The Sherpa people who live below Mt Everest are so famous globally as intrepid mountain guides that their surname has been expropriated by SUV, lounge chair, pet accessory, momo restaurant brands. But their cultural history of being the custodians of the world's highest mountains and intimate relationship with the mountains is reflected in their folk songs. The lyrics point to the Sherpa reverence for nature, and their innate ecological consciousness.&nbsp; Today, the climate emergency is impacting on the Himalaya through no fault of the inhabitants. Rising temperatures are accelerating the melting of glaciers in the Khumbu region, with the threat of glacial lakes bursting. Flora and fauna in the region have been disturbed by weather extremes.&nbsp; But awareness about protecting nature has been Sherpa folklore for generations, long before climate scientists coined the terms greenhouse effect and climate change. Syar Thinche Nima, a song by Rinjin Lhamo Sherpa, a teacher and member of Himalayan Sherpa Cultural Centre in Khumbu, goes like this: The sun rises in the east If the sun doesn’t rise, the mountains will not glow bright The mountains will not remain If there is no snow on the mountains, there will be no rivers There will be no green water If water does not flow, the fish cannot live If there are no fish, there can be no forests Plants cannot grow If plants cannot grow, there will be no birds There can be no life, creation cannot exist. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/margins/songlines-of-the-rivers-and-forests">Songlines of the rivers and forests</a>, Sewa Bhattarai Explains Rinjin: “This song is proof that our community was conscious of the ecology since they have been living here under the mountains.” The song not just portrays the importance of the mountains, but also vocalises the need for their conservation, on which the fates of the very existence of human civilisation depends. This song is also an example of the role of traditional cultures in combating the climate emergency which threatens to destroy the Himalayan ecosystem, and is caused by the overexploiting of nature. In contrast, indigenous cultures like Sherpa culture, reveres and respects the earth and considers it holy. Many Sherpa songs passed down from generations carry this ethos. Another song shared by Pasang Chhiring Sherpa of the Himalayan Sherpa Cultural Centre, Khangdi Thombi, views the mountains as awe-inspiring and sacred: Look at the mountains to the North How tall they are The heart is glad to see them There is a tall, golden wall here Inside the wall are our priceless treasures Our sages reside there Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/bridging-the-andes-and-himalaya-with-music">Bridging the Andes and Himalaya with music</a>, Sewa Bhattarai  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023090904090_2e7c9aaa46a15aa3b42283fe255a3fd9dd6a13b51df7b78f8819e5882e652c21.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2023090904090_2e7c9aaa46a15aa3b42283fe255a3fd9dd6a13b51df7b78f8819e5882e652c21" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="2667" loading="lazy" alt="Page 5"> </figure>  “The song talks about the mountains protecting our most precious possessions, priceless things which we cannot buy with money,” explains Pasang. Sherpas, who know their mountains better than most outsiders, regard them as symbols of purity, greatness, and mystery. These metaphors can be found in much of South Asian literature and religious scriptures like the Rig Veda which regard the icy summits as the abode of the gods. Another song of the Sherpa links the mountains with spirituality and spiritual practices. Another song created by the revered religious leader Thuchi Nyima Rinpoche goes: There is a peak called Kelung Domirila in Tibet It is powerful and sacred We must make many prayer wheels there “Prayer wheels are very important in our religious practice. However, the song does not talk about prayer wheels literally, it implies that we must do good deeds and practice our religion,” explains Pasang. “This song is sung on auspicious occasions and gives a good message.” Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-last-of-the-kusunda">The last of the Kusunda</a>, Sewa Bhattarai With modernisation, global travel, tourism and monetary upliftment of the Sherpa people, many songs and traditional practices are also in danger of being lost. “Our children are more familiar with English songs and discos, so we made an effort to teach these sacred songs to them,” says Rinjin, who helps with Sherpa culture classes once a week.&nbsp; Activists have also set up the Himalayan Sherpa Cultural Centre to teach the new generation about different types of Sherpa songs, among other activities. There are many songs in Sherpa culture, sung on different occasions and in various settings. ‘Lu’ means song, and there are songs of sorrow (Kyo-lu), songs for weddings (Janti-lu), courtship songs (Ja-lu). Shyabru-lu are sung while dancing around in a circle.&nbsp; Pasang adds: “Until now, we have educated more than a thousand children about these songs, and taught them to sing and dance the old way.” &nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/still-dancing-and-singing-for-nepal-revolution">Still dancing and singing for Nepal revolution</a>, Sewa Bhattarai Sewa Bhattarai is a freelance journalist. Her series, On The Margins, &nbsp;focuses on folk music, folklore, and mythology of Nepal's diverse communities.

Sewa Bhattarai

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Songs from Chomolungma

<div class="embed-block"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150232/63fe11059c7e80680e0da4bfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">Tsering Dorje Sherpa draws milk from his cow one early morning in Gautala. One of his sons, Phurtemba, was killed in an avalance on Mt Everest in 2014. All Photos: MONIKA DEUPALA</div> The rooster starts crowing even before the craggy horizon to the east is silhouetted by a new dawn. The forested flanks of this isolated Himalayan hamlet emerges from the darkness. Wisps of blue smoke waft up from gaps in the corrugated roofs of houses, and there is a clatter of buckets as the villagers walk, coughing, to milk their cows. The frost on the grass shines briefly, to melt as the suns peers up from behind the ridgeline. This is the little Sherpa village of Gautala in eastern Nepal. Its 14 households are composed mainly of elderly men and women. Most of the young men are high altitude guides, and are away preparing for the spring mountaineering expeditions on various Himalayan peaks. Karchung Futi Sherpa, 64, takes off her gumboots and starts to prepare a breakfast of tsampa porridge. But before that, she lights a butter lamp in front of a photo of the Guru Rinpoche and bows to pray. In the kitchen, the kettle is steaming and she pours the water to make suchya, the fortifying salty butter tea, for her husband, Tsering Dorje Sherpa, who walks in with a bucketful of milk. They plan on making sarkam, cottage cheese from the milk later in the day. <div class="embed-block"><div><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="//cdn.iframe.ly/api/iframe?url=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2F12v7CZHJEEE&key=87ca3314a9fa775b5c3a7726100694b0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer *; clipboard-write *; encrypted-media *; gyroscope *; picture-in-picture *; web-share *;"></iframe></div></div></div> The two are alone. There is only a cat sitting under a sun beam slanting in through the window, licking its paw. Karchung Futi and Tsering Dorje are one of the few people left in Gautala. Most of the houses here are locked up, with only grandparents like them remaining. There is no sound of children in the village, they are all away at schools in the city with their mothers, while their fathers are on expeditions. The only primary school in the area is closed, and the building now houses the rural municipality office. The nearest school is two hours away, the local health post only has a nurse. The district capital of Khandbari is a 5-hour lurching jeep ride away. Unlike the Khumbu, Gautala is too remote to benefit from tourism income. <div class="embed-block"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150232/63fe11089c7e80680e0da4c0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">The prayers stone memorial dedicated to Phurtemba Sherpa, who was killed in an avalanche on the Khumbu Icefall in 2014.</div> At 85, Tsering Dorje’s father is the oldest man in the village, and had to be evacuated by helicopter last year for hospital treatment for asthma. He could only afford it because his grandson has a seasonal job with mountaineering expeditions. But the same occupation has also brought tragedy to most families in Gautala. Phurtemba, one of Tsering Dorje’s sons was only 27 when he was killed in the avalanche on the Khumbu Icefall in 2014. He had climbed Mt Everest ten times, and also summited Manaslu, Kangchenjunga and Ama Dablam. When Tsering Dorje heard the news, he rushed to Kathmandu, and was in such shock that he has only a faint memory of the helicopter &nbsp;bringing his son in a body bag. Now, he and his wife fear for their eldest son who is preparing for another expedition this spring. Almost every house in this village has at least one family member involved in mountaineering or trekking. And each of them has someone who has died on the job. <div class="embed-block"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150232/63fe110c9c7e80680e0da4c1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">Now a traditional healer, Mingma Tashi used to be a trekking guide in his younger days, but after his son died in the Khumbi Ice Fall in 2019, he no longer wants to hear of the mountaineering business.</div> Mingma Tashi Sherpa, 63, recalls the last phone call he had with one of his two sons Pemba when he called from Everest Base Camp after summiting in 2019. “Pala, I just got back down, but I have to go up again guiding another group. I will call in four days when I return to Base Camp,” Mingma Tashi remembers his son telling him. At 28, Pemba Tashi had already climbed Mt Everest three times, been on top of Lhotse and Manaslu and Himlung. But on the second ascent, he fell in the Khumbu Ice Fall, and his body was flown to Gautala for cremation two days later. “I still cannot control my tears,” says Mingma Tashi, wiping his cheek. “It feels like just yesterday we were talking on the phone. But he is gone.” Mingma Tashi himself used to be a trekking guide in his younger days, and is now an amchi traditional healer. “But I cannot find a treatment for my deep pain inside,” he says, eyes downcast. His son was a source not just of pride, but also status and money. He does not want to hear any more about the mountaineering business. “The mountains might have given us good money, but nothing is greater than life. Can money buy life?” he asks. Mingma Tashi and his wife, Dolma, have a few cows and a small vegetable patch. Their elder son makes occasional visits. The daughters live in Kathmandu, and want the parents to move to the city. But the elderly couple do not like the noise and pollution there. <div class="embed-block"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150232/63fe11109c7e80680e0da4c2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">Gautala's 14 households are composed mainly of elderly men and women. Most of the young men are high altitude guides, and are away preparing for the spring mountaineering expeditions on various Himalayan peaks.</div> Tse Chi Bhute, 63, and Pasang Tharke Sherpa, 54, live in one of the houses above the village. The couple has five children who are well-settled in Kathmandu. Some are married and others are with expeditions. Their younger son broke his leg last year after he fell into a crevasse below Mt Everest. “I fainted after I got the news. I heard the choppers were trying to rescue him but failed multiple times. I calmed down a bit after I heard that he was airlifted to hospital,” says his mother Pasang Tharke. After two surgeries in Kathmandu, the son can now walk on his own and tells his parents in video chats that he wants to be back in the mountains as soon as he is able to – a prospect that terrifies his mother. One of the couple’s daughters works in Korea, and they sold their cows to buy a ticket to fly there to stay with her for two years. But they felt miserable, and returned. “We like the air and water here, we may go for short visits to Kathmandu or abroad, but we always return,” Pasang Tharke says. “And thanks to mobile phones we can be in touch with our children.” <div class="embed-block"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150232/63fe11149c7e80680e0da4c3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">Nima Sherpa poses in traditional attire. Her husband and children live in Kathmandu, she has stayed behind to care for her yaks.</div> Nima Sherpa also lives alone, taking care of the family livestock. Her husband Mingma Tenzi Sherpa is a famous climber and he lives in Kathmandu with their daughter and son. She chose to stay back because someone had to take care of the in-laws and the yaks. Nima is happy the children are attending good schools in Kathmandu, but misses them terribly. And she prays every climbing season for her husband’s health and safe return. “I have asked my husband multiple times to leave the mountaineering job, but he says he will stop when he turns 60,” Nima says. “These days he has proper gear and training, so I am not as worried as before.” It has been only 70 years since people from Khumbu migrated and settled in Gautala because of its better climate and possibility of farming. Ang Norbu Sherpa remembers how he tagged along with his father and brothers from the nearest village of Dobatak to Gautala when he was a teenager. “Our grandparents cleared the forest and settled here to raise sheep, cows, yaks, and dzo. They made a living selling the wool down the valley,” Ang Norbu says. <div class="embed-block"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150232/63fe11179c7e80680e0da4c4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">Villagers gather for a meeting about an upcoming hydropower plant. Mountain Dew is the beverage for special occassions like this.</div> Riku Dorje Sherpa is said to be the first person from Gautala to become a mountaineering guide, but he was killed in 1991 after climbing Kanchenjunga. His body was never found. His brother Prem Lakpa Sherpa is now 55, and he stopped climbing after he broke his arm during an expedition. On the way to Dobatak there is a memorial mane wall with Buddhist mantra dedicated to Riku Dorje. As dusk fell, Nimfuti Sherpa, 24, called out to her cattle grazing on the slopes above the village. A dzo and a cows hear her, and clamber down to the shed. Her mother helps set up the cowshed for the night. While many young people have left the village for better opportunities, Nimfuti has stayed, serving also as an auxiliary health worker in Gautala. “I really like it here, the air is pure, and I like living with my family, taking care of them and helping with their daily chores,” says Nimfuti, adding that her mother was also a health volunteer, and was her inspiration. <div class="embed-block"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150232/63fe111c9c7e80680e0da4c5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">While many young people have left the village for better opportunities, Nimfuti Sherpa has stayed, serving also as an auxiliary health worker in Gautala.</div> “I grew up watching my mother on home visits and make the sick better with medicines,” she recalls. “I am happy to follow in her footsteps, treat patients, or refer them to Khandbari Hospital if they are in a more serious condition.” Nimfuti now hopes to turn her temporary job into a permanent one, for which she has been preparing for exams. For her, the village has been a communal space that she never found in any other part of the country. She dreams of working for her village and her family. Her father Furtemba Sherpa, 51, has also dedicated his life to the village. He lost his brother and father in a mountaineering &nbsp;accident, after that he quit his own expedition job and settled in Gautala with the family. He is helping Gautala build its own hydropower plant for electricity, and gets help to build and maintain trails and bridges. “My job may not seem important or earn lots of money, but it is important for us younger people in the village to take such responsibilities,” he says, smiling.

Monika Deupala

Village of the climbers

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

Turkish Basketball

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

America no longer prime destination for Nepali students

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

The Everest Industry

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

sherpa-community

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Village of the climbers

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America no longer prime destination for Nepali students

The Everest Industry

Everest summiteers find new life in the US