original

674x448

610x380

500x500

400x266

400x240

400x203

301x200

1250x600

1084x550

1921 Rendezvous:  Mallory, Pumori and Everest

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121144/636a41889c7e80680e04a67ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="964"/><figcaption>THOSE WERE THE DAYS: Kancha Sherpa (circled, above) in a group photo taken after the first successful ascent of Mt Everest in May 1953. Standing (5th, 6th, 7th from left) are Edmund Hillary, John Hunt and Tenzing Norgay.</figcaption></figure>In 1952, when a Swiss expedition camped out at <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/capital-of-sherpaland-gets-a-makeover/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Namche Bazar</a> on its way to climb the world’s highest mountain, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/so-far-so-good/the-season-of-summits/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kancha Sherpa</a> was impressed with the climbers’ gear. They looked glamorous, and their Sherpa guides had swagger. It made a deep impression on the 19-year-old, who ran away from home to Darjeeling to join Tenzing Norgay, who was preparing for the 1953 John Hunt expedition.As a teenager, Kancha Sherpa used to work as a porter, crossing Nangpa La to Tibet with loads of paper and bringing back up to 40kg of salt to barter for maize or rice. When he was offered Rs8 per day to join the Everest expedition, with a bonus for going above Camp 7, it felt like a windfall.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/so-far-so-good/the-season-of-summits/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The season of summits</a>, Lisa ChoegyalDespite having no previous climbing experience, Kancha was trained to use ropes and crampons and set out for the icefall with heavy loads of oxygen cylinders for the higher camps. Being better acclimatised than western climbers and used to carrying heavy loads, Kancha made a good impression on the ‘sahibs’.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121144/636a418b9c7e80680e04a67fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1201" height="1500"><figcaption>Kancha Sherpa at 87, in his home in Namche Bazar this week. Photo: SHARAD OJHA</figcaption></figure>Kancha made it to the South Col at 8,100m with his load, and remembers <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=3247#.XOUP1FIzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tenzing Norgay</a> trying to lift the spirits of young Sherpas like him who were not used to the dangerous mountaineering on the steep ice of the Lhotse Face. Kancha portered for other expeditions in the Himalaya, but after his brother Jangbu died on the slopes and following a 1973 tragedy in which 11 <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/hypoxia-inducible-factor-genes-of-sherpas,1741" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sherpas</a> were killed in an avalanche, he was convinced by his wife to give up climbing.She was right: one-third of deaths on Mt Everest alone have been among Sherpa guides, who are much more exposed to avalanches on the Khumbu Icefall because they go back and forth many more times than their employers. Kancha Sherpa openly admits he worked as a high altitude porter and later as a trekking guide for the money -- he had no real desire to reach the top.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121144/636a418e9c7e80680e04a680jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427">Kancha Sherpa set up the Nirvana Lodge in Namche and did well thanks to the trekking boom of the 1980s onwards. He educated his two sons and two daughters, who are scattered in Kathmandu and Denmark. Grandson Tenzing Chogyal Sherpa is a climate scientist and part of a <a href="https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2019/04/11/national-geographic-society-launches-2019-everest-expedition/">National Geographic expedition</a> this season to study the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/on-thin-ice-in-the-khumbu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">impact of global warming on Mt Everest</a>.Just as Edmund Hillary returned after his 1953 first ascent to help the Sherpa people with schools and hospitals, Kancha set up a <a href="https://kanchhafoundation.org/about-kanchha-sherpa/">foundation</a> to support fellow Sherpas pursuing higher education.He has been featured in <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2017/04/19/google-everest/">This is Home</a>. The story is included in <a href="https://earth.google.com/web/">Google Earth</a> Outreach’s StoryCycle, which has a new interface called Voyager featuring map-based stories from the Khumbu.https://youtu.be/fG1Oz9u0cTUAs the last living Sherpa of the first expedition to climb Mt Everest 66 years ago, Kancha Sherpa says he has no regrets, adding that the 1953 climb and changes to his homeland since then seem like a dream. He recalls: “It used to take two weeks to walk from Namche to Darjeeling; today I can take a helicopter to Kathmandu from a nearby helipad.”Kancha Sherpa retains his respect and reverence for the mountains, and believes their sanctity should not be defiled. “They are gods, it is not good for anyone if they get angry. We should keep the mountains clean, and prevent the snows from melting.”

The last of the first

<figure><img width="780" height="776" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110714118/636903f09c7e80680e037cf2jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>HOME IN THE MOUNTAINS: Ted Atkins in Khumjung below three of the mountains he had climbed: Mt Everest, Lhotse and Ama Dablam.</figcaption></figure>Ted Atkins, a British mountaineer, entrepreneur and frequent contributor to Nepali Times on climbing safety in the Himalaya died on Tuesday while descending Civetta in the Dolomites.Atkins was an aerosystems engineer and a member of the Royal Air Force Mountain Rescue Service and led the Mt Everest North Ridge Expedition in 2001. He summited Everest later from the Nepal side, and went on to climb Kangchenjunga, Makalu, Lhotse and Ama Dablam.He also set a world record for the highest ever boat ride by paddling a raft on a glacial lake at 6,300m below Everest. Colleagues remember him as a man who pushed the limits to get the job done, and was always trying out new adventures like <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/everest-skydive-nepal" target="_blank" rel="noopener">high altitude freefall diving</a>.After leaving the RAF, Atkins ran a thriving business selling bottled oxygen to Himalayan expeditions at a time where there had been several fatalities caused by faulty equipment. His cylinders had a new kind of delivery system that he invented himself. “Everything Ted did was to the max, he had so many adventures and epics it is hard to believe he fell on the way from a via Feratta near his home in Italy,”<a href="https://heavywhalley.wordpress.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> wrote a friend in a blog tribute</a>. <figure><img width="1500" height="1167" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110714118/636903f39c7e80680e037cf3jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-oxygen-of-mountaineering/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article he wrote for Nepali Times this year in May</a> recounted a close brush with death when his oxygen cylinder exploded before a climb. Many expeditions reported <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/new-records-oxygen-failure-on-everest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">malfunctioning cylinder regulators</a> procured in Kathmandu this year. In the article he blamed it on greed of unscrupulous businessmen. Atkins was working to make it safer with his company, <a href="https://www.gasworld.com/everest-oxygen-plant-first/2014746.article" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Top Out Oxygeneering</a>.Atkins often lamented the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/outside-in/shooting-ourselves-in-the-foot/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commercialisation of mountaineering in Nepal in his columns</a> and also had suggestions for improving Nepal’s tourism image. For instance, he thought <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Outside-In/business-customer-relationship,388" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kathmandu Airport gave a very bad first impression of Nepal to visitors</a>.Atkins seemed to have a premonition of his death when <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-oxygen-of-mountaineering/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he quoted in his last coluimn in this paper</a> the words of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/i-want-to-live-my-last-among-friends/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upendra Devkota</a>, the neurosurgeon <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/upendra-devkotas-lives/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">who passed away in June after battling terminal cancer</a>: “Death is not so important. What is important is what the dead person leaves behind”.Atkin’s last words in that piece were: ‘Wise words that make me wish I knew the doctor. What do we leave behind, did we make anything better, what will our children say about us? Think about the future, their future.’ <h2>“Always make things better”</h2> <figure><img width="778" height="545" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110714118/636903f79c7e80680e037cf4jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Ted was killed while descending a mountain near his home in the Italian Dolomites. A mountain that he had climbed many times before.As a true engineer, his outlook on life was always to make things better. His contribution to Nepal, especially as a pioneer in the field of mountaineering oxygen systems, is immeasurable. He was always a patient teacher to me and humored me always in my ignorance. Many were the times we shared a plate of chips and a beer or sat in his ‘mad scientist lab’ and talked about the purpose of our lives. You always lived your life to the fullest, making the best of each day. In that same spirit, you have left us so very suddenly doing what you loved doing.Ted was more like family to all of us here at ASTREK. His zest for life always energised us and his incredible stories could put a smile on anyone’s face. You may be gone but you will never be forgotten. I will miss you sorely. Dhanyabad for the memories MeroSaathi. Rest In Peace My Friend.<a href="https://www.facebook.com/dawasteven" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dawa Steven Sherpa</a>, mountaineer and partner with Atkins in Top Out Nepal. <h2>“Spread positive energy”</h2> <figure><img width="855" height="570" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110714118/636903f99c7e80680e037cf5jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Ted was an integral part of the mountaineering community in Nepal, greatly contributing to the development of oxygen systems and masks. With his Topout oxygen masks, he enabled hundreds of people reach the top of an 8,000m-peak in Nepal and fulfilling their dreams. Ted shall be greatly missed, not only for his incredible ability to come up with solid solutions to technical problems, his vigour to improve things and his expertise in many fields, but also for the amazing positive energy he spread around the streets of Kathmandu. It was always a pleasure to meet up with Ted, philosophise about life and the universe with him, listen to his adventurous stories and have a good laugh with him.Ted certainly lived his life, which sadly ended less than three months before his 60th birthday, to the full and enjoyed every moment of it. Thanks Ted for giving so much to Nepal and its mountaineering community. You have made your mark and you shall be greatly missed.<a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009403310129" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Billi Bierling</a>, mountaineer and convener of the Himalayan Database

Kunda Dixit

Ted Atkins killed in climb

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.
<div class="embed-block"><iframe title="MORE NO OBJECTIONS" aria-label="Column Chart" id="datawrapper-chart-a7y6L" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/a7y6L/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="600" data-external="1"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}))}(); </script></div>
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.
<div class="embed-block"><iframe title="WHERE WE WENT" aria-label="Map" id="datawrapper-chart-yUABv" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/yUABv/3/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="500" data-external="1"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}))}(); </script></div>
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.