<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161120/636922949c7e80680e03a137jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1050"/><figcaption>PICS: RESPONSIBLE ADVENTURES</figcaption></figure>Widespread international coverage of an <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Insurance,361" target="_blank" rel="noopener">insurance scam</a> in Nepal that involves some helicopter companies, private hospitals and trekking agencies has hurt the country’s image abroad, and impacted an industry just recovering from the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2015/05/27/a-month-that-felt-like-a-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2015 earthquake</a>.Nepal’s government, in responding to an AFP exposé of malpractice earlier this year, may have made things worse with a slapdash report that accuses everyone of being in on the scam.There is evidence that some trek organisers, hospitals and helicopter companies in Nepal connived to create fake medevacs of trekkers, or sometimes deliberately made hikers sick, so that they could collect and share insurance compensation.Insurance watchdog <a href="https://www.travellerassist.co/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Traveller Assist</a> claimed its own investigations showed that 35% of the 1,600 helicopter rescues in Nepal this year were fraudulent, costing up to $4 million. The company said it had intercepted and stopped 160 of the claims. The cost was serious enough for some international travel insurers to give the Nepal government till September to do something about it.Reacting to the ultimatum, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation formed a fact-finding committee last month to investigate how insurance companies had been defrauded with fake medical bills and fake rescues, with kickbacks sometimes being shared with trekkers who pretended to be sick.Only four pages of the aforementioned report were leaked to the media, naming 13 companies allegedly involved in the scam, including three helicopter operators, four hospitals and eight trekking agencies. It went so far as to make the impractical suggestion that only the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-army-inc/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal Army</a> conduct helicopter mountain rescues.“The investigation itself needs to be investigated, the findings were as fake as the scams that were probed,” stated Rajendra Bahadur Singh of the Airline Operators Association of Nepal. He added that airlines were never asked about the questionnaires they filled out or data provided about their rescues. “What kind of investigation was this, without any follow up, only conclusions based on assumptions?” Singh asked.There is speculation the investigation was conducted to target selected companies while letting the real <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19147#.W6N5TM4zbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">culprits off the hook</a>. A trekking company founder Nepali Times spoke with feared the process had tarnished companies which are not after kickbacks as guilty, while influential people with political protection would walk free.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161120/636922979c7e80680e03a138jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="851">Ethical trekking outfits, transparently-run hospitals and helicopter companies that follow rules appear to have all been lumped together with the fraudsters.“The rot goes right to the top, so they will make a few examples of the small fries, while the big fish will keep doing what they were doing,” the source said.One of the hospitals named in the committee report is <a href="http://ciwec-clinic.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CIWEC Hospital</a> which mainly treats expats and tourists in its clinics in Kathmandu and Pokhara. Medical director Prativa Pandey hosted a media briefing recently to clarify her hospital’s stand.“All we have done is take care of patients who come to us or who are sent to us by insurance companies, Nepal should be proud of its helicopter rescue pilots who put their own lives at risk to save lives,” Pandey said.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161120/636922999c7e80680e03a139jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="519">Pilots and their machines are working at their performance extremes in the topography and high altitude of the Himalaya. Last week, Capt Nischal KC, a veteran of many daring mountain rescues, was killed with five others when his chopper hit a forested mountainside in Nuwakot.Pandey said the report has implicated parties, sullying hospitals like hers, with the mainstream media labelling everyone guilty without due process. Releasing only parts of the report, implicating certain companies and hospitals and not being consistent with facts, was a trial by media “based on assumptions and predjudice”.Rajendra Bahadur Singh, also managing director of <a href="http://mtnhelicopters.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mountain Helicopters</a>, agrees: “Those companies listed in the report have had their names tainted, who will take the blame and compensate them?”The negative publicity has already led to some cancellations by trekking groups booked for the autumn season.It is not just the companies but Nepal’s international image that has been smeared. Trekking agencies in Pokhara say they have been getting cancellations from groups already booked for the autumn season.<h4>How to commit insurance fraud</h4><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161120/6369229c9c7e80680e03a13ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1050">More than 10% of the 900,000 visitors to Nepal last year went <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/business/trekking-in-nepal-booming-but-face-stiff-competition-from-underpricing-and-road-network,1703" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trekking</a>. With such a large number on the move, altitude sickness, infections and accidental falls are frequent. Since <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/trekking-trails-not-as-empty-as-expected,2676" target="_blank" rel="noopener">trekking routes</a> are usually remote, hikers in genuine emergencies are evacuated by helicopters to Kathmandu. Nepal has an advanced rescue network.Most rescued trekkers are really sick. But it is often difficult to determine whether hikers suffering from Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) will get better by descending or if they need to be medevaced. Since there is room to fudge it, greed and competition has brought together some private helicopter companies and hospitals to cheat with false claims.In 1989, there were 75 rescues per 100,000 trekking permits. By 2000 the number had soared to 373 per 100,000. In the past year, there were 3,000 rescues per 100,000 trekkers. (See graph)“From a medical point of view, the most challenging aspect of helicopter rescues is confirming the need for rescue after the person is back in Kathmandu … the rescue may have been totally legitimate, and yet the patient may have improved dramatically since the moment the rescue was requested,” wrote Prativa Pandey in 2013, in a prescient article for for the Himalayan Rescue Association magazine.“Financial reward for requesting a helicopter rescue could certainly be an added incentive.”Pandey is a physician at CIWEC, which treats many sick tourists, and says the threshold for heli-evacuation has decreased substantially since domestic aviation was commercialised. Before 1990, all rescues were performed by Royal Nepal Army.Studies have shown that there has not been an increase in the proportion of trekkers suffering from AMS, but the numbers of rescues of trekkers with altitude sickeness has soared. Most symptoms can be alleviated by descent, while more serious pulmonary or cerebral oedema require emergency rescue.However, a Nepali Times investigation showed that there are trek leaders who insist on a chopper rescue at the slightest complaint of headache or nausea. Some helicopter companies are partly owned by private hospitals in Kathmandu, and the fake <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/insurance-post-earthquake,2646" target="_blank" rel="noopener">insurance </a>claims are shared, and kickbacks offered.One trekking agent who helicoptered a genuinely sick client from Khumbu to a well-known private hospital in Kathmandu last year was taken aside and offered an envelope containing Rs150,000 in cash – he was told it was his ‘commission’ for bringing the patient.This spring, a trekking group leader on Island Peak ordered a helicopter from Kathmandu to evacuate a sick trekker. The pilot brought along 10kg of unsolicited chicken as goodwill payment for the rescue. Trekking groups say such ‘bribes’ are standard operating procedure.There are horror stories about some trekking guides deliberately making clients sick by contaminating their food. But there are also lazy trekkers who do not want to walk back, so pretend to be sick and are helicoptered out with the active connivance of their agency. Stiff competition, undercutting in the tourism business, and the slim margins for helicopter companies, has made insurance scams too tempting for some to resist.Private hospitals offering kickbacks to helicopter companies is just an extension of their standard practice of paying ambulance drivers who bring patients to the emergency.There have been many heroic rescues in the Nepal Himalaya. Airlines have invested in high performance helicopters that can make rescues up to 6,500m. Many hikers and mountaineers would have died if the option were not there. During the 2015 earthquake, 140 climbers were rescued from above the Khumbu Icefall on Mt Everest. In 2010 three Spaniards were winched up by long-line at 6,950m on Annapurna IV.Such necessary rescues are now in jeopardy because of a few unscrupulous operators. The government, which should regulate the business, has botched its investigation by implicating everyone, but punishing no one.<h4>Frequent fliers</h4>Here are some ways unnecessary helicopter rescues are organised for fake insurance claims:1 Trekkers too lazy to walk back the same way down pretend to be sick, and with active connivance of their trekking agency, order a helicopter ‘rescue’.2 Trekkers with mild symptoms of altitude sickness are persuaded or pressured to be choppered out to Kathmandu.3 Unscrupulous trekking groups contaminate food, or force group to climb faster than recommended so they get sick.4 Hospitals offer kickbacks to trekking groups and lodges which fly patients to them. Some hospitals own shares in helicopter companies and vice-versa.5 Overcharging for helicopter rescues.6 Hospitals ordering unnecessary tests so billing is heftier.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kleptocrats-of-kathmandu-and-kualalampur/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kleptocrats of Kathmandu and Kuala Lumpur</a><a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19077#.W6N5yM4zbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rescue in the Himalaya</a><h2>Reader's response</h2>Allow me to add some information to readers about the development of unnecessary rescues in Nepal.When climbing near Langtang in 1976, the lack of dependable communication required the support team to be able to physically carry someone out (or, at least, to a lower altitude) rather than waiting too many days for a helicopter to come. The required extra level of self preparedness was not guaranteed, as it meant more expenses and many groups were unwilling or unable to do that.Even in 1981, while instructing at the Nepal Mountaineering School in Manang, a severely ill trekker whom we accidentally stumbled across,necessitated my borrowing the Pradhan Panch’s horse to ride in haste to Humde Airstrip, where the Police Post havildar had to pedal on an‘exercise cycle’ to power the telegraph and request heli-aid from Kathmandu and, somehow to guarantee payment from a dying patient (I covered that with assistance of my colleagues). The flight, with weatherissues, happened only 4 days later. It was, literally, borderline survival for the trekker.As from the mid 1990s, heli-rescues began to be shared by the military with private operators and new helicopters were enabled to go to higher altitudes. This period inchoated a gradual change in high altitude rescues. Like the advent of the cross-country ski patrol in Canada, many users of the hills now felt it less necessary to be as prepared as before, as rescues were relatively easy to obtain. Rescue flight insurance was now de rigeur and, as with most policies and regulations in any country or company, some people devise ways to circumvent and misuse facilities and services.From my experience of having been on 12 climbs in Nepal, plus years of work in high altitude regions, the reasons noted in the article are all correct. Naturally some aspect could happen only with certain individuals or companies; but, by and large, all the possibilities on the cyclicalpicture have been or can be present.In one of my consultancies, with the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation in 1994, I had been requested to look into and report on the establishment of a comprehensive rescue/medical system in tourist areas. One of my recommendations at that time was improved and mandatory training for local guides, monitoring of credentials of foreign leaders, clarity on the decision-making process when there is both a local as well as an expatriate leader. And ethics must be an element of any training with the tourism industry.-Ivan Somlai

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Heli rescue fraud tarnishes Nepal’s image

<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/waiting-for-bipin-joshi" target="_blank">Nepali student Bipin Joshi</a>, who was taken captive by Hamas on 7 October 2023, was not on the list of those freed following the end of the bombardment and fighting in Gaza.&nbsp; On Monday morning, the Israeli military notified Bipin's family and Nepal’s ambassador to Israel Dhan Prasad Pandit, that there is no evidence of him still being alive. However, Nepal's Foreign Ministry is yet to be notified by Israel's government of Bipin's status. The news came three days after a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect, and hostage and prisoner exchanges by the two sides started Monday morning.&nbsp; Almost 2,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisions are expected to be released by Israel in exchange for the hostages during the next phase of the peace deal between the two parties, and the bodies of deceased hostages remaining in Gaza are also expected to be returned.&nbsp; Bipin Joshi was among a group of Nepalis who had arrived in Israel in 2023 just weeks before 7 October 2023 as part of a ‘learn and earn’ program to work and earn in kibbutz farms there.&nbsp; Along with other students Joshi had been working on a farm in Kibbutz Alumim in southern Israel near Gaza. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/war-in-israel-earthquake-and-grief-in-nepal">Ten Nepali students were killed </a>while taking cover in shelters near their farms in two separate attacks by Hamas fighters.&nbsp; Joshi’s colleagues, fellow Nepalis who survived the attack, recall gunmen lobbing two grenades into the bunker that they had taken cover in. Bipin hurled one of the grenades out, they say, but the other one exploded, killing and injuring Nepalis inside. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Shortly after, Bipin was captured by Hamas along with a Thai national and led away into Gaza. CCTV footage showed Bipin alive and at a hospital in Gaza on the day of the attack itself after he was taken hostage.&nbsp; Thirty-one Thai citizens, who like Nepalis worked in farms in Israel, were taken hostage during the Hamas attack, the highest number of foreign captives in October 2023.&nbsp; <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/deft-diplomacy-freed-thai-hostages">Deft Thai diplomatic engagement</a> with officials from Iran, Egypt, and Qatar brought about the release of 23 of its nationals in 2023. Five more Thai nationals were released earlier this year.&nbsp; In August, Joshi’s family visited Israel at the invitation of the government and urged the international community to push for his return. Bipin’s mother Padma and sister Pushpa have been at the United Nations to lobby for his release.&nbsp; His family last week also released a video clip of Bipin briefly speaking on camera, reportedly obtained by Israel and said to be filmed in November 2023, around a month after he was taken captive. Joshi looks healthy in that video.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251013091028_d551c7f88204c52217152fb5db655bb5a5f8bf2cff1e6a055326ebf64453ff9f.png" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20251013091028_d551c7f88204c52217152fb5db655bb5a5f8bf2cff1e6a055326ebf64453ff9f" data-rendition-name="original" width="2848" height="1528" loading="lazy" alt="Bipin Joshi NT"> </figure>  More than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed during the last two years of the genocide in Gaza. About 1,200 people were killed during the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023, while more than 251, including Bipin Joshi, were taken as captives.&nbsp; This is the third ceasefire implemented in Gaza since 7 October 2023 after previous ones in November 2023 and January 2025. This 20-point deal facilitated by intermediaries US, Qatar, Turkey, and Egypt included terms for Hamas to give up its arms, and for a devastated Gaza to be governed by a Palestinian body of independent technocrats, while Israeli troops will withdraw in stages from Gaza.&nbsp; Hamas has agreed to relinquish control of Gaza, but has rejected the demand for disarmament, saying the group will demobilise but is prepared to resume fighting if Israel breaches the ceasefire.&nbsp; Following the ceasefire, Palestinians in Gaza have begun long journeys back to homes reduced to rubble by Israel’s two-year assault on the strip. The flow of humanitarian aid in the city has also increased following the peace deal.&nbsp; Israel's closure of humanitarian corridors in the past months had blocked the entry of food and medicine into Gaza, causing widespread famine. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has said that the restriction of aid into the beseiged city has left as many as <a href="https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/news-releases/gaza-unrwa%E2%80%99s-lancet-study-reveals-alarming-surge-child-malnutrition">54,600 children acutely malnourished</a>.&nbsp; Meanwhile, US president Donald Trump landed in Israel on Monday as hostages were being released, and world leaders are expected to head to Egypt for an international summit to discuss the next steps in Gaza, Israel, and West Asia.&nbsp;

Nepali hostage in Gaza not alive: Israel

Already trying to balance youth demands with legal provisions in the Constitution, Prime Minister Sushila Karki’s interim government faced yet another challenge over Dasain: a receding monsoon dumped unseasonal rain unleashing floods and landslides that killed at least 60, mostly in eastern Nepal.&nbsp; The government was rated positively for its early warning and the ‘visibility’ of its disaster response, with many comparing it to the inaction of the NC-UML coalition during last year’s floods.&nbsp; Government agencies and police proactively closed off hazardous sections of highways as Kathmandu was marooned from the rest of the country in the peak holiday season. Stranded passengers were taken care of, with police, army and local governments in Ilam coordinating rescue and relief efforts. Many of the problems were structural and inherited from decades of neglect and corruption in highway contracts. Shoddy bridges and encroachment of settlements along river banks have increased risk from more frequent extreme weather caused by climate breakdown. With Dasain over Tihar around the corner and the worst of the disaster behind, the Karki administration is trying to balance the separate demands of GenZ movers and shakers who installed her in office with constitutional provisions. It has not helped that the badly-mauled political parties are spoiling for a fight, and the three top leaders show little signs of stepping down. “Nepal’s movement did not happen in a democratic vacuum, so this government walks a very fine line in political legitimacy," says Bidushi Dhungel of the National Democratic Institute in Nepal. "In this fragile space, whatever the work done — or not done— by the interim government within its limited mandate, it may open up avenues for further dissent from old and new actors. They are &nbsp;caught between a rock and a hard place.” Civil society activists issued a statement on Wednesday calling on the main political parties to heed the writing on the wall and reform themselves. Signed by professor Krishna Khanal and former ambassador Keshab Mathema, the statement said: 'The main leaders of the main parties should say sorry, and voluntarily resign ... they must respect public sentiments and work to reform and transform their parties to be more accountable to the public, or risk being irrelevant.'&nbsp; Complicating matters further are the sometimes contradictory demands of various GenZ factions on punishing those responsible for the carnage and rampage of 8-9 September, Constitution and elections. Karki faces calls to immediately detain former PM KP Oli and Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak for their involvement in the massacre outside Parliament. Under pressure from GenZ delegates, Home Minister Om Aryal fired off a letter to the police to arrest Oli and Lekhak. But later at a confrontational midnight meeting at the prime minister’s residence in Baluwatar, all four security chiefs advised Karki that arresting the UML and NC ex-ministers could unleash violent confrontation on the streets. The interim government is in a bind. It has formed a committee headed by Gauri Bahadur Karki to investigate the killings last month as well as the arson and vandalism that followed. The question is: should it wait for the committee to submit its report before punishing perpetrators, or let police arrest those who can easily be identified in social media posts setting fire to Singha Darbar, the Supreme Court and other sites.&nbsp; GenZ’s Sudan Gurung faction has gone beyond its original demand to submit an 8-point ultimatum that includes the sacking of the Chief Justice and officials of the anti-corruption bureau.&nbsp; The Prime Minister is caught in the crossfire between managing the expectations of a movement that appointed her, and working within the framework of her interim government’s mandate and Constitution. But it is not just the government that faces challenges. The lack of clear consensus among youth factions and their outspoken collectives is surfacing.&nbsp; &nbsp;“This has been a leaderless and decentralised movement, and the traditional variables typically seen in a political revolt seem missing here," notes political scientist Sucheta Pyakuryal. “There is no organised structure, nor any ideological pull factor, therefore a big question is how much bargaining power does a movement like this have, and how sustainable will it be.” GenZ leaders seem to be in two main camps. Demands like the one for a directly elected prime minister, and the constitutional processes that can make for such an outcome, have emerged as a major point dividing the movement.&nbsp; Nepalis both within and outside the youth movement are watching Hami Nepal’s Sudan Gurung closely — especially after his recent interview with Al-Jazeera during which he expressed his interest to run for Prime Minister and seemed to not accept a win by political parties in the March elections.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251009201044_fcba7e92bb9a8812fd0ad4e9770d6f4d4189972de5229f91e9a832a26e388901.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20251009201044_fcba7e92bb9a8812fd0ad4e9770d6f4d4189972de5229f91e9a832a26e388901" data-rendition-name="original" width="2916" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="One month on NT"> <figcaption>GROUND ZERO: The destroyed centre of Nepal's government with Singha Darbar (in green scaffolding), the Attorney General's Office, Supreme Court, and in the distance, Parliament building. Also seen are the nearly finished new Parliament Complex and the new Supreme Court buildings. Drone shot taken on Thursday morning. Photo: SUMAN NEPALI</figcaption> </figure>  Gurung’s participation in the NDRRMA’s disaster management meeting and manner of his interaction with officials at the event was met with both bouquets and brickbats. Interestingly, some of the criticism was youth activists themselves. &nbsp;“There's a lot of self-involvement and self-importance that seems to be guiding a fragmented young leadership, as opposed to constructively engaging in how to concretise reforms,” says Dhungel. “There seems to be very little stocktaking of what's happened in the past, and what's happened in other countries to try identify where lapses could be before they occur."&nbsp; In the absence of unified positions and level-headed leadership, the youth who spearheaded post-protest negotiations, as well as the GenZ movement in general, risk losing public goodwill already dented by the destruction of state property on 9 September. This also leaves an opening for political parties which are on the defensive and licking their wounds to capitalise on youth discord.&nbsp; Says Pyakuryal: “Post revolution, the political landscape becomes extremely unpredictable and therefore there is a risk of co-optation from several Machiavellian political actors including political parties, monarchists, as well as other forces, and that is concerning.” The immediate and visible transformation that Nepal’s youth expect will not manifest right away, and while there is a need for long-term political planning, the caretaker government must also undertake measures that have a palpable impact on the daily life of citizens. &nbsp;&nbsp; “While youth frustrations must be addressed urgently, statecraft isn’t just about fulfilling short-term goals,”says Pyakuryal. &nbsp; Many, including the youth themselves, now see the need for GenZ to have a more united stance and to move beyond making demands that the interim government cannot fulfil and start mobilising for elections — even by forming its own party.&nbsp; A strong showing in elections can enable them to enact the changes they want to strengthen Nepal’s democracy, and make future governments more accountable.&nbsp; This week, the Election Commission announced 16 November as the deadline to register new parties for the 5 March polls.&nbsp; Youth representatives have said that they want to be active participants in the political process, particularly in national-level politics. The Constitution defines ‘youth’ as being between the ages of 16-40. In the 2022 elections, the Election Commission stated that over 41% of locally-elected representatives were from ages 21-40 years.&nbsp; If young Nepalis are to contest the election outside the banner of mainstream parties, this leaves electoral aspirants little more than a month to decide whether to form a loose coalition with existing parties, a separate political party, or to contest elections independently. “This is first of a kind movement, where political language is digital, not ideological, where organising is done through online platforms and where there is no one leader spearheading the movement,”says Pyakuryal. “I don’t know if ‘anti-corruption’ or ‘political reform’ have a strong enough ideological pull to band people together in the long run.” Indeed, the RSP was formed only four months before the 2022 elections and cashed in on anti-incumbent and anti-corruption sentiments of voters — mainly driven by social media. But controversy and strife within their party means it has largely lost its public trust.&nbsp; Nepal’s September Uprising and its aftermath have shown that a majority of young people are entirely disillusioned with establishment parties and politicians, even using ‘ex-political parties’ as a phrase of reference. Any new young political figures that emerge from this movement and this election will have to work with mainstream parties in a multiparty democracy.&nbsp; &nbsp;“The reality of politics is that change is not possible without engaging with existing political institutions and actors,” says Dhungel. “To say that they do not want to engage, negotiate, or identify allies or proactively seek out input from at least the reform-minded individuals within each of those outfits is political naivety, and may lead to a lack of institutionalised reform.” However, Dhungel notes that the youth leadership would have more agency if they are clear not just on what they want to change, but about whether they are interested in active politics or civic engagement. “The window of opportunity that is fast closing is to really negotiate hard and push for internal reforms within political parties and across the electoral system,” she adds. Pyakurel also adds: “GenZ are smart and politically mature, I hope they see these loopholes. I am optimistic about the direction they take.”

One month on

Scenic Phortse in the lap of Mt Everest is called ‘the village of mountaineers’ because just about every household has someone who has summited the world’s highest mountain multiple times. However, while the international mountaineers they assist to make it to the top go on to fame and glory, their Sherpa guides from Phortse <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/without-sherpas-there-is-no-mountaineering" target="_blank">barely get a mention</a>. It is a risky occupation for Nepal’s high altitude guides, and every other family in this village has lost a member in Himalayan expeditions. Sherpa guides are <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/on-mt-everest-s-70th-records-and-fatalities" target="_blank">disproportionately more at risk </a>on Mt Everest because they have to traverse the Khumbu Icefall many times during an expedition. One third of the over 300 climbers who have died climbing Mt Everest are Nepali high altitude guides and porters. In 2014, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/everest-dangerous-place-to-work,1316" target="_blank">16 guides were killed</a> when an avalanche fell on them while going up the treacherous Icefall carrying expedition gear. Then in 2015, the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/big-drops-in-Everest-bookings-affect-livelihoods-of-Nepali-high-altitude-guides,2048" target="_blank">earthquake triggered a massive avalanche</a> that killed 22 climbers at Base Camp. Many of the fatalities in both years were Sherpa guides from Phortse. Despite the danger, Phortse honours and celebrates its climbers like heroes. One such is the late &nbsp;Nima Tshiring Sherpa, who was a porter and guide in the 1953 John Hunt expedition in which Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first to set foot on the world’s highest summit.&nbsp; Nima Tshiring and his eldest son Pasang Gyalzen both reached 8,000m carrying expedition gear for the Hunt expedition in 1953. Nima Tshiring had eight sons and a daughter and although he never submitted himself, most of them have climbed Mt Everest at least once. In fact, his children and grandchildren have been to the top of Mt Everest a total of 81 times — a record for any family in Nepal.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251011171048_a55e45bee2b5bbf38e4ee5bcea101edcc3041f40e331b8fee44e473457f42553.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20251011171048_a55e45bee2b5bbf38e4ee5bcea101edcc3041f40e331b8fee44e473457f42553" data-rendition-name="original" width="2144" height="1436" loading="lazy" alt="Sherpa climbers"> <figcaption>Nima Tshiring Sherpa with wife and children in Phortse. An unanmed Everest climber on right.</figcaption> </figure>  “We were born in Phortse which is in the lap of Everest, our identity is Chomolungma,” says one of his sons, Panuru, using the Sherpa name for the mountain. “In fact, I feel our entire family was born to climb Everest.”&nbsp; Phortse has a population of 350 people living in 95 households. Besides Nima Tshiring’s clan, more than 75 of the inhabitants have climbed Everest, many of them multiple times.&nbsp; Another one of Nima Tshiring’s sons, Ngawang climbed Everest 11 times, his brother Mingma Dorje has summited 14 times, and another brother Ngati not only got to the top seven times, but was the first climber to reach the peak from the Chinese side and descend down the Nepal part of Mt Everest. Ngati was killed in an avalanche on Annapurna while climbing with an American expedition in 1993.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251011171044_60693527b31aba22fe6f6c233cf367a3683b88be8dc2a53bfb5c2c02b2db1e5b.png" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20251011171044_60693527b31aba22fe6f6c233cf367a3683b88be8dc2a53bfb5c2c02b2db1e5b" data-rendition-name="original" width="2242" height="1660" loading="lazy" alt="Sherpa climbers"> <figcaption>Mingma Dorje has climbed Everest 14 times.</figcaption> </figure>  Panuru himself has reached the summit of Everest 16 times, and set up the<a href="https://www.khumbuclimbingcenter.com/" target="_blank"> Khumbu Climbing Centre</a> in 2003 to train others in climbing techniques. Following in his footsteps was another brother Mingma Tshiring, who has been up 15 times and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/sherpaland-co-usa" target="_blank">now lives in Colorado</a>.&nbsp; Nima Tshiring’s only daughter Mingma Yanjin has also climbed Cho Oyu, Ama Dablam and other &nbsp;Himalayan mountains. Her husband Lhakpa Chiri Sherpa has climbed Everest 11 times. Counting him, the total summits for the family would be 92. This number also does not include other Himalayan eight-thousanders besides Mt Everest that the family from Phortse has summited. Nima Tsiring’s youngest son is Danuru who has climbed Everest 16 times, and has been on top of North American peaks from his base in Colorado. He is giving Everest yet another try.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251011171048_cd3e2961567ca507fc4110c97e01d85ee1c7e35f787276564ff59a4a76151fe2.png" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20251011171048_cd3e2961567ca507fc4110c97e01d85ee1c7e35f787276564ff59a4a76151fe2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1308" height="980" loading="lazy" alt="Sherpa climbers"> <figcaption>Nima Tshiring Sherpa and his son Danuru.</figcaption> </figure>  Even his grandchildren are following Nima Tshiring’s footsteps up Everest. Panuru’s son Lhakpa has climbed Everest from both sides and wants to break previous Everest records.&nbsp; “It is a dangerous occupation, but the rewards in terms of fame and money are substantial,” says Danuru. “One season’s income is enough for a Phortse climber to support his family for a year. And we have Chomolungma to be thankful for.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251011171048_d1f16e3925890663cadf3e20d955a531f21c479708f662df371fad3fdb87cf7a.png" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20251011171048_d1f16e3925890663cadf3e20d955a531f21c479708f662df371fad3fdb87cf7a" data-rendition-name="original" width="760" height="1040" loading="lazy" alt="Sherpa climbers"> <figcaption>Mingma Chhiring Sherpa who has climbed the Everest 16 times with a client.</figcaption> </figure>

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