Sherpas on Everest: the real mountaineers who make it all possible

[Bill Ryan]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
More on this story, which isn't going away.

Record-breaking mountaineer denies climbing over dying porter on K2

Kristin Harila has now been barraged with more criticism. We can't know whether the dying Pakistani porter (not technically a 'Sherpa', but doing the same job) could have been saved — maybe not. But the different responses of all those around him (a few valiantly tried their best to help, while 70 other climbers stepped over his dying body!) are a testimony to the rampant ego and competitiveness in much of modern commercial mountaineering.



https://theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/10/record-speed-mountaineer-denies-climbing-over-dying-sherpa-on-k2

~~~

And more. This kind of thing is NOT uncommon in high-altitude mountaineering. There are literally dozens of stories of climbers stepping over dying colleagues on their way to the summit — usually of Everest. The ethics are complicated, because it's a fact that very often almost nothing can be done to help a dying climber in such a place.

But Joe Simpson, famous for his near-unbelievable role in the documentary film Touching the Void — in the Avalon Library here, and highly, highly recommended — and who was extremely close to death himself, totally alone in a fully impossible situation, has written angrily (many times) that the least one might do is stay and hold the hand of a fellow human being as their life slipped away.

The story, while arguably unfortunately focused on Kristin Harila (who was just one of many climbers on the mountain that day, but who had chosen to make herself a celebrity), continues to reverberate. It's possible that this may do a great deal to focus on the extraordinary inequality between the Sherpas (or Pakistani porters, same thing), and the well-to-do, hand-held, wealthy western clients.

Mohammad Hassan, the man who died, was earning $5 a day carrying 25 kg loads to base camp. He had almost no high mountain experience, but was offered the chance to go high on the mountain, with poor equipment, for a 4x pay rise of $20 per day.

He did that solely to try to pay for his children's education, and for medical bills for his mother.

He died because he was trying to earn $20 a day.

Kristin Harila has done little except give media interviews. She's clearly quite upset. And she's also out of her depth. She's a nice person, but she's absolutely not a real mountaineer.

But the two experienced climbers who broke the story by posting drone footage of the incident on social media, Austrian Wilhelm Steindl and German Philip Flaemig, personally visited Hassan's family after the incident and also started a crowdfunding campaign. (Here it is: https://gofundme.com/f/3-kinder-brauchen-dringend-hilfe.)

After 4 days, donations have reached 127,243 euros, nearly $140,000. One woman, a name I don't recognize, donated 5,000 euros. (Kristin Harila donated 1,000 euros, now that she's famous and had commercial sponsors paying probably close to $1 million for her whole project. A churlish remark, but maybe she'll donate more.)

The local Pakistani authorities have opened an investigation, which in my awareness is a first in this kind of incident. It'll be interesting to see who they may find fault with, if they do at all. It feels like that might be a bit of a watershed.

But in the meantime, in the most Shakespearean, tragic way, Hassan's death has now provided more than everything needed for the education and medical care for his family that he had always earnestly wished for.

It's possible that a few readers here might remember this very tragic story. There's now been a most remarkable update.

I have to say, I'd never dreamed this could have been attempted. Bringing a body down from very high on K2, itself an immensely dangerous mountain, is a nearly impossible feat.

• https://explorersweb.com/muhammad-ha...t-down-from-k2

Pakistanis Bring Muhammad Hassan’s Body Down From K2

Pakistani climbers have retrieved the body of Muhammad Hassan from above the Bottleneck on K2. Hassan died on the upper slopes last year, as dozens of climbers stepped over the Pakistani high altitude worker on their way to the summit.

Naila Kiani coordinated the retrieval as a humanitarian project during her cleanup expedition to K2. According to Kiani, Hassan’s family approached her for help in bringing down the man’s body. They took advantage of the weather window of the last few days and managed to lower it to Camp 4. Yesterday, they brought it all the way down to Advanced Base Camp.

From here, Kiani says they need the Pakistan Army’s support for a helicopter evacuation to prevent the body’s decomposition in the high temperatures. This helicopter flight back to Hassan’s village may already have occurred.

“Hassan’s death highlighted the need for better training, equipment, and ethical standards in mountaineering,” said Kiani. “This mission aims to give Hassan a respectful burial and showcase the skills and dedication of Pakistani high-altitude workers.”

In addition to Kiani, those involved in the retrieval were Dilawar Sadpara, Akbar Hussein Sadpara, Zakir Hussein Sadpara, Mohammed Murad Sadpara, Ali Mohammed Sadpara, Imran Ali, and Wali Ullah Fallahi.

[Moemers]

having stood at the foot of K2 I can attest to the shear improbability of that ever happening. astounding to be sure and thinking back to looking up at that Mountain i have chills reading that story

[Bill Ryan]

A moving tribute just published, which needed to be read by everyone in the mountaineering community,

• https://explorersweb.com/here-is-naw...out-of-loyalty

Here is Nawang Sherpa, Who Died on Everest Out of Loyalty


Nawang Sherpa, dead on Everest on May 22, 2024

Nawang Sherpa died because he refused to abandon his ailing, befuddled client near the summit of Everest. Nawang received no recognition for his sacrifice.

Jon Mills, a UK climber on a different Everest team, contacted ExplorersWeb to share a story that had been haunting him since he returned from the summit. Mills and his sherpa guide, Furinji, were the last to see Nawang alive. He was staring into the void beside his client, Cheruiyot Kirui of Kenya.

For about two hours, Kirui — who stubbornly wanted to continue climbing no-O2, despite altitude sickness — had rejected the life-giving oxygen that Nawang begged him to use. Neither made it down alive. Yet Kirui’s body was recovered within hours, while Nawang’s remains were never found.

We couldn’t find a picture of Nawang or a line describing his previous climbs and life. On Everest, he worked for Seven Summit Treks, but the company did not mention him on its social media. In the story we posted about his demise, we asked readers to share any images or information about him.

We received an email a few days later with a photo attached.

“He was really a nice guy; it’s a true tragedy,” said Chris P, who asked us not to share his full name or nationality. “He was an amazing and understanding guide."

[Agape]

Recent news from the "sherpa village" close to the Mt Everest Base Camp are no less distressing:


Himalayan sherpa village hit by icy floods


Nepal as well as much of Northern India received extraordinary amount of rainwater during this monsoon season, on the ridges of crashing atmospheric fronts coming over from 3 respective sources, the Indian and the Arabian Seas pressed down by colder atmospheric wave from Northern Caucasus.
Record amounts of flash floods and cloudbursts damaging local housing, bursting dams along most Himalayan rivers, caused massive landslides and stone avalanches from mountain slopes.

Nepal has been hit by floods in last 2 weeks leaving lots of devastation and more than 200 people dead with more still found or being searched for.

3 nights ago we were approached by massive weather system covering most of the northern India that rained on most of the land simultaneously and while this may sound little omnious we think it may not be the end of it this year.

So not a great climbing season I guess as mountain roads are damaged

🙏🪔🪷

[Agape]

Cheruiyot Kirui on Mt Everest , who was he and how did he die

https://www.ultimatekilimanjaro.com/...ow-did-he-die/

Born on March 14 1984 in Nairobi, Kenya, Cheruiyot Kerui loved mountains and was extremely dedicated to his mountain climbing passion , from young age.

Holds record for summiting Mt Kenya (17057 ft/5199 m) 3 times in one day.

The first African attempting to summit Mt Everest without supplemental oxygen found his final resting place about 48 meters under the sumit of JomoLungma and well,
took Nawang Sherpa with him.


Peace to the deities 🙏

I think they should close the business.

[onawah]

Tashi Gyalzen Sherpa shatters record in incredible achievement
By Chris DeWeese
5/28/25
https://weather.com/sports-recreatio...record-climber



"Nepali climber Tashi Gyalzen Sherpa embraces his son upon his arrival at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu on May 27, 2025, after he made a record-breaking four summits of Everest in fifteen days.
(PRAKASH MATHEMA/AFP via Getty Images)

An astonishing world record was set earlier this month in Nepal after a climber named Tashi Gyalzen Sherpa climbed to the summit of Mount Everest a record-breaking four times in just fifteen days, accomplishing a feet of physical and mental endurance unparalleled in the history of mountaineering.

It would be difficult to overstate just how impressive Sherpa's feat was. Ascending 29,032 feet to the height of the towering mountain, where the oxygen is gaspingly thin and the weather perilously treacherous is, for many, the highlight of their climbing lives. To go up and down repeatedly, allowing one's body to adjust to the difference in oxygen at various levels, is almost incomprehensible. Yet the 29-year-old, who hails from a small Nepali town called Phortse, managed to achieve what seemed unachievable.

Tashi started working as a climbing guide in 2017. Two years later, in 2019, he ascended to Everest's summit for the first time. In the years since, he reached the peak four times: three from the Nepal side, and once from the Tibetan side. This year, things were different. His first ascent occurred on May 9, when he was part of a rope-fixing team laying the route for the 8K Expedition. After that, Tashi quickly went up a second time (in reflecting, he told reporters that the second climb was the easiest).



Finally, after ascending a third time while assisting a client, Tashi quickly scaled the mountain solo for his fourth climb. As he later recounted, "I made to the top of Everest along with my client. I brought him back safely to the Everest Base Camp and then immediately started for my fourth summit the same night. My fourth summit attempt started from Base Camp on 22 May with an aim to reach the summit on May 23, and I was alone during my final push to the summit. There were no fellow Sherpas along with me. I carried all the required oxygen and necessities. I started for the summit on 8:00 pm (local time) on 22 May from Camp IV.

Tashi's remarkable achievement comes during a time of many record-breaking feats on Everest. Last season, a climber named Dawa Phinjhok Sherpa achieved the summit three times in just eight days, and photojournalist Purnima Shrestha made headlines for achieving the summit three times during the season.

“Tashi represents a new generation of Sherpa climbers—guides, record-breakers, storytellers, and trailblazers,” says mountaineering expert Ang Tshiring Sherpa. “They are climbing in the era of technological advancement. The world is now connected through smart devices, which, among other things, has even made Everest climbs faster.” Nepal is home to eight of the world's 10 highest peaks and welcomes hundreds of climbers each spring, when temperatures are warmer and winds are typically calmer."

Senior writer Chris DeWeese edits Morning Brief, The Weather Channel’s newsletter.

[onawah]

Updraft Sends Paraglider To Nearly 30,000 Feet
May 30, 2025
Weather Channel

(This poor man is no Sherpa, but his paraglider accidentally took him to the same altitude as the top of Mt. Everest. It's a wonder he survived.)

Video here: https://weather.com/news/trending/vi...g-above-clouds

"A paraglider in northern China said he never planned to leave the ground but a surge of strong winds sent him dangerously high above the clouds over the Qilian Mountains. Watch this heart-stopping video to see what happened next and learn how he survived."

[onawah]

Mount Everest rescuers battle heavy snow with hundreds still stranded | BBC News
18.8M subscribers
Oct 6, 2025

"Hikers caught in a shock blizzard near Mount Everest have spoken of experiencing hypothermia as they battled relentless snowfall, while rescuers continue to evacuate scores of people.

All the stranded hikers have been contacted and another 350 have been led to safety by rescuers, according to Chinese state media

Heavy snow trapped hundreds of tourists trekking in the Tibetan valley leading to Mount Everest's eastern face over the weekend, as an eight-day national holiday began in China

The sudden bad weather has also hit Nepal, where torrential rain and flooding has killed at least 47 people since Friday."

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=to4HbvbAbH8