<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141144/636baf719c7e80680e07804fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Photo: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>The power struggle within the ruling NCP has overshadowed the country’s COVID-19 emergency. The government has no time to listen to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/social-movement-through-social-media/">young activists</a> who have been staging their second hunger strike demanding immediate measures to control the pandemic.The ‘Enough Is Enough’ campaign is led by 26-year-old activist who calls himself Iih (pictured above) who has refused to be moved to hospital. On Thursday he was on the 13th day of his hunger strike under a tent at Kathmandu Darbar Square, and says his team members are “putting their lives at risk to save lives”.They accuse the Health Ministry of breaking its promise on 26 June, and have among their demands: 100% PCR testing, timely results, safer quarantine facilities, full protection for frontline health workers, transparency in medical procurements, increased ICU capacity.Iih and fellow-activist Pukar Bam are on IV fluid, and say they are willing to lay down their lives if need be to save the lives of Nepalis who could die from government incompetence in handling the pandemic. Another activist, Samariaa Shrestha was taken to hospital on Tuesday after 12 days of being without food and water.On Wednesday, police arrested five Enough Is Enough campaigners near the Home Ministry at Singha Darbar, where they had gone to file a Right to Information application demanding details of how money for the management of the pandemic, as well as procurement of medical supplies, are being spent.The five were briefly detained at the Mahendra Police Club, but they staged a sit in on the street outside after release, and there was another demonstration at the site on Thursday morning.This is the group’s second hunger strike. The first in Patan Darbar Square was called off after 12 days on 7 July after the Ministry of Health <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/12-point-deal-after-12-days-of-hunger-strike/">agreed to fulfill all demands</a>.Nepal’s daily case detection is going up again after the government announced <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-ends-covid-19-lockdown/">the lifting of the lockdown on 21 July</a>. While most of the case so far have been found in people travelling overland from India, in the past week there are growing numbers of positive cases among those with no travel history.The government has also started surveillance testing in some Tarai cities, and taking sample swabs from people entering Kathmandu Valley’s four entry points. The Ministry of Health still says Nepal is in the ‘cluster spread’ phase and has not yet entered the ‘community spread’.With hotels and restaurants allowed to open from 30 July, and long-distance buses and limited domestic and international flights from 17 August, public health experts fear a further surge in cases.

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Hunger strike on 13th day

<figure><img width="1280" height="960" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141132/636bac879c7e80680e077f39jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Enough Is Enough activists meet the press after ending their 12-day hunger strike on Tuesday afternoon.</figcaption></figure>The 12th day of a hunger strike by youth protesters demanding better government handling of the COVID-19 pandemic ended with a 12-point agreement on Tuesday. Loosely grouped activists organised under the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/social-movement-through-social-media/">‘Enough Is Enough’</a> banner took it as a victory.
The two young activists, Iih and Pukar Bam, who had been on hunger strike at Patan Darbar Square and moved to hospital on Friday, broke their fast unto death after the agreement was reached.
The Ministry of Health has agreed to demands to amend its directives for the management and control of COVID-19 by ensuring adequate RT-PCR testing, providing personal protective equipment for frontline health workers, as well as the proper management of quarantine facilities and contact tracing.
<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-interface-of-politics-and-science/" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" rel="noopener noreferrer">The interface of politics and science</a>, Anil Chitrakar<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/social-movement-through-social-media/" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Social movement through social media</a>, Diya Rijal
‘This agreement has set a precedent for a youth-led movement not affiliated to any political party to bring about policy change through peaceful protest,’ as press statement by the Enough Is Enough group said on Tuesday. ‘However, we will remain vigilant and will monitor the government’s compliance to the agreement because failure to do so could have serious public health implications.’
The movement was launched last month with street demonstrations outside the prime minister’s residence and at Mandala, which the police broke up with baton charges and water cannons. The group then decided to take the satyagraha route, and after 12 days without food and water, hunger strikers got the government to agree to most of their demands.
Besides the immediate focus on the government’s ineffective response to COVID-19, the Enough Is Enough campaign has highlighted growing disaffection of the younger generation of urban Nepalis to politicians, political parties and failed governance of the past.
The educated and often privileged youth mainly from Kathmandu spontaneously organised themselves through social media, but have been surprisingly cohesive in putting out their central message. The street action is the latest in a series that began with Nepal Unites (2010-2015), <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2012/12/31/occupy-baluwater-day-4/">Occupy Baluwatar (2012),</a> <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/justice-delayed-and-denied/">Justice for Nirmala Panta (2018)</a> where young Nepalis protested everything from corruption in high places to impunity and gender-based violence.
Most of Nepal’s political agitations in the past have been student-led, mainly by unions affiliated to political parties. During the Panchayat era, underground political parties carried out their activities through their student wings like the Nepal Student Union affiliated to the Nepali Congress, All Nepal National Free Students Union affiliated to the Communist Party of Nepal. 
However, unlike those student protests, Enough Is Enough is not affiliated to any mainstream political party, does not involve aggressive sloganeering, stone throwing, vandalism of government property or forced shutdowns. The campaign asked participants to take precautions like wearing masks and maintain physical separation.
Bhawana Raut, one of the organisers of the Enough Is Enough campaign says social media provides the group with the ability to network, develop ideas and communicate even though most participants did not know each other, and were only brought together by a common cause. Enough Is Enough now has more than 200,000 members on its <a href="https://www.facebook.com/enoughnepal/posts/127773202309420?__tn__=K-R">Facebook group</a>, making it possible to have nearly 100 solidarity protests to take place all over the country.
Nepal’s youth activists seem to have been influenced by the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States. Says Raut: “It sparked protests all over the world, and could have raised awareness to question the authority in Nepal too.”
Globalisation and social media have also seemed to have influenced an evolution from protests that are violent outbursts to more creative ways to express dissatisfaction and demand action. Internet and mobile connectivity has magnified the impact of the protest far beyond the street or square where they were happening.
Social entrepreneur Raj Gyawali says the protests are “a breath of fresh air” because of the imaginative ways in which the youth voices have been raised. The unique aspect of the protest is that while it is deliberately not affiliated to any political party, it is still deeply political in its demand for change.   
“Politics is embedded in everything, even if you are not affiliated to any specific political party,” says journalist Kanak Mani Dixit. “The new generation of activists may lack an in-depth knowledge of history and the current political landscape of Nepal, and just depending on social media can be the cause of this.”
Indeed, even though the movement itself may not have been political, some individual members of the groups had political affiliation especially with the alternative parties like Bibneksheel or Sajha.  
Tripti Giri, a young volunteer with Enough Is Enough says, “Urban youth have always stayed away from protests and national issues because they think politics is just a dirty game. But this is different. It is not affiliated to parties, we don’t want everything to be politicised.” 
Many were young Nepalis who have returned to Nepal from studies abroad because of the pandemic. Giri is one of them. She says: “I had never been involved in any protests before because I was always outside the country studying or working.”
While many say it is a positive development that young Nepali men and women who have returned want to have a say in the way the country is run, some wonder if the movement can have long-term impact.
If the youth took this opportunity to understand as well as critically analyse politics in Nepal, it can be a force for change. More informed and critical youth casting their votes in the next election could be a platform for political reform.  
The great achievement of the Enough Is Enough hunger strike this time is that it forced the government to sit up and take notice. Even Prime Minister K P Oli visited the hunger strikers at the HAMS hospital last week.   
Says Ujwal Thapa, the former president of Bibeksheel party:  “The new generation of activists are not only changing the country but they are also transforming themselves. Finding unique ways to express disapproval, even being part of the movement has really shown the will to change in all shapes and forms.”

12-point deal after 12 days of hunger strike

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141132/636bac0d9c7e80680e077f10jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1840" height="1228"/><figcaption>Photo: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH NEPAL CAMPAIGN/TWITTER</figcaption></figure>As the<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-plans-to-open-in-five-stages/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> lockdown enters its fourth month with no sign of any letup</a>, many people (even city-dwellers) seems to be taking up roof gardening and food production because they have time to kill, and the need to stock up on food during the pandemic.Indirectly, the lockdown has helped promote an activity we should have engaged in anyway. It has forced us to re-learn the experiments and projects from high school biology class.As eager students we all studied germination by dropping a seed into the soil, and found out that no matter which side is up, the first green shoots shoot up to the surface to catch the sun. The roots instinctively fan out downwards to gather vital nutrients.Plants cannot be convinced or corrupted to do things differently. In politics, however, everything and anything is possible. It really depends on how many votes can be mobilised to say and do anything a politician seeks.In a country with a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/bow-out/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">self-described communist party in government with a two-third majority</a>, the opposition has become irrelevant. Question time in parliament is just a formality, and a video op for those who want to show off oratorical skills.Biology is a science of all forms of life. Politics, it seems, is the art of manipulation and the end goals are to stay in power and accumulate wealth at any cost to perpetuate that power. Politicians study neither biology, nor political science.Then there are political scientists who can tell us ten ways to run the republic with examples from all corners of the globe. They have almost no say in how Nepal manages the pandemic or how our country is governed. They can be seen in heated debates on political talk shows on tv, or pontificating away on the op-eds -- but are never consulted when politicians have to make decisions based on science or expertise.The current global crisis offers us a chance to explore and understand these issues, adopt best practices from elsewhere so we do not end up making the same costly mistakes others have made. South Korea and Singapore believe in science and make policies based on it, but the USA and Brazil patently do not. New Zealand’s prime minister looks like someone who understands the interface of politics and science, the German chancellor is a biologist herself.With over 140,000 Americans dead from COVID-19, should that country still be arguing over masks? Should that decision even be left to politicians? All around us we hear and read the works of amazing biologists and political scientists who are angry, and often frustrated because they are not taken seriously by politicians.In Kathmandu there is a push to open up new roads and expand or widen existing ones so that the price of land will continue to go up. Land is limited in the valley, but an even more limiting factor is the air we breathe. If there is one take-away from the current pandemic it is that the virus attacks those body parts that are most vulnerable. Our respiratory system in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-lockdown-proves-air-quality-can-be-improved/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the polluted valley</a> was already at risk, the virus has increased it.The science may be clear but we would rather buy oxygen cylinders and ventilators than clear the air, because it is good for the economy. Biologists tell us we need to protect remaining forests, cut emissions. This science needs to be translated into political policy.George Floyd was gagged by a policeman’s knee and could not breathe. We are gagged by policies that are also killing us. Even without the coronavirus.Young Nepalis get it. They are out in Patan Darbar Square on hunger strike with ‘Enough is Enough’ placards. Essentially their message is that we have wrong policies, and even when we have the right ones, corruption, mismanagement and apathy gets in the way. They have had enough.We have all had enough, but these <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/social-movement-through-social-media/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">youngsters are making their voices heard</a> in creative ways to save the future. Nepal’s obsolete politicians better sit up and listen.Biology is a science, and political science or politics may be more of an art form. All three need to come together to fundamentally change the way we run our societies and pursue progress. A new post COVID-19 world is one in which humans co-exist with other species on the planet.If we destroy the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/crushing-tale-of-Chure" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chure Hills</a> by removing its forests and extracting construction material from it, Birgunj, Janakpur and other cities in the Tarai will be inundated every monsoon. Local governments should be ready to spend all their tax revenue on flood relief and recovery for a long time if we keep electing politicians who do not understand the science of floods.The past three months have displayed that neither the biology of a virus nor the political science of good governance took centre stage. Nepal needs to brace itself for worse to come because we did not.Anil Chitrakar is President of <a href="http://www.siddharthinc.com/">Siddharthinc</a> and writes this fortnightly column 1/2 Full in Nepali Times.

Anil Chitrakar

The interface of politics and science

Fenerbahçe Beko won the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague finals in Abu Dhabi, held 23-25 May, defeating Monaco 81-70 in the final. Olympiacos, who defeated Panathinaikos 97-93, finished the series in third place. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the final match, Nigel Hayes-Davis from Fenerbahçe Beko, received a prize of 1,000,000 Miles&amp;Smiles from Turkish Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer Ahmet Olmuştur. The carrier has been the title sponsor of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, a top tier tournament, since 2010.

Turkish Basketball

Thousands of Nepali students dreaming of an American education have been forced to look elsewhere as the Trump administration’s visa restrictions make their future uncertain.
The US was long considered a top destination for higher studies, making Nepal the 10th biggest country of origin for international students in America.&nbsp;
However, that number has seen a significant decline with the total for Nepali students now at 16,482. Some 8,000 Nepali students obtained no-objection certificates to study in the US from the Ministry of Education in the past year.&nbsp;
India, Australia, Canada, South Korea, United Kingdom and Japan are the other popular destinations for Nepali students. There are no clear numbers for Nepalis going to India, but a slight decline was noted this year after the deaths of two female students.
The US State Department has issued a circular to its embassies not to issue new visas to applicants until further notice. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the directive stated that the department planned to expand the screening of applicants' social media.&nbsp;
While new applicants are barred including those applying for visitor visas, students with scheduled interviews are allowed to proceed.
“Many of our students are affected by the new restrictions, but those who had applied for student visas earlier have got interview dates,” one Kathmandu-based college counsellor told us.
Meanwhile, even foreign students with spotless records already in the US have not been spared, as visa scrutiny intensifies under the new policy. In a move that underscores the growing sense of insecurity, many US colleges advised international students to carry their passports and documents at all times, even when traveling locally.
“Me and my friends did not go home this summer because we were not sure we would be allowed back, so we just went to Niagara Falls,” said a Nepali undergrad in Ohio, who like many interviewed for this report did not want her name used for fear of repercussion.
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Nepali students have adopted a cautious stance, with many choosing not to return home during summer vacation due to fear of visa revocations as well as travel bans. Meanwhile, over 7,000 Nepalis with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will have to come back to Nepal by 5 August or face deportation. Thirty-seven were flown back to Kathmandu on Omni Air last week.
“The US is one of the most sought-after destinations for higher education, and the ban will definitely impact bright students,” says Narottam Aryal of the King’s College in Kathmandu.
Indeed, Nepali undergraduates admitted into Ivy League colleges for the 2025 academic year have been asked to look for alternatives. The entire Fulbright Foreign Scholarships Board resigned on Wednesday citing interference from the Trump administration on the selection of this year’s cohort. Some Nepali students already on Fulbright scholarships have noted disruptions, delays and even cancellation of stipends.&nbsp;
The student visa restrictions were initially just for foreign students admitted to Harvard University, but it was later extended to all Chinese students and now to all students. Universities like Columbia which actively recruit foreign students, face sharp enrolment declines, threatening their financial stability and diversity.
An Indian female PhD candidate at Columbia University had her visa revoked by the US State Department, and said she was targeted on the basis of her social media posts on Israeli military attacks in Gaza. Social media vetting of political activism has raised concerns about privacy and freedom of expression in a country where such rights were a given.
Many students have been informed via email that their visas have been revoked for getting speeding or parking tickets, but even others with no criminal record have been affected. The fear of deportation looms large amongst international students, including those from Nepal.&nbsp;
For most Nepalis who migrate to the US for education, the journey is a high-stakes investment. They come largely from middle-class families, often rely on a patchwork of scholarships, work-study programs, loans, or even the sale of family assets to afford fees.
Most Nepali students pursue STEM subjects which offer extended Optional Practical Training (OPT) periods that help fund their education. But with the US backsliding on education and humanitarian matters, countries like the UK and Canada are becoming more attractive despite their own recent stricter controls on student visas.&nbsp;
The UK universities saw a 63% rise in Nepali students’ admissions in 2024. Japan is another popular destination with 64,816 Nepali students enrolled as of 2024.
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Already, China, Hong Kong and Malaysia are poised to benefit from the increased scrutiny of US student visas. Several Hong Kong universities are offering unconditional admission to affected students, while Malaysian institutions are targeting previously US-bound Asian students. China and India have 330,000 and 280,000 students respectively in America, but the numbers for China have seen a sharp drop in the past year.
Elsewhere, branch campuses of American institutions such as NYU in Abu Dhabi, Georgetown in Dubai and Northwestern in Doha are getting more admission applications, and universities in the Gulf region are expanding infrastructure to accommodate those who would otherwise have gone to the US.&nbsp;
Even educational institutions in Nepal are hopeful that the US visa restrictions can be an opportunity to at least keep Nepali undergrads in Nepal, and also attract foreign students from the region.&nbsp;
“Many students might choose to complete their undergraduate degree here in Nepal and then move abroad for their Master’s degree later,” says Aryal of King’s College. “There was a need for quality higher education in Nepal anyway in terms of innovation and opportunities, so this could be the time to reduce our dependence on other countries.”
Nepal’s strategic position between India and China makes it sensitive to US policy shifts. India, a key ally, is also under US scrutiny for potential student travel restrictions. Chinese universities are already offering more scholarships to Nepali talent to capitalise on the US retreat.
American universities have challenged student visa restrictions in the courts. A federal court in Boston revoked the blanket ban on Harvard, and the State Department has ordered the resumption of processing student and exchange visitor visas.&nbsp;
Some are still hoping that President Trump will backtrack on the student visa restrictions, just like he has done with many of his more drastic executive orders.
Even so, the visa see-saw and longer-term uncertainties about living in the United States and its education system means students across the world are making alternative plans.
Says Aryal: “Policies of foreign countries change according to their needs, so excessive dependence was never a good idea. We should work to create different opportunities and choices of higher education within Nepal, so students are retained.” &nbsp;

America no longer prime destination for Nepali students

While Nepal was hosting the Sagarmatha Sambaad international climate conference in Kathmandu this month, on Mt Everest it was pretty much business as usual.&nbsp; The signs of climate breakdown are all there: a river now runs through Base Camp in summer, the Khumbu Icefall is more unstable, and there are more &nbsp;frequent avalanches. When expeditions arrived in March, the mountains were bare: it had not snowed since September, but then blizzards dumped unseasonal snow in May. And despite climate worries, such is the pull of Himalayan mountaineering that the Everest Industry showed no signs of slowdown. More than 600 international climbers and their Nepali guides had made it to the summit of the world’s highest mountain. At one point there were an estimated 2,000 people in the tent city on the Khumbu Glacier. All the ropes and ladders on the Icefall came down on Thursday, marking the official end of the spring climbing season, and just in time to avoid a monsoon cyclone approaching from the Bay of Bengal. It has been an action-packed season. One factor could be that Everest fees will go up from September: each foreign climber needs to pay a $15,000 royalty, up from the present $11,000. The cost for a Nepali climber on the South Col route will also go up: from Rs75,000 to Rs150,000.&nbsp; The fee to climb Everest in autumn is $7,500 (up from $5,500), but most climbers still prefer spring. Winter permit fee (December-February) is only $3,750 per person and the mountain is now also open for monsoon (June-August) climbs, when the fee is ever lower at $2,750. The revised rule also makes it mandatory for every two climbers on an 8,000m peak to hire one Nepali mountain guide.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025053004050_67f856fe52714e4bdcf21ae7d45c6f18c82117b9d0a5f73ed1efa04c96de1046.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2025053004050_67f856fe52714e4bdcf21ae7d45c6f18c82117b9d0a5f73ed1efa04c96de1046" data-rendition-name="original" width="931" height="732" loading="lazy" alt="The Everest Industry graph 1"> </figure>  In addition, climbers also have to pay for porters and guides, equipment, Base Camp costs, Ice Fall and fixed rope team fees, so climbing Everest does not come cheap. But such is the draw of climbing the world’s highest peak that some say the increased fees will not diminish the crowds next year. The government has tried to spread expeditions out to other seasons and other 8,000ers, but with not much success. Earlier this year, Nepal unilaterally increased the number of 8,000m peaks to 14 by adding six more sub-summits to broaden the choice for climbers. Added were: Yalung Kang (8,505m), Yalung Kang West (8,077m) &nbsp;Kangchenjunga Central (8,473m), Kangchenjunga South (8,476m), Lhotse Middle (8,410m) and Lhotse Shar (8,400m).&nbsp; The announcement could go against the accepted topographic criteria that a stand alone peak has to be at least 300m higher than an adjoining prominence, and at more than 3km isolation from it. The UIAA (Union Internationale des Associations d'Alpinisme) still recognises only 14 mountains as eight-thousanders, and only eight of those are in Nepal, or on the border with China. Nepal’s revised mountaineering regulations also increased the insurance coverage of high-altitude workers to protect porters and high altitude guides who usually take more risks on the mountains. Rescue teams and clean-up campaigners to collect trash and remove bodies of dead climbers up to Camp IV of Mt Everest do not need permits.&nbsp; The Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee is now using drones to fly down trash in 20kg sacks. Each climber is also required to bring down at least 6kg of waste and not just their own, but this rule is erratically enforced. With five fatalities on Everest and Lhotse, Spring 2025 had a historically low death toll. Another five climbers died on Annapurna, Kangchenjunga and Makalu.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025053004050_38681de22f0fefb6faa12b01755566d09c5064d0ff84e12ccc7b5d68ea9ba38a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025053004050_38681de22f0fefb6faa12b01755566d09c5064d0ff84e12ccc7b5d68ea9ba38a" data-rendition-name="original" width="665" height="740" loading="lazy" alt="The Everest industry graph 2"> </figure>  Journalist Ben Ayers who ran the Everest Live social media channel from Everest Base Camp with daily updates credited the low death rate to dramatic rescues of climbers from the ‘Death Zone’ by their Nepali guides and longline helievacs — the visuals all uploaded on YouTube.&nbsp; “Ironically, this perception of safety is bringing more and more inexperienced climbers to the mountain, and they need more rescues,” Ayers said in one of his dispatches.&nbsp; American expedition chronicler and summiteer Alan Arnette suspects there is a lot of under-reporting given that the jet stream and storms were lashing Everest even till late in the season. He told us: “I heard a lot about frostbite and rescues that were not made public. It’s become practically impossible to cover the details on Everest. All the teams report nice news, and they don’t talk about bad stuff to avoid hurting businesses.” Although trash on Nepal’s mountains makes headlines, what does not receive as much attention is the climate impact of so many expeditions. The Sagarmatha Sambaad conference sidestepped this issue, which is ironic given that the impact of climate breakdown is most evident on Himalayan peaks and their glaciers.&nbsp; <h2>Need for Speed</h2> The big stories this year have been about speed-running from their home cities to the top of Everest. Ukrainian entrepreneur Andrew Ushakov flew out of JFK on 15 May at 10:15AM Nepal time, and was on the summit 3 days, 23 hours, and 7 minutes later on 19 May at 9:22AM.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250601080640_1c5cc6fc991307861768f07037ed9d30930fb20f35dbb57dc31c9a92a9e1a885.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250601080640_1c5cc6fc991307861768f07037ed9d30930fb20f35dbb57dc31c9a92a9e1a885" data-rendition-name="original" width="1440" height="1800" loading="lazy" alt="The Everest Industry"> <figcaption>Andrew Ushakov at the summt. Photo: ELITE EXPED</figcaption> </figure>  “I could never find the time for the traditional 40-50 days of acclimatisation,” Ushakov explained matter-of-factly. His ‘Everest Sea-to-Summit’ climb was possible because he spent 400 hours in hypoxic sleep tents over the past four years in New York. However, Ushakov did use ropes already fixed, hired four Nepali guides, helicoptered to Base Camp, and used much more oxygen than an average climber. And after the climb, Ushakov was arrested at Kathmandu airport for being in possession of $20,000 of undeclared cash and spent a night in jail and fined $60,000.&nbsp; The other speedsters were Garth Miller, Alastair Cairns, Anthony Stazicker, and Kev Godlington, all former British Army commandos. They left London and summited five days later on 21 May, and flew right back. They also used hypoxic tents to simulate the thin air high on Everest.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250601080644_90c8dd5cc07b4b43f2989b1dc0c0650ab80f10ebb06680c25a6909c519957bd8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250601080644_90c8dd5cc07b4b43f2989b1dc0c0650ab80f10ebb06680c25a6909c519957bd8" data-rendition-name="original" width="810" height="668" loading="lazy" alt="The Everest Industry "> <figcaption>All four members of the Furtenbach team at the summit. Photo: Sandro Gromen-Hayes</figcaption> </figure>  But more controversial was their use of xenon gas therapy in a German hospital to ramp up the production of oxygen-carrying haemoglobins in their blood. Xenon is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency for being performance enhancing in sports. Expedition leader Lukas Furtenbach said this rule does not apply to mountaineering, as it is not a regulated sport like swimming. Nepal has no rules about xenon, but the Department of Tourism said it was launching an ‘investigation’ to decide on future policy since it is difficult to ban xenon, but allow oxygen. The controversy has also divided the mountaineering community, with some climbers saying they just want to maximise their chances of survival. Spending less time on the mountain could make climbing safer by reducing avalanche risk. It would also mean less trash on the mountains, but it would reduce the income of Nepal’s expedition industry. It is also unclear how much of the success was due to xenon therapy and whether the ex-special forces were already in good physical shape.&nbsp; The need for speed hides the fact that climbing in the Himalaya is dangerous business, and climbers cannot sprint to the top just by huffing xenon. But ultra-fast climbs could be charged more, and the revenue generated can be used to establish state-of-the-art rescue operations, and increase pay and insurance for guides. Two other speed chasers this season were Swiss-Ecuadorian Karl Egloff and American Tyler Andrews, both on Everest without oxygen. Andrews choppered to Base Camp to catch a weather window, but turned back from 8,500m due to high winds. Heavy snow and wind also forced Egloff to descend from 7,000m. Slow and steady climbers like Anja Blacha from Germany did make it to the summit without oxygen, while Kami Rita Sherpa broke his own record with his 31st Everest summit as he led a 26-strong Indian Army group. There were 468 permits issued for foreign climbers from 48 expeditions to Everest this spring. Nepal’s other eight-thousanders together had only 17 expeditions. Nepal has more than 1,000 peaks above 6,000m, and has opened only 476 of them for climbing.&nbsp;

The Everest Industry

While Nepal marked <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mt-everest-pvt-ltd">Mt Everest</a> Day on 29 May, on the other side of the planet in the US state of Colorado dozens of Nepalis who have climbed the world’s highest peak multiple times were busy working as chefs and Uber drivers. Among them is Nima Doma Sherpa, who climbed Mt Everest in 2019 after her husband Tshering Wangchu was among 16 crushed by an avalanche on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/on-thin-ice-in-the-khumbu">the Khumbu Icefall</a> five years earlier. A large serac broke off the West Shoulder of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-everest-industry">Mt Everest </a>and fell directly on a group of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/more-porters-sick-on-everest-trail">porters and guides</a> making their way up the Icefall at 5,800m. Their bodies were flown by helicopter to Khumjung where Tshering Wangchu was born. He was excited about climbing Mt Everest for the first time.&nbsp; In Khumjung, Nima Doma felt like her own life had also ended. This was the kind of news Sherpa wives, mothers and sisters dreaded every <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/peak-climbing-season-2025-s4abrxny">mountaineering season</a>. She stayed home for more than two years grieving, but ultimately gathered up all her emotional strength to take care of her 6-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter. Nima had grown up in Khumjung hearing <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/stories-of-nepal-s-summiteers">tales of adventure on the mountains </a>from their father, Ang Chubi Sherpa who had climbed Everest in 1993. He used to bring her and her sisters and brother European chocolates after every expedition, and used to tell them that the chocolate bars grew on the mountains. “It was only after we got older did we realise that he told us that chocolates grew in the mountains so we would not worry about him putting himself in harm's way,” Nima Doma recalled with a faraway look at her home in Boulder this week. Nima went to the school that <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/commemorating-edmund-hillary-in-nepal,4145">Edmund Hillary</a> opened in Khumjung till Grade 8, and then dropped out to help in the kitchen and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">tend yaks</a>. She was married off to Tshering Wangchu, who was also a high altitude guide. When Tshering went on expeditions, Nima also started working as a porter from Namche to Base Camp. It was perhaps her father’s tales of mountains of chocolates that had always attracted her to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/knowing-our-mountains-43v4iyvo">the peaks</a>. After her husband was killed ten years ago this month, being a widow with children was not easy for Nima Doma. But she was not alone: there were at least 200 single mothers in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/khumbu-since-1950-jaww4qn0">the Khumbu</a>, and 20 of them just in Khumjung whose husbands had been killed in <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/tragic-start-to-himalayan-spring-nepal,3695">mountaineering accidents</a>. Some were not even 20 years old, and had children growing up without fathers. But there were also women in the 50s whose husbands had been killed in the 1980s. Nima found sponsors for her children’s education, and moved to Kathmandu. In the capital, Sherpa widows used to meet to help each other. Some of them had joined the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) training for rock and ice climbing. “I decided that it was no use sitting home and crying anymore, after meeting other single mothers I felt less alone,” remembers Nima, who joined the Juniper Foundation and enrolled in an NMA training camp in Manang. There she climbed Chulu East (6,584m) and met Furadiki Sherpa, whose rope-fixing husband had also been <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/on-mt-everest-s-70th-records-and-fatalities">killed on Everest</a> in 2013. They set themselves the goal of climbing Everest one day, and started a fund-raising drive.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250530090544_621be0724b9182c8e3594b2c562a71ec32ac01d985a71d0cf31646de9d51e15a.png" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250530090544_621be0724b9182c8e3594b2c562a71ec32ac01d985a71d0cf31646de9d51e15a" data-rendition-name="original" width="2678" height="1274" loading="lazy" alt="Everest summiteers find new life in the US"> </figure>  “We decided we had to overcome society’s stigma of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/widows-personal-happiness-comes-last-in-face-of-social-financial-hardships,1855">widowhood</a> and prove that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/remembering-junko-tabei">women could also climb mountains</a>,” Nima said, adding that she was inspired by Nepal’s first woman Everest summiteer Pasang Lhamu Sherpa, who died during her descent in 1993. Nima Doma and Furdiki climbed the technically-difficult Ama Dablam (6,812m) and then arrived at Everest Base Camp in April 2019 as part of their Two Widows Expedition with the motto, ‘So Can We’. While climbing up the Icefall Nima passed the spot where her husband had been killed. It was a jumble of constantly-shifting ice blocks bigger than houses. She closed her eyes and said a prayer. “I remember thinking, this is so difficult and dangerous. This is what my husband had to do to support our family,” Nima Doma said. “I was determined to fulfil my husband’s dream of climbing Chomolungma, and to prove to ourselves that we two women could do it.” It was 23 May 2019 when <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/world/two-sherpa-widows-scale-everest-and-smash-stigma-idUSKCN1SU0MV/" target="_blank">Nima and Furdiki stepped on the summit</a> and looked over into Tibet, and down at Tengboche Monastery to the south.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250530090544_6b822582b5d88ba5e972db084f184690b40653c6efd9901b2dd082ffba2a263b.png" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="20250530090544_6b822582b5d88ba5e972db084f184690b40653c6efd9901b2dd082ffba2a263b" data-rendition-name="original" width="2700" height="1522" loading="lazy" alt="Everest summiteers find new life in the US"> </figure>  Nima Doma hugged Furdiki, took off her mask and wept. But for the first time in five years, it was not from grief but relief — relief for being free of all the sadness and sacrifices and for fulfilling her husband’s dream. They had found <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/life-after-death">life after death</a>. “I felt this immense joy to be on top of the world, it was indescribable,” Nima Doma said, “I have wept only twice in my life. Once when my husband died, and once there on top of Everest.” The tears had frozen on Nima Doma’s cheeks, as she and Furdiki headed back down the mountain.