I am sure you read about the Everest avalanche on April 18th that killed 16 Nepalese guides. Let's be clear, I'm not engaging in grief appropriation here to raise my own personal drama quotient. We happened to be in Kathmandu and witnessed the funeral procession for eight of the Sherpas; it seems an important piece of history to record. I will show you our photos of the procession, and I will talk about the accident. It is all meant to reflect the deepest respect for the lost Sherpas.
The term "Sherpa," as you likely know, refers to an ethnic group of Eastern Nepalese people. Living at great altitudes in the Himalayas, Sherpas have long held been hired to work on mountaineering expeditions.
Climbing Everest is a big business; have you ever read Into Thin Air? While not the seminal work on Everest by any stretch, it does explore the logistics of getting the "average man" up to the summit in an easy to read format. And it explores what happens when things go badly south. Possibly the most interesting part of reading that particular book was learning how important the Sherpas are in getting people -- most people -- to the summit. Much as our wee trek to Poon Hill would have been miserable had we had to schlep all of our crap ourselves, most climbers rely on Sherpas to pack up their food and supplies. Climbing to 29,029 feet takes all that most people can manage. If they had to carry tents, food, and all of their own supplies, the vast majority of modern climbers would not achieve the summit.
Everest is climbed from Nepal pretty much only in the month of May. Why?
"It comes down to snow, temperature, and wind. 'Mount Everest protrudes into the stratosphere, and most of the year the summit is buffeted by winds of over 100 miles per hour that will kill a climber in minutes or even hurtle them into the void...It is only during the onset or cession of the Asian Monsoon that these winds die down and allow climbers short seven- to 10-day windows to climb the mountain." Popular Mechanics
Snow falls in September, so May it is. Thus it is in April when the work of the Sherpas begins: they lay the tracks and set the ropes that let the people who pay the big bucks ($65,000US for a climber) to attempt to summit Everest. If you are interested in reading more about the whole she-bang, here's an Everest Primer: How Things Work: Everest.
On April 18th of 2014,
an avalanche on Mount Everest near Everest Base Camp killed sixteen Nepalese guides. As of 20 April, thirteen bodies had been recovered. The search for the three remaining bodies was called off due to the difficulty and risk of retrieving them. Some Sherpa guides were angered by the government's meager offer of compensation to victim's families and threatened a "strong protest" or strike. On 22 April, the Sherpas announced they would not work on Everest for the remainder of 2014 as a mark of respect for the victims. Wiki
While Westerners climb the mountain for glory, to prove a point, to add a bullet point to their CV, the Sherpas do it because it's the best paying job around. "By comparison, Sherpas share a rather straightforward motivation: Mountaineering is their livelihood, and they do it to support their families. It's tough, seasonal work—similar to the role of commercial fishing in Alaska for enterprising college students. They approach the task with good cheer, and the pay is exceptional by Nepal's standards (high-altitude Sherpas earn several times the prime minister's monthly salary)." National Geographic
The National Geographic article is well worth reading. What struck me most was this quote, which describes the chasm between high risk western pursuits and Buddhism:
"Besides, Buddhists feel that casually placing one's precious human body at mortal risk is irresponsible, especially for a frivolous, recreational pursuit such as climbing. The Tengboche Lama has admitted that he doesn't always feel comfortable offering traditional blessings to foreign expeditions, saying that he's tempted to counsel them to take up other pursuits instead."
The mountain is not officially closed this season. But, as the Sherpas are not working, it is effectively closed. One "in the know" blogger refers to it this way: "My view is Everest is like an airport with the terminal open but the runways closed." There are apparently a few teams that have attempted to go it alone, but it's not the sort of thing most people who have forked over $65,000US are willing to risk without appropriate support. Here's a link to his blog posting; I found it interesting: alanarnette.com
We were coming down from visiting Swayambhunath when the funeral procession started up.
The eight bodies, out of a total of 13 recovered at the weekend, were driven through Nepal's capital city in open trucks, their coffins draped in yellow and cream cloth, before being cremated separately.
At one ceremony below Nepal's famous Swayambhunath religious complex, relatives wept for their loved ones as four bodies were set on fire while Buddhist monks beat drums, crashed cymbals, blew pipes and chanted prayers. Reuters
I'm struggling a bit with how to end this without dancing the co-opting someone else's grief dance. So we'll just leave it here: Rest in Peace.
Next: Prayer Wheels
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