Around 7,000 people have now reached the highest point on the planet, the top of Mt Everest since it was first scaled by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay in 1953. But only one bottle of whisky has ever made it to the top, and that was on 23 May this year. And not just any whisky, but a unique bottle of Royal Salute Coronation of King Charles III Edition, one of only 500 crystal decanters specially created to mark the new British King’s crowning in Westminster Abbey.&nbsp; Priced at a whopping US$25,000, the amber spirit is ‘a luxurious blend of 53 rare malt and grain whiskies’. A limited edition reflecting the year of Queen Elizabeth II’s ascension to the throne, the birth of the Royal Salute brand and the year of Everest’s historic first ascent. And not just for any trivial reason, but as a contribution to the 70th anniversary celebration events the flagon number 61 of the precious Scotch donated by Chivas Bros will be auctioned to benefit the people of the Himalaya at a charity fundraising event in London hosted by Bear Grylls, Peter Hillary and Jamling Norgay, sons of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230615060636_0e53489e3de477205f41a44e221ae430a97b8d51f751ec0fbaa9fa8e32c02af5.png" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20230615060636_0e53489e3de477205f41a44e221ae430a97b8d51f751ec0fbaa9fa8e32c02af5" data-rendition-name="original" width="1192" height="976" loading="lazy" alt="First Scotch on the summit of Everest"> <figcaption>Representing their parents on the 70th anniversary, Sue Leyden, Peter Hillary and Jamling Norgay are received by King Charles III in Buckingham Palace.</figcaption> </figure>  The first ever bottle of Scotch to reach the top has notched up yet another record on Sagarmatha, to be added to the list of wondrous, admirable, astonishing and sometimes frankly bizarre summit successes.&nbsp; To great relief all round, the bottle survived the gruelling ascent, not in its elaborate presentation box but carefully packed in bubble wrap and duct-tape by Adventure Consultants' expedition leader and Khumbu afficionado, Guy Cotter. The expensive content remained intact in the skilled, courageous and capable care of Nepali mountain guide Ang Dorjee Sherpa on his 22nd Everest summit.&nbsp; The story of how the bottle got to the top started 20 years ago at the 50th anniversary when Sir Ed Hillary himself was presented with a 50-year-old bottle of Chivas Regal by brand leader Peter Prentice and the Duke of Argyll in full highland dress. Bearing the bottle aloft in tartan kilts, the music of massed bagpipes stunned the audience in the <a href="http://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/past-everest-anniversaries">Hyatt Ballroom on 29 May 2003</a>.&nbsp; I suggested to Peter Prentice that Royal Salute might like to follow this up by donating a bottle to the Everest70 auction along with an escorted tour of Speyside distilleries. The French owners were reluctant and slow to respond, distracted by the London promotion. Peter and I persisted, and their interest piqued when I rashly proposed added value with an attempted Everest summit.&nbsp; You never know what is going to happen on any expedition, and it was with some trepidation one warm spring afternoon at lunch in a Kathmandu courtyard that I requested Guy Cotter to arrange for this very special bottle to be carried to the summit with one of his Adventure Consultant’s guides.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230615060632_820b9af0353ae9eb0f26d72764fbc0780a82d63111317c9c04f9a995fab5d800.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20230615060632_820b9af0353ae9eb0f26d72764fbc0780a82d63111317c9c04f9a995fab5d800" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1536" loading="lazy" alt="First Scotch on the summit of Everest"> <figcaption>With relief and triumph, Guy Cotter and I return to Royal Salute whisky safely back from the summit of Everest to be auctioned by Sir Graham Wrigley, Chair of Himalayan Trust UK Photo: Suze Kelley Adventure Consultants</figcaption> </figure>  A consummate professional mountaineer and Himalayan Trust member, Guy did not hesitate. It would obviously be an additional burden to his team and no unnecessary risks would be taken, but in essence: ‘Yes, but no guarantees.’&nbsp; Peter was jubilant, and a Royal Salute bottle was delivered to me by courier in London in late April. Not daring to mess with the packaging, it reached Kathmandu carefully wedged in my suitcase. Still wrapped, I handed over the Scotch to Iswari Paudel of Himalayan Guides Nepal, Guy’s long-time partner agency.&nbsp; The instructions were to send the package by helicopter directly to Everest Base Camp, but Guy later told me there were some anxious days when the bottle went missing having been despatched by mistake via Lukla. Luckily it turned up at the Adventure Consultants camp with a client who had no idea of its importance.&nbsp; Although a cold and difficult year on Everest, the Adventure Consultants team achieved their goals. Originally from Pangboche, Ang Dorjee’s famous father Nima Tenzing climbed new routes with Chris Bonington in the 1970s. By chance, Sir Chris will be present when the bottle is auctioned by Himalayan Trust in London, with all proceeds <a href="http://www.himalayantrust.co.uk">benefiting health, education and women’s projects</a> throughout the Everest and Kangchenchunga regions.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230615060640_99d9aed63e404d3fc2b09383bc0578a094f3b1f56cb73ec93090965598b03cb5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20230615060640_99d9aed63e404d3fc2b09383bc0578a094f3b1f56cb73ec93090965598b03cb5" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1536" loading="lazy" alt="First Scotch on the summit of Everest"> <figcaption>Guy Cotter expedition leader and Ang Dorgee Sherpa with the Royal Salute Coronation of King Charles III Edition whisky back from the summit of Everest Photo: Suze Kelly Adventure Consultants</figcaption> </figure>  In a Lazimpat garden, Guy and I returned the Royal Salute bottle with triumph to Sir Graham Wrigley, Chairman of Himalayan Trust UK and former Chair of British International Investment PLC -- still in its summit packaging. It was Graham who had first conceived the <a href="http://www.everest70.com">Everest70 celebration</a> programme, arranging with Tenzing, Hillary and Hunt’s descendants to trace the journey of the original expedition from Khumbu to Kathmandu, Delhi and London. He had co-opted me to help him coordinate in Nepal. Seventieth memorials to honour the anniversary with the families included Khumbu treks, curated films, talk programmes, lauding summiteers, lectures, processions, openings, unveilings, speeches, receptions and parties. Everest70 celebrations culminate this week in London with the fundraising auction, a Nepal Embassy party and program at the Royal Geographical Society with Kenton Cool, Stephen Venables and Hari Budha Magar. The families have had audiences with Nepal President Ram Chandra Poudel in Kathmandu and King Charles III in Buckingham Palace.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230615060644_7747d60cdd316822189faf66cd7a81eee316f1af90363958d36d930b614434bd.png" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20230615060644_7747d60cdd316822189faf66cd7a81eee316f1af90363958d36d930b614434bd" data-rendition-name="original" width="1538" height="1152" loading="lazy" alt="First Scotch on the summit of Everest"> <figcaption>Jamling Norgay speaking at the Royal Geographic Society Everest celebration in London this week Photo: Sir Graham Wrigley</figcaption> </figure>  I was in Khumbu on 29 May this year for events to mark the 70 years. It included the opening of Sir Edmund Hillary Visitor Centre in Khumjung’s refitted ‘schoolhouse in the clouds’ by New Zealand’s former Prime Minister Helen Clark, and the Tenzing Norgay Heritage Centre with Kanchha Sherpa, the only surviving member of the 1953 expedition.&nbsp; Helen Clark used the global media attention for a powerful call to action on climate change and its Himalayan impacts. A new 70 km loop was added to the Everest Marathon as an ultra-extreme option, rhododendrons were planted by distinguished guests, the music of local instruments reverberated around the white peaks, Sherpa dancers stomped and swirled, and a couple of skydivers filled the sky with a huge Nepali flag above Syangboche.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230615060644_df54e2fd22ff654dad30f04a2d254ad058ceeea5162515cb33054d6f54ced6e4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20230615060644_df54e2fd22ff654dad30f04a2d254ad058ceeea5162515cb33054d6f54ced6e4" data-rendition-name="original" width="4032" height="2268" loading="lazy" alt="First Scotch on the summit of Everest"> <figcaption>Peter Hillary, son of Sir Ed with Rt Hon Helen Clark at the Lukla celebrations.</figcaption> </figure>  The weather was kind and as Everest slipped behind the clouds Sue Leyden, daughter of expedition leader John Hunt, reminded me that Tenzing and Hillary were ‘the right people’ to have made the first ascent, two humble men who both gave so much back to the people of Nepal. She remembered the moment when the news reached London, &nbsp;the day that changed their lives forever. She was 12 years old and sharing a bath with her sisters.&nbsp;

Lisa Choegyal

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First Scotch on the summit of Everest

&nbsp;At 8:30AM on 13 May, Jacob Weasel, MD, became the first Native American to summit Mt Everest. Standing on the world’s tallest peak, the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe member suddenly felt a deep connection with his ancestors from the other side of the planet. And he also felt an immense sense of pride for not just his Cheyenne River Sioux tribe, but for all First Nation communities from the Americas and the world. “My journey to becoming a surgeon and scaling Mt Everest is a story of perseverance, determination, and community support,” Weasel, 36, told Nepali Times in Kathmandu after the climb. “I am humbled by the encouragement I have received and proud to carry my people's legacy forward.” Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/to-the-base-of-everest-on-one-kidney">To the base of Everest on one kidney</a>, Shristi Karki  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230528140536_f06f00aeab12619a8a0f362d84aa2c8aacfa41ae3e5436c95b503448bb1986cf.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20230528140536_f06f00aeab12619a8a0f362d84aa2c8aacfa41ae3e5436c95b503448bb1986cf" data-rendition-name="original" width="622" height="902" loading="lazy" alt="First Native American on world’s tallest peak NT 4"> <figcaption> Photos courtesy: JACOB WEASEL</figcaption> </figure>  Weasel is also the first and the only person to become a surgeon from his tribe. Over 70% of Sioux children drop out of school, families are poor and the unemployment rate is high. Few go on to get a college education, or have prestigious professions so a surgeon-mountaineer could not be further from the stereotype. But young Jacob Weasel was so inspired by the story of Sophia Dannenberg, the first African American and the first Black woman to summit Mt Everest in 2003 that he started researching her, and was surprised to find that no Native American has ever climbed the mountain. “It took a year and a half of relentless exploration, alongside pursuing my education and medical career,” he said. “I completed my undergraduate studies, medical school, and surgical training all the while keeping the mountains in my heart.” Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/everest-70-years-on">Everest 70 years on</a>, Lisa Choegyal  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230528140540_e68e3c2d90fdd0e65773676d47193eb78462e64c1509de70e663d9c7e1d2146e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20230528140540_e68e3c2d90fdd0e65773676d47193eb78462e64c1509de70e663d9c7e1d2146e" data-rendition-name="original" width="4032" height="3024" loading="lazy" alt="First Native American on world’s tallest peak NT 5"> <figcaption>Jacob Weasel was inspired by Sophia Dannenberg, the first African Amercian woman to climb Everest.</figcaption> </figure>  Weasel and his two siblings were born in New Mexico and they moved to Omaha with their parents when Jacob was only 12. But only he went on to finish college, and studied medicine in South Dakota. His father was born on a reservation, and had a challenging upbringing within a broken family. He dropped out of school in eighth grade and was pushed into drug dealing. But he managed to leave it behind, passed his GED test, attended Bible school, and became a pastor. Weasel started climbing at Mt Rainier and went on various expeditions including ones to Ecuador, Kilimanjaro, and Denali, fuelling his passion even more. But the goal was always to get atop the world’s highest mountain. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/the-pinnacle-of-determination-and-courage">The pinnacle of determination and courage</a>, Bhadra Sharma <div class="embed-block"><div style="max-width: 56vh;"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 177.7778%;"><iframe src="//cdn.iframe.ly/api/iframe?url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutube.com%2Fshorts%2Fklrh1pC4sPI%3Ffeature%3Dshare&key=87ca3314a9fa775b5c3a7726100694b0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media *;"></iframe></div></div>Video: JACOB WEASEL</div> However, an Everest expedition meant much money and time, physical and mental strength and lots of training. But the fundraising efforts paid off, and Weasel was off to Nepal earlier this year.&nbsp; Things were much tougher than he imagined: the weather was harsh this spring, the Khumbu Icefall was treacherous as ever, and the north wall of Nuptse was heavy with new snow. The high altitude also took a toll on Weasel, each step felt like a tremendous effort, and monitoring oxygen levels became important. Weasel and his Nepali guides also narrowly survived avalanches in the Khumbu Icefall.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/billi-bierling-s-life-cycle">Billi Bierling’s life cycle</a>, Pradnya Pradhan <div class="embed-block"><div style="max-width: 56vh;"><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 177.7778%;"><iframe src="//cdn.iframe.ly/api/iframe?url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutube.com%2Fshorts%2FD-xXsu0CAU4%3Ffeature%3Dshare&key=87ca3314a9fa775b5c3a7726100694b0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen scrolling="no" allow="encrypted-media *;"></iframe></div></div>VIDEO: JACOB WEASEL</div> Finally approaching the summit on a clear but windy morning, Weasel unfurled his Cheyenne River Sioux flag, with an eagle feather securely packed in red cloth in his backpack for protection.&nbsp; “It was an honour to carry my tribe's symbol to Earth's highest point,” Weasel told us. For Weasel, climbing Everest was not the only achievement, it was also to visit an Asian country for the first time and see how he can contribute as a medical practitioner to Nepal’s healthcare. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/high-himalayan-rescue">High Himalayan rescue</a>, Buddha Basnyat and Gobi Bashyal  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230528140540_2e503e0070e8e0db449d62324d92af0ccece8edb34f0ac58707087f5413be956.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20230528140540_2e503e0070e8e0db449d62324d92af0ccece8edb34f0ac58707087f5413be956" data-rendition-name="original" width="3716" height="2787" loading="lazy" alt="First Native American on world’s tallest peak NT 6"> <figcaption>Panoramic view of Everest as Jacob Weasel summitted the mountain.</figcaption> </figure>  “Leveraging my medical background, I aim to improve access to healthcare services, particularly for women and children in Nepal’s rural areas with limited resources,” he said. He wants to fundraise to build women's health clinics and birthing centres in Nepal in collaboration with local organisations working exclusively on maternal health like One Heart Worldwide. “I feel so welcomed here, Nepalis have been generous and shared wisdom, and taught me about resilience, humility, and the indomitable human spirit,” he said with feeling. “Leaving Everest, I carry those lessons to respect the mountains and the people who live among them.”&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/on-mt-everest-s-70th-records-and-fatalities">On Mt Everest’s 70th, records and fatalities</a>, Pradnya Pradhan  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230528140536_66c25ad0-bcb9-42d0-aece-4bd7e18f0e7d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20230528140536_66c25ad0-bcb9-42d0-aece-4bd7e18f0e7d" data-rendition-name="original" width="3024" height="4032" loading="lazy" alt="First Native American on world’s tallest peak NT 3"> <figcaption>Weasel wants to help Nepal-based organisations like One Heart Worldwide build women's health clinics and birthing center.</figcaption> </figure>  Excited by his Everest success, Weasel now plans to become the first Native American to climb all seven highest peaks in the seven continents and complete the Explorers Grand Slam by reaching the North and South Poles. With his adventures, Weasel wants to create a ripple effect of positive change that extends beyond individual mountaineering achievements. His ultimate goal is to raise awareness about and support Native American communities. He wants his mountaineering feats to inspire others in his community to realise their potential, pursue their passion, break barriers, embrace their cultural heritage, and actively contribute to building stronger and more resilient communities. What is his most important take-home? Weasel replied: “With perseverance and support, we can overcome obstacles and achieve extraordinary things. Let us uplift and empower one another.”&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/without-sherpas-there-is-no-mountaineering">“Without Sherpas, there is no mountaineering”</a>, Bhadra Sharma

First Native American on world’s tallest peak

This has been a season of new records on Nepal’s Himalayan peaks, with more than 1,000 mountaineers attempting 25 peaks. Mt Everest alone has more than half those climbers, exceeding the pre-pandemic peak in 2019. High winds and early pre-monsoon blizzards are expected to hit the mountain this week, and climbers are scrambling to the summit before the season officially closes on 1 June. So far this year, at least 10 climbers have died on Mt Everest alone, but many records have also been broken, including some multiple times on successive days. Kami Rita Sherpa summited Mt Everest twice in one season, taking his total to 28 times. Kami Rita is once again ahead of Pasang Dawa Sherpa who had tied his record of climbing 27 times only 24 hours previously.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230523150540_a3ec9f5f2680fa993f71e5257a10a5a98b20d151185ac41a755e6af3e93c60a5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20230523150540_a3ec9f5f2680fa993f71e5257a10a5a98b20d151185ac41a755e6af3e93c60a5" data-rendition-name="original" width="1293" height="709" loading="lazy" alt="Kami Rita SHerpa"><figcaption>Kami Rita Sherpa</figcaption></figure>  More than 500 people have summited Mt Everest this season, and that is another record, but the climbers have spread themselves out to prevent a repeat of the notorious traffic jams that gave Himalayan climbing a bad reputation in 2018. This year is the 99th anniversary of the disappearance of Mallory and Irvine on the north ridge of Everest in 1924, and the 60th year of the first traverse of the world’s highest mountain up the West Ridge and down the South Col route by Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld of the 1963 Mt Everest expedition. Hornbein died earlier this month, only 16 days shy of the 60th anniversary of the historic climb. With the record numbers of climbers, there has also been the problem of waste. Although a Nepal Army expedition his season cleaned up some of the trash left by previous years’ expeditions, it represented a small proportion of the garbage. The Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee (SPCC) requires each expedition group to deposit $4,000 which is refunded if everyone brings back at least 8kg of garbage even though an average climber leaves behind much more. “I believe that climbers who spend five to six weeks on an expedition produce more waste than that,” says Billi Bierling of the Himalayan Database. Human waste from Base Camp is supposed to be carried to a landfill in Gorakshep lower down the valley. Plans are underway to build a biogas plant generating methane gas from waste to heat base camp. Besides the race for records by Kami Rita and Pasang Dawa Sherpa, there were other records. Kilian Jornet, a Spanish ultra-runner who summited Everest twice in a week without supplemental oxygen in 2017, is back on Lhotse trying out a non-standard different route. The gender gap is closing on Mt Everest with more and more women attempting to summit each season. Nearly 7,000 different climbers have summited Mt Everest, and out of them 822 were women. Only nine of them have reached the top without bottled oxygen, compared to 154 men. This season, several women are attempting to climb Everest without supplemental oxygen. Among them is Nepali Dabuti Sherpa and if she succeeds, will be the first Nepali woman to have achieved this on the 45th anniversary of the first Everest ascent without bottled oxygen by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler in 1978. Another climber who made history this year was Hari Budha Magar, a double above-the-knee amputee who lost both of his legs in Afghanistan. After being discharged from the British Gurkha, Hari had been training to climb Mt Everest since 2017 with special gear. Magar is a climate champion and is raising funds 100 times more than the height of Mt Everest (£884,900) for charities that helped rehabilitate him.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230523150540_44bb6ef305565b0ab5af3439c20e2efc5f7ef3239eb39dffab0f9cf0f52a9ded.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20230523150540_44bb6ef305565b0ab5af3439c20e2efc5f7ef3239eb39dffab0f9cf0f52a9ded" data-rendition-name="original" width="1280" height="854" loading="lazy" alt="Hari Budha Magar"></figure>  Other notable climbs included Naila Kiani’s summit which made her the first Pakistani woman to get on top of five highest mountains, and compatriot Sajid Ali Sadpara, who was the first Pakistani to climb Everest without oxygen and plans to climb the remaining seven eight-thousanders. Vietnamese climber Nguyên Thi Thanh Nhā became the first Vietnamese woman to reach the Everest summit, and Xu Zhuoyuan, 16, became the youngest Chinese female climber to get to the top of the world’s highest mountain. Both climbs were made from the Nepal side, since there is only one national Chinese expedition from the north. There have been 10 deaths on Mt Everest from icefall collapse, exhaustion and high altitude cerebral edema. Although there have been seasons with more deaths (avalanches in 2014 and 2015 killed a total of 34 climbers) the average is four fatalities per season. Annapurna 1 recorded fatalities early in the season. An avalanche forced climbers off higher camps, three of them were reported missing, one Indian climber was miraculously rescued from a crevasse after three days. And Noel Hanna, a renowned Irish mountaineer died at Camp 4 the night after he summited the world’s tenth highest mountain. Several mountaineers who had reached the top were airlifted from high camps raising questions from purists whether theirs could be really called a ‘summit’. Mountaineers Jonathan Lamy from France and Pakistani Naila Kiani were caught in the middle of that debate. The Himalayan Database has introduced a new category of summits that indicates whether a climb was ‘aviation assisted’. On 3 May, Norwegian Kristen Harila, atop Cho Oyu, became the fastest woman to climb all 14 eight thousanders in a year. She had planned to break Nims Purja’s record of summiting all 14 peaks in six months and six days, but could not get a Chinese visa last autumn for Cho Oyu and Shishapangma. Harila now aims to climb all 8,000 mountains again, this time in four months, and is re-climbing the mountains all over again, summiting Lhotse and Everest in a record eight hours on Monday. Counting Shishapangma on 26 April and Cho Oyu on 3 May, Kristen has begun her 2023 ‘14 Peaks’ attempt in less than 6 months. She has already completed 4/14 peaks, climbing Makalu on 13 May and Kanchenjunga on 18 May in under 22 days. Her website allows her followers to track her rapidly progressing journey with an online GPS. “Since Nims (Nirmal Purja) climbed the 14 8,000ers in record time, there has been a shift in mountaineering,” says Billi Bierling talking about the athleticism and speed which is now sought in the high Himalayas. Harila’s record surpassed her female predecessors’ by years, one of them Austrian mountaineer Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner who took 14 years to ascend all 14 8,000 peaks. Harila has climbed expedition style, while Kaltnebrunner is a true alpinist who climbs without supplementary oxygen and Sherpa and helicopter support. Alpine style climbing is what Polish climber Votyek Kurtyka describes as "meeting the mountain one-on-one" and is gradually being displaced by commercial military-style assaults on mountains. Experts say the style of climbing is more important than record-setting. With commercial expeditions, there were also reports of theft of oxygen cylinders, climbing equipment and food at higher camps, including the South Col this season. But there are still less-publicised alpine style climbs, including a new route on Kabru South (7,318m) by a team of Slovak and Solvenian climbers who got to the top of this side peak of Kangchenjunga without oxygen, Sherpas and setting up tent camps. On Dhaulagiri 1 Bartek Ziemski from Poland became the first person to complete a full ski descent of Dhaulagiri, the world’s seventh highest. Two Russian climbers also skied down Mt Everest, but it is not clear where they started and where they stopped. High winds are battering the mountains ahead of this week’s storms, and there will be many at base camps following the progress of the last summit teams.

On Mt Everest’s 70th, records and fatalities

Kami Rita Sherpa broke his own record last week when he climbed the world’s highest mountain for the 27th time, keeping ahead of compatriot Pasang Dawa Sherpa who had tied his 26th climb earlier this season. Kami Rita <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/i-can-do-it-25-times">has been climbing Mt Everest </a>every year since the first time he helped an international expedition get to the summit in 1994, sometimes reaching the top twice in the same season. The only years he could not climb were in 2014 and 2015 because of deadly avalanches, and in 2020 due to the pandemic. But Kami Rita says with characteristic understatement that for him it has never been about the record. It is just another job that requires him to guide expeditions to the top, and it is a job he does well. “Had I been chasing records, I could have summited many more times,” says Kami Rita, who has turned back several times from near the summit because he had to rescue foreign climbers, or blizzards. “I have seen first hand how unpredictable and unforgiving the mountain can be.’ Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/if-the-ice-is-gone-we-are-done">“If the ice is gone, we are done”</a>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230521040552_8387b98b50704cf7ed76007be3d6e6ad3b27c6ade00288923033cf6dd3670434.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20230521040552_8387b98b50704cf7ed76007be3d6e6ad3b27c6ade00288923033cf6dd3670434" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1354" loading="lazy" alt="Kami Rita Sherpa NT"> </figure>  He was at Base Camp in 2014 preparing for a live telecast with his brother for a National Geographic expedition when an avalanche slammed into the Khumbu Icefall, killing 16 Sherpas, many of whom he knew.&nbsp; A year later, 19 climbers and Sherpas lost their lives when an <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/big-drops-in-Everest-bookings-affect-livelihoods-of-Nepali-high-altitude-guides,2048">avalanche triggered by the 2015 earthquake</a> destroyed Base Camp. Then the Covid-19 pandemic halted all expeditions, depriving many guides and porters of income. Throughout all this, Kami Rita has remained in Nepal, declining job offers from overseas. “For me, there is nothing more meaningful than serving my community and people,” he says matter-of-factly. "The younger generation is aware of the dangers and some have given up working on the mountains. But if we Sherpas were not here, there would be no mountaineering.” Many, including previous summit record holders like Apa Sherpa, have migrated abroad. A new generation of Sherpas are now scientists, climatologists, businessmen, or airline pilots, and their success has been made possible because of the sacrifices of their parents. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/khumbu-wants-its-share">Khumbu wants its share</a>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230521040552_c0c351ab9fe199499a4698b6f56a9cee2fdfa61b825593ece63bfe72aa2c5ffb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20230521040552_c0c351ab9fe199499a4698b6f56a9cee2fdfa61b825593ece63bfe72aa2c5ffb" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Kami Rita Sherpa NT"> </figure>  For Kami Rita, it looks like his family’s involvement in mountaineering may end with him. His son Lhakpa Tenzing is studying tourism as an undergrad and has no desire to follow in his father’s footsteps. His daughter Pasang Dolma is pursuing a computer science degree. “I worked hard all my life so they got a good education, even though mountaineering is an unpredictable business with seasonal income,” he says. “I have made sure that they have opportunities I never got.” <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/where-have-all-the-guides-gone">Expedition guides </a>are now increasingly being replaced by ethnic groups from lower valleys, as younger Sherpas move on to other jobs. Kami Rita says younger Nepalis from other ethnicities should have access to rock and ice climbing training so that they can take over.&nbsp; Born and raised in the Khumbu, Kami Rita attended school in Thame, one of many established by New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary, who along with Tenzing Norgay became the first to climb Mt Everest 70 years ago. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/letters-from-everest-base-camp-1-vfqcer0e">Letters from Everest Base Camp 1</a>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230521040552_41b36f9ee594f1ec5ecdfce673d21472c3a32738085784d5f1c1f088d01d0e33.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20230521040552_41b36f9ee594f1ec5ecdfce673d21472c3a32738085784d5f1c1f088d01d0e33" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Kami Rita Sherpa NT"> <figcaption>Kami Rita with his family.</figcaption> </figure>  Kami Rita’s own father went to Darjeeling with Tenzing Norgay, and one of his two brothers Lhakpa Rita Sherpa was a climbing guide himself before he went on to become the first Nepali to climb the Seven Summits. Mountains was all that his family knew, so it was no surprise that Kami Rita followed in their footsteps. “I wasn’t able to get much of an education, and working for expeditions would earn me much more money,” says Kami Rita, who became a porter at just 12. His only regret is that the Nepal government has never really helped the Sherpas of Khumbu. He cites the example of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/everest-trail-repaired-during-pandemic">Ang Rita Sherpa</a> who climbed Everest 10 times without oxygen but never got the support due to him. “If someone like Ang Rita does not get respect, what hope is there for the rest of us?” says Kami Rita. “The sad truth is that we have always thought of the nation first, but the nation has not shown us the same consideration.” Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/why-are-sherpas-always-happy">Why are Sherpas always happy?</a>, Tom Robertson

“Without Sherpas, there is no mountaineering”

<figure><img width="2560" height="1384" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161156/636d1f249c7e80680e0af44cjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Still from The Summit of the Gods.</figcaption></figure>For those who have never climbed a mountain before, it may be difficult to understand the allure. After all, mountaineering is the furthest thing from easy. Climbing vertically often in appalling weather, while paying expedition expenses, traversing mountains of red tape for permits, while all along risking one’s life is not everyone’s cup of tea. So why do they keep doing it?Two films that premiered on Netflix this month may provide some of the answers.Directed by Torquil Jones, 14 peaks: Nothing is Impossible starring Nirmal (NimsDai) Purja, and his climbing partners Mingma David Sherpa, Lakpa Dendi Sherpa, Geljen Sherpa and Gesman Tamang opens with Purja telling viewers to dream big.“Doesn’t matter where you come from, you can show the world, nothing is impossible,” he says as a drone camera shows him on Ama Dablam's vertical rock face.The documentary chronicles Purja and his team’s attempt to summit the world’s 14 peaks over 8000m in just seven months. The previous world record was 7 years 310 days, set by South Korean mountaineer Kim Chang-Ho.“I was told that my project was impossible. So, I decided to name it Project Possible,” Purja tells viewers. This was not just for himself, not just for Nepal, but to show what human beings can do. But a point made over and over again in the film is that Nepali guides and porters who helped western expeditions never got the credit they deserved in the past. “They are ghosts,” he says, and he is out to change that once and for all. <img width="640" height="399" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161156/636d1f279c7e80680e0af44djpeg.jpg" alt="">A newcomer to the mountaineering scene who first set foot on the mountains only in 2012. There are obstacles, but in October 2019 after summitting Xixapangma, the last of the 14 peaks, he proves that it is<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nims-purja-does-it/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> indeed possible</a>.14 Peaks is a story of teamwork, ambition, determination, perseverance, and patience. But what stands out is the generosity of spirit.More than once, Purja's team rescue climbers stranded high up in the mountains. In Annapurna, he and his teammates go back up to rescue a climber after an exhausting climb, in Kanchenjunga he helps a climber who has run out of oxygen, and even when he develops HACE (high altitude cerebral edema), he manages to help a climber come down to Camp 4.“In military I have never left anyone behind I wasn’t gonna do that on the mountains,” he says.On <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepalis-on-k2-make-the-impossible-possible/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">K2</a>, when the group reaches base camp, the climbers are ready to abandon their expeditions after three deadly avalanches. The Nepalis lighten the mood, dance to Resham Firiri and Purja rallies everyone to give it one more try while he fixes rope to the top.Purja’s optimism isn’t for everyone. “You are a great boy, and it is lovely propaganda, but you don’t change the mountain,” says one climber during Purja’s motivational speech at base camp.Like <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/alpine-style-in-the-himalaya/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Purja’s book</a>, the documentary has a macho tone, and at times one wishes he would tone it down a bit. The star of the film is Purja’s wife Suchi, who is disarming while explaining his drive, her own fears but also the constant support she provides him.https://youtu.be/8QH5hBOoz08Purja’s tender side shows in the scenes with his ailing mother, Purna Kumari Purja. Days after being discharged from the hospital, she gets on a helicopter to meet her son after he climbs his 14th eight-thousander. Later, at Kathmandu Airport, Purja tells reporters how a Western climber doing what he did would have got “ten times more publicity”.At 101 minute documentary has stayed in the Top 5 on Netflix for weeks, and touches on a lot of things: the financial burden of accomplishing such a monumental task, the physical and mental challenges of climbing, personal relationships, philosophical questions on mortality, power of social media in today’s age and navigating the bureaucracy.The documentary also attempts to address the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nims-purja-fans-react-to-criticism-of-climb/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">criticism</a> Purja faced for using bottled oxygen, with many ‘purists’ saying that disqualified his feat. Surprisingly, it is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-next-for-reinhold-messner/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reinhold Messner</a> who himself climbed the 14 peaks without oxygen, but taking 16 years to do it, who defends Purja: “He was doing it this way otherwise it is not possible in such a short time.”Read Also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-next-for-reinhold-messner/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">What next for Reinhald Messner?</a>, Kunda DixitMost of the film’s climbing footage is taken by Purja and his team. Director Torquil Jones juxtaposes these with fresh interviews from the team, Purja’s family and other mountaineers, and animations (which could have been better quality) for some near-death experiences.Watching 14 Peaks is like watching a shōnen anime, with an underdog protagonist who has the odds stacked against him. Like every hero, Purja has a dream. For Naruto it was becoming a hokage, for Luffy it is becoming the Pirate King, and for Nimsdai Purja, it is climbing all the eight thousanders in record time.With 14 climbs and their back stories, there was not enough time dedicated to specific mountains, team mates, or the specific challenges on each mountain. But for a genre that often focuses on individual feats, 14 Peaks goes beyond to show how far mountaineering has come from the days of the first industrial scale expeditions on the world’s tallest mountains.https://youtu.be/AwDVv6pDBx8While 14 Peaks profiles a climber attaining an impossible goal, claiming glory for himself and his country, the animated French film The Summit of the Gods is quietly meditative. This is based on Jiro Taniguchi’s manga adaptation of Baku Yukemura’s 1998 novel and does not delve into the heroics of climbing, focusing instead on the obsession with it.Working as a photographer for a magazine, Fukamachi Makoto (Damien Boisseau) heads up to Mt Everest to take pictures of a Japanese expedition, which aborts the climb and he is left without pictures for his story.In Kathmandu, while on the phone with his editor, a man tries to sell him a camera that he says belonged to George Mallory, the British climber who disappeared on Everest in 1924.The mystery of whether Mallory and his climbing partner Andrew Irvine reached the top, almost three decades before <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/hillary-centenary/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sir Edmund Hillary</a> and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/was-tenzing-a-tibetan-nepali-or-indian-it-does-not-matter/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tenzing Norgay</a> haunts the climbing world to this day. Many believe that the camera, a Vest Pocket Kodak, which is still missing today holds the answer.Back to the film: Fukamachi thinking it to be fake, does not pay much attention. But when he catches a glimpse of a man he believes to be Habu Joji (Eric Herson-Macarel), he suspects that it may be Mallory's. Habu is a famous, but fictitious, Japanese climber who disappeared years previously.Fukamachi sets to track down Habu. The film flashes back Habu’s childhood, his days in a climbing club and his perilous climbs. While Habu’s endeavors are awe inspiring, he is clearly human. His shares of victories come with losses. <img width="800" height="431" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161156/636d1f2a9c7e80680e0af44ejpeg.jpg" alt="">Fukamachi is as obsessed as his subject, and when Fukamachi finally gets to photograph Habu on Everest, both display powerful tenacity to push the limits.Director Patrick Imbert captures five volumes worth of story in just 90 minutes. The 2D animation departs from the textured layers of the original manga and is reminiscent of the works of Studio Ghibli, with simple character animations and simply stylized photorealistic backgrounds.It is the climbing scenes where the film truly shines. There is no dialogue, just struggle to breathe, the missteps, the trembling taut ropes, and the roar of wind. There are the movement of hands, eyes, and gestures in the dialogue scenes. This is animation at its immersive best.Imbert and his animation team capture the mountains in all their raw wild power, and the audacity of those who dare try to scale them.  Amine Bouhafa’s score complements the story and animates the adventure.This is a French film about a Japanese climber using Japanese cartoon techniques for a film set in Nepal, so it is surprising Netflix does not have a Japanese dub version with subtitles to give it more authenticity.The Summit of the Gods, is not a happy movie, that much we can say. It does not gloss over the sacrifice and suffering to glamourise the adventure. 14 Peaks on the other hand, glorifies climbing. But both films show us what it is like to be a human attempting something super-human.Read Also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nims-purja-does-it/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nims Purja does it</a><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nims-purja-fans-react-to-criticism-of-climb/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nims Purja fans react to criticism</a>

Sahina Shrestha

On-screen mountains

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111015118/636d06359c7e80680e0a5f4ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1920" height="1080"/><figcaption>The Kosi Barrage on the Indian border where the river funnels out into the inland delta in Bihar.</figcaption></figure><ul><li>Three decades after it was first proposed, a 26.5km tunnel starts supplying water from Melamchi to Kathmandu.</li> <li>A <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/drones-to-the-rescue-in-melamchi/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/drones-to-the-rescue-in-melamchi/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625725666191000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEISH8LehEm5nAihrdyEOSDxSXsUg">deadly flood</a> on the Melamchi-Indrawati in Sindhupalchok on 16 June kills at least 27 people, and destroys infrastructure.</li> <li>The much-delayed 465MW Upper Tama Kosi hydropower plant starts feeding electricity to the national grid.</li> <li>SJVN says it has completed half the work on the 900MW Arun III project and the Investment Board awarded it another contract to develop the 679MW Lower Arun as well.</li> <li>Work has begun on the Sunkosi-Marin Diversion, to channel water to the Bagmati Basin and irrigate much of Province 2.</li></ul>All five events have one thing in common: they are all on the trans-boundary Kosi Basin that drains 75,000 sq km of territory in China, Nepal and India.Last week, I was standing on the Pati Bhanjyang ridgeline at the northeastern rim of Kathmandu Valley. Pour a glass of water on one side, and it flows westwards into the Gandaki River Basin. On the other side the streams drain into the Melamchi, which meets the Indrawati, then the Bhote Kosi to become the Sun Kosi that flows 200km eastward until it merges with the Arun and Tamor to form the Sapta Kosi.At that point, the river makes a tight turn south to tumble into the Kosi megafan in the Tarai and Bihar to finally to join the Ganga at Kursela. The Kosi, in fact, is the largest tributary of the Ganges, bigger than the Gandaki, Karnali, Jamuna, and even bigger than the Ganga itself as it debouches into the plains at Haridwar.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111015118/636d06389c7e80680e0a5f4fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1920" height="1080"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The Kosi’s origin in Nepal is near Kathmandu. But it largest tributary, the Arun, originates in Tibet where it is called the Phung Chu, makes a mighty arc in Tibet and cuts through the Himalaya between Mt Makalu and Mt Kangchenjunga to meet its siblings Sun Kosi and Tamor at Tribeni.Geologists say rivers like the Arun that slice through the Himalaya are older than the mountains, and cut their way through as the terrain rose over millions of years with the collision of the India and Eurasian tectonic plates.The Kosi watershed therefore drains an enormous vertical landscape stretching from Mt Xixapangma which lies just 80km on the other side of the Himalaya in China, both sides of Mt Gauri Shankar (Chomo Tseringma), Mt Everest and Mt Makalu, as well as the western slopes of Kangchenjunga. Six of the world’s 13 peaks above 8,000m are therefore a part of the Kosi catchment.These mountains block the monsoons, and in eastern Nepal their southern slopes get more than 3,000mm of rain a year, weathering them down relentlessly, making the sedimentation load of the Kosi the heaviest for any river in the world.The topography of this mighty river has shaped Nepal’s history and culture, and can determine the country’s future prosperity as well. But only if we respect its geology, hydrology and the climate of its basin.Watershed expert Madhukar Upadhyay says, “We have not even begun to understand the hydrological and geological specificities of our mountains and rivers and yet are rushing headlong into ever-larger infrastructure development. Nepalis will still be here 500 years from now, what kind of country and landscape are we leaving behind for them?”Last month, landslides blocked the Melamchi-Indrawati, unleashing a deadly debris flow that destroyed infrastructure, homes and livelihoods. It imperilled <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/light-at-the-end-of-the-melamchi-tunnel/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/light-at-the-end-of-the-melamchi-tunnel/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625725666191000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEaXQ5HnjB92xgkbHBEnnbl5xiwow">the Melamchi project</a>, and its tunnel supplying water to Kathmandu was saved only because the gates were closed for maintenance just hours before the onrush.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111015118/636d063c9c7e80680e0a5f50jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1920" height="1080"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>This week, the Upper Tama Kosi project started generating electricity, that will provide one-third of Nepal’s total power demand. But there was a scare just days before the inauguration: China informed Nepal that a massive landslide had blocked the river upstream, threatening the Rs55 billion project. Fortunately, the river found its way around the blockage. The near escapes of the Melamchi and Upper Tama Kosi sites make us take Upadhyay’s warnings seriously.Other <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/monsoon-hits-nepal-with-a-bang/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/monsoon-hits-nepal-with-a-bang/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625725666191000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHkbbDluGypXbbgC1BQxVAVndFTvA">flash floods this year </a>in Manang, Kaski and Lamjung also showed that while our rivers hold great promise, we ignore the risk to settlements and major infrastructure along their banks. Our engineering methods have been inherited from the West, and do not account for cloudbursts and extreme Himalayan weather events. All these risks have been exacerbated by climate change.In Melamchi, the power of the flood last month is evident in the steel hulk of the Indrawati Bridge that lies crumpled in the muddy river 100m downstream amidst room-sized boulders. The new sand bank is 25m thick, indicating the flood’s maximum height.It is not clear what happened, for a bishyari or two (bursting of a landslide-damming of the river) would not be enough to generate such a massive debris flow. Some speculate there may have been centuries-old glacial deposits which suddenly got released through a combination of earthquake weakening and heavy rain.We also saw that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/after-the-deluge-in-nepal/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/after-the-deluge-in-nepal/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625725666191000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFAaYeK5lUf9eY4-j8mOHnFIUOT5A">Melamchi Bazar </a>had expanded into the river’s flood plain, with buildings in place of rice paddies, which added to the loss of life and property. Less than a month after the disaster excavators and tipper trucks are already on the Indrawati river bed, scooping up sand and boulders to feed Kathmandu Valley’s voracious appetite for construction material.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111015118/636d06409c7e80680e0a5f51jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1920" height="1080"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>It is the Kosi’s Melamchi tributary that augments Kathmandu’s water supply, while the sand and boulders from the Indrawati, Sun Kosi, Bhote Kosi and Rosi fulfil the Valley’s demand for sand and aggregates.While earthquakes, floods and landslides are seen as ‘natural disasters’, and indeed they are to some extent, they become ‘man-made’ calamities with unregulated sand-mining of rivers, quarrying on steep slopes, and haphazard road-building.The highway along the Indrawati is crowded with sand-laden tipper trucks bound for Kathmandu. Downstream towards the Kosi Barrage along the BP Highway, the road follows the river past the site where a part of the Sun Kosi is to be channeled through a 13km tunnel to irrigate farmlands in the Tarai of Province 2. A similar inter-basin diversion scheme on the Kali Gandaki is now pitting Gandaki vs Lumbini Province, and the central government.We finally get to the new bridge across the Sapta Kosi at Chhatara, connecting Udayapur and Sunsari districts. This is exactly the point where, after its epic journey from the Tibetan Plateau and between the highest mountains in the world, this great river fans out into the plains.https://youtu.be/34lmOgPv-zkNorth of the bridge is the site of the proposed mammoth <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=2413#.YOQRoi8RoWo" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D2413%23.YOQRoi8RoWo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625725666191000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF86VG9E0i8u5OqfG5NvKJKILpBEA">Kosi High Dam</a>. The 300m high dam will create a reservoir submerging huge tracts of the Sun Kosi, Arun and Tamor Valleys in a kind of ‘trishul’. India needs the dam for flood control, and to facilitate inland navigation by storing monsoon water and discharging it in the dry season. But there are many questions regarding the proposed mega project.To begin with, the high silt load means that a future Kosi Reservoir would soon fill up with sediment. There are alternatives to dams: people in the Kosi plains have learnt to live with annual floods which deposit valuable soil nutrients, and diverting water through earlier river channels would ease flood impact.The village of Hanuman Nagar had to be relocated because of the barrage, and 60 years later some of its families and those further upstream have still not got compensated. The barrage also destroyed an important wetland, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-great-trans-himalayan-bird-migration/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-great-trans-himalayan-bird-migration/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625725666191000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFOCjdWAUhLv8LM1mLEnBNbFZeVHQ">migratory birds </a>now alight in <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15974#.YOQSqy8RoWo" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D15974%23.YOQSqy8RoWo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625725666191000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH9ndET9JXr1SU0_SRmfnAXaLeZ5A">Kosi Tappu Wildlife Reserve</a> instead.Extending the reserve further north and south could increase the habitat of endangered arna, wild elephants and freshwater dolphins, encourage ecotourism, and provide income to villagers whose grandparents had to move.The 60-year-old embankments that jacket the Kosi upstream and downstream from the Barrage have created the potential for a massive future disaster, an inland tsunami. Because of the river’s heavy silt content, the Kosi now flows on a deck 3-4m above the surrounding land. <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15163#.YOQR6y8RoWo" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D15163%23.YOQR6y8RoWo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625725666191000&amp;usg=AFQjCNELQRpfAALk_H4uMYlUohTJDiWrQg">In 2008, the Kosi breached the eastern embankment </a>at Kusaha, causing <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15193#.YOQTGy8RoWo" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D15193%23.YOQTGy8RoWo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625725666191000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGQbFvez-8I6Bv7_rYVwfQpczaNAg">destruction </a>downstream in Sunsari and Bihar. And that was when the river was not even in spate.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111015118/636d06439c7e80680e0a5f52jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1920" height="1080"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>With extreme weather caused by climate change, or a confluence of cloud-bursts in the mountain catchment, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=3526#.YOQSOy8RoWo" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D3526%23.YOQSOy8RoWo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1625725666191000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEvH8AZlBKUPb68a4OulBhpsm0Q2w">a record-breaking flood in future</a> could cause an engorged Kosi to bypass the barrage altogether and unleash a catastrophic flood downstream.The Kosi Barrage was meant to be a temporary solution, and the Kosi High Dam was always in the minds of the Indian authorities. There is a need for transparent and independent study by water experts, social scientists and technocrats to study the pros and cons of the Kosi High Dam.Siltation, seismicity, adaptation and mitigation, all need to be factored in with projected future climate impact. Meanwhile, across the world, ecologists are warning that the price to pay for large dams is too great because of the destruction of river ecosystems.A massive rockfill dam on a seismically active zone, the geopolitical implications as well as the social and environmental costs may outweigh the planned benefits. To make up for the mistake of the Kosi Barrage, we may be making an even greater blunder with the Kosi High Dam.

The Kosi’s sorrow, and scope

<figure><img width="1250" height="789" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86b89c7e80680e06786fjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>International mountain guide Lhakpa Rangdu Sherpa of Happy Feet Mountaineers agency. Photo: HAPPY FEET MOUNTAINEERS</figcaption></figure>For decades, foreigners have noted and celebrated the good-natured cheerfulness of Nepal's Sherpas.  One western climber, in a preface to Tenzing Norgay's autobiography, noted that Norgay epitomised ‘the tolerance and good humour … for which they [the Sherpa] are renowned … they are indeed a happy people, as anyone who has travelled with them will know, tolerant and good-humoured to a high degree, finding enjoyment in almost anything they do, interested in everything and with a strong sense of fun’.As with any cross-cultural generalisation, this seemingly simple statement is actually far more complicated than it seems. Were the Sherpas really so cheerful, more so than any other group of people? Did the foreigners who repeatedly commented about Sherpa cheerfulness have a wide and deep enough view to make such a broad generalisation? Did they really understand the Sherpas? And was this a note of praise, as it seems, or actually a variety of backhanded compliment -- something that seemed positive but actually hid a more negative judgement, in this case of Sherpa as childlike? If Sherpas really were more cheerful than other groups, why was this so?In the late 1990s, a fascinating and important debate broke out among anthropologists about Sherpa culture and western perceptions of Sherpas. Their cheerfulness became a key topic of conversation. In his book Tigers of the Snow (1996) Vincanne Adams outlined her view of ‘virtual’ Sherpas, and Sherpa culture as a complex reflection of Western ideas about Sherpas. Westerners had so much economic, political, and cultural power that their thinking about Sherpas -- based on their own hopes and dreams -- shaped actual Sherpa interactions with outsiders.  ‘Sherpas are produced both by a Western gaze and by Sherpas who are the object of that gaze,’ she wrote (p. 228).Over the years working in expeditions, dating back to the early decades of the 20th century, the argument goes, Sherpas had learned what the foreign climbers valued and rewarded, what the climbers wanted to see -- loyalty, camaraderie, and cheerfulness -- and gave it to them.  Sherpa culture involved a kind of performance, half deliberate but also unconscious, ultimately driven by a script written by outsiders. It was a kind of Sherpa play about Sherpas for the western climbers.In Life and Death on Mt. Everest (2001), anthropologist Sherry Ortner took a different view. She did not deny the power gap between western climbers and Sherpas, noting that Sherpas would not have carried loads and risked their lives for outsiders if they had more economic power. But she felt that, despite these real power differentials, other factors -- particularly strong cultural and economic forces that spring from within an ever changing Sherpa society -- better explained Sherpa behaviour and meaning-making more than Western ideas about them.One of the chief examples she gave was Sherpa cheerfulness. In the early years of climbing, western climbers noted again and again that Sherpa male climbers were friendly and liked to joke around. Even after a hard day's work carrying loads on steep, dangerous mountainsides, they smiled and cheerfully attacked challenging tasks.Sahibs often commented, Ortner notes, on ‘a certain good-humoured or good-natured style of Sherpa 'character' or 'temperament,' including a tendency to smile or laugh easily, a willingness to enter into joking and teasing, and a generally affable manner that often made interacting with Sherpas pleasant and enjoyable’. (p. 58). <figure><img width="2500" height="1836" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86bb9c7e80680e067870jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>According to Vincanne Adams's framework, Sherpa cheerfulness should be understood as a kind of ‘virtual’ reflection of western hopes for what they wanted Sherpas to be. Western climbers liked to believe that in the Himalaya they had broken free from the corrupting influence of modern life, and found ‘real’ nature and ‘real’ people -- Sherpas who were as pure and untouched as the mountains of the westerners' Romantic imagination. Certainly this Romanticism reflects a powerful current in western thought. There is a long history of outsiders creating an image of supposedly premodern or traditional ‘others’ who are happy, tough, and true. These depictions usually reveal less in fact about the 'noble savages’ and rural non-western places they presume to describe, and more about the desires and obsessions of Western society that created them.  And certainly many Sherpas experienced in dealing with Westerners have picked up on these Romantic fantasies and know how to play to, and play with them. If anything, in recent decades, Nepali knowledge about Western Romantic fantasies about non-western people and places has grown more widespread, as tourism has spread deeper into Nepali culture.  And ironically, Nepal's urban middle class, in their new excitement for rural tourism, has begun its own chase-your-tail search for the ‘authentic’ pre-modern that very much resembles what western climbers have searched for. Climbing money was ‘authentic’ because although real and deeply felt, these meanings were not fixed and unchanging but rather the result of shifting historical patterns. Adams helps us understand these complicated cross-cultural dynamics. In Life and Death, Ortner agrees that Sherpa cheerfulness did in fact often match the illusions -- the fantasies -- that Westerner ‘sahibs’ liked to tell about non-European others. ‘The sahibs' intense romanticism, their desire to experience mountaineering as an escape from modernity,’ she writes, ‘link up with the view of the Sherpas (like the mountains) as untouched, innocent, unspoiled.’ (p. 45) Cheerfulness was an outward sign of innocence. But the Sherpas smiled and joked, Ortner insists, not because of Western desires for premodern Asian ‘others’ to be happy but for their own reasons. In fact, she says they were actually happy. Not because Sherpas are essentially happy by nature, but because, in the early decades of the twentieth century, various historical factors had aligned to make the Sherpas, particularly the men who went into expedition work, genuinely happy. Ortner walks us through these historical factors. One was their Buddhist faith, which celebrated peacefulness and a non-attachment to material desires, as anthropologist Christoph von Fürer-Haimendorf noted. Another was a tradition of trade, which had fostered an easy way with outsiders, as anthropologist Mike Thompson says. But other historical factors played a big role as well, Ortner argues. Many porters came from poor Sherpa families, for whom life was extremely hard and, as Rana-era taxes grew steeper, growing harder. Portering was a good job, even though it involved strenuous physical labour, and good work was appreciated. And even if it was wage labour, it was better than what other early mountaineering groups faced. In addition, Ortner notes how in the 1930s and 1940s, Sherpas had successfully pushed their Western bosses to improve wages and working conditions. These Sherpas could look back and see how their work situations had improved in part because of their own striving. It was hard not to feel good about that. But to say Sherpas carried packs for the money, that they were cheerful because they were making good cash, was not to say they had been corrupted. Many Westerners thought of mountain climbing as idealistic ventures in pursuit of a higher vision, and liked to think that their Sherpas did it out of loyalty or because they subscribed to similar high-minded motivations. Some even went so far as to describe Sherpas who showed a perfectly natural desire for money as somehow ‘un-Sherpa’ or corrupted. Instead, Ortner emphasises that Sherpa porters usually wanted money so they could pursue traditional Sherpa activities. Money to Sherpa climbers meant many many things, Ortner says: ‘It may mean simply making a financial profit; it may also mean supporting kin or sending kids to private schools in Darjeeling, or traveliing or sponsoring religious rituals, or contributing to the financing of a monastery.’ (p. 67) The point was that, Ortner says, even though wealthy idealistic westerners may see climbing for money as an impure corruption, for Sherpas, money earned from climbing actually led to ‘something we may think of as an 'authentic' Sherpa cultural universe, a framework within which they articulate their own desires in something like their own terms’. Climbing money was ‘authentic’ because although real and deeply felt, these meanings were not fixed and unchanging but rather the result of shifting historical patterns. I like thinking about the happiness of Sherpa expedition porters in the early twentieth century because it helps us understand the complicated dynamics shaping the increasingly numerous encounters between Europeans and Asians during the twentieth century.  The story of Sherpa climbing culture shows the very real but shifting power dynamics at work in these encounters, but also the real but shifting forces within Nepali (and other Asian) cultures that shaped how individual Nepalis gave their own meanings to the encounters. Ortner provides a model for thinking about history, culture, power, meaning-making, and agency that is very useful. It is a model that I have used in my own writings to understand how different Nepalis -- from Kathmandu-based planners to field based program implementers to Tharu men and women of different ages -- gave their own meanings to the international development programs that transformed places like Chitwan in the 1950s and 1960s. The debates about Sherpa happiness also help broaden our idea of history. So often in Nepal people think of history as merely political intrigues within Kathmandu. Those intrigues are, of course, important, but so are the difficult and dangerous work that mountain porters did carrying loads in remote areas and the rich, and the fascinating meanings they gave to that work. Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/was-tenzing-a-tibetan-nepali-or-indian-it-does-not-matter/"> Was Tenzing a Tibetan, Nepali, or Indian? It does not matter.</a>, Lhakpa Norbu Sherpa

Tom Robertson

Why are Sherpas always happy?

<figure><img width="4032" height="3024" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131128/636ceec79c7e80680e09ae4ejpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>All Photos: Jangbu Sherpa</figcaption></figure>For 39-year-old Jangbu Sherpa, 2021 was supposed to be like every other climbing season for the past two decades. He would train his clients and help them climb the highest mountain in the world. The only difference this year (apart from the fact that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/mt-everest-grows-by-86cm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Everest was 86cm taller</a>) was that there were signs of a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-braces-for-its-2nd-covid-wave/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Covid-19 second wave</a> starting in India, which meant Nepal would not be far behind. He was with the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-allows-royal-himalayan-expedition/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bahrain Royal Guard expedition</a> that was the only foreign group in autumn 2020 in Nepal, climbing Lobuje and Manaslu to acclimatise for this year’s Everest ascent. As the Bahraini team arrived in late February, new coronavirus cases had started appearing in Kathmandu as well. But this did not dampen Jangbu’s enthusiasm: he was looking forward to being on top of Everest for the 17th time. The expedition flew out to Lukla after the Bahrainis quarantine on 4 April. Once there, Jangbu got busy setting things up and training his charges. Soon after, he started feeling a bit under the weather, with a persistent cold and body ache. <img width="4032" height="3024" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131128/636ceecc9c7e80680e09ae4fjpeg.jpg" alt="">"I did not think it was corona. I thought it was just a common cold. So, I took some meds and went about my day,” Jangbu recalls. He felt fine as long as the effect of the medicines lasted, but got sick soon.Then his chest started hurting, his body hurt and mouth went dry. He still did not think it was Covid-19, and went about his base camp chores. “On the day I had to take my clients up to the Icefall, the symptoms intensified. My chest hurt, I felt lethargic, and I had an intense body ache. I couldn’t go on,” says Jangbu. That is when the usually unfluttered Sherpa started getting alarmed. He informed the team leader and hopped on the next available helicopter to Kathmandu. There was an ambulance to take him to hospital where a swab test came back positive for Covid-19.“I was shocked and a little nervous,” Jangbu says. “I didn’t know much about it and had only heard bad rumours about corona.” The doctors told him he had to be isolated for 14 days, but all he could think about was the mountain and the clients he had left at base camp. He was determined to go back as soon as he recovered.Born in Khumbu, Jangbu grew up around the world’s highest mountains, and hearing climbing stories from his mountaineer father, Pemba Tharki Sherpa. When his father came home after every season of climbing, and put up his clothes and harness to dry, Jangbu would try out the gear.His father once took him along as a helper to Camp 1 on Ama Dablam. Since he was too young to go beyond Camp 1, Jangbu stayed in his tent while his father and the team went up to Camp 2 then onto the summit.When his father was not up in the mountains, he would be meditating in the monastery. This meant that as the eldest son, it was up to Jangbu to take care of the family. <img width="640" height="853" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131128/636ceecf9c7e80680e09ae50jpeg.jpg" alt="">“Because I started working at a young age, my studies were affected, which is why I want my own two boys to have a better chance at education,” says Jangbu, who is involved in social work, helping schools in remote districts with supplies. “I followed my father’s footsteps but I don’t want my children to do the same. This is a very difficult job with more danger than recognition.”By the time he was 16, Jangbu was joining expeditions working as a helper in the kitchen tent. He saved some money and came to Kathmandu to take climbing courses. In 2003, after finishing his training, he returned to Everest and at age 21 stood on top of Mt Everest for the first time.“It was surreal. People talk about heaven, but looking down at the world from up there I finally understood what heaven meant,” says Jangbu. “All the other peaks below looked so small, it was out of this world.” When he conquered the world’s tallest mountain, Jangbu’s father Pemba, was on Pumori, just eight kilometers west of Mt Everest. When he heard that his son had made it to the top, he was very happy and proud. Unfortunately, while there Pemba fell sick and had to be hospitalized. That was his last expedition. A few years later, he passed away. <img width="3088" height="2316" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131128/636ceed39c7e80680e09ae51jpeg.jpg" alt="">Since 2003, Jangbu has been on Everest every year (except 2020 because of the pandemic) sometimes with his own clients through his company <a href="https://www.facebook.com/intothehimalayatreksandexpeditions" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Into the Himalaya Treks and Expeditions</a>, and sometimes helping bigger groups. Over the years, he has seen many changes: modern climbing gear is lighter and easier to use.  But more importantly, Everest itself has changed. “The mountain used to be white, it was difficult to climb. But now, much of the snow has melted,” he says. The first expeditions nearly 20 years ago needed to secure nine or ten ladders along the Khumbu Icefall, these days two or three are enough. "After the 2015 earthquake, the Hillary Step near the summit collapsed, and it is easier to climb over it." What has not changed, though, is the way the world views ‘Sherpas’ who form the backbone of expeditions, and without whom most international climbers would not be able to get to the top. “Yet, Sherpas still do not get the recognition they deserve,” he says, citing all the Everest films over the years which gloss over the contribution of Sherpas to expeditions. Tired of being in the shadows and wanting to document what it is like to climb the mountain, he co-produced and starred in his own documentary, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MissionEverestFilm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mission Everest: The Legend of Sherpa Jangbu</a>, chronicling his 16th summit in 2019. Besides Everest, Jangbu has been on top of Cho Oyu, Shishapangma, Manaslu, Baruntse, Ama Dablam and Island Peak. https://youtu.be/gJPN_iMc8nUEarlier this month, after a week in hospital and another week in isolation at home, he tested negative for Covid-19. Despite his doctor’s warning not to overexert himself on Everest, he was back at base camp.He still had chest pain, but he pushed on despite feeling that he did not have his usual energy. “I felt lethargic, my chest felt heavy. I usually love taking photographs but this time I did not even have the energy to do that,” says Jangbu. His head torch malfunctioned at Camp 4 and his oxygen mask on the Balcony, but he pressed on along the familiar route to the South Summit.“I knew the Hillary Step was right ahead, and then there was no stopping,” says Jangbu. “The joy that you feel on summit no matter how many times you have been there is the same. And this time I had overcome not just the mountain, but also corona.” Read Also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/was-tenzing-a-tibetan-nepali-or-indian-it-does-not-matter/">Was Tenzing a Tibetan, Nepali, or Indian? It does not matter.</a> Lhakpa Norbu Sherpa<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/yaas-stops-everest-climbers-at-camp-2/">Yaas stops Everest climbers at Camp 2</a>, Nepali Times

Overcoming Mt Everest and Covid-19

<figure><img width="4032" height="3024" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86bf9c7e80680e067871jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>All Photos: Jangbu Sherpa</figcaption></figure>For 39-year-old Jangbu Sherpa, 2021 was supposed to be like every other climbing season for the past two decades. He would train his clients and help them climb the highest mountain in the world. The only difference this year (apart from the fact that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/mt-everest-grows-by-86cm/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Everest was 86cm taller</a>) was that there were signs of a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-braces-for-its-2nd-covid-wave/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Covid-19 second wave</a> starting in India, which meant Nepal would not be far behind. He was with the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-allows-royal-himalayan-expedition/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bahrain Royal Guard expedition</a> that was the only foreign group in autumn 2020 in Nepal, climbing Lobuje and Manaslu to acclimatise for this year’s Everest ascent. As the Bahraini team arrived in late February, new coronavirus cases had started appearing in Kathmandu as well. But this did not dampen Jangbu’s enthusiasm: he was looking forward to being on top of Everest for the 17th time. The expedition flew out to Lukla after the Bahrainis quarantine on 4 April. Once there, Jangbu got busy setting things up and training his charges. Soon after, he started feeling a bit under the weather, with a persistent cold and body ache. <img width="4032" height="3024" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86c39c7e80680e067872jpeg.jpg" alt="">"I did not think it was corona. I thought it was just a common cold. So, I took some meds and went about my day,” Jangbu recalls. He felt fine as long as the effect of the medicines lasted, but got sick soon.Then his chest started hurting, his body hurt and mouth went dry. He still did not think it was Covid-19, and went about his base camp chores. “On the day I had to take my clients up to the Icefall, the symptoms intensified. My chest hurt, I felt lethargic, and I had an intense body ache. I couldn’t go on,” says Jangbu. That is when the usually unfluttered Sherpa started getting alarmed. He informed the team leader and hopped on the next available helicopter to Kathmandu. There was an ambulance to take him to hospital where a swab test came back positive for Covid-19.“I was shocked and a little nervous,” Jangbu says. “I didn’t know much about it and had only heard bad rumours about corona.” The doctors told him he had to be isolated for 14 days, but all he could think about was the mountain and the clients he had left at base camp. He was determined to go back as soon as he recovered.Born in Khumbu, Jangbu grew up around the world’s highest mountains, and hearing climbing stories from his mountaineer father, Pemba Tharki Sherpa. When his father came home after every season of climbing, and put up his clothes and harness to dry, Jangbu would try out the gear.His father once took him along as a helper to Camp 1 on Ama Dablam. Since he was too young to go beyond Camp 1, Jangbu stayed in his tent while his father and the team went up to Camp 2 then onto the summit.When his father was not up in the mountains, he would be meditating in the monastery. This meant that as the eldest son, it was up to Jangbu to take care of the family. <img width="640" height="853" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86c79c7e80680e067873jpeg.jpg" alt="">“Because I started working at a young age, my studies were affected, which is why I want my own two boys to have a better chance at education,” says Jangbu, who is involved in social work, helping schools in remote districts with supplies. “I followed my father’s footsteps but I don’t want my children to do the same. This is a very difficult job with more danger than recognition.”By the time he was 16, Jangbu was joining expeditions working as a helper in the kitchen tent. He saved some money and came to Kathmandu to take climbing courses. In 2003, after finishing his training, he returned to Everest and at age 21 stood on top of Mt Everest for the first time.“It was surreal. People talk about heaven, but looking down at the world from up there I finally understood what heaven meant,” says Jangbu. “All the other peaks below looked so small, it was out of this world.” When he conquered the world’s tallest mountain, Jangbu’s father Pemba, was on Pumori, just eight kilometers west of Mt Everest. When he heard that his son had made it to the top, he was very happy and proud. Unfortunately, while there Pemba fell sick and had to be hospitalized. That was his last expedition. A few years later, he passed away. <img width="3088" height="2316" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86cb9c7e80680e067874jpeg.jpg" alt="">Since 2003, Jangbu has been on Everest every year (except 2020 because of the pandemic) sometimes with his own clients through his company <a href="https://www.facebook.com/intothehimalayatreksandexpeditions" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Into the Himalaya Treks and Expeditions</a>, and sometimes helping bigger groups. Over the years, he has seen many changes: modern climbing gear is lighter and easier to use.  But more importantly, Everest itself has changed. “The mountain used to be white, it was difficult to climb. But now, much of the snow has melted,” he says. The first expeditions nearly 20 years ago needed to secure nine or ten ladders along the Khumbu Icefall, these days two or three are enough. "After the 2015 earthquake, the Hillary Step near the summit collapsed, and it is easier to climb over it." What has not changed, though, is the way the world views ‘Sherpas’ who form the backbone of expeditions, and without whom most international climbers would not be able to get to the top. “Yet, Sherpas still do not get the recognition they deserve,” he says, citing all the Everest films over the years which gloss over the contribution of Sherpas to expeditions. Tired of being in the shadows and wanting to document what it is like to climb the mountain, he co-produced and starred in his own documentary, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MissionEverestFilm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mission Everest: The Legend of Sherpa Jangbu</a>, chronicling his 16th summit in 2019. Besides Everest, Jangbu has been on top of Cho Oyu, Shishapangma, Manaslu, Baruntse, Ama Dablam and Island Peak. https://youtu.be/gJPN_iMc8nUEarlier this month, after a week in hospital and another week in isolation at home, he tested negative for Covid-19. Despite his doctor’s warning not to overexert himself on Everest, he was back at base camp.He still had chest pain, but he pushed on despite feeling that he did not have his usual energy. “I felt lethargic, my chest felt heavy. I usually love taking photographs but this time I did not even have the energy to do that,” says Jangbu. His head torch malfunctioned at Camp 4 and his oxygen mask on the Balcony, but he pressed on along the familiar route to the South Summit.“I knew the Hillary Step was right ahead, and then there was no stopping,” says Jangbu. “The joy that you feel on summit no matter how many times you have been there is the same. And this time I had overcome not just the mountain, but also corona.” Read Also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/was-tenzing-a-tibetan-nepali-or-indian-it-does-not-matter/">Was Tenzing a Tibetan, Nepali, or Indian? It does not matter.</a> Lhakpa Norbu Sherpa<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/yaas-stops-everest-climbers-at-camp-2/">Yaas stops Everest climbers at Camp 2</a>, Nepali Times

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111144/636b84aa9c7e80680e0677aajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"/><figcaption>Mt Everest Base Camp last month. Photo: Monika Deupala</figcaption></figure>With a ferocious second Covid-19 wave raging and a closing weather window lapping at their feet, expeditions on Mt Everest this spring have rushed to make a series of successful early attempts to climb the world’s highest mountain.All in all, at least 130 climbers reached the summit in the past week. There are a record 407 foreign mountaineers and 43 expeditions on Mt Everest alone this spring, despite the second wave and an outbreak of Covid-19 among some expeditions.Everest Base Camp itself is more crowded than it has ever been, with at least 2,000 climbers, Nepali guides and support staff in a tent city more than 1km long on the Khumbu Glacier.There were reports of at least 41 more climbers making it to the summit on Wednesday morning just as a stormy westerly front closed in over Nepal. Among them was the first ascent of Mt Everest by three sisters — Nima Jangbu, Tshering Namgya, and Dawa Futi Sherpa from Nepal who also completed the ascent of all seven peaks in seven continents.There were 12 Nepali climbers from a rope fixing team on top on the morning of 9 May, including Kami Rita Sherpa, who summited for a record 25th time. Then Tuesday, taking advantage of low winds and fixed ropes, 80 more climbers got to the top, together with 12 members of a team from Bahrain Royal Guard that included Prince Sheikh Mohammed Hamad Mohammed Al Khalifa and three Britons.Also on top on Tuesday was British climber Kenton Cool, who became the first from his country to summit Everest 15 times. Cool then went on to climb nearby Lhotse on Wednesday morning with his guide Dorjee Gyalzen Sherpa, both climbing two of the world’s highest mountains within 29 hours.As the jet stream and storm systems move over the mountain, climbers are said to be descending to make their summit push for the next weather window expected after 19 May.Those on the summit this week have not seen any climbers from the north side of the mountain, which means the directive by the Chinese authorities that mountaineers on the peak should maintain a ‘line of separation’ so as to prevent being infected with Covid-19, has not been tested yet. Most commentators have called the rule ‘laughable’, unenforceable and unnecessary.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111144/636b84ad9c7e80680e0677abjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="359"><figcaption>The summit of Mt Everest on Tuesday morning. Photo: Mingma G</figcaption></figure>Meanwhile, climbing authorities in Nepal have requested expeditions to bring down to Kathmandu empty oxygen canisters that would otherwise leave behind on the mountain so that they can be refilled and provided to Covid-19 patients. Nepal’s major hospitals have run out of oxygen supply and ICU beds, with patients sleeping on the floor in corridors and in parking lots.There are said to be at least 3,000 oxygen cylinders on Mt Everest this season, and when refilled, each of them could supply oxygen for three hours to a patient in a Nepali hospital.Doctors at Everest Base Camp have been quoted as saying that there have been about 30 people evacuated by helicopter so far from the mountain with suspected Covid-19 symptoms. At least one expedition has abandoned its Everest climb due to the possibility of infections.Covid-19 has also reached Dhaulagiri, nearly 400km to west of Everest, where there were 35 climbers from five expeditions attempting the world’s seventh highest mountain. Six members of a Nepali women’s expedition that had earlier climbed Annapurna abandoned its climb on Monday after some of them had to be evacuated with Covid-19.Heavy snowfall and avalanche danger have also forced other climbers to withdraw, even though two expeditions are still attempting the never-before climbed northwest ride of Dhaulagiri. Also on the mountain is Spanish climber 82-year-old Carlos Soria, who is on his 12th attempt to climb Dhaulagiri.Meanwhile, Andorran climber Stefi Troguet has abandoned her attempt of Dhaulagiri after testing positive. ‘Game Over’ she wrote in a Twitter post. ‘The motivation and strength of everyone is really low due to the current situation,’ she added. Mexican climber Viridiana Álvarez, who had climbed Annapurna last month, also abandoned her climb because of the outbreak, even though she tested negative.‘This is how this expedition ends, being evacuated from the base camp. Today was peak day, it was not possible. As long as there is life there is opportunity,’ Álvarez posted on social media in Spanish.The decision by expeditions to go ahead with climbing peaks during Nepal’s Covid-19 peak has been heavily criticised. There are 750 climbers on 13 Himalayan peaks, including six eight-thousanders, in Nepal this season<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111144/636b84b19c7e80680e0677acjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="780">Nepal’s government has also been accused of trying to censor all news about Covid-19 outbreak on the mountains so the cancellations do not result in climbing fees having to be refunded. Information on Covid-19 is so sensitive that many expedition leaders, doctors and guides at Everest Base Camp have refused to speak to media for fear of retribution.Mira Acharya of the Mountaineering Division of the Department of Tourism, who is at Base Camp herself, has said she has no information on whether there are confirmed Covid-19 cases. Expedition leaders themselves have also downplayed the extent of the infections in media interviews.Nepal recorded another 9,486 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday, the fifth day in a row that the cases have been above 9,000. The total number of cases has now crossed the 400,000 mark, and the fatality tally has exceeded 4,000. Public health specialists say Nepal’s second wave has not reached its peak yet.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111144/636b84b49c7e80680e0677adjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="253"><figcaption>The number of confirmed cases in Nepal showing the steep rise of the second wave. Source: JHU CSSE COVID-19 Data</figcaption></figure>Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/mt-everest-city/">'Mt Everest City</a>', Monika Deupala

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