The Sherpa Issue: Live and Let Die in the Himalayas

 Live and Let Die on the Death-Zone (Satis Shroff)

Can you imagine over a hundred Sherpas throwing stones and threatening climbers from abroad? Even the Swiss climber admits that the deep animosity between the tourist-climbers and the Sherpas was more of a behavioural nature, and a longstanding one at that. What made the normally peaceful Sherpas threaten the visitor from abroad with ice-picks? Was it a deadly faux pas that brought the wrath of the Sherpas?

The three foreigners wanted to climb the Lhotse’s flank up Camp 3 to spend the night there, using the ropes that the Sherpas had laid earlier. Steck and two climber friends traversed in snow towards the right where the Sherpas were fixing their ropes at a height of 7100m and crossed the climbing line of the Nepalese to reach their tent, which had been set up days ahead. According to the Sherpas, Ueli Steck et al had loosened the ice chunks which fell on the Nepalese workers. The quarrel was continued in Camp 2 later. The Sherpas came with ‘fists and sticks’ towards us, said Steck.

- What, you don’t need us?
- No, thank you. We want to climb alone. But thanks for fixing the ropes for the ascent on Camp 3.
- Shall we say ‘thank you for the hard ice chunks that you sent our way?
- These foreigners do as they please. We didn’t do all the ‘sherpa-work’ so that they could climb as a trio. Where’s the fairness of the sahibs? With such climbs the Sherpas will become superfluous and will be losing their existence-basis, in case free-climbing on the Himalayas becomes a trend-setter.

According to a US-climber the porters of Steck’s group had requested their leader Ueli Steck et al to wait till the other sherpas of the commercial Alpine group were finished with fixing the ropes and ladders. But Ueli Steck, being a speed-climber didn’t pay any heed to these requests and undoubtedly rode roughshod over the feelings and pleas of his own poeters. It might be noted that even a climber of his niveau needs porters and sherpas to assist him in climbing to the top. The speed-climbing trio Steck, Moro and Griffin profess to climb mountains ‘by fair means’ which implies without oxygen, using unused routes to the top and without the use of technical assistance.

It was due to the irresponsibility on Steck’s part that caused the Sherpa sirdar of the commercial team to be angry at him. There’s no denying the fact that Ueli Steck’s behaviour was egoistical because he didn’t want to take other people’s slowness into consideration, and carried out a risky manoeuvre with his inner drive to do the climbing speedily with his Brit and Italian friends. It is interesting to note that the Swiss, English and Italian trio only spoke of the Sherpas as having murderous intent, irrespective of the fact that it was the trio who were the cause of this Himalayan quarrel which hit the international headlines.

The European climbers can get along fine with the media and supply them with digital photographs and interviews in English, Italian and German and most of them have their own websites, and can tell the world press their subjective version of the so-called truth. But who speaks for the Sherpas, and nameless porters, who do the dirty and dangerous work for the slow-climbing or speed-climbing tourists from the northern hemisphere? No one.

Normally the Sherpas and the climbing tourists have a good, traditional relationship since the times of the first successful ascent of Everest in 1953 (Hillary et Tenzing).

In the long run it is the Khumbu environment that has been taking a beating at the hands of the commercialised and private climbing tourism. The heavy influx of trekkers and climbers has brought a certain amount of prosperity to lodge owners, sirdars and travel-cum-trekking-organisations, but the descructionis also plainly evident in terms of the garbage left behind by tourists.

Climbers may come and go but the mountains remain. It is also the duty of the Nepalese people, be they Sherpas, Tamangs, Thakalis, Gurungs, Bahuns and Chettis to preserve their own mountainous heritage. The young Nepalese in the schools should be taught about Nepal’s natural heritage and how to save it from the greedy climbing agencies which don’t spend a second of their time to think about environmental destruction in their beloved Himalayas. Money matters in the climbing areas, not Nature. The Himalayas are the Abode of the Gods for Hindus and Buddhists alike, but not for people who are interested in making money. Money is the primary thought when it comes to exploiting a country’s heritage.

Hillary might have done good by establishing a few schools in the Khumbu area and brought education to the deprived children of the area but he also paved the way for the exploitation of Himalayan tourism.  Doing responsible trekking and climbing using ‘tourism with insight’ the Swiss way is worth emulating, which is to a great extent controlled tourism. The way it is in Nepal, unlike Bhutan, Everest and the other peaks are being ruined by uncontrolled tourism and being trampled upon, and even the normally compassionate, friendly Sherpas have been antagonised by Eurocentric climbers who want to conquer and rule the peaks and the people who dwell under the summits.

Mountaineering has since long become a new form of colonialism.  The sahibs bring the money and the Nepalese underdogs bear the risk by doing sherpa-work for the benefit of the tourists. Sherpa-work in this context means slaving as porters to carry the heavy logistics needed for expeditions which can involve food, tents, oxygen cylinders and sometimes even tourists in baskets who want to be Everest-heroes. Is this the much acclaimed ‘by fair means?’ Climbing peaks like rock-climbers on their own is by fair means. When you need the help of the Sherpa-guides and porters, this is not by any means fair. This is with the help of the Sherpa guides and other ethnic porters who were instrumental in making you reach the top. The Nepalese, Sherpas and porters, don’t appear in the zoomed shots of the climbers. Only the person who has paid for the climb in his heroic pose, with his country’s flag, does the rounds in the e- and print media. Proletariat and bourgeoise don’t go together as far as public profiles are concerned,eh?

-  After scaling Everest, Hillary said, ‘We’ve overcome the bastard.’ Pardon me, to the Nepalese Mt. Everest is the holy mountain Sagarmatha. And to the Tibetans on the other side (as well as Sherpas) the majestic peak is Chomolungma. Buddhist ritual ceremonies are common when expeditions are underway from the base-camps to the Himalayan peaks. There is fear, hope for a successful climb. In this situation even the sahibs become a part of the ceremony.

- Success, failure or death.

Was it just a conflict between the commercial expeditions and climbers who do it in free Alpine style like the Swiss adventurist and extreme-climber Ueli Steck? It is heartening to note that an agreement was signed between the conflict parties. Ueli called it an ‘unhappy coincidence’ according to the ‘Migros- Magazine.’ According to this agreement, which was moderated by liaison officers, both sides have the right to be on the mountain. Future conflicts have to be solved through the intermediary, namely the Nepalese liaison-officers. Ueli Steck is of the opinion that this is certainly not the solution to the problem. The hatred doesn’t lie on this particular mountain (Everest) but has been gathering momentum since many years. The  Swiss climber broke his expedition.

It’s an open secret that the organisers of tourism and trekking industry pay heed to the demands of the tourist-climbers. This means that every climbing tourist has the power to reduce his or her demands to do what he or she pleases in the Himalayas. Alas, this doesn’t happen. The foreign-customer is always right and that is the motto in business.

There has been talk about climbing the mountains ‘by fair means,’ that is without oxygen, but a great deal of expeditions wouldn’t have scaled Nepal’s peaks without the security ropes, aluminium ladders brought to the walls of the peaks by the porters of Nepal who come from a handful of tribes, including the Sherpa community.

Rockclimbing, mountain climbing are also high performance sports and in the seventies the climbers from the west started taking a magic-cocktail comprising Diamoc, Dexamethason (cortisone) and Dexidrin. Whereas Diamox could lower the symptom of brain edema in the case of acute mountain sickness, Dexidrin was used by bomber US bomber pilots in the Hindukush War. Viagra, which is actually Sildenafil, and is known to promote oxygen intake, is also taken by climbers to increase their climbing-stamina. Even the hormone-drug Epo, which increases the red blood cell production, has been used by climbers even though its assistance in adapting to the thin air on peaks is still a matter of debate.

Reinhold Messner took Aspirin to make his blood thin when he went to the Nanga Parbat. Even he believes that there are enough climbers who take medication for better performance, even though it’s dangerous to do so. The 3-D cocktail seems to be very much in use. Even Ueli Steck, the best contemporary Swiss climber, is known to have amphetamine in his rucksack apothecary. He, of course, swallows it only in life-and-death situations. Diamox is also for Ueli Steck, an emergency solution only.

Perhaps the Swiss climber Ueli Steck is a person who thinks he can rule over the Sherpas and Himalayas. Nature is always stronger and mightier than humans. Generations of climbers make their way to the mountain and some lose their lives in the process but the mountain remains and is always there. And you cannot start a quarrel with the Sherpas and other porters who help to carry equipment and fix ropes and pave the way with ladders. In the West journalists write about ‘the angry mountain.’ Daniel Stolzenberg, the French veteran climber, said:
- ‘There is only the mountain. And when she’s angry, things can go very badly wrong.’
- Things did go wrong. He and half a dozen of his countrymen, including his wife Marie Odile, were killed along with 11 Nepalese climbers by a thunderous avalanche in their base-camp  on the Kanguru peak.
Eight climbers died in May 1966. Although every 10th climber doesn’t return from Everest, a hundred climbers take their chance to climb the peak, a peak which is majestic and demands everything from you. On the one hand, you learn to trust your intelligence, experience, abilities and have faith in yourself, and are responsible for yourself at that height. Everything you do has to be done correctly. On the other hand, a small mistake and you never see your home, and your near and dear ones. You have to wait till Spring before the mountain gives up its dead.

In this death-zone it is essential to maintain a peace-of-mind and not start quarrelling with the tigers-of-the snow, the loyal, helpful ethnic Sherpas and ethnic Tamang-porters who are in the climbing business since the colonial days, even though Nepal was never a colony.

Intercultural competence is very important and social competence plays a big role in lubricating a friendly behaviour and relationship. Mutual respect and tolerance is also a must. Perhaps the western climbers should learn more about compassion from their fellow-climbers from Nepal. It’s not all business out there. Mutual help gain importance and not how much you paid the porter or your guide. If, as in the case of Ueli Steck (Switzerland), Johathan Griffith (UK) and Simone Moro (Italy) the ‘Sherpas’ had installed the climbing ropes, and the western trio had used these ropes, common courtesy demands that the Nepalese Sherpas receive their remuneration and courtesy, after all the three Europeans were in Nepalese territory, as paying-guests.

I’ve attended a number of slide-shows organised by climbers from Germany, Austria, South Tyrole and Switzerland and the pictures of the peaks and people of Nepal, the shots of the pagodas, yogis, ethnic tribes, lamas, beggars are fascinating but a certain colonial tenor from the upper hemisphere lingers as far as the comments are concerned, when people from a developed country in the Northern Hemisphere visit an underdeveloped country in the Southern Hemisphere.