Furdiki Sherpa (l.) and Nima Doma Sherpa (r.)

Mount Everest took their husbands. And the fathers of their children. Nevertheless, Nima Doma Sherpa and Furdiki Sherpa want to climb the highest mountain on earth this spring. “We are doing our expedition for the respect of our late husbands because they were mountaineers too,” Nima Doma replies to my question about the purpose of their project. “And we want to motivate all the widows.” Everest has left a lot of single mothers behind. According to the mountaineering chronicle “Himalayan Database”, 37 Sherpas have died there in the past 20 years alone. Furdiki’s husband, Mingma Sherpa, belonged to the so-called “Icefall Doctors” who set up and secure the route through the Khumbu Icefall every year. The 44-year-old died in a fall into a crevasse on 7 April 2013. One year later, on 18 April 2014, Nima Doma Sherpa’s husband, Tshering Wangchu Sherpa, was one of the 16 Nepalese victims of the major avalanche accident in the Icefall. 

Move to Kathmandu

During the ascent on Island Peak

When Everest’s fate struck, the two Sherpanis each worked in the small tea houses of their families: Furdiki in Dingboche, a small village in the Everest region at 4,340 meters, Nima Doma in Khumjung, further down the valley at 3,780 meters. Their income was too low to make ends meet for their children in the long run. Both moved to Kathmandu and started working as porters and later guides of trekking groups. Furdiki wanted to give her children greater opportunities for the future than she could finance herself. The 42-year-old found adoptive parents in the USA for her three daughters, who are now 14, 17 and 20 years old. Nima Doma has a ten-year-old son and an eight-year-old daughter. When the 34-year-old is on the road as a trekking guide, her mother looks after the children in Kathmandu.

On top of two six-thousanders

Nima Doma (l.) and Furtiki in the climbing wall

In order to prepare for their “Two Widow Expedition”, Nima Doma and Furdiki attended several climbing courses of the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA). Last November they scaled the 6,584-meter-high Chulu East in the Annapurna region and the 6,189-meter-high Island Peak in the Everest region, two popular trekking peaks. Is that enough experience for Everest? I asked the two Sherpani if they were not afraid that something might happen to them on the highest mountain on earth and that their children would then be orphans. “We are not afraid of the mountains because we believe we gain basic technic that is need in the mountains and well wishes from all the people who know us and our story,” replies Nima Doma Sherpa. “Every mother loves her children and so do we. But after the death of our husbands all the responsibility suddenly lay on our shoulders. We want to show our children that we can be independent. This will motivate them and make them proud.”

P.S. Nima Doma and Furdiki still need more money to finance their expedition. On 19 October, they will be hosting a fundraising dinner party in a hotel in Kathmandu. If you want to support the two Sherpani, you can also send them money online. Here is the link to their crowdfunding campaign.

Alex Txikon in the Khumbu Icefall

This went fast. In just four days, the Spaniard Alex Txikon and the Sherpas Tenzing Gyalzen, Gelje, Cheppal, Walung Dorji and Pasang Norbu have completed the route through the Khumbu Icefall and reached Camp 1 at 6,050 meters. “Great job, we are very happy,” says Alex, adding that it was really hard work, each of them had carried between 25 and 35 kilos. The 36-year-old Basque points out that it took the six climbers five days less for this first major task than his team during the failed winter attempt in 2017 – despite the fact that at that time eleven, i.e. five more expedition members had been involved in the work. “The route through the icefall is very complex and required our full concentration,” says Alex. According to his words, he had searched together with the “Icefall Doctor” Gelje Sherpa for the ice areas with the lowest risk of collapsing.

Sharing tasks, saving energy

Complete concentration

The Pakistani climber Muhammad Ali “Sadpara” was not involved in the work in the Khumbu Icefall. He had been en route  with the two Sherpas Nuri and Temba Bhote in a nearby area for further acclimatization, Alex reports – “with the idea of sharing tasks and saving energy”. At the end of February 2016, the Spaniard, together with Muhammad Ali and the Italian Simone Moro, had succeeded the prestigious first winter ascent of the eight-thousander Nanga Parbat in Pakistan. The South Tyrolean Tamara Lunger had had to turn back then about 70 meters below the summit because she had felt bad. This winter, Txikon and Ali want to climb Mount Everest without bottled oxygen. Meanwhile, Moro and Lunger will try to succeed the first winter ascent of the 3003-meter-high Pik Pobeda in the ice cold east of Siberia.

Route through the Khumbu Icefall (on the right) in the two past years and that of 2014 (left)

Has the memory of the Everest tragedy in 2014 faded so quickly? According to the Kathmandu-based newspaper “The Himalayan Times”, the “Icefall Doctors” have relocated the route through the Khumbu Icefall for the upcoming season to the left side of the ice labyrinth, just below the ice-loaded West Shoulder. On 18 April 2014, an ice avalanche had swept down from there and killed 16 Nepalese climbers. In spring 2015 (this season also ended prematurely due to the devastating earthquake in Nepal) and in 2016 too, the Sherpas, who were responsible for securing and maintaining the route through the Icefall, had chosen a variant on the right side.

Is there a right way?

In the Khumbu Icefall

After the accident in 2014, a heated debate raged on whether the “Icefall Doctors” were to blame for the tragedy. “They have prepared the piste at the weakest point, where the difficulties are lowest, but the dangers are greatest. This is not clever,” said Reinhold Messner at that time. Others, however, pointed out that the increasing ice flow would hardly allow an ascent through the center, as it had been practiced in the past. And that on the other side of the Icefall, avalanches were threatening from the flanks of the 7861-meter-high Nuptse.

Climate change increases the risk

It is absolutely certain that the Khumbu Icefall is insecure. The passage just above Everest Base Camp has always been the one with the highest objective dangers. And the advancing climate change increases the risk of collapsing seracs or avalanches sweeping down from the West Shoulder and the slopes of Nuptse. The likelihood of another tragedy rises with the number of mountaineers climbing through the Icefall at the same time. It’s like black ice on the highway: the more traffic, the more dead. This spring, about 500 summit aspirants are expected on the Nepali south side of the mountain.

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 high camp on Everest

Danger welds together. When Alex Txikon returned to Base Camp after six exhausting and exciting days on the slopes of Mount Everest, he hugged every Sherpa who had accompanied him. “In this team everyone knows what needs to be done,” the 35-year-old Basque writes in his blog. The appreciation is mutual. In Alex’ words, Norbu Sherpa told him during the descent: “I believe that for more than 20 or 30 years, no westerner has done what you are doing.” Like the six Sherpas, Txikon had carried up loads of more than 30 kilograms through the Khumbu Icefall and further up.

Weaker and weaker

During the six days, there had been several critical situations. At first, Txikon’s Spanish team partner Carlos Rubio had to be flown out by rescue helicopter due to lung problems. The 28-year-old, who – like every team member – had been involved in the material transport, had suddenly become weaker and weaker. “When we walked for ten minutes, it took Carlos five times more,” Alex writes. “One more night at this height would have been very hard for Carlos and I think he would not have had enough strength to descend to Base Camp.”

With courage and luck

In the Western Qwm

After the successful rescue operation, Alex climbed with the Sherpas Norbu, Nuri and Chhepal to Camp 3 at 7,400 meters. After an ice-cold, windy and therefore sleepless night, Chhepal descended, the other three continued their ascent. “Oh my God, what a mistake going out without sun!”, said Alex. At 7,800 meters, the trio turned around. On further descent towards Base Camp, the climbers found that on their route through the Khumbu Icefall some seracs had collapsed. With courage and luck, they made their way back and reached the Base Camp unharmed. I’ve sent Alex three questions. He replied promptly.

Alex, you have now already been at 7,800 meters. How were the conditions on the mountain and how did you feel?

The conditions on the mountain were hard. But fortunately we are a good team with six Nepali climbers: Norbu, Nuri, Chhepal, Phurba, Lakpa and Pemba. With people like them Everest is possible in winter. The conditions are hard but I am super happy with these Nepali climbers, with such an amazing team. We have to say thanks to the company Seven Summits and the helicopter crew because they did an incredible rescue mission for Carlos Rubio.

Dangerous way down

Your companion Carlos had to abandon the expedition due to health problems. Do you have to re-plan now?

Of course Carlos was an important climber. But as I told you before, the other team members are incredibly strong. The most important thing is the friendship. And with these six Nepali climbers I am super happy. We have a very good feeling. Now, of course, we need to check the next plan. Before we try to tackle the summit, we should make a meeting and speak to each other. This is the best team that could happen to me on expedition.

Are you still confident to be able to reach the highest point?

To reach the summit of Everest without oxygen is another step. We do it with passion and our biggest effort day by day. And I think that we can reach the summit. But we will see. I think we will have the possibility. But first we need to relax and to focus, to learn and understand how the winter is going on, how the wind will be. I feel positive. We will do our best, but of course we will have very few possibilities.

Alex Txikon: We can reach the summit

Alex Txikon (at Camp 1)

Sunny, but extremely cold. This is what the weather forecast predicts for the next days on Mount Everest. In addition, the wind is to refresh. Temperatures between minus 20 and minus 30 degrees Celsius are expected, Alex Txikon informs. In addition, the wind is to refresh. Nevertheless, the team set off from Base Camp today and reached after seven hours the site of Camp 2 at 6,400 meters. Alex, his Spanish countryman Carlos Rubio and nine Sherpas had previously secured the way through the Khumbu Icefall and pitched up Camp 1 at 6,050 meters, at the entrance of the Western Qwm. It was said, that the team might climb up even to Camp 3 at 7,400 meters within the next days. The climbers are expected back in Base Camp on next Sunday or Monday.

Everything has to fit

Because of the dry winter weather, Txikon and Co. have so far made good progress on the highest mountain on earth. The Basque wants to reach the 8850-meter-high summit if possible in February, but is aware that “a lot of patience, a lot of commitment and luck will be needed” to reach his goal. The great cold in winter normally causes the air pressure in the summit area to fall even further. An ascent without bottled oxygen is then in the absolute limit of the possible. So far, only the legendary Ang Rita Sherpa has managed to get to the top without bottled oxygen. He reached the summit on 22 December 1987, on the first day of calendrical winter, thus much earlier in the season than Alex Txikon is climbing now.

P.S.: My blog was just included in the list of the „Best 100 Adventure Blogs on the planet“ – whatever that means.

Txikon with a ladder on his back

At the moment Alex Txikon may feel on Mount Everest a bit like Edmund Hillary. Like the first ascender from New Zealand and his companions in 1953, the Basque must play an active part in finding a way through the dangerous Khumbu Icefall above Base Camp and in carrying material needed to secure the route. For example aluminium ladders to cross the deep crevasses in the Icefall. With a weight of about five kilograms, such a ladder is not too heavy but bloody bulky while climbing through the ice. Real back-breaking work, as the video shows which the 35-year-old sent today from Everest Base Camp:

As reported, Alex, along with his Spanish countryman Carlos Rubio, wants to scale Mount Everest in winter, for the first time since 1993 – without bottled oxygen. The two climbers and nine Sherpas first have to make their way through the dangerous Icefall. Txikon has estimated this work for up to four weeks.

Pretty exclusive experience

As in Hillary’s days, the Spanish expedition is currently the only one on the highest mountain on earth. What a contrast to spring, when year after year several hundred mountaineers from dozens of commercial expeditions turn the Base Camp into a small tent town!

Dangerous Khumbu Icefall

When the clients arrive there at an altitude of 5,300 meters in April, usually the so-called “Icefall Doctors” have already prepared and secured the way through the Icefall. This team of eight Sherpas also ensures that the route remains accessible throughout the climbing season until its end early June. The highly specialized Sherpas are selected and paid by the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC), an organization that originally only cared about the environmental protection in the National Park around Mount Everest. Since 2000, the SPCC has also been responsible for the route through the Khumbu Icefall on behalf of the Government of Nepal. In spring 2014, 16 Nepalese climbers were killed in an avalanche in the Icefall.

Even if it turns out that Alex Txikon is not able to reach the summit at 8,850 meters this winter – his experience of working as a non-Sherpa as Icefall Doctor is pretty exclusive.

Mount Everest

The Everest spring season is gaining momentum. The Base Camp on the Nepalese side of Mount Everest is filling. According to the government in Kathmandu, 279 climbers from 38 countries have registered for the highest mountain on earth. The Icefall Doctors have meanwhile prepared the route all the way up to Camp 2 at 6,400 meters. The teams who want to climb Everest from the Tibetan north side, have also received now their permits from the Chinese authorities and are heading to Tibet. It’s going to kick off there too. Before the media Everest season begins, I would like to correct some reoccurring errors.

1) Everest is a safe mountain.

Dangerous Khumbu Icefall

Granted, the technical climbing difficulties on the two normal routes may be limited because the way via the Southeast Ridge as well as the route via the Northeast Ridge are secured with fixed ropes up to the summit. But that alone doesn’t make Everest a safe mountain. Finally, it is 8,850 meters high, where oxygen is pressed into the lungs with only one-third of the pressure compared to sea level. Also an ascent with breathing mask is not chicken feed. Even if it is really true that Everest in case of using bottled oxygen is downgraded to a six-thousander, you have to manage to get to the top. In addition, climate change has increased the objective dangers. Parts of the route that were previously almost always snowy, are now frequently free from snow and ice. Rockfall is threatening in the Lhotse flank. And the danger of avalanches has increased, not only in the Khumbu Icefall.

2) Everest is a killer mountain.

The opposite to 1) is wrong as well. Although there were no summit successes from the south side in the last two years, but two avalanche incidents with a total of 35 dead, Mount Everest is still far from being one the most dangerous eight-thousanders. On the one hand about 280 people have died so far on the highest mountain on earth, but there have been more than 7,000 ascents on the other hand. This ratio makes Everest belong even more to the category of the secure than of the extremely dangerous eight-thousanders. Most deaths per ascents have been recorded on Annapurna, on the second place of this “fatality ranking” follows K 2.

3) Everest is no longer a mountain for top climbers.

Everest North Face

20 routes have been climbed on Everest, plus several variations of these ways. This does not mean that there is a lack of other options. So far only two routes have been climbed in the Kangchung Face, in recent years the Everest East Face was almost always deserted. Furthermore there should still be possible new ascent routes via the North and the Southwest Face. Not to mention the ultimate challenge, the “Horseshoe Route”: up Nuptse West Ridge, traversing the summits of Lhotse and Everest and descending via Everest West Ridge to the starting point.

4) Everest is a garbage dump.

Garbage at the South Col

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 $ 4,000. In addition, several eco-expeditions have collected tons of garbage from Everest, from the period when mountaineers made little thoughts about environmental protection. Many mountains in the European Alps are even more garbage dumps than Mount Everest.

5) Everest is littered with corpses.

It is true that Everest summit aspirants should mentally be prepared to pass some bodies of dead climbers. But it is not that the route is “paved with corpses”, as reports suggest repeatedly. Many of the climbers who died of exhaustion were “buried” in crevasses or their corpses were pushed down the Everest walls by other climbers. Sometimes a storm does this job too.

6) The moral of Everest Sherpas has been lost.

Much traffic on Everest

It’s like anywhere: If many people are on the way, you will find some black sheep. In spring 2013, Sherpas attacked Simone Moro, Ueli Steck and Jonathan Griffith in Everest high camp and a year later there were threats of violence against climbers who disagreed with the premature end of the season after the deadly avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall. But it is dishonest to conclude that now all Sherpas tend to violence or no longer do their job properly. More and more Sherpas acquire international certificates as mountain guides. The Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) is offering regularly training courses for local climbers. Undoubtedly, the young, well-trained Sherpa climbers act more self-confident. They are aware of their skills and want to be treated as fully-fledged climbers – and not as lackeys.

7) Everest should be closed.

Who would benefit? Perhaps the advocates of a mainly Western climbing philosophy, but certainly not the people of Khumbu, who strongly depend on the income of Everest tourism: local mountain guides, Climbing Sherpas, cooks and kitchen helpers in Base Camp, porters, owners of lodges and shops on the way to Everest, farmers and the families of these all. The Western critics should ask themselves whether mountains like Mont Blanc in the Alps or Denali in Alaska should have to be closed with the same arguments they use only for Everest.

8) The government will do the job.

If there is anything to be learnt from what happened on Everest in the past years, it is this: The government of Nepal is talking more than acting. Again and again politicians of the competent Ministry of Tourism present proposals for new Everest rules, but only to make headlines. As good as nothing is implemented. Even for a simple decision as to extend the permits after the disasters of the last two years, the authorities in Kathmandu needed almost a year each. Virtually all reforms fail, likely because the government itself makes big profit on Everest. It remains in the dark, where exactly the money from the sale of the permits goes – $ 11,000 per climber at all.

9) The climbers are capable of “managing” Everest on their own.

Everest Base Camp

Also at that point, the main counterargument is the business that is made on and with Everest. At the end of the day, every entrepreneur wants to be in the black. The more clients reach the summit, the better is his reputation, and therefore he will likely increase his profit in the following year. As a result one or the other expedition leader will show selfishness on the mountain, according to the motto: Why should I take care of the other groups? What is really needed is to “manage” the mountain to prevent that all ascend on the same day therefore causing traffic jams at the key points of the route. It might work, but also among the expedition leaders, there are black sheep.

10) One should not report about Everest.

Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world. Therefore, there will always be mountaineers who want to climb it. And most probably people will always be interested in Everest. That’s the main reason why we have to report about what is happening there – without glossing over, but also without demonizing. Just like anywhere else in the world, it applies on Everest too: You will not solve a problem by keeping quiet about it.

Dawa Gyaljen Sherpa

He is one of the Sherpas who stay well clear of Mount Everest this year. “I simply haven’t got the time,” says Dawa Sherpa Gyaljen, when I meet him in a cafe in Kathmandu during my visit Nepal. The 29-year-old is working for a trekking operator. “Maybe I’ll get the chance in 2017 again. I have been asked if I would lead an Everest team next year. Let’s see whether I can take as much vacation.” The Sherpa, who was born in the Khumbu region in a small village west of Namche Bazaar, has reached the highest point on earth already four times: in 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009. The upcoming spring season could set the course for the future, Dawa believes.

Used to aftershocks

“If also this year accidents happen like in 2014 or last year, maybe people get scared,” Dawa expects. “But if the expeditions are successful, the number of climbers for sure will go up in 2017 and 2018.” Dawa says, that he is happy, that many foreigners are willing to travel to Nepal again to boost the economy of the country that was hit so hard by the earthquake. In his own words, Dawa is now hardly thinking about the earthquake on 25 April 2015, not least because of the more than 400 aftershocks measuring 4.0 or more: “Sometimes I don`t even feel earthquakes of 4.5 or 5 because I got used to. It’s a bit normal for me now. We survived a very dangerous situation, now I feel safe. But there are still rumors that a bigger quake will come again.”

Impossible to forget

Rescue helicopter above Khumbu Icefall (in 2014)

Sherpas are determined to make this year’s Everest season a successful one. “Finally, it is also about protecting their jobs in the future,” says Dawa Gyaljen. “It’ not actually pressure, but a kind of challenge. I think they will push hard to get to the summit this year.” In spring 2014, the young Sherpa was among the first who reached the accident site in the Khumbu Icefall after the avalanche and who started the recovery of the injured and dead. 16 Nepali climbers were killed, three of them remained missing. I ask Dawa if he could climb through the icefall easily after that experience. “I think you cannot escape this. When we pass this place, we even feel like that there is some blood or somebody is still in the crevasse.”

Better trained

Dawa on Lobuche Peak

Dawa Gyaljen finds that Everest aspirants of today on average are better climbers than those in past years. “There are only a few who still don’t know how to put on their crampons,” says the 29-year-old, adding that also the Sherpas are now much better trained because they went through the practical trainings offered by the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) twice a year. The Sherpas are always responsible for their clients, says Dawa: “If some bad thing happens, the Sherpas are blamed for it because they didn’t take care of their clients. There are rumors about unskilled Sherpas who abandoned their clients half way on the mountain.” However, the trained and skilled Sherpa guides never left their clients alone, says Dawa: “But if the clients insist on climbing further up against the advice of their Sherpas, then they have to bear the responsibility for their own.”

Dorje Sherpa in front of his lodge in Phakding

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

Rescue in Khumbu Icefall

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

Family says: No!

The avalanche from Pumori

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

Ready for guests – if they come

Construction work in the Khumbu area

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

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

South side of Everest

It has gone out of style to climb Mount Everest in fall. This happened even though some of the most spectacular summit successes on the highest mountain in the world have been made in the post-monsoon period: Remember only the first ascent through the Everest Southwest Face by the British Doug Scott and Dougal Haston in September 1975 or the success of the US-American Carlos Buhler, Kim Momb and Lou Reichardt via the East Face in October 1983. However, the climbing season has moved more and more into spring since commercial expeditions have taken over on Everest – due to higher temperatures compared to fall and to the usually lower risk of avalanches. Since 2000, only 36 summit successes have been recorded in September or October – next to nothing compared with over 5,000 ascents in spring since the turn of the millennium. The last ascent to the top of Everest in fall dates from five years ago: In October 2010, the American Eric Larsen and five Sherpas reached the highest point at 8,850 meters. This fall, there will be another attempt to climb Everest from the Nepalese south side. According to the “Himalayan Times” the so-called “Icefall Doctors” – a group of high specialized Sherpas – arrived at Base Camp in order to fix a route through the Khumbu Icefall.

Kuriki’s comeback

Kuriki after his Everest attempt in fall 2012

The Japanese Nobukazu Kuriki and Masaru Kadotani want to scale Everest in fall, the newspaper reports referring to Tika Ram Gurung, head of the Nepalese expedition operator Bochi-Bochi Trek. In fall 2010, Kuriki had tried to climb Everest solo without bottled oxygen via the rarely used West Ridge. The then 30-year-old said that he had to turn back at about 8,000 meters because of a storm. On his descent, Kuriki sent an emergency call. Sherpas climbed up to him, and the Japanese was flown by rescue helicopter from Camp 2 at 6,400 meters to a hospital in Kathmandu. Kuriki suffered severe frostbite. Nine fingers had to be amputated; only stumps were left. Nevertheless, the Japanese did not want to bury his dream of adventures on eight-thousanders.

In July 2014, Nobukazu claimed to have scaled Broad Peak in Pakistan without breathing mask (look at his summit video below). Actually, Kuriki planned to tackle Mount Everest from the Tibetan north side this fall. But the Chinese authorities put a spoke in his wheel by announcing that they will not give any expedition permit for Tibet before spring 2016.

South Korean Lhotse Expedition

The Icefall Doctors will prepare the route not only for the Japanese. According to Gyanendra Shrestra from the Tourism Ministry, a South Korean team wants to climb Lhotse in fall. Twice in a row, spring season on Mount Everest has been stopped prematurely: In 2014 after the avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall that killed 16 Nepalese climbers, this year after the devastating earthquake in Nepal. The tremors triggered an avalanche, at least 18 people died in Base Camp.

New route through the Khumbu Icefall (on the right) and that of 2014 (left)

Apparently, the new route through the Khumbu Icefall is more than a little course correction. That is indicated by the images that the US guide Garrett Madison has published in his blog. Expedition members of his Madison Mountaineering team had flown over the icefall above Everest Base Camp by helicopter and had looked from the air where the so-called “Icefall Doctors” set up the route for this spring season. The images show that the route leads – seen from below – much further to the right side of the ice labyrinth than expected. Closer to Nuptse, further away from the West Shoulder of Everest, from where an ice avalanche had released on 18 April 2014 that had killed 16 Nepalis. “It appears that climbers will have to negotiate broken ice as before, and perhaps more vertical ladders”, Garrett wrote adding that there was at least one section that had four vertical ladders tied together to ascend up a very large ice cliff. This year, the famous US climber and filmmaker David Breashears, who scaled Everest five times, has advised the eight Sherpas to find a path through the icefall that is as safe as possible.

Environmental organization with a special task

Dangerous Khumbu Icefall

The “Icefall Doctors” do not only set the route but also ensure that it remains accessible throughout the climbing season. Without their work it would be impossible for most of the Everest aspirants to pass the Icefall. These highly specialized Sherpas are selected and paid by the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC), an organization that originally only cared about the environmental protection in the National Park around Mount Everest. Since 2000, the SPCC on behalf of the Government of Nepal is also responsible for the route through the Khumbu Icefall. It collects US $ 600 per expedition member. The amount has become an important part of SPCC’s income.

Indispensable, endangered, underpaid

“Unfortunately all these funds are not used in paying the Icefall Doctors or on equipment for the Icefall”, New Zealand expedition operator Russell Brice said last year. Those Sherpas who take the greatest risks because they have to move in the glacier every day are paid only about $ 2,000 per season. For comparison: Climbing Sherpas can, including bonuses, earn $ 4,000 to 6,000 $, those who reach the summit repeatedly make up to $ 10,000. The “stars” among the Sherpas allegedly take back home even up to $ 25,000 after a successful season.

No fall in demand

The government in Kathmandu announced that it released Everest permits for 30 expeditions this spring. Thus again some 300 foreign climbers will attempt to climb the highest mountain on earth from the Nepalese south side. That makes already clear that the “Everest market” in Nepal has not collapsed, despite the avalanche disaster in April 2014 and the subsequent early end last year’s climbing season.

Dawa Gyaljen sherpa

He was one of the first at the scene. After the fatal avalanche at the Khumbu Icefall on 18 April 2014, Dawa Gyaljen Sherpa rushed down from Camp 2 to help the buried climbers. “On the spot, we encounter dead bodies and blood everywhere. There were a row of dead bodies in one main rope swept into the crevasse”, the 28-year-old Sherpa wrote to me in 2014. “When we pulled the rope, we found the body one after another in the same crevasse. Some of the dead bodies were buried into the snow and we could see only the boots, it seemed those bodies were upside down.” 16 Nepalese were killed in the avalanche, two weeks later the Base Camp was empty, the season finished. Dawa Gyaljen Sherpa has summited Everest four times, he did it for the first time when he was 19 years old. Later Dawa studied in UK. Now he’s living in Kathmandu.  I asked him what he thinks about the upcoming Everest spring season. He replied openly. A Sherpa point of view, an interesting insight.  

Dawa, will you be back on Everest this spring season?

Yes, I would love to go but my client has not yet confirmed.

What are your feelings before the start of the new season?

I am feeling that everything will be normal this year as it was in previous couple of years.

Base Camp on the south side of Everest

Are there any doubts within the Sherpa community due to last year’s events on the Nepalese side of Mount Everest?

So far, there are no gossips around. Most of the Sherpas are booked for the upcoming season. And the good and strong Sherpas are in high demand. Moreover, the families of the avalanche victims are getting help and donations.

There will be a new route section through the Khumbu Icefall which is located more to the centre. What do you think about it?

I think, the route through the centre would be safer than on the side to prevent icefalls from Lho La (Note: Col on the border to Tibet, the lowest point of the West Ridge) and Nuptse face. But it depends on the structure of the Icefall. In my opinion, we cannot guarantee until we get there. Last year, the avalanche occurred at the “Soccer Field / Popcorn” (Note: sections in the Khumbu Icefall) which was said to be a safer place in the icefall where the climbers take a tea break. In my view: If the mountain guides fix the route, they cannot avoid the “Soccer Field”.    

Do you mean that enough was done to avoid conflicts between some Sherpa’s and western climbers as broke out last year and led to the premature end of the season?

I feel sad concerning the incidents in 2013 and 2014, due to which our Sherpa community got a bad image in the eyes of the western climbers. Last year it was unpredictable. This year, to build up that image again there must be a peaceful environment which is up to the western mountain guides and Nepalese mountain guides. If they co-operate with each other and work as a team, there will be a good environment.  

Dawa on Lobuche Peak

What’s about the Sherpas, who were the ring leaders last year? Do you expect that they once again will agitate in base camp?

It’s about the future and I cannot predict what will happen. Last year, it was an all messed up situation, and to control the situation somebody had to take the lead. I do not blame last year’s leaders because they did it in order to control the situation. I think if they weren’t there, the situation could have been very worst.

I don’t expect that there will be any argument about the last year’s topic. I feel sad about the innocent climbers who pay a huge sum of money to achieve their goal. But, there’s a big competition in business of mountaineering: between western companies and local companies; and western mountain guides versus local mountain guides. It’s simply a cold war inside. I’m writing this after reading the blogs in the social media.

Do you think that all the involved parties on Everest are willing to change their attitude?

So far, I have seen that lots of Sherpas have understood the importance of Everest and the tourism for living. In this year, I think they will talk more about responsible tourism. As I mentioned earlier about the cold war, until and unless it comes to negotiation, it’s likely to create a conflict.

Russell Brice

Russell Brice breathes out. “At last”, the 62-year-old New Zealander, head of the expedition operator Himalayan Experience, replies to my question on what he thinks about the planned new route through the Khumbu Icefall on Mount Everest. “We have been asking the SPCC (Note: The Sagarmatha Pollution Control Comitee is responsible for the route through the icefall.) to put the route more central since 2012. Now at last they have listened to the foreign operators instead of the local Sherpas who asked for the route to be moved so as they could travel faster … but not so safely.” Brice doesn’t expect that the new route will take the clients as much time as SPCC president Ang Dorjee Sherpa estimates: “It will take only about one hour longer, not three to four hours. You see there are not many people around these days who have been this way. But I have.”

Old wounds

It seems that I touched a sore spot when I confronted Russell with Adrian Ballinger’s tweet about the new route through the Khumbu Icefall (“The Everest Icefall ‘route change’ announced by Nepal is not a solution. It’s an excuse to maintain the status quo.“). Until 2012, Ballinger was the lead Everest guide for Himex. After that season they went their separate ways, obviously not in agreement. “What would Adrian Ballinger know, is this the same person who used to work for me and was told not to come through the icefall in the afternoon, but disagreed with me, and did come, and was almost killed when the Popcorn (Note: A section with a high risk of falling ice) moved, and then had to return to Camp 1 because the ropes had all been buried?”, Russell writes to me. “His opinion is not worth anything.”

Wait and see

Tim Mosedale, expedition leader from the UK, recommends waiting until the new route through the Khumbu Icefall is established. “Never mind what any government or ministry officials say!”, Tim writes to me. “It will go where it goes and that will be decided by the guys who put it in place.”

Matthias Baumann in the Khumbu Icefall

18 April has changed many things: on Mount Everest, in the lives of the families of the 16 avalanche victims – and also for Matthias Baumann. The 42-year-old trauma surgeon from the German town of Esslingen was the expedition doctor in the team of the Argentine twin brothers Damian and Willie (Guillermo) Benegas and actually wanted to climb Everest in his second attempt, on the Nepalese south side. In 2011, his first attempt on the Tibetan north side had failed at 8600 meters: When he wanted to change his oxygen bottle at the Second Step, the key point of the normal route, Matthias realized that his Sherpa had packed an empty instead of a full bottle.

Three years later, this spring, Baumann climbed through the Khumbu Icefall, on the day before the avalanche. “I knew that avalanches had been coming down from the West Shoulder of Everest for four or five years. Up there, the seracs are threatening”, Matthias told me. Even if the fun at climbing gained the upper hand, the respect remained. “I was always looking up to the seracs.” On the following day, the Khumbu Icefall became a death trap for 16 Nepalese climbers. With other physicians, the German doctor took care of the injured climbers who were brought down to the base camp. After the end of the expedition Matthias visited almost all the families of the Nepalese who had lost their lives – and launched a fundraiser for them.

Doctors take care of injured climbers

“Matthias, at the time of the disaster you were at base camp. How did you experience the avalanche?

I was lying in my tent in the morning and was already awake. Suddenly there was this incredibly loud noise. I looked out of the tent and saw the snow dust that was falling over the whole Khumbu Icefall. I stood up quickly. There was an eerie silence in the base camp. I woke our expedition leader (Damian Benegas) up and said to him: ‘A large avalanche has come down. At that time many climbers were on the mountain. Something must have happened!’’ He got up at once. We agreed that I would stay in base camp to wait for injured climbers. Then he went up to the accident site.

Rescue helicopter over the Khumbu Icefall

Did the rescue operation work well?

Considering that it was not organized, it worked fine. People with experience in rescue, just like Damian Benegas or Michael Horst of “Alpine Ascents International” climbed up. The Sherpas who were already above returned and came down to the scene of the accident. They led the slightly injured down through the Khumbu Icefall. I’ve rounded up the doctors in base camp, it was an international team. Two doctors are stationed permanently on site, in the tent of the “Himalayan Rescue Association”.

As a doctor you have provided first aid. Did you onlyyour work as a physician or have you been charged emotionally too?

It has really shocked me. If such a disaster happens just where you are doing sport or climbing, it is not as easy as in the clinic to draw a bold line between these things. But of course, in the first place you are working. We took care of the patients quite well although we doctors did not know each other.

After the end of the expedition you have visited many families of Sherpas who lost their lives in the avalanche. What motivated you?

I trekked down from base camp by myself, because I wanted to process my experiences. I thought maybe I could visit a family. But before I reached the first family I thought: No, you have to visit all of them! It was just a spontaneous idea. I had never started a fund-raiser before. It was very sad, very emotional, but also a good feeling that I could help. I’ve been to all the families as the first who visited them.

On the way to a family of an avalanche victim

How many families did you visit?

14 of the 16 families. I could not visit two families because they live in the Solu district and thus too far away. I didn’t have enough time to meet them too.

The members of the families were surely still traumatized.

Yes, they were heavily traumatized. They had just burned their dead father or husband. In most homes, the monks were still present and were doing pujas (buddhist ceremonies). In the most remote houses, there were only four, five monks, in Kathmandu 150. First it seemed to me that the women were very strong, they did not show much emotion. But in the end, when I gave a small donation to them and said goodbye, most of them were crying.

How did they respond to you as a western climber who wanted to express his compassion?

I felt no aggression and no reproach. Most were very grateful that someone came along and showed that he was thinking of them. They are all living in very remote areas. I felt that they were a bit disappointed that until then no one of these many, many mountaineers and expedition leaders had looked after them.

The families have not only lost a loved one but also their breadwinner. What does that mean for them? What happens to them next?

It is a very difficult road. In Sherpa families, the man is responsible for the finances, the women are at home and look after the children. For a woman in Nepal who has already children it is difficult or even almost impossible to find another man. The relatives and neighbours must support them. In a family I  visited, the woman has some yaks and therefore she has a small income. But that is not comparable with the income of an Everest Sherpa, who earns 5,000 to 6,000 U.S. $ per season.

Matthias with one of the Sherpa familes

Many Sherpa families have many children. Had the children that you met already realized what had happened?

Of course this depends on the age. In Kathmandu, I met a daughter of an avalanche victim who was already 19 years old. She has already fully perceived the tragedy and feels the responsibility to care for her mother and grandparents. I visited another family with a baby of one month. The father had seen his child only once. And a family that is living north of Thame (a small village in the Khumbu region) near then Nangpa La (pass between Nepal and Tibet) had children of between four and twelve years. The twelve-year-old daughter picked us up on our way from Namche Bazaar (village and trading centre of the Khumbu) and led us to her home. During these four hours of walking I had the impression that she had not yet realized what the disaster meant for her family.

You’ve launched a fund-raiser for the families of the avalanche victims. Have your visits made you say: I can not simply return to my everyday life, I need to do something?

Yes, that was my motivation. Initially I visited the families only to give them first donations. I had not planned the larger project at this time. But the more families I visited, the greater became my wish to deepen the project to help them in the long-term.

Do you think that the Nepalese government’s help is not sufficient?

First it looked as if the officials would only give U.S. $ 400 per family. There were protests. I think the accident has caused a stir worldwide so that the Nepalese government is forced to do more. Above all, I hope that it will do more to support the children.

How do you ensure in your project that the money will actually reach the families?

I do know Pemba Sherpa for 20 years now, he is working for “Asian Trekking” and is one of those in the company who are responsible for the Khumbu region. We know each other since we attended an international mountain guide course in Chamonix. We stayed in touch and I visited him many times. I can trust him completely. But in addition, the families should confirm to me how much money they got and who brought it.

There have been discussions whether it was a good idea to finish the season on Everest. How do you think it about this, as someone who was on site when the tragedy happened and who did visit the victims’ families?

I think it was right to end the season. There was too much concern in base camp. Of course, 500 climbers have 500 dreams. But these dreams are not comparable with what has happened to the families. You have to postpone your personal dreams. I think it would not have turned out all right if climbing had continued , with Sherpas, who actually did not want to climb. There were some who wanted to continue but the majority was inhomogeneous. You have to work together to fix ropes. Actually, too much had happened.

There were also reports about pressure that was exerted by a small group of Sherpas. Did you notice that?

Yes, I did. I have spoken to many Sherpas. Within the expedition groups, there were divergent opinions between the Sherpas. There were many who wanted to continue. Other Sherpas have threatened to break their legs if they would enter the Khumbu Icefall again.

Are you going to return to Everest once more? And if so, will you do it on the Nepalese side?

Of course the dream lives on. If I have the time and financial opportunity, I’ll try it again someday. To me, the north side seemed objectively much safer. The south side was interesting because the route was a new experience for me. If I should ever get the chance again, I tend to go once more via to the north side.”

P. S. For those who want to support Matthias’ fund-raiser with donations, here are the bank details: Himalayan Project e.V., Kreissparkasse Biberach, IBAN: DE45 6545 0070 0007 0581 89, BIC: SBCRDE66, description: “Sherpa avalanche victims”. Thank you!