chronicle founded by the legendary Elizabeth Hawley,  also online before setting off, for example via Facebook. “We will continue to meet as many teams in Kathmandu as we can. However, it has become almost impossible in the last few years to interview everyone personally,” Billi Bierling explains the new procedure.

Last instance: Miss Hawley

Miss Hawley in her home in Kathmandu (in 2016)

The German climber and journalist is doing the interviews for the Himalayan Database, along with the Nepalese Jeevan Shrestha, the American Richard Salisbury and the French Rodolphe Popier. The now 93-year-old Miss Hawley has withdrawn. At the beginning of the 1960s the journalist from the USA had settled in Kathmandu and started documenting the mountaineering on the highest mountains in the world. With her blue VW beetle, built in 1963, she drove to the hotels and interviewed the expedition teams. Her chronicle became the benchmark of the scene: Only if Miss Hawley had confirmed a summit success, the expedition was really considered successful. The persistent inquiring journalist succeeded in convicting some cheaters.

Work more efficiently

Billi Bierling

Since the start of commercial climbing in the 1990s, however, the number of expedition members in Nepal has exploded. The times when Miss Hawley knew and could know almost every Himalayan climber personally are over. The online registration is designed to help the team “to work a bit more efficiently,” says Billi Bierling. “We do not intend to make the Himalayan Database impersonal.” For many climbers the interviews have become part of an expedition to Nepal, says the 49-year old. “Of course, I’m not Miss Hawley, and some people are disappointed when they don’t get to know the lady personally – what I can fully understand.”

No referees or detectives

Real (1,2) and fake (3,4) (© The Himalayan Times)

After the expeditions, the four interviewers continue to question as many climbers as possible. Everyone they miss has the opportunity to complete a questionnaire at a later date. Does this not reduce the chance to expose liars? “The number of cheaters is still very small compared to the people who are honest,” replies Billi Bierling. “And it does not mean that we will expose all cheaters, even if we meet them personally.” Thus the Everest fraud of the Indian couple in spring 2016 was initially not noticed despite the interview with the climbers. “If the actual owners of the faked summit pictures had not pointed out, this lie would probably have landed in the Database,” Billi admits. “We’re working on trust, as we are neither referees nor detectives – I would never presume. We will, of course, do our best to keep Miss Hawley’s Himalayan Database as good and precise as possible. But if someone really wants to lie to us, he will do. If we are lucky, other climbers who were at the same time on the mountain tell us about the fraud.”

Hard work in the Khumbu Icefall

Once more it is served on Mount Everest. For three days, the Basque Alex Txikon, six Sherpas and two “Icefall Doctors” worked to restore the route via the Khumbu Icefall up to Camp 1 at more than 6,000 meters. 60 percent of the route had to be renewed, because the hard weather conditions of the past two weeks had left their mark in the ice labyrinth, the team of the 35-year-old Spaniard said. “It has been hard days refitting the route,” Alex noted on Facebook. After today’s rest day, Txikon and Co. want to ascend tomorrow to Camp 2 at 6,400 meters.

Time to grind the teeth

Alex Txikon

“I know that every time I go up, my strength is decreasing and therefore the chances of summit too,” Alex wrote in his blog. “But I’m a bit stubborn and I like to climb and fight it. It is time to grind my teeth.”

As reported, Txikon had had to interrupt his winter attempt involuntarily because the Nepalese expedition operator Seven Summit Treks had ordered the entire team back to Kathmandu after the failed first summit attempt. On Saturday, Alex had returned to the Everest Base Camp by helicopter.

Alex Txikon in Everest Base Camp

Expeditions can also get out of the rhythm. For example, if a long bad weather period thwarts all plans or if unpredictable things happen such as illnesses or injuries. Alex Txikon‘s Everest winter expedition, however, has stuttered for another reason. After the failed first summit attempt, the Nepalese agency Seven Summits Treks, with whom Txikon cooperated, yesterday ordered surprisingly to break immediately the Base Camp and return. This decision was “unilateral”, the team of the 35-year-old Basque said. Alex was quoted as saying, “I do not want to leave Everest.”

Chhepal Sherpa injured

Already after the return to Everest Base Camp, Txikon had announced that for him the expedition was not yet over. During the summit attempt violent storm had forced the team back at the 7,950-meter-high South Col. On the descent, the climbers had got into an avalanche on the Lhotse flank. Chhepal Sherpa had been hit on his head so badly that for him the expedition was definitely finished. However, it was not planned, that the entire team should fly back to Kathmandu. But this was exactly what the Nepalese agency ordered.

“Back in charge”

Back in Nepal’s capital, all the participants were sitting together today. Txikon expressed his firm intention to continue the expedition at any cost. “I’m back in charge,” Alex said afterwards. After a few days of rest in Kathmandu, he would return to Everest Base Camp along with Norbu Sherpa, Nuri Sherpa, Phurba Sherpa and Pemba Sherpa to climb up again – “with even greater inner drive to reach this summit in winter and, of course, with my initial ideal of not using artificial oxygen.” So far only the Sherpas who accompanied Alex had used breathing masks.

The more or less forced days in the about 1,400-meter-high city of Kathmandu will probably not destroy the acclimatization, but the stay 4,000 meters lower than Base Camp is certainly not ideal. Not to mention the expeditionary arrhythmia.

Dawa Steven Sherpa

A 15-meter-high climbing wall in the middle of the tourist quarter Thamel in Kathmandu – who would have thought it? “The wall is the nursery for the sport of climbing in Nepal”, Dawa Steven Sherpa tells me. “All of the young ambitious Sherpa climbers have trained here.” I meet the 32-year-old in the office of “Asian Trekking”. Along with his father Ang Tshering Sherpa, Dawa Steven is managing the leading Nepalese expedition operator. I talk with him about this spring season on Everest – after the avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall in 2014 that killed 16 Nepalese climberes and the earthquake in 2015, that triggered an avalanche from the 7000er Pumori that hit Everest Base Camp killing 19 climbers.

Dawa Steven, Asian Trekking once again offers an Eco Everest Expedition this spring. Will it take place?

Yes, it will start from Kathmandu on 6 April. So far we have 14 foreign members and 21 Sherpas but this number will change by the end of the month.

Do you notice that there is a lower demand this year?

There is not a lower demand for Everest, but it’s the same people from 2015 and 2014 who are coming back. So the big question is: Will there be the same size of expeditions not this but next year?

Everest Southwest Face

We had two years with avalanche accidents and without summit successes from the South. What do you expect for this spring’s season?

It’s not possible to predict natural disasters. But from the mentality and the motivation, the climbers and the Sherpas as well as the operators feel that this has to be a good year, no matter what we have to get this done because three years in a row might cause permanent damage to the tourism industry, to the reputation of Everest and as a result also to the local and national economy. So the mentality is very much of determination that, whatever the case is this year, expeditions have to be successful. There is a lot of pressure on everybody this year.

Dawa Steven Sherpa: A lot of pressure this year

In the sense that it will decide about the future of climbing Everest from the Nepalese side?

I think already a lot of clients who have been in Nepal in the last two years decided that China will be safer for them. Many people feel that the north side has fewer dangers than the south side. But this is just an opinion. The Chinese side has its own challenges, for example more exposure to high altitude.

The government has extended the validity of the 2015 permits by two years. The decision came rather late – as usual?

As usual. There is no surprise there. In 2014, we were really concerned and stressed because the government took such an amount of time to make their decision on the Everest permits. This year we had this experience of 2014. I said to my clients: Don’t worry, the Nepalese government always does things at the last minute. It’s unlike in Europe or America. Things are not done in a timely way, they are only done if they have to be done.

What’s about the announced new rules for Everest climbing like age limits, no more permits for heavily disabled climbers and so on. When will they come?

They will not come, at least not now. I think it’s important to have criteria, selection processes for who should be on the mountain, not only for climbers, but also for operators, guides and Sherpas so that the mountain is climbed in a safe way. But these rules you mention, that was only a statement of the Tourism Minister in a public event, it had no legal backing, there was no documentation and a follow up on that. But the media picked it up and it did a lot of damage to Nepal’s reputation as a destination for climbers.

Dawa Steven Sherpa about new rules on Everest

In my personal opinion, it’s a wrong criterion to say that a disabled person is not allowed to climb. I think it is discrimination. I know many disabled climbers who are better climbers than I am. And there is again discrimination from an age perspective. Age is not a factor. You should not make minors climb, I understand that. Children should not be in a dangerous environment. But it’s wrong to say that a 60, 70 or 80-year-old is not capable, because it’s not up to us. There are people who are in their sixties who are fitter than I am. As long as a doctor says, this person is fine to go to the mountain, that should be a good legal basis for allowing him to climb.

But the Nepal Mountaineering Association is also demanding stricter rules for Everest. Do you think that it’s important to regulate it because maybe the wrong people are on the mountain?

There is definitely a need to regulate who goes to the mountain but at the same time we have to be very careful because it is an economic activity, many people depend on it for jobs. So to make it safer, the focus is always on the climbers. There should be better climbers. But in my personal experience I have also noticed that it is normally not the amateur but the expert climbers who get in trouble. They don’t know the mountain themselves, many of them are climbers from the Alps and the Andes, but don’t really know high altitude. They go with cheap companies and don’t take good Sherpa support. Unlike a rock climb or a small peak, Everest is an expedition. It needs skills from different backgrounds, in logistics, in guiding, in climbing of course. It has to be a combination of these skills that has to be good.

Much traffic on Everest (in 2012)

But amateur climbers are often very slow and responsible for traffic jams on the key points of the route.

Amateur climbers can be slow but so can expert climbers, because it’s not the technical difficulty of Everest that makes people slow, it’s the altitude. You could be a fantastic rock climber or a fantastic mountaineer in the Alps in Switzerland, but the moment you hit 8,000 meters your body doesn’t work in the same way. So to say that amateur climbers are the ones who slow people down is not necessarily true. But of course the logic is that if you are not technically skilled and you are affected by altitude you are definitely going to slow people down.

The second point is management on the mountain. Traffic jams happen when too many people are at the same place at the same time. That is because of bad management from the government side and bad coordination between the different teams. First we have to look to the weather reports. How many weather windows are we going to have in May, maybe five, four, maybe two. So people can split up accordingly. The second thing is: Weather windows last for two to sometimes five days. So people don’t have to go on the same day but can do it one day apart. It can be managed in that way. On a good summer day there are more people on Mont Blanc than on Everest in an entire year. There will be a point where we have to say that’s too many people. But in my opinion we haven’t reached that point. Let’s first manage these people there and the summits, then let’s talk about having quotas and so on.

Everest Base Camp

There were some western operators telling that they won’t offer Everest expeditions any more due to the competition with Nepalese operators that has turned into some kind of price war. Can you understand them?

Absolutely. But it’s not only competition from the Nepali but also from international operators. There are a lot of Nepali operators who are offering it much cheaper. In the past it used to be that Nepali companies did not have the skills to organize and lead expeditions. Now we do. Now we have Nepali climbers who are internationally certified guides. There are companies who are very capable, have the same infrastructure, assets and manpower as the western companies. Yet being local, their overheads are less and so they are able to offer a cheaper price. So the western operators are losing their clients who are looking for price to those companies. At the same time there are a lot of foreign climbers who get a lot of satisfaction and peace of mind by going with a company of their own country. In those cases, people are less concerned about prize and will then look for international operators who are more expensive but have a better reputation. So what you will see is that international operators who are sort of in the middle are losing out their cheap clients to the Nepali companies and the expensive clients to the more expensive international companies. That’s why they are not able to compete now.

Would you say that a new era is coming where only the Nepalese operators will manage expeditions on Everest?

There is a new era of Nepali operators coming, yes, but there is still a niche for the international competitors and only the best of them will survive. Eventually Nepali operators will overtake the western companies because they are getting better every year. It could be in the next five years or ten years. But it’s not to say that international operators are not important. What we see is that western companies who used to organize the expeditions themselves in Nepal are now sending their clients to Nepali operators. They do the marketing and the Nepali companies do the operations. Business keeps changing. If you can’t adept, you are not going to survive.

Dawa Steven Sherpa: New era of operating expedition

Some experts expect that there will be only high end expeditions on the one hand and discount expeditions on the other hand and nothing in between. Do you share this opinion?

I don’t think so. Everything is on a spectrum. When a professional climber comes to us and says, I only need one cook and a tent in Base Camp, everything else I will do myself, then I will organize this expedition accordingly. If I have a lawyer from Hongkong who has a lot of money to spend and he wants three Sherpas and everything to be done for him and he doesn’t want to carry a backpack, I also have a market for that. But most people fall in between. I think there will always be a spectrum. In the past, it used to be that Nepalese were at the bottom providing the cheapest expeditions. And in the middle and at the top were the western operators. Now the bottom and the middleground are taken by the Nepalese, and only the more expensive is provided by the Westerners. It’s only a matter of time before the Nepalese also take over the western operators’ market share.

What do you think about these luxury expeditions: Acclimatizing in oxygen tents in lower regions, flying by helicopter to Base Camp, only food from western countries, one client, one Sherpa and so on? Can you live with this kind of expeditions?

Absolutely. I think there is a place for everyone. When we talk about climbing philosophy, the big problem is that we are looking at it from a western perspective where climbing is a leisure, a philosophical exercise. People talk about the right and the wrong way to do climbing. But in Nepal climbing is an economic activity. Every climber provides jobs for Sherpas, cooks, porters, farmers. So it’s a completely different way that we see climbing. Why would Nepal want to sell mountaineering to foreigners if it is not going to benefit from it? So you have to be very careful. Sherpas are very quickly going to say: If we don’t get jobs on the mountain, why should these foreigners come here and climb on our holy mountains? When a westerner says, this is against the philosophy of mountaineering, it’s against the western philosophy, but is it also against the Nepali philosophy? Nobody ever asks that.  

Dawa Steven Sherpa: Different kinds of climbing philosophies

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!

Jost, what did you think this week when you heard about the new earthquake in Nepal?

I was sitting in front of my computer and received on Facebook a message from a friend who wrote: We survived. Till then I had not heard anything about it. I immediately wrote to all my Nepalese friends whether they were doing well. A friend, who normally replies promptly, did not answer, neither in the evening nor the next morning. I started to get worried. Fortunately, she replied after all. She wrote that they were now living in a tent, because it was safer. That made me a little bit nervous. I’ll soon go to Nepal. I worry about my own safety.

The avalanche from Pumori

Almost three weeks ago, you survived the avalanche that hit the Base Camp at the foot of Mount Everest. 19 people were killed. How narrow was it for you?

If you look at it from the outside, it may look as though it was not narrow. But in the moment, when I was right inside the avalanche, I thought for a minute that I would die.

The avalanche came out of nowhere. Were you able to think anything or did you react instinctively?

Absolutely instinctively. You don’t think in this situation. It is a mixture of experience and instinct.

How did it look like at the Base Camp after the avalanche?

I had fled behind a tent. When I came back, I found a completely different world. Everything was covered with ice, tents were crushed, prayer flags were lying on the ground.

What did happen afterwards? Was there pure chaos?

We mountaineers are accepting the risk. Therefore, most of us are mentally better prepared for such things and react with certain professionalism. It was not pure chaos. People just tried to organize the rescue operation. All wondered what just happened. And all knew it was something big. The next step was a certain depression. Everyone realized that his dream was gone, at least for this year. Silence covered the Base Camp.

Rescue in Everest Base Camp

Were there still climbers who said we don’t care, we want to continue climbing despite the earthquake and the avalanche?

Yes, I was one of them. And there were quite many others. However, we quickly realized that we were too optimistic. The main problem was the aftershocks. We had information that they should continue for two weeks. For two weeks we would not be able to do anything, for two weeks there would be the risk of collapsing seracs in Khumbu Icefall. I quickly realized that due to the lack of time I would not have any chance to reach the summit, Camp 4 would be the maximum.

Durbar Square after the quake

How did you experience Nepal on your way back?

First the tragedy was still far away. But when I walked out and reached Lobuche [a settlement about eight kilometers from Base Camp], I saw the first collapsed walls. Later we also passed houses that were completely destroyed.  Back in Kathmandu, I visited the places I knew from before, e.g. the Durbar Square, where only bricks are left. It made me realize how comparatively insignificant was what we had experienced at Everest Base Camp and that other people need much more attention and help.

Why do you want to return to Nepal at the end of May?

I want to help making progress. I will support various fundraising campaigns by visiting their projects, taking pictures for them and being their local contact. And I want to lend a hand where it is possible.

Do you have special manual skills?

My father has been running a carpentry. Thus I grew up with the craft practicing it every once in a while. I prefer to work directly with Nepalese people. I don’t want to be the white man who has money in his pocket and distribute it. I want to build up something in a team with local people.

Your video of the Everest avalanche was the first one that was published. Suddenly there was a huge global media interest. How did you experience this?

First I had not heard anything about it. It took me eight hours to upload the video at the Base Camp. A few hours later, it had two million hits, then five, seven, twelve, 14, 16 million [Meanwhile, more than 22 million]! When we saw that our video was shared so often we felt almost euphoric. That was a strange feeling. For us, this video was actually only a testimony that we had survived the avalanche.

Last year, you scaled Ama Dablam, climbing solo. This year you initially had planned to attempt Lhotse, again solo and without bottled oxygen. Do you still want to do it?

Actually, I’ve noticed this year that it’s too crowded on Everest. I had to wait for three hours in a traffic jam in the Icefall. And I was in Camp 1 only once in four weeks. Despite the frustrations I still find the project very exciting. But my feeling right now is rather that I’ll do something else.

Will that be your climbing style for the future: solo, without breathing mask?

It is somehow my niche. I really like these solo climbs. To do it alone and unsupported, is unusual and the most challenging way.

Epicenter of the new quake (© USGS)

Nepal does not come to rest. Two and a half weeks after the devastating earthquake that killed more than 8,000 people, the country was hit by another strong quake today. The tremors reached a magnitude of 7.3 on the Richter scale (for comparison: the earthquake on April 25 had a magnitude of 7.8). According to the US Geological Survey and the German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam  the epicenter of the earthquake was located in the Dolakha District, 76 kilometers northeast of the capital Kathmandu. Quite exactly there is Bigu Gompa, one of the largest Buddhist nunneries in Nepal. The nuns had just started to rebuild those parts of the monastery which had been destroyed by the quake two weeks. The Rolwaling Valley is also not far away from the epicenter. The valley is very popular with trekkers who want to see the most famous mountain in the region, the 7134- meter-high Gauri Shankar. The Everest region is near too: Namche Bazaar, the main village of the Khumbu region, is only about 60 kilometers from the epicenter.

Landslides and rock fall

Landslides near Namche

From there and other parts of the country, new landslides and rock fall were reported. Many houses collapsed. As with the first quake, it will still take some time before the full extent of the damage is clear. The number of the new victims is still rising. The government said five hours after the quake that more than 40 people lost their lives and over 1,100 were injured. Most deaths were registered in Dolakha followed by Sindhupalchowk, the district that had been hit worst by the first quake. There were fatalities in the capital Kathmandu too. Residents fled their homes in panic when the earth began to shake again. After the new strong earthquake, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) recalled that Nepal urgently needs further support. So far, only 13 percent of requirement was funded, OCHA said.

Destroyed house in Sangachok

Ralf Dujmovits is shocked. “I have rarely seen something so depressing and sad”, says Germany’s most successful high altitude mountaineer when he calls me from Kathmandu. He has just returned from an all-day trip to Sindhupalchowk District, about 80 kilometers northeast of the capital. There was no other district in Nepal where the devastating earthquake two weeks ago killed more people than in Sindhupalchowk. So far, the government has registered there more than 3,000 dead – at a total of more than 7,900 fatalities throughout Nepal.

Almost back to normal in Kathmandu

At Durbar Square

Originally, Ralf had wanted to climb Mount Everest from the north side this spring, without bottled oxygen, in a team with the Canadian Nancy Hansen. But then they had to abandon their expedition, like all other Everest aspirants in Tibet. The 53-year-old and his team partner flew to Kathmandu to get an impression of ​​the earthquake damage. The life in the capital has almost gone back to normal, Ralf reports, “except that there are hardly any tourists”. Many temples in the city centre are heavily damaged, says Dujmovits. “A sad silence lies over Durbar Square, dust is in the air, and everywhere piles of rubble.” Nevertheless, Ralf is convinced that “Kathmandu will soon be out of the headlines. But in the countryside, it is quite different.”

Smell of death

Sabina Parajuli with village children

Ralf and Nancy joined a team of doctors and nurses from the Siddhi Memorial Hospital in Bakhtapur  and helpers of the German aid agency “Nepalhilfe Beilngries”. Every other day, the hospital has been sending such teams to the countryside, to treat injured and to distribute aid supplies. “It was really shocking. You are driving from one village to the next, and all of them are destroyed. I estimate 85 to 95 percent of the houses are razed to the ground”, says Ralf, struggling to maintain his composure. “It looks devastating. We just stood there, speechless. Sad, so sad.”

The young doctor Sabina Parajuli led the team on this day. As a child she had lived in the village of Sangachok and had gone to a school that was funded by the “Nepalhilfe Beilngries”. “Sabina and the other doctors treated 300 people in Sangachok today. The earthquake has killed 200 people in her home village. That’s incredibly hard”, says Ralf. “Sometimes there is a pungent smell, because a lot of dead people and animals could still not be recovered from the rubble.”

Only a pile of junk

School in Thulosirubari: Ground floor collapsed

The people in the destroyed villages are traumatized: “Where once was hubbub, is now ghostly silence. The people are standing around staring at the ruins of their homes. They do not even know where to start to clean up.” Out of the schools of the “Nepalhilfe Beilngries” that he had co-financed, only the school in the village of Irkhu has “miraculously” remained largely intact, says Ralf. The local police are now using the building as a quarter. “All other schools were heavily damaged or destroyed. The ground floor of the large school in Thulosirubari, which Gerlinde (Kaltenbrunner) and I had opened in 2009, collapsed. The upper floors sagged. What once was a school for 700 children is now just a pile of junk.” Probably the school has to be demolished completely. Actually, Nancy and he thought they could help, says Ralf. “But a shovel is not enough, you need heavy equipment. Nepal will be dependent on foreign help for years.”