Everest 2013: Weekend Update May 5, Deaths and Fights

The mountain condition is not too bad this year, try the same cannot be said for the human condition.

Sadly, ed this weekend’s update starts with the report of two deaths. DaRita Sherpa and a death on the north side at Advanced Base Camp. No further details are available on the north side fatality at this time but it is confirmed.

This is the second death of a Sherpa this season, the first being Mingma Sherpa who slipped into crevasse in Western Cwm in early April. He was one of the Icefall Doctors.

According to various reports including David Tait, this weekend’s incident occurred at Camp 3.

Eric Simonson has confirmed the death of the IMG Sherpa:

IMG has lost a member of our Sherpa family today. DaRita Sherpa from Phortse reportedly spent the night at Camp 3 without any problems. In the morning he was up, had breakfast, was fully dressed, boots on, preparing to descend back down to Camp 2 when he suddenly felt dizzy. He lay down in the tent and stopped breathing, and despite CPR efforts by his teammates, died. The HRA doctors at Base Camp think that this was probably either a sudden cardiac or cerebral event.

His remains were evacuated by sked stretcher by the IMG Sherpa team to Camp 2, from where they were flown by helicopter to Base Camp. At Base Camp his father-in-law Dasona and brother-in-law Mingma Tsering got onboard the helicopter and flew with his remains to Phortse, where the family will do the puja for him. Da Rita was 37 years old and is survived by his wife and two children. He was an Everest summiter and veteran of many expeditions including three with IMG. The whole IMG Team is very sad today after the loss of our good friend and great teammate.

Adventure Consultants commented on the death:

Very sadly this morning a sherpa from another team passed away at camp 3 just before descending. We send our sincere condolences to the expedition and to his family. The rescue team did an exceptional job of lowering his body down the Lhotse face; safely and professionally.

There were multiple incidents on the Lhotse Face this weekend requiring 3 helicopter rescues up to 22,000 feet. Major Rob Marshall, part of the US Air Force team posted a poignant voice update from Camp 2. They had just come down from Camp 3.

My sincere condolences to the families, friends and teammates.

The Big Picture

The first week in May is traditionally the busiest on Everest as almost every climber is try to get their final acclimatization nights in above Base Camps. This year is no exception.

In spite of a week with somewhat high winds, many, many climbers made successful climbs and spent the night at Camp 3 on the South and even to the North Col on the North side.

Climbers are reporting the Ice fall continues to be in decent shape as does the Lhotse Face. There has been reasonably heavy snowfall that has prevented the loose rocks from falling onto climbers. The route to at least to the South Col, looks to be in normal conditions for Everest.

Sherpas have taken coils of ropes and the anchor material all the way to the South Col in preparation for fixing the line to the summit as the weather allows. Sherpas are also working hard to ferry oxygen bottles and tents to the South Col and above the North Col in anticipation of the summit bids.

Some teams are now focusing on May 18th as the first potential weather window for a summit attempt.

Why Fight?

This past week was one of the worst in history for Everest mountaineering not involving fatalities. Professional climbers were attacked and trusted Sherpas were put into the spotlight.

After the incident, press releases were issued, interviews arranged and yet, there is no clear explanation of the root cause. The only thing everyone agrees on is that there is absolutely no excuse for violence amongst alpinist, zero. We have yet to hear directly from any of the Sherpas who were on the Lhotse Face that day or involved in the Fight at Camp 2.

No substantive news has been released late this week and the climbers involved have left the area. I reached out to multiple contacts, including owners of guide companies, and everyone expressed shock at the incident. Most would like to move on. Those at Everest and Lhotse have strong feelings but for now are focused on climbing.

I am positive we will hear much more once everyone gets home and update their websites, does interviews and writes books but I’m not sure the storyline will change.

I will not go through what happened, the interviews and stories are out there including on my site. I have an updated list of key publications on the location page. If you interested in a slightly different perspective than the widely published versions, I suggest you read the account from Lakpa Sherpa owner of Himalayan Ascent.

One question continues to emerge – what really caused the extreme violence at Camp 2? Most people understand that tempers can flare, and egos can get out of control, but what caused this incident to become so violent and what is the deeper meaning behind those feelings, if any.

Many reports of the incident offered theories on this question. Even the European climbers themselves waded into this area saying it was inevitable.

The view suggested is that the Sherpa people have been exploited by Westerners for years. They are used on Everest and other Himalayan mountains only for labor given their inherent ability to perform at altitude. Over the decades, as the Sherpa people gained more experience, skills in different aspects of mountaineering, language skills and business ambitions they developed a desire to keep some of the hard cash being sent to western companies. This scenario created a low boil of deep animosity between the Westerners and the Sherpa.

The Sherpa people have had a century of struggle as they fled Tibet and political unrest has been common throughout Nepal’s history. Peter Hansen, author of “The Summits of Modern Man” and Associate Professor of Humanities and Arts at Worcester Polytechnic Institute told Discovery.com

“Sherpas may be trying to reassert some control over Mount Everest to reassert sovereignty. In Nepal there are discussions about a federal Nepali state called Sherpaland in the territory around Everest. They believe it’s theirs, and they want some rights to the region.”

The three climbers at the center of the conflict offered their thoughts. Ueli Steck told swissinfo.ch:

The Sherpas have worked here for many years and they are the rich people in Nepal, and they have gained a lot of power. But on the other hand they see all these Westerners making all that money. And there is a huge gap between them and the Westerners. What happened up there is the display of anger that has been growing for years. It is the rift between two worlds and the jealousy has grown over years.

Simone Moro told National Geographic:

When Hillary and Tensing climbed Everest in 1953, the relationship between Sherpas and foreigners was completely different. Today everything is business. Jealousy. Anger. Competition. High tension. If you come here today, you will find that, behind many smiles, there are many economic issues. And especially this year, when many Sherpas have been hired, there is also the question of who will be the first to summit, who will bring the most members successfully to the summit. There are many Sherpa outfits now that would like to have the business in their hands. It’s a kind of cultural process that is taking place, okay?

So, coming to the point. Probably, on a cold, windy day, the leader of the rope-fixing team who saw three foreigners, who climbed in one hour what they climbed in half a day, without a rope, coming to them and offering to help them, probably it provoked jealousy or a kind of envy. Not everybody likes admitting that there is someone faster than you or better than you, okay?

Sometimes people like us, who are not members, are considered not good for business. Because we don’t need Sherpas. We don’t need fixers. We are out of the groove of the commercial part of Everest. The person leading the rope-fixing team was young. Probably not that experienced. Probably not culturally open to accept that someone could climb without their help, as we were doing. So this is the only thing that I can tell you why he reacted so.

Jonathan Griffith posted his version today on his blog and ended with this conclusion of who is to blame, everyone including the amateur members climbing Everest for not taking time to get to know the Sherpas:

It is easy to point the finger at the commeration of Everest and blame the big guiding companies. But really the problem is not the companies themselves but us as a whole. The commeration of Everest is a fact of life- but it is not the fault of the companies themselves that their members don’t respect the Sherpas. We can all learn their names and take time to talk to them- the finger of blame lies on every one of us that have been on that mountain and ed the Sherpas as ‘sherpas’ and not an equals.

Finally the Nepali owned Himalayan Ascent offered their version of the incident with a first hand account of the fight at Camp 2. Lakpa Sherpa, their owner, acknowledged the violence and suggested it was not as it seemed. He also goes on to suggest the base issue is that the Sherpas desire more respect from the climbers:

This dispute was not really about a turf battle between 3 foreign alpine climbers and a fixing Sherpa team. It certainly wasn’t about Sherpas feeling jealous of western guides or threatened by western alpine climbers. As eluded by others, the fixing team were venting the frustration of all highly skilled and experienced Sherpa climbers who want to feel more respect from their fellow western colleagues. For years they have quietly suffered and endured arrogance displayed by some western guides and professional climbers.

There are more summits of Everest by a Sherpa than by any other group. They know the mountains here like no other western climber, and commercial expeditions admit they cannot operate in Nepal without Sherpa support. After more than 60 years of climbing alongside their western colleagues, helping them to achieve first ascent glories on 8000m mountains, it’s a small request from humble mountain men. As a Nepali owned outfitter, we often hear our western outfitter friends acknowledge that the skilled Sherpa climbers deserve more. But what are they actually willing to give more of? More money? More benefits? More fame? Perhaps they should start with more respect.

My Opinion

To be clear, there is zero justification for the violence that occurred at Camp 2, zero. All involved should be held accountable.

As for the business side of Everest, it is indisputable that there are Nepalese companies that compete for Everest business. In fact out of the 29 permitted expeditions on Everest this year, many are local outfits such as Arun, Asian Trekking, Himalayan Ascents, Monterosa, Rolwaling. Moro and crew used Nepali company Cho Oyu Trekking for their logistics which usually means Nepali cooks and base camp services.

Ang Tshering Sherpa, Chairman of Asian Trekking and former of the President of Nepal Mountaineering Association estimates the value of Everest to Nepal is upwards of USD$11 million in 2012. So it comes as no surprise that “Everest is a business.” Same goes for Aconcagua, Mont Blanc, Denali and all the world’s popular mountains. Local companies around the world offer quality guiding services on these mountains in addition to the international companies.

Professional climbers offer little threat to local guides. Climbers who do not hire Sherpas are a tiny % of the overall climbers. For 2013, there are less than seven out of 325 climbers who not use Sherpas to carry loads or as “guides” on the South.

So the idea that professional climbers are a threat to the “business of Everest” seems a bit overdone. By the way, most professional climbers on Everest’s South Col route use the ladders put in by the Sherpas and are appreciative of their efforts.

As for the respect issue. I have been to Nepal and Tibet eight times since 1997. I have interacted with hundreds of Western climbers for years. It is my overall observation that Sherpas are held in tremendous respect by the vast majority of Westerners creating lifelong bonds for many.

Some Westerners sponsor Sherpas for visits back to their countries, fund their children’s education and provide support beyond the climb itself. It is common for Westerns to give significant tips to the Sherpas well above their salary and bonuses from the guide company.

Yes, Everest is a business and a damn hard mountain to climb. For many aspiring climbers, professional alpinist provide inspiration and Sherpas provides support.

Are there exceptions to this ‘good’ ? Certainly. There are examples of poor behavior by Sherpas, professional climbers, westerner climbers, guides and the entire human race. The actions of a few do not represent the many. I do not condone disrespect or violence by anyone, anywhere, anytime for any reason.

Sadly, this incident will take years to repair. I had initially thought it would pass over simply attributed as climbers behaving badly, but with the severity, it seems to have created a serious injury on the Everest industry.

At this point everyone involved in the Fight has signed an agreement not to mention it again and to never repeat the incident. Simone Moro has said he shook hands with the Sherpa in the middle of the conflict and he has forgiven him and wants to move on.

Disappointingly for everyone, Moro, Steck and Griffith ended their effort to climb without O’s on a new route. However, Denis Urubko Alexey Bolotov, are continuing their similar effort. I wish them of luck.

I think Ueli Steck said it when asked if he was finished with Everest:

No, I’m not done with Nepal. It’s the wrong moment to ask me that. I lost something I really love in my life. It’s done. I’m not saying I’m never coming back, but give me time. I need to figure it out. There are many other mountains I can climb. Everest is Everest, and Everest lost a lot, but it’s still the highest mountain in the world.

And for those still there or have Everest in their dreams. I say Climb On!

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything

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