<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be1919c7e80680e083e57jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1530" height="972"/><figcaption>Despite the pandemic, mountaineers have flocked to Mt Ama Dablam, 6,812m in the Nepal Himalaya this autumn. Photo: Maik Psotta / Wikimedia</figcaption></figure>It has been described as the most beautiful mountain in the world, its silhouette is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invesco#/media/File:Invesco.svg" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invesco%23/media/File:Invesco.svg&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605765084378000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGDtnGyanYz3MKCBR7n9_EjKi3fxQ">the logo</a> of a global insurance company, and the 6,812m peak was once described by Edmund Hillary as being “unclimbable”.Trekkers and mountaineers on their walk up to Mt Everest Base Camp have for decades marvelled at the chiselled sculpture that dominates the trail. Many have vowed to <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18972#.X7Symi8RoWo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D18972%23.X7Symi8RoWo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605765084378000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH_T9pvxloFyTaAm6lvNMkEclTRmw">return to climb it </a>one day.One of them was <a href="https://www.instagram.com/moealthani/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.instagram.com/moealthani/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605765084378000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEDAnbwlOGicbgDDBEoIix17n7ZEw">Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulla Al Thani </a>of the Qatar royal family who was among dozens who climbed the mountain last week during the peak of the pandemic in Nepal.Sheikh ‘Moe’ Al Thani said in an interview that he had been obsessed with climbing Ama Dablam ever since he was trekking in the area ten years ago, and after climbing Mt Everest in 2013.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be1949c7e80680e083e58jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1296" height="1244"><figcaption>Qatari Prince ‘Moe’ Al Thani on the summit of Ama Dablam on 11 November. Photo: @moealthani</figcaption></figure>The very next day, on 12 November, not only did eight more climbers make it to the top, but four of them were Nepali siblings who run Seven Summit Treks that handled the expedition.Mingma Sherpa, Dawa Sherpa, Tashi Lakpa Sherpa and Pasang Sherpa are experienced climbers, and Mingma and Chhang Dawa have climbed all 14 eight-thousand metre peaks in the world.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be1979c7e80680e083e59jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1482" height="1104"><figcaption>Four Sherpa brothers who were among eight climbers who summitted Ama Dablam on 12 November. Photo: Seven Summit Treks</figcaption></figure>The Sheikh was part of a multinational team led by <a href="https://madisonmountaineering.com/tag/ama-dablam/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://madisonmountaineering.com/tag/ama-dablam/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605765084378000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEV7WxawknVxwVArzaNpRarL5luPA">Madison Mountaineering</a> that put all 13 climbing members on the summit including seven Nepali, four American, and a Canadian mountaineer.Besides the sheer grandeur of the peak is its technical challenge with a knife-like ridge and a perpendicular face leading to the top. Added to that are the dangers of avalanches and rockfalls that have killed dozens of climbers.Since climbing first began in the region in the 1950s, 32 people have been killed on Ama Dablam, mostly in falls and avalanches, and one Russian died three years ago while jumping off from near the top in a wingsuit.Lead guide of the Qatari Prince’s team, Garrett Madison, first tried to climb the mountain in 2003, but had to turn back due to technical difficulties on the southwest ridge, but returned to summit twice in 2012 and 2014.Madison wrote in a <a href="https://madisonmountaineering.com/tag/ama-dablam/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://madisonmountaineering.com/tag/ama-dablam/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605765084378000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEV7WxawknVxwVArzaNpRarL5luPA">blog post</a> last week: “We had a beautiful clear, perfect day up on the summit … it has been a wonderful, successful and safe expedition here in Nepal, we are very happy we got to come and experience the wonderful people with warm hearts.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be19a9c7e80680e083e5ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1058" height="1330"><figcaption>Climbers make their way up from Camp III below the hanging serac near the summit of Ama Dablam on 11 November. Photo: Madison Mountaineering</figcaption></figure>What is surprising this year is that these climbs of Ama Dablam have happened during the middle of a pandemic, and Nepal has been closed for trekking and mountaineering since March until foreign teams were finally allowed back in mid-September.Even before that, a Bahraini military team got special permission to climb Mt Manaslu, and an all-Nepali expedition climbed Baruntse. And during the pandemic in spring, the Chinese climbed Mt Everest and Cho Oyu from the north. Besides the expeditions in Ama Dablam this autumn, the only others were a Nepali team on Gyalzen Peak and two trekking teams on Himlung.“Ama Dablam is a very attractive and challenging mountain, everyone who has been on the Everest trail dreams one day of climbing it,” says the president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association Ang Tshering Sherpa, adding that while most expeditions go for Nepal’s 8,000m peaks in spring, they prefer to climb Ama Dablam in the autumn.In fact, last November <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/kuwait-flag-on-ama-dablam-to-be-investigated/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/kuwait-flag-on-ama-dablam-to-be-investigated/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605765084378000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGF4-6roQZQaGiaUm6WDCQA-RcXyQ">a Kuwaiti expedition</a> got into trouble with the authorities for unfurling a giant flag of the country from the summit and draping over the west face of the mountain. It was visible to the naked eye from Khumjung, which is 3,000m below and 12km away. The Kuwaitis said they were just trying to break a record, and did not know a permission was required.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be19d9c7e80680e083e5bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1710" height="1028"><figcaption>Last November, a Kuwait expedition got into trouble for unfurling a huge flag of the country from the summit of Ama Dablam that was visible from Khumjung. Photo: Manjushree Thapa</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.alanarnette.com/climbs/amadablam.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.alanarnette.com/climbs/amadablam.php&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605765084378000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHUYbOs0jME88L0xoyy2VUGSuhJaw">Alan Arnette</a>, a mountaineer and blogger climbed Ama Dablam in 2000, and describes the allure: “Ama Dablam is a fantastic climb by any definition. In many ways it is more satisfying than the 8000m climbs with the rock, ice and snow sections. But it is a very dangerous climb today with the instability of the Dablam.”Ama Dablam means ‘Mother’s Pendant’ in Sherpa because its summit makes the mountain look like a mother hugging her young, and the ‘dablam’ is the massive hanging serac near the summit which looks like a holy locket.Mountaineers try to avoid climbing and camping below this serac, but despite that some have been killed by chunks breaking off. In 2006, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12870#.X7Sx-C8RoWo" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D12870%23.X7Sx-C8RoWo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605765084378000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEOjeZxus4fD2qJ-tgnP9B_VwWz2w">a piece of the hanging ice fell and killed six climbers</a> in Camp III at the point where the southwest ridge meets the top of the face. Three more were killed below the serac in 2014. Nepali climber <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2016/11/29/thundu-sherpa-46/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2016/11/29/thundu-sherpa-46/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1605765084378000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE98ajT4jiixxVjftRKnpYj6a4DgQ">Thundu Sherpa was killed</a> when an earthquake in 2016 triggered an avalanche on the face.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be1a09c7e80680e083e5cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1544" height="1154"><figcaption>Ang Phurba Sherpa on the spacious summit of Ama Dablam on 11 November, with Mt Everest in the background. Photo: @aang_phurba_mountaineer</figcaption></figure>This year, despite the pandemic and the dangers of climbing via the traditional southwest ridge route, mountaineers could not resist the temptation of climbing Ama Dablam. What helped was the relative ease of organising an expedition at short notice compared to the complicated logistics on big 8,000m peaks in Nepal.Those who made it were rewarded with mountains devoid of other climbers, and a spell of good weather that has lasted more than two months now.Nepal’s Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation Yogesh Bhattarai himself helicoptered to Ama Dablam Base Camp on Monday just as another 12-member expedition arrived to climb Ama Dablam. That team is led by Himalayan Guides and British climber Kenton Cool who has sumitted Mt Everest 14 times.“We were glad to run into Kenton Cool and other mountaineers at Ama Dablam Base Camp, and also happy that Nepal’s climbing sector that has been badly hit by the pandemic, is getting back to normal,” Bhattarai said.Despite the minister’s remark, it is clear that Nepal’s trekking and mountaineering has suffered from the Covid-19 crisis. The country usually makes $20 million in royalty and other fees from climbing, and this year the count is only $3.3 million.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181120/636be1a39c7e80680e083e5djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1374" height="1030"><figcaption>Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai at Ama Dablam base camp on Monday to greet another expedition climbing the mountain. Photo: Yogesh Bhattarai Facebook</figcaption></figure>Besides this, many Nepali guides, porters, trekking companies, hotels, airlines and helicopter companies have lost business. Last autumn there were 210 climbing expeditions in the Nepal Himalaya, but this season there are only seven.Minister Bhattarai also hosted the Qatari team in Kathmandu last week after their climb, during which Prince Al Thani said: “I have always been enchanted by Ama Dablam, and I have been struck by the scenic beauty of Nepal and the hospitality of its people. I promise to return very often."

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What is it about Ama Dablam?

<figure><img width="646" height="395" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171152/636bdae39c7e80680e080291jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Khim Lal Gautam (left) Rabin Karki (middle) and Tshiring Jangbu Sherpa on the top of the Mt Everest at 3am of 22 May 2019 with the GNSS equipment behind them.</figcaption></figure>The Nepal Mt Everest Height Measurement Expedition Team climbed the world’s highest mountains last year to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-china-re-measure-height-of-mt-everest/">determine its exact altitude. </a>Although the height Mt Everest has been accepted as 8,848m (29,028ft) since 1955, later measurements have been higher or lower than that. Previous calculations were by Americans or Europeans, and Nepal and <a href="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/201907/15/WS5d2bd46ba3105895c2e7d5fe.html">China </a>needed to make their own measurement of the peak on their border. In 1856, the Great Trigonometric Survey of India found Mt Everest’s height to be 29,000ft, and the highest mountain in the world. But the British surveyors through the all the zeroes would give people the impression that the elevation was rounded off. So they added 2ft to make it a more exact-sounding 29,0002ft.The true elevation of Sagarmatha is not constant because of tectonic activity, and there was a need to update it <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/is-mount-everest-shrinking-nepal-is-on-a-mission-to-measure-the-worlds-tallest-mountain/2019/10/17/c587f8f4-eea4-11e9-b2da-606ba1ef30e3_story.html">after the 2015 earthquake</a>. The Survey Department installed GPS equipment on the summit, and uses geodesy, levelling and gravity measurements and is processing the data.  <figure><img width="1524" height="1146" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171152/636bdae59c7e80680e080292jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Geomatic engineer Mahesh Thapa of the Survey Department carrying out gravity levelling measurement on Upper Rauje at about 4,500m in Solu Khumbu. Photo: SURVEY DEPARTMENT</figcaption></figure>A very accurate sea level height for Sagarmatha can now be expected, since the Survey Department used state-of-the-art equipment at the summit, and had  other survey data. It will also help Nepal now to use this GPS technique to more accurate measure the heights of Nepal’s other mountains. The Survey Department has used historical trigonometry levelling as done by Survey of India in the 1950s, and combined it with more exact levelling and modern geoid systems with gravity survey, and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) to cross check results. The Survey Department selected 12 trigonometry observation points in Solukhumbu, Khotang, Bhojpur and Dolakha districts from where we measured the position and angle of the summit. We plotted the elevation of points from sea level right up to the base of Mt Everest. For its part, the ground penetrating radar (GPR) on the summit measured the thickness of the ice cap above the rock at the summit, so that we can know the rock height of the summit.  <figure><img width="1778" height="842" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171152/636bdae99c7e80680e080293jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Khim Lal Gautam at Mt Everest Base Camp last year, unpacking the GNSS equipment that he was taking to the summit.</figcaption></figure>After 26 days at Base Camp, preparing, planning and acclimatising for the final push for the summit, our team headed up the Icefall 18 May, 2019. Our goal was to reach the top to conduct the measurements, but even more importantly, our mission was to return back down safe and sound. Our team had to take survey instruments and then conduct observations to pinpoint accurately the elevation of the highest point on earth.  The observations we were conducting would be one of the most critical information in determining the height of Sagarmatha. Precise and meticulous calculations based on the measurement we would make at the top along with survey observations by several other teams would result in the definitive height of Mt Everest. While we conducted Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observation at the top, these measurements would have to be linked to similar data from base stations. This was managed by a different survey team located in Lukla. Our expedition included four surveyors from the Survey Department and four Sherpa colleagues.  Me and surveyor Rabin Karki were to head for the summit with our guides, while surveyors Yubaraj Dhital and Surveyor Suraj Singh Bhandari would stay at base camp and coordinate with other teams. Our guides included Tshiring Janbu Sherpa, Lakpa Sherpa, Dorji Sherpa and Pem Ngima Sherpa. Tshiring and Ngima had already summited Everest twice each, while for other Sherpas it was their first time. It was the first time for Rabin Karki too.  This was my second summit bid, after having got to the top in 2011 with the Civil Servants’ Expedition. From Base Camp, we reached Camp II the same day and stayed there overnight and headed on to Camp III at the base of the Lhotse Face, which we reached at 3pm on 19th May. The next day, we climbed the steep icy flanks to reach Camp IV at the South Col by mid-afternoon. It sounds easy to say, but this was technical climbing at high altitude, with hurricane force winds at the South-Col. But that was the least of our worries: we found out when we got to camp that the stockpile of oxygen that was supposed to be at Camp IV had not yet arrived. Usually, all expeditions carry oxygen bottles to the South-Col within the first week of May, and store it there for the summit teams that come later. We had received information that our cylinders would also be stored at the South Col in time for the summit day. However, we found that not all the cylinders had actually reached the South Col, and understandably our head guide Tshiring indicated that we could not attempt the summit without them. He felt it would be better to descend to Camp II and climb again when enough oxygen bottles reached the South-Col. <figure><img width="1124" height="532" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171152/636bdaec9c7e80680e080294jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Summit team at the Yellow Band between Camp III and the South Col at 8,000m.</figcaption></figure>This was a difficult moment. At that altitude, with our decision-making already somewhat impaired by lack of oxygen, we hesitated. Descending 3,500m to Camp II and climbing back up was not going to be a walk in the park.In addition, the weather window for the summit push was narrow, and then there could be a heavy traffic of climbers on the southeast ridge. This was going to be a make-or-break decision. Going back down to Camp II would, for all intents and purposes, mean failure of the mission – we might as well just descend all the way back to Base Camp and go home. But without the necessary oxygen, we would be risking our lives on the summit bid. As the leader of the expedition, the decision was on my shoulders. It was not an easy one, since the lives of my colleagues depended on it. But just the thought of giving up the expedition was too devastating to even think about. So, as team leader I decided that we go ahead. Failure was not an option. I remember telling Tshiring, “I simply cannot give up this historical mission when we are so near the top.”When there is a will, as they say, there is a way. I persuaded the team to stay overnight at Camp IV, and then went around the other expeditions at the South Col from Seven Summit and Pioneer to loan us oxygen cylinders. Fortunately, our Sherpa colleagues found a stash at the Geneva Spur at 7,600m. Experience from my previous expedition was helpful in making my decision, since I was aware of my own limitation and capability. I had also made a lot of friends among the guides during my 2011 expedition, and they had helped me out of some tricky situations. This was useful in breaking the ice, as it were. By the morning of 21 May, with the help of our Sherpa friends at the South Col, we had managed to collect enough bottles for the push. We decided to head off for the summit at 2PM, which was unusual because most climbers start from the saddle at about midnight and take 10-15 hours to reach the top. There was some disagreement about this from our guides, who said it was not a good idea because it would mean that we would be on the summit at night when it would be too cold to install our equipment and take measurements. “If it is too cold, we cannot even take off our mittens to work with the equipment,” one of them said.  <figure><img width="1430" height="953" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171152/636bdaef9c7e80680e080295jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>The summit team started to climb from the South Col at the unusual hour of 2PM. </figcaption></figure>But, from my experience from eight years previously, I had my reasons for starting out so early (or so late in the day). The foremost reason was that we did not want our survey activities and measurements to be disturbed by the rush of climbers on the summit. Secondly, satellite positioning data is much more accurate if it is made at night instead of at sunrise. The ionosphere effect is minimal if the GNSS observation is carried out at night because it depends on signals coming from satellites to the receiver.At least that was my theoretical conclusion after reviewing relevant literature regarding observation time for achieving high quality GNSS data. This expedition was all about accuracy, and we had to do everything in our power to ensure that there would be no margin for error in our measurements. We made progress up the ridge, and by 9:30pm had reached the Balcony at 8,450m. I remember being very thirsty, and took out two flasks that I had filled with hot water at the South Col. One of the thermos flasks had been provided by the Nepal Mountain Academy at a training four months previously, and another was given to us by Peak Promotion. To my dismay, I found that the water in both flasks had turned to ice. Dehydration can be a serious issue at this altitude, but there was no choice. There was also no sense in carrying that extra weight, so I left the bottles at the Balcony where we rested for a bit under the starlight.It took us another three hours to reach the South Summit at 1:30am, where we rested briefly and pressed on. Another hour-and-half, and we were at the summit. At 3:00am on 22 May I was on the top of Mt Everest for the second time. Unlike the previous climb, however, it was pitch dark, very windy, and I was utterly exhausted after 13 straight hours of trudging up the mountain. I had nothing left in me physically, and just thinking about the descent made me nervous.But there was no time to think about anything, there was work to be done. We were here on a mission to find out the exact altitude of the spot we were standing on.  Despite the extreme tiredness, howling wind, the numbing cold, we had to complete our GNSS survey and the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) observation in the limited time window at our disposal. We were completely focussed on our work, which we had rehearsed many times at base camp.Our team, made up of the very strong and capable survey officer Rabin Karki, the excellent mountain guide Tshiring Jangbu Sherpa and other climbing colleagues, was able to capture the crucial bits of data that would help us solve the riddle of the exact height of the Mount Everest.  <figure><img width="1172" height="778" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171152/636bdaf29c7e80680e080296jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Survey Department climbers reached the top at 3am to avoid the crowds. The GNSS equipment on a specially designed tripod is on the summit behind the climbers.</figcaption></figure>We stayed on the summit for almost two hours installing the GNSS equipment on a small and sturdy tripod designed especially to work on the summit of Mt Everest. Unlike the tripod provided by the manufacturer, this one was light-weight and stubby, allowing greater stability in the high wind. It also had a special type of locally-designed steel screw about 30cm long to fix it to the ice on the summit. I had a hand in designing this contraption from my previous experience of seeing the character of the terrain and the topography of the summit. The tripod should have also been able to withstand the high winds blowing over the summit all the time. The direction of the wind, although it is predominantly westerly, can also change to the south or north. In order to stabilise the tripod while the wind was blowing, some of us got down on the snow and held the tripod’s legs firmly. The idea was to ensure that the tripod was stable and there would not even the slight displacement that could throw the data off. Stuck at the Hillary step By about 4am, as the eastern sky started lighting up, other climbers began to arrive at the summit. This was why we came up early, so that the crowds would not disturb the sensitive instruments. I was now worried that the climbers would affect the sensitive data we were collecting. However, members of our team kept the climbers from going near the GNSS antenna at the top. When I realised that we had collected all the data that was required, we packed our bags and started to head down. I put the main height measuring GNSS antenna in my bag, while Tshiring carried the other gear.  <figure><img width="433" height="915" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171152/636bdaf59c7e80680e080297jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Khim Lal Gautam descending through the Lhotse Face.</figcaption></figure>Although it was daylight, the descent was a challenge. Our progress down was delayed by the throng of climbers heading up towards the summit. From the top to the South Summit, we had to wait to let climbers pass who unclipped and clipped again to the single rope on the ridge. At the Hillary Step, we have to wait two hours just to wait for our turn on the one-way route. We had our equipment with all the precious data that we had so painstakingly collected at the summit in our bag. The data does not weigh anything, but it weighed us down with responsibility to protect it during this treacherous descent. In fact, I later found out that 22 May, 2019 had the highest number of climbers on the summit, and news about the ‘traffic jam’ on Mt Everest had gone viral around the world. A total 223 mountaineers summited on that day, and there were calls for restricting numbers. As luck would have it, not a single expedition has put climbers on the summit from the Nepal side of Sagarmatha in 2020 because of the Covid-19 restrictions.Last spring, there was a very short weather window for summit planning. According to weather reports, less wind and good weather was forecast for 22 May compared to the days before and after. That is why there were so many climbers on the summit all at the same time. While we were descending from the South Summit which is at about 8,600m Rabin Karki’s oxygen system started giving him trouble. This was dangerous, and his life was at risk. Our guide Tshiring Jangbu Sherpa borrowed an extra oxygen cylinder from another Sherpa colleague, and Rabin managed to continue his descent. I myself was drained, and did not have much energy left by the time we got back down to the Balcony. My condition got worse, and on the slope down to the South Col at one point I actually lost consciousness at 8,200m. I must have lain there for two hours in the blue ice, until another climber kicked me to see if I was alive. After I woke up, I found that the rest of the team had headed on down thinking that the South Col was close, and I would catch up with them. Tshiring must have thought that I could descend by myself. Those two hours gave me frostbite, and when I got back to Kathmandu I had to amputate a tip of my left toe. Normally, if climbers fall unconscious at that altitude, and there is no one to  help them down, it is likely that they will not wake up again. It was that kick, and a miracle, that woke me up so that I could stumble down the mountain that day, and bring down the precious cargo of data in my backpack.This near-death experience reminded me of the importance of the summit observation and the responsibility that I had in bringing down the data. We took risk not only for the sake of successful completion of the historical mission, but also for the qualitative raw data so we could get the precise height of Mt Everest. <img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171152/636bdaf79c7e80680e080298jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="93" height="112"><a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/09/remeasuring-mount-everest-the-worlds-tallest-mountain/">Khim Lal Gautam</a> is the Chief Survey Officer at the Survey Department, Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation, Government of Nepal.

Measuring Mt Everest: because it is there

https://youtu.be/RTnxJKo97DIFor many tourists trekking to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/re-measuring-mt-everest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mt Everest</a> Base Camp this autumn, the trip will be an adventure of a lifetime. The thin clear air, stark landscape, and ice-tipped peaks pierce the inky sky providing great Instagram backdrops.However, what is stunning scenery to tourists is for climate scientists an apocalyptic sight. They see dramatic evidence all around of a rapidly warming atmosphere.Visitors returning to the Everest region after 20 years also notice changes: large lakes where there were none, glacial ice replaced by ponds, boulders and sand, the snowline moving up the mountains, and glaciers that have receded and shrunk.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/climate-for-change/the-great-himalayan-thaw/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The great Himalayan thaw</a>, Ajaya Dixit<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692eea9c7e80680e03c079jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1050"/><figcaption>HIMALAYAN MELTDOWN: The Khumbu Glacier is the highest in the world and receding at 30m/y. It is also shrinking: Base Camp is now 50m lower than when Hillary and Tenzing climbed Mt Everest in 1955. Pics: Kunda Dixit</figcaption></figure>All these features are visible from ground level right from the start of the trek in Lukla. The banks of the Bhote Kosi still bear the scars of the deadly flash flood in 1985 which washed off a long section of the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2014/05/19/everest-climbers-continue-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Everest Trail</a> and the hydropower plant in Thame. It was caused by an avalanche falling into the Dig Tso glacial lake, causing it to top over.Further up near Tengboche, the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/not-out-of-danger-the-big-one" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Imja Khola</a> also bears signs of a huge glacial lake outburst flood that thundered down the western flank of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12870#.W7XuTHszbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ama Dablam</a> in 1977. And below the formidable south face of Lhotse is Imja Tso, a lake 2km long that has formed and grown in the last 30 years. It does not exist on trekking maps from the 1980s. All these lakes were formed and enlarged as a result of global warming melting the ice.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692eee9c7e80680e03c07ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="990"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692ef19c7e80680e03c07bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="800"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The terminal moraine of the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Book-Review/The-Everest,428" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Khumbu </a>Glacier looms 400m above Dughla. This is the debris bulldozed down from Mt Everest and surrounding peaks over millions of years, and represents the extent of the glacier’s advance in the last Ice Age. Today, the surface ice on the world’s highest glacier is all but gone due to natural and anthropogenic warming.For an even more dramatic glimpse of how global warming is changing the Himalayan landscape, there is nothing like an aerial perspective. Nepali Times got a chance last week to take these striking images of the terrain below Mt Everest. The barren beauty foretells of a time when this terrain will be stripped of much of what remains of its ice cover.Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/melting-mountains-shake,3073" target="_blank" rel="noopener">When melting mountains shake</a>, Kunda Dixit<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/ice-to-water-glacier-lake-outburts-himalayas-nepal,4197" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ice to water</a>, C Scott Watson<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692ef49c7e80680e03c07cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1050"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692ef79c7e80680e03c07djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1050"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The Khumbu Icefall funnels ice from the Western Cwm below Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse to the glacier below. The ice here has receded at an average of 30m/y in the past 20 years, but it has also shrunk vertically, losing up to 50m in thickness. Everest Base Camp was at 5,330m when <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2018/01/13/commemorating-edmund-hillary/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hillary </a>and Tenzing climbed Mt Everest in 1953, today it is at 5,270m.The glacier is also getting flatter: the darker debris makes the ice beneath melt faster near Base Camp, but the thicker layers of boulders and sand further down insulate the ice. Glaciologists say this flatter profile means the ice moves slower, leading to more ponding, and more rapid melting of the ice underneath.The velocity of the glacier is 70m/y at Base Camp, and it slows down to 10m/y further below, but is zero at the terminus situated at 4,900m. This means the ice is decelerating as it is squeezed, and the pressure is being released by the melting of the ice mass.Researchers monitoring the supraglacial ponds say their area has grown by 70% in the past ten years alone. The ponds are fringed by ice cliffs and caves which accelerate the melting. The melted ice has carved an outflow channel through the left lateral moraine, so there is no large glacial lake on the Khumbu like as elsewhere in Nepal.Scientists conclude that the Khumbu Glacier is not about to vanish, and the Icefall is not going to turn into a water fall any time soon. However, the permanent ice catchment of the glacier above 6,000 could start to deplete under the worst-case ‘beyond catastrophic’ scenario of +5°C warming.Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/interview/interview-with-david-molden-icimod,3074" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepalis paying price for climate change</a><a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/going-green-environment-day,3064" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Climactic change, Editorial</a><h4>Climate Eco Tourism</h4><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692efa9c7e80680e03c07ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="934">Will more tourists visiting areas threatened by global warming spread awareness and help save the planet, or will the energy they burn contribute to making the earth warmer?Both. Tour operators offer Antarctic cruises, trips to Greenland and the Arctic to observe calving glaciers up close. Many have scientists on board instead of tour guides, and the travel companies say the trips help spread environmental awareness.However, mass tourism also comes with its own enlarged carbon footprint and the very act of visiting the Himalaya to see melting glaciers may contribute to thawing them faster. The carbon emitted by a holiday charter plane to the Maldives, for example, leads to sea level rise that may ultimately submerge the archipelago nation by the end of the century.However, as awareness grows about the effects of global warming in the poles and the ‘Third Pole’ (as the Himalaya is called) there is also increasing interest among the public to see up close the impact of climate change on the mountains. Many trekkers visiting Nepal are eco-conscious and aware that their travel and stay in Nepal comes with a carbon cost.Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16562#.W7XuDHszbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Defrosted</a>, Kunda Dixit<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Book-Review/The-Everest,428" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Everest Industry</a>, Kunda Dixit<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692efd9c7e80680e03c07fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1050"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>As they share their impressions on social media, there is evidence that climate tourism can indeed turn many visitors into environmental activists, or at least convince them to lead less carbon-intensive lifestyles when they get back home.Many environmentally sensitive visitors to Nepal these days calculate their carbon footprint from the aviation fuel per passenger on their flights to Kathmandu and Lukla, in taxi rides, and even the carbon emitted by the LPG gas in lodges along the Everest trail. And they try to offset all that by donating to agencies working on adaptation or mitigation of climate impact.Even so, there are critics of carbon offsetting who say that it is cosmetic and does not address the wasteful consumerism that is at the root of the climate crisis. They say trekkers on Everest hikes who buy carbon offsets are simply washing off their guilt, and shifting the responsibility to do something about global warming on someone else.On balance, however, there is a case to be made for climate eco-tourism creating jobs and benefitting the Nepal economy, ultimately allowing the tourism industry to introduce less carbon intensive technology. Tourists from all over the world can also see for themselves how the people suffering the most from the effects of climate change are the ones least responsible for it.There are websites to calculate your carbon footprint and how to offset the cost to the climate of your tour. There are also trekking agencies and airlines that try to minimise their carbon footprints.<a href="http://www.carbonfootprint.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Carbon Footprint</a><a href="http://www.responsibleadventures.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Responsible Adventures</a>:Mountain Helicopters: 01-4111032<h4>HOW MUCH CO2 DID YOU BURN TO GET HERE?</h4><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692eff9c7e80680e03c080jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="850" height="314">An economy class roundtrip passenger on a flight from London Heathrow to Lukla via Kathmandu emits 2.9 tons of carbon. The emission can be offset by contributing to verified climate protection projects that do not just contribute to reducing greenhouse gases and creating carbon sinks through forestry, but also for sustainable development.Readers' writePowerful article and photos -- nothing like it. So impressive and informative and depressing. Especially useful, the last sidebar: How Much Carbon Did You Burn to Get Here?- Jon Swan

Kunda Dixit

On thin ice in the Khumbu

Many of us former Nepal Peace Corps volunteers (PCVs) would agree that our time in Nepal changed in significant but very different ways our perspectives on life if not the future paths we chose to follow. Of no one was this truer than Dorothy Mierow. Dorothy was born in 1920, in Colorado Springs. Her father Charles C Mierow was a classics scholar and Latin professor, who served for ten years as president of Colorado College.&nbsp; Dorothy developed an interest in animals as a child, graduated with a BA degree in natural history from Carlton College in 1942, a Master’s in biology from the University of Pittsburgh, and another Master’s in geography from the University of Minnesota.&nbsp; As a young woman, Dorothy traveled with her father throughout Europe, including a visit to ancient Greek ruins, and took a Magellan Tour by cruise ship around the world in 1958.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_0bad133ab22aada319e74bbad95d563e191371db291c08f373839fbd15440262.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2025071901074_0bad133ab22aada319e74bbad95d563e191371db291c08f373839fbd15440262" data-rendition-name="original" width="903" height="1178" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>HOME AWAY FROM HOME: Dorothy Mierow as a college student in her native Colorado.</figcaption> </figure>  She was a college teacher during much of the 1940s, also teaching at a girls’ school in Hawaii. Then back to her native Colorado in 1953, where she became a curator and later director of the Colorado College Natural History Museum. She taught geography classes, and in her free time, Dorothy climbed 22 of Colorado’s 14,000-foot peaks. Traveling in India in 1960, Dorothy decided to spend two weeks in Nepal. In late 1961, she filled out an application to join the Peace Corps and specified that she wanted to go to Nepal, ‘because I admired the people so much when my father and I were there on our trip’.&nbsp; Dorothy reached Kathmandu in September 1962 as the first group of American Peace Corps volunteers in Nepal. She stood out from the others: one of the few women in that group, surely the oldest at age 41, a world traveler, and a woman who already had established a professional career.&nbsp; One doubts if Dorothy had had a husband and children whether she would ever have gone to work and spend much of the rest of her life in Nepal.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901078_68e84ade1ffb0f6c83c7f8fa5c1e7315b5f6c543217f96cde012e4d86f171515.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025071901078_68e84ade1ffb0f6c83c7f8fa5c1e7315b5f6c543217f96cde012e4d86f171515" data-rendition-name="original" width="1259" height="910" loading="lazy" alt="How th Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life NT"> <figcaption>Pokhara Bazar in 1962.</figcaption> </figure>  The Peace Corps assigned Dorothy to teach geography at Tri-Chandra College. After the school closed in the winter due to lack of heating, USAID and the College of Education asked Dorothy to help train general science teachers.&nbsp; She taught for two months and became involved in a textbook-writing project, commenting: ‘I would like the children to know something about public health, conservation (the trees are going fast and so is the soil), and learn the names of some of their common birds, trees, and flowers. They are more impressed with electricity, airplanes, and cell structure.’ When a new college opened in Pokhara in 1963, Dorothy was transferred there and lived with a Nepali family. The college boasted 30 students and no permanent buildings.&nbsp; In October 1963, Dorothy wrote: ‘Pokhara is a town of almost 5,000 people … We are in a fertile valley surrounded by foothills … There is a small Mission Hospital … a Leper Hospital and Tibetan Refugee Camp started by the Red Cross and now run by the Swiss. With winter approaching, more Tibetans are appearing in town, often with pack horses or donkeys. Some have been carrying large boxes of powdered milk,donated (by USAID) to the camp from the airport … There is no electricity, and the transportation problems make many items scarce and expensive. I am really a sort of a museum. The landlord brings all kinds of people in to see how I live and count my shoes and dresses. They express amazement at my books, pictures, tin oven, Nepali dolls from Kathmandu, screened food shelves and curtained closet.’ The standard term for Peace Corps volunteers was two years, but Dorothy extended her term and was still at Prithvi Narayan College at the end of 1965, when she wrote that she had 20 Geography students in the first-year class and 6 in the second year preparing for the IA Examination. The college enrollment was 125 students, and the foundation for a new science building was being excavated.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_c6a80e5e0db0c705b2f8733c6d30dc0386fe3abbd2238ea9d947b7d746f94a29.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2025071901074_c6a80e5e0db0c705b2f8733c6d30dc0386fe3abbd2238ea9d947b7d746f94a29" data-rendition-name="original" width="902" height="605" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>Mierow and friends at Phewa Lake.</figcaption> </figure>  Dorothy noted that she ate one meal a day at the (Shining Mission) Hospital but otherwise lived on dal-bhat, momo, and potato curry at local shops. However, she had developed a new passion: to build what she initially called the Pokhara Museum of the Himalaya. In commendable Peace Corps fashion, Dorothy always worked with Nepalis and respected the culture. ‘The greatest joy and satisfaction I have had has been from the building of a Museum-Library in memory of my parents … It has been possible to feel like a wealthy benefactor with the money saved by father for the family’s education and now available for the education of others… (Father) would have loved to be in on the founding of a new college and be able to plan a library. Several hundred of the books to be in the museum-library came from his collection and were carefully selected to be of use for students in Nepal…’&nbsp; ‘The museum part is to satisfy my own inclinations and was thought of when I found how little diversion there was for the people of Pokhara… It is part of the University requirements for the college that it should have a geography and biology museum. The museum building is small but adequate.&nbsp; I have tried to design it in harmony with Nepalese architecture and decorate it with some of the art of the best artists or woodcarvers… Posts holding up the porch roof are carved by Cottage Industries to represent different peoples of Nepal in typical costumes. The door was carved by a local wood carver and has typical birds of Nepal around it. Inside are 10 roof-support carvings designed by the retired Director of the National Museum in Kathmandu, Mr. C.M. Maskey.&nbsp; They were carved by the best wood carvers in Patan very skilfully. The building has three rooms: the library, the exhibition room, and a smaller workroom which can be used by our newly formed Woman’s Club as well as other groups or classes.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_03d3359c65389d30a0134e9a4862778994121e7e833b7d28b18e06e36fc76ff8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2025071901074_03d3359c65389d30a0134e9a4862778994121e7e833b7d28b18e06e36fc76ff8" data-rendition-name="original" width="629" height="599" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>Mierow with local women in Pokhara in 1969.</figcaption> </figure>  Dorothy promoted her project to influential Nepalis connected with organisations whose support she solicited: The Department of Archaeology, the Department of Agriculture, the Godavari Botanical Gardens; Tribhuvan University’s Science and Education Department, Nature Conservation Society.&nbsp; The museum was opened officially in early 1967. The Annapurna Natural History Museum, the building Dorothy designed and had constructed, is still open and features some exhibits which she created many years ago.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_54326a8a0685e980e782378076de2f5cd02d2426e9b0d94eed972d3dbe83af26.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2025071901074_54326a8a0685e980e782378076de2f5cd02d2426e9b0d94eed972d3dbe83af26" data-rendition-name="original" width="1333" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>The Annapurna Natural History Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  Dorothy returned to America in 1967, but she longed for Nepal. In the spring of 1969, she again tried to enroll as a Peace Corps volunteer but was told that as she had spent more than four years, she would not be eligible for another assignment. Undeterred, she persuaded the college in Pokhara to invite her to return as a teacher.&nbsp; UNICEF and the Forestry Department sponsored Dorothy to prepare charts on trees, birds, animals and flowers in colour for distribution to the schools of Nepal. Dorothy, back in the Peace Corps, returned to Pokhara and the Museum in 1972. She formed a friendship with her former geography student from Sikles, Chandra Prasad Gurung, and in 1974, she brought Chandra to America, where he enrolled in Colorado College and studied cultural anthropology.&nbsp; Chandra subsequently earned his PhD in geography from the University of Hawaii and returned to Pokhara to become director of the Annapurna Conservation Area Project. Gurung actively promoted ecotourism, landscape conservation, and biodiversity conservation in Nepal. His life was cut short along with those of 23 other Nepalis and foreigners who perished in a helicopter crash near Taplejung in September 2006.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025071901074_322d3c3ac6f1b08ffa07c44a19998b937a7db9eb43527f7539cf6481e1546314.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2025071901074_322d3c3ac6f1b08ffa07c44a19998b937a7db9eb43527f7539cf6481e1546314" data-rendition-name="original" width="2500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer's life"> <figcaption>Mierow's four books on Nepal and its biodiversity. </figcaption> </figure>  Dorothy worked with several well-known Nepalis to publish her paintings and photos in beautifully illustrated books. She and Hemanta Mishra of the National Parks and Wildlife Service wrote Wild Animals of Nepal (Ratna Pustak Bhandar, 1976). More than 400 photos Dorothy took on treks to the Everest region, Gosaikunda, Muktinath, Jumla and Rara Lake, as well as travels in the Tarai, appeared in Himalayan Flowers and Trees (Sahayogi Prakashan, 1978).&nbsp; The botanist Tirtha Bahadur Shrestha identified the species. Dorothy and Kesar Lall published This Beautiful Nepal (Sahayogi Press, 1981). Birds of the Central Himalayas (1988) contained Dorothy’s paintings of 250 species of birds found along the areas of the Kali Gandaki River, Pokhara, Chitwan and the central Tarai. Dorothy summed up her life and work in Nepal in Thirty Years in Pokhara (Pilgrims Book House, 1997). Dorothy returned to Pokhara and her adopted Gurung family several times during the 1980s and 1990s to celebrate festivals and meet old friends. Her final years were spent at her mountain cottage in Green Mountain Falls north of Colorado Springs. She died at the age of 79 in August, 2000. Nepal gave new meaning and purpose to Dorothy Mierow’s life. Daniel W Edwards was a Peace Corps volunteer in 1966 and is the author of several books on Nepal. The author thanks Special Collections, Tutt Library, Colorado College.

How the Peace Corps changed a volunteer’s life

· On the night of 15 May, two glacial lakes burst in Tharka in Humla and the debris flow washed away homes and bridges.&nbsp; · Last week, a slurry surge on the Kali Gandaki in Upper Mustang caused at least Rs15 million in damage, and was traced to a melting glacier. · Dozens are feared dead after <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/rasuwa-flood-likely-a-glof">an expanding glacial lake in Tibet overflowed</a>, sweeping down into Nepal and damaging four hydropower plants generating 230MW, nearly 8% of the country’s total grid supply.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250718060748_45225dc707c1e9c2968ca8dbf6e564e01e4eb6e2ff254fb8eb940cf62cdd910b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250718060748_45225dc707c1e9c2968ca8dbf6e564e01e4eb6e2ff254fb8eb940cf62cdd910b" data-rendition-name="original" width="2667" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Rasuwa flood"> <figcaption>Miteri friendship bridge connecting Nepal and China was swept away in the Rasuwa flood. Photo: PRAKASH CHANDRA TIMILSENA / NPL</figcaption> </figure>  And those are just in the past month. Climate scientists say Himalayan glacial lake outbursts are becoming more frequent and destructive, and a warning for Nepal not to put all its eggs in the hydropower basket.&nbsp; <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/when-it-rains-it-pours-ksqprbu3">Record precipitation last September</a> unleashed floods that killed 200 people, and temporarily slashed Nepal’s total generation capacity of 3,000MW by nearly half. The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-valley-suffers-quadruple-disaster">Melamchi flood of 2021</a> caused by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-not-so-permanent-frost">permafrost melting</a> on a glacier upstream nearly destroyed a $800 million water supply scheme, Nepal’s largest infrastructure project which four years later still has not resumed full operation. The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/sikkim-flood-is-warning-to-nepal">glacial lake overflow in Sikkim</a> caused by record rainfall in September 2023 that destroyed the $1.2 billion Chungthung Dam and caused catastrophic damage to infrastructure on the Teesta River. This was a warning to the cascade of hydropower plants on the Arun and Marsyangdi river basins.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250718060736_6f61797a6be308321e3bae26e55d2f64cba4b9e5eb262adacb9e92fb5f3c6152.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250718060736_6f61797a6be308321e3bae26e55d2f64cba4b9e5eb262adacb9e92fb5f3c6152" data-rendition-name="original" width="919" height="549" loading="lazy" alt="hydro disasters and hydropower plants"> </figure>  Nepal has set a target of generating an additional 28,500MW by 2035 -- out of the feasible 48,000MW -- but how viable is an energy strategy that is exposed to heightened risk due to climate breakdown? &nbsp; “As extreme weather events increase, we must design and build infrastructures respecting river flow and topography,” says former Energy Secretary Dwarika Nath Dhungel. “We must make the best use of our water resources, but not by letting excavators loose everywhere mining riverbeds and building haphazardly where we shouldn’t.”&nbsp; Although no project can be disaster-proof, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/climate-smarter-himalayan-infrastructure">climate smart design</a> can minimise damage from flash floods and landslides. Recent disasters have driven up insurance premiums for energy projects in Nepal, and smaller ones cannot even afford them. The 456MW Upper Tamakosi hydroelectric project which is still not fully functional after the September floods has claimed insurance worth Rs1.8 billion. The alternative to high risk high investment hydropower projects is <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-s-cooking-in-nepal-besides-politics">energy diversification</a> to other renewables such as solar, wind or biogas. Nepal gets annual sunlight of 300 days with 6-7 hours on average to total 50,000 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250718060744_4acd452b4117180ca9bb5d3be839ff46dfd5464e4d507f5ad3704cef6253bc48.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20250718060744_4acd452b4117180ca9bb5d3be839ff46dfd5464e4d507f5ad3704cef6253bc48" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="720" loading="lazy" alt="solar power"> <figcaption>Farmers in Tarai using solar powered water pump. Photo: GHAMPOWER</figcaption> </figure>  The Solar and Wind Energy Resource Assessment (SWERA) calculates that Nepal could source 3,000MW from wind energy alone, considering 10% of the area with more than 300W/m2 wind power density. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/people-power/decentralising-power-in-nepal">Solar energy</a> stations are cheaper and quicker to build, and would be an ideal alternative to reliance on hydropower.&nbsp; “There has been some investment in solar power, especially from the state sector,” says water expert Madhukar Upadhyay. “But there is an issue of land acquisition since the arrays need a lot of space. It is comparatively easier to get a permit to put up a hydropower plant on a river.” As for biogas, there is simply no incentive to build on past success with household level plants to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/more-bullshit">promote industrial-scale production</a>. Scaling up biogas by integrating it with urban biodegradable waste would still be a viable alternative to LPG.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250718060744_715d44afd5eb4ba8dafa209b0ad0f19400665797b5f078f5636821e600f96684.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250718060744_715d44afd5eb4ba8dafa209b0ad0f19400665797b5f078f5636821e600f96684" data-rendition-name="original" width="1419" height="954" loading="lazy" alt="windmill"> <figcaption>A wind mill in Hapsikot in Nawalpur. Photo: WINPOWER NEPAL</figcaption> </figure>  Nepal’s public sphere is buzzing with excitement over the discovery of potentially 430 billion cubic metres of methane gas beneath Dailekh district that, if properly harnessed, would meet the country’s energy demand for the next 50 years. Even though a feasibility study is awaited, politicians from the prime minister down see this as a petro bonanza that will make Nepal rich. But drilling, storage and distribution of CNG in the country’s current kleptocratic state make that unlikely. If Nepal was to get rich solely on its hydro-energy potential, it could have done so in the past 50 years. Says Dhungel: “This is not exactly a new discovery, but it is premature to celebrate until its extraction is proven to be cost effective. And let us hope it does not get <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/balance-of-power">tangled in geopolitics</a>, since China is involved in the prospecting and drilling, which could make India uneasy.”&nbsp; The country suffers from the Dutch Disease curse even before its resource is fully exploited. And the same cronyism, corruption and rent-seeking structure cannot deliver the riches we expect from Dailekh’s methane discovery. Now, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/right-climate-for-nepal-s-energy-transition">with hydropower in jeopardy</a>, Nepal’s planners will have to evolve a new strategy for energy security into the future. But first, governance needs to be cleaned up with long-term strategic planning that takes climate risk into account. For example, do we need to mine fossil gas when there are renewable options? Will Dailekh take Nepal away from its climate commitments? Says Madhukar Upadhyay: “Nepal has always been resource rich and management poor. And the larger the resource, the bigger our management incapacity. It is a societal malaise.”&nbsp;

Nepal’s Resource Curse

चौतारा rest stops have long been an integral part of scenic touristic town of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/pokhara-six-decades-ago">Pokhara </a>but are now rarely seen as the city bursts at the seams. They say inhabitants of Pokhara saw a plane before they saw cars. Indeed, the grass airfield was built in the 1950s, while the Kathmandu highway 20 years later. Before roads, people walked to get around, pausing to rest or even nap under the shade of banyan-pipal trees. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/pokhara-s-desperation-and-hope">Pokhara airport’</a>s ‘terminal’ in those days was a shady chautara where passengers waited for their flights. The chautara bore silent witness to daily life, whether it was travellers seeking a brief respite from the summer heat or villagers gathering for a chat in the mornings and evenings. But with the roads came vehicles, and then houses started filling up spaces, even farmlands. Pokhara began transforming from a serene village to a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/pokhara-comes-alive-at-night">bustling city</a>.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250719010724_d101fa482441ce67afdf5bc4e4547b334e7662c1cf0a20e9d31a0e8dff66f04b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250719010724_d101fa482441ce67afdf5bc4e4547b334e7662c1cf0a20e9d31a0e8dff66f04b" data-rendition-name="original" width="2147" height="1581" loading="lazy" alt="Trees of life and living NT"> <figcaption>Photo: DURGA RANA MAGAR</figcaption> </figure>  The banyan-pipal trees were chopped down to make way for wider intersections and buildings. The once-iconic rest stops that carried Pokhara’s identity had all but vanished. “Building chautara was once considered a religious duty, which is why so many of them were constructed across Pokhara,” says archivist Sunil Ulak. <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10927">Ekai Kawaguchi</a>, a Japanese Buddhist monk, who visited Nepal 120 years ago en route to Tibet, documented <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/no-visitors-in-pokhara-to-admire-view">the landscape of Pokhara</a> and its surroundings. In his book, Three Years in Tibet, he reflects on the natural beauty of the town and its shady trees. A chautara used to be surrounded by ponds, where shepherds would bring their cattle to drink from while they took a nap under the shade. The gentle rustling of leaves in the cool breeze lent a soothing melody as did the chirping of birds, while the insects took refuge in the branches and leaves. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/pokhara-800-years-ago">Pokhara 800 years ago</a>, Kunda Dixit This ‘nature’s breeze’, as botanist Kalyan Panta puts it, is now history due to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/cost-of-living-in-a-big-city">haphazard urbanisation</a>. “When the wind strikes against one leaf, it creates a domino effect and other leaves start waving as well,” he explains. There were 632 chautara in the city until 1977, and by 2000 the number had fallen to 278. But in some wards the number of trees fell from 55 in 1984 to only five now.&nbsp; The gradual loss of these resting places has meant habitat <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/between-existence-and-extinction-in-nepal">destruction of birds and insects</a>, it has also damaged the environment and natural beauty of the city.&nbsp; Researcher Jagannath Adhikari’s study showed that infrastructure projects ignored the environment, and concluded that that urbanisation in Pokhara was unsustainable.&nbsp; The destruction continues to this day. Recently, old chaurata in wards 6, 13 and 14 were cleared to make way for a sacrificial ritual. In fact, ward 6 got a permit from the local government to clear its remaining trees.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250719010724_cee1d4faf8376e7ba18b9c7012ea4215b7c3fbf7e0983b0c97005df5567d6de0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20250719010724_cee1d4faf8376e7ba18b9c7012ea4215b7c3fbf7e0983b0c97005df5567d6de0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Trees of life and living NT"> <figcaption>Photo: DURGA RANA MAGAR</figcaption> </figure>  But in wards 13 and 14, the Human Service Foundation cut down some 33 trees for which it is in a dispute with the metropolitan city as there is no unclear jurisdiction regarding who gives the permit. The Kaski Division Forest Office is currently investigating the matter. Elsewhere in ward 19, the ward office had launched ‘मेरो रूख, म काट्छु’ campaign due to an alleged chaos caused by monkeys in the area. The decision was rescinded after an all-around opposition.&nbsp; To be sure, there are policies in place to protect trees such as the Gandaki Province Forestry Act, 2080, and the Regulations, 2081. The province government also introduced an act in 2019 per which no tree, including pipal, silk cotton and other <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/suburban-tales/trees-trees?%2F">trees of natural and historical importance</a> shall be damaged, eroded or removed. But the local government, responsible for implementing the Act, is doing the opposite. “If this rapid rate of tree felling continues, neither trees nor chautara will survive for the future generation,” conservationist Ram Bahadur Poudel tells us, adding that old trees are being cleared under the pretext of pruning branches. Interestingly, Ulak notes that Pokhara-8 was called सिमलचौर in the past because there were so many majestic silk cotton trees, but there are very few left, if any, and hence altering the identity of a place. With modernisation, people have questioned the significance of chautara in this day and age. But they still have relevance. Urban centres in Pokhara and Kathmandu are much hotter than the outskirts because of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/in-the-heat-of-the-moment-5xcycyot">urban heat island effect</a>. Says archivist Ulak: “While their original purpose was to provide rest, today they continue to play a crucial role in regulating temperature, beautifying the city, and preserving our environment.”

Trees of life and living

Nepalis are living longer than ever. By 2028, the country is set to join the ranks of other <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepals-demographic-window-is-closing">ageing societies</a> around the world, and by 2054, 1 out of every 7 people in Nepal will be over 65. Life expectancy at birth has risen dramatically from just 55 in 1990 to 71 today, &nbsp;thanks to improvements in public health and access. But as more people live longer, the country must also prepare for a parallel rise in age-related illnesses and the complex social and medical needs that come with an <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/need-to-prepare-for-ageing-society,3624">ageing population</a>. Extended families have always acted as a safety net for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/home-sweet-home-for-older-nepalis">the elderly</a>, with children and grandchildren shouldering most caregiving duties. But with more than 1,600 <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/migration-not-a-wish-but-necessity-for-nepalis">Nepalis migrating </a>every day, older parents are left behind with no one to care for them. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/the-new-equaliser">Remittances</a> from migrating youth, which account for nearly a third of Nepal’s GDP, have kept the economy afloat. But money sent home cannot make up for the chronic departure of kin and caregivers, who are often the first to catch the signs and symptoms of disease in elders. In rural areas where over 85% of Nepal’s elderly live, the absence of this daily vigilance means early signs of illness often go unnoticed until they become debilitating. As a result, chronic conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and depression are left unmanaged.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250720130748_213f2c65f2638872e9ac0550a7ac251e4960c3726dc5c76215962a23ba71dff1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20250720130748_213f2c65f2638872e9ac0550a7ac251e4960c3726dc5c76215962a23ba71dff1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1064" height="701" loading="lazy" alt="Smart ageing is Nepal’s next frontier"> </figure>  Geriatric medicine is largely absent from medical curricula and there is no national plan in place to manage cognitive decline, memory loss and confusion. These are often mistaken for signs of normal ageing, instead of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/dementia-brings-new-problem-that-families-have-little%20knowledge-of,2151">dementia</a>, delaying care until it is too late. The same pattern plays out with strokes, osteoarthritis, and vision problems — conditions that could be managed early but are instead allowed to spiral into <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/changing-disability-to-this-ability-h68f6sq2">disability</a>. Nepal is not ready for an older future. It needs a strategy for ‘smart ageing’ where the focus is not adding years to life, but enhancing years lived through the intelligent application of policy, infrastructure, and crucially, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/tech-and-transition-in-nepal">technology</a>. Many models of smart ageing, however, are sculpted around modern societies where independent living in later life is the norm. Furthermore, eroding traditional family care and an underdeveloped formal care system means there is a large gap that can’t simply be filled by copy-pasting from foreign models. Nepal must shape its own version of smart ageing. The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/healthcare-moving-from-hospitals-to-homes?%2F">tech boom</a> has led to homegrown digital healthcare apps such as Hamro Doctor, Cura Health, Jeevee and Health Yaad Ayo which offer teleconsultations, online appointments, and at-home test bookings. As <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/nepal-s-new-digital-landscape">smartphones and internet access</a> extend to the most rural fringes of the Nepali countryside, geography is no longer a barrier to the use of these digital tools. What limits their use is the lack of digital proficiency among the older generation. Others find the idea of turning to a device instead of a familiar, reassuring face unfathomable. That is why <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/addressing-nepals-digital-divide?ref=blog.togglecorp.com">digital literacy</a> efforts must be paired with guided human support to build trust alongside technical skill. Such a model of community-led digital mediation is already gaining traction elsewhere. In the UK, ‘digital health ambassadors’—often young people or even schoolchildren—are trained to co-design and advocate for online platforms that resonate with peers who might otherwise feel excluded from automated health services. A Nepali version could engage cohorts of nursing students, tech-savvy youngsters and returnee migrants to assist elders in navigating digital health platforms and troubleshooting problems, and most of all, normalising the idea of health apps being a reliable recourse.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250720130748_fcb94ab76e76b5574189757e88d76fccad4e115e78dd9eae92a3bd4c882c3431.png" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250720130748_fcb94ab76e76b5574189757e88d76fccad4e115e78dd9eae92a3bd4c882c3431" data-rendition-name="original" width="2246" height="1590" loading="lazy" alt="Smart ageing is Nepal’s next frontier"> </figure>  Nepal’s own network of Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs), whose credibility is rooted in long-standing relationships across rural communities, could be similarly upskilled, their roles in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/target-2030-for-maternal-and-newborn-health">maternal and child health </a>expanded and repurposed to also include geriatric tech support. However, there is a limit to how much older adults can adapt to new technologies. So, Nepal should simultaneously invest in passive technologies—tools that monitor and act for the elderly, instead of demanding active use. That is where wearables and in-home smart health devices collectively known as 'gerontechnology' come in. Picture an 82-year-old in far-flung Rolpa, away from the facilities of an urban hospital. Installed in her home are low-cost motion sensors that monitor prolonged inactivity or signs of a fall, instantly triggering alerts to the nearest health post when necessary. On her wrist, a wearable bracelet continuously tracks her sleep, vital signs, oxygen saturation, and glucose levels. This data is encrypted and synced to a digital dashboard accessible by health staff at the local post. If the system flags an acute risk—such as a potential stroke or hypoglycemia—a nearby health worker is dispatched immediately to her home. If her readings over time indicate a trend toward a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/why-do-so-many-nepalis-have-high-blood-pressure">chronic condition</a> like diabetes, community health volunteers step in. They help schedule a virtual consultation with an endocrinologist in Butwal. Based on the advice received, she gets a prescription and picks up her medication from the local community pharmacy, along with a smart dispenser to ensure she sticks to her treatment plan without missing doses. This is not as far-fetched as it may sound. Many of the individual devices forming this connected medical system called an Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) already exist in Nepal as imported commercial products. What is missing is a stronger framework for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/business/public-health-partnership">public-private collaboration</a>: one where health tech companies continue developing locally adapted tools, and the government actively integrates these innovations into public health delivery. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/people-power/nepal-as-an-ai-power-bank">Nepal’s tech ecosystem</a> is maturing, but policymaking must evolve in tandem, especially when it affects an older generation largely resistant to change. The backlash against the recent mandate requiring National Identity Cards for accessing social security benefits revealed the pitfalls of imposing top-down reforms without adequate preparation or support for seniors. For Nepalis to age well, community caregivers, doctors, innovators, and above all, the state, must step in where families have stepped away. The goal is not to replicate traditional care, but to build a coordinated system of support that connects everyone through technology. The future is older for Nepal, let us be wiser too. The writers are pursuing their undergraduate studies in biomedical engineering at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.