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

[onawah]

2026's First Himalayan Deaths Are Nearly Unbelievable
eXtreme
132K subscribers
Feb 22, 2026
The eXtreme - Hiking/Climbing Stories

(They were 2 very experienced Sherpas on this climb and the other 2 climbers were as well. They made it to the summit, but hypoxia, their focus on speed, a winter storm, and Mt. Makaly took its toll. )

"24,600 feet. Makalu. Four climbers stumble down a knife-edge ridge. They were experienced climbers who made all the right decisions. They knew what they were doing. So what happened??
2026’s first Himalayan deaths are nearly unbelievable.

Watch More:
2025's first Everest Deaths are Nearly Unbelievable
• 2025's First Everest Deaths Are Nearly Unb...

They Left Him Dead on Everest. What He did Next is Nearly Unbelievable
• They Left Him Dead on Everest. What He Did...

More eXtreme Stories - Subscribe: / @theextreme-edge "

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=aGhSgdKtS2M

[Bill Ryan]

Copying this post by bojancan on my thread A day in the mountains: a tale of forgiveness:



~~~

I didn't know where to place this beautiful very touching docu movie... so I am placing it here in your thread Bill...

It is about an extraordinary man, 51 years old Mt. Everest climber Mingma Tsiri.

More than 300 people have died climbing Everest through the years... there are still 200 bodies remaining abandoned on the mountain... and many are Sherpas too as Mingma is...

In Everest Dark famed climber Mingma Tsiri Sherpa leads an expedition to bring one of the dead home....
It's a fascinating docu film.....

May 2026

Highest graveyard on Earth: Bringing bodies back from Everest

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=CVGBq5edbzk

Title: Everest Dark (2025)
Director: Jereme Watt
Writers: Jereme Watt, Michael Bodnarchuk

To appease the angry gods, famed Nepalese mountaineer and national hero Mingma Tsiri Sherpa risks all to climb Everest one last time to bring home a body and restore peace to the sacred mountain.

Revered in Nepal as a national hero, Mingma stands among the best high-altitude climbers of all time.

Born in the remote village of Beding in the Rolwaling Valley, Mingma was one of nine children in a family struggling with poverty. He found spiritual nourishment in the towering peaks surrounding his home — especially Chomolungma, as Sherpas call Everest, a sacred home to the mountain gods.

Mingma’s fascination with mountaineering began with his father, Nima Tsiri Sherpa, who worked as a mail runner for Hillary and Norgay when they made their first successful summit of Everest. Under his father’s mentorship, Mingma began learning the ways of the Himalayas.

On an early trek, he looked into a crevasse and saw the body of a dead porter. The experience profoundly changed him, forging a deep respect for the power of the mountain — and its gods.

Over the years, Mingma rose from porter to elite rescue specialist, eventually summiting Everest 19 times. Alongside his six brothers, he set a Guinness World Record for the most aggregate ascents of Everest by siblings. He also became one of the first Nepalese climbers to summit K2, the world’s second-highest peak. But he paid a price, witnessing many deaths and surviving countless close calls on his trips.

After a 2015 earthquake killed at least 19 people at Everest Base Camp and about 9,000 others across Nepal, Mingma had a haunting dream. God warned him that if he ever attempted to climb Everest again, he would die there. Deeply shaken, Mingma swore off climbing forever.

[Bill Ryan]

Starting this new post with a copy of Ravenlocke's report on the Breaking News thread a few days ago:

~~~

Miracle on Mt. Everest: Missing Sherpa Found Alive After One Week

In an extremely rare and unbelievable survival story from Mt. Everest, Dawa Sherpa (Hillary Dawa), 52, who went missing on May 29 above Camp III, has been found alive after surviving nearly a week in the death zone.

This morning, a garbage management team from SPCC (Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee) rescued him near Crampon Point, where he was reportedly seen slowly crawling toward Everest Base Camp.

Without food or water, battling extreme cold and high altitude, Dawa somehow managed to survive one of the harshest environments on Earth. He is currently suffering from frostbite and is speaking very slowly, but he is alive and being taken to Gorakshep for treatment.

Yesterday, even an aerial search team could not locate him — making today’s rescue feel nothing short of a miracle.

I sincerely hope that either Netflix or PrimeVideo portray this into a Movie. The World needs to see & appreciate the grit and resilience of Sherpas.

@elonmusk

Miracle On Everest

https://x.com/YearOfMonk/status/2062447302997065821

Everest Today

Jun 2
We still do not know every detail surrounding the disappearance of Dawa Sherpa, who has been missing high on Mt Everest since 28 May. We also acknowledge and applaud that 8K Expeditions came out and now taken the initiative to organize an aerial search in an effort to locate him. But one difficult question remains: if the climber left behind on Everest had been a foreign client, would the response have been the same? Or would there have been a far greater and more immediate effort to search for and rescue them?

It is an uncomfortable question, but one that deserves to be asked.

For decades, Sherpas have been the backbone of Everest. They fix the ropes, break the trail, carry the loads, support clients, and make countless summit dreams possible. Much of the commercial climbing industry that once depended on Western guiding companies now relies heavily on the skill, strength, and sacrifice of Sherpa climbers and their companies. Yet when a Sherpa goes missing high on the mountain, where is that same urgency? Where is that same determination to bring him home?

Dawa Sherpa has now been missing on Everest for days. Beyond the business, the records, the permits, and the commercialization, this tragedy should remind us of a simple truth: a Sherpa life is worth no less than any other life on the mountain.

Everest should not place a different value on a human being based on nationality, wealth, or whether they are a client or a worker.

Every life matters equally. Every missing climber deserves the same urgency. Every family deserves answers.

https://x.com/EverestToday/status/2061842255405871199

https://x.com/EverestToday/status/2062418887036334081

~~~

Here's an excellent short commentary by Thom Pollard, a veteran Everest climber and a very good man who knows what the heck he's talking about.

A Sherpa Went Missing on Everest. Nobody Lifted a Finger. He Crawled Into Base Camp.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=cnzo8nEO1_8

A Nepali Sherpa has been found alive after nearly a week without food or water." The world proclaimed a miracle on Everest after Hillary Dawa Sherpa crawled into Base Camp after disappearing seven days earlier. Some of us immediately began asking questions about the reality of the Everest industry. How is it that a Sherpa went missing for five days and meanwhile the ropes and ladders were pulled, no rescues or searches were called, nothing? Even his family was in their second day of funeral rites.

Timestamps:

00:00 - How did a Sherpa go missing and nobody tried to rescue him?
1:57 - The one number that stands out this season + the Everest industry
2:58 - Hillary Dawa Sherpa originally hired as a Camp 2 cook
3:47 - Chris Thrall, last person to see Dawa alive
6:34 - Subcontractors operating on the mountain
7:24 - Timeline from Summit Push on 28 May
9:34 - Dispute going on behind the scenes to escape responsibility
11:19 - Family demanding accountability & escapes crevasse
13:06 - Dawa escapes as 8K launches search operation
14:47 - "I want justice"


One of the best of many similar comments:

~~~

Sobbing Danish woman here. When will Sherpas be treated like real people? These wonderful people are the only true heroes of that great mountain. These people risk their lives so others can fulfill their dreams, only so they can have a living wage and provide for their families.

Yet if it was a paying costumer that went missing, doing this as a want not a need, then they wouldn’t have closed off so fast and they would have done a proper search before assuming he had passed.

What has become of humanity?

[Bill Ryan]

This is very very interesting. To summarize, for 30 years the body of an Indian climber now known universally as "Green Boots" has been a distinctive landmark on the north side of Everest. "Green Boots" is so famous now that he even has his own Wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Boots.

Now the Indians are proposing an expedition specifically to retrieve his body, an enormously difficult task.

Of course, it's the Sherpas who will do all the work.

https://explorersweb.com/high-risk-mission-to-retrieve-green-boots-from-everest

A High-Risk Mission to Retrieve ‘Green Boots’ from Everest



After nearly 30 years as a grisly landmark on the North Side of Everest, the body known as “Green Boots” is the target of a recovery effort by Indian authorities. The Indo-Tibetan Border Police has issued a call for experienced high-altitude teams to bring down the remains from around 8,500m on the Northeast Ridge route on the Tibetan side of the mountain and deliver them to Delhi by October.

This would be no ordinary operation. The tender calls for specialist agencies with proven track records in similar recoveries, ideally recent experience on Everest itself. Teams must include at least six Sherpas who have reached the summit multiple times, and they must document their work thoroughly. The full mission could span up to 40 days, factoring in the extreme challenges of working in the death zone during the summer and early autumn.

Body identified at last

The body rests curled in a small rocky alcove, below the First Step, at about 8,500m. For decades, its bright lime-green Koflach boots made it an unmistakable reference point for climbers heading up or down the ridge. Many used its location as a checkpoint, radioing Base Camp upon reaching it. Over time, it became one of Everest’s most talked-about and photographed grim landmarks.

The long-standing debate over whether the body belonged to Tsewang Paljor or Dorje Morup has now been officially settled by the government of India. Both Indian climbers died on the same day, but DNA testing conducted ahead of the recovery mission concluded that the remains belong to Dorje Morup.

The North Side of Everest

The 1996 North Side events

While the South Side commercial expeditions and their tragic losses during the infamous 1996 Everest season captured global attention, a quieter but equally harrowing drama unfolded on the North Side, involving an Indian police expedition. In contrast to the South Side tragedies, which were extensively documented in books and films, the North Side losses received far less international coverage.

Led by Mohinder Singh, the team was attempting what would have been a landmark first Indian ascent from the Tibetan side. On May 10, seven climbers set out for the summit via the North Col and Northeast Ridge. Four of them turned around at 8,500m due to stormy weather and exhaustion. The remaining three — Tsewang Smanla, Dorje Morup, and Tsewang Paljor — continued upward.

Late that afternoon, they radioed that they had reached the top. However, with heavy cloud, snow, and zero visibility, later reviews raised questions about whether they had actually stood on the summit or stopped short by roughly 150m. (The Himalayan Database registers the summit as valid.)

As darkness fell and the storm intensified, the three were caught in the death zone. They endured a brutal night of hurricane-force winds and freezing temperatures.

The next day, May 11, a Japanese team climbing the same route came across the Indians, who were still alive but badly frostbitten and in critical condition. The Japanese continued their ascent without offering substantial help. Finally, the three Indian climbers died from exposure and severe frostbite.

Controversy

The lack of substantial help by the Japanese led to initial strong criticism from the Indian side, with accusations that the Japanese had failed in their ethical duty to assist climbers in distress. Those formal complaints were later withdrawn, although the controversy over mountaineering ethics has persisted — specifically, whether the summit is more important than helping other climbers in distress.

The Himalayan Database wondered in its report whether cultural differences — in which Japanese don’t interfere unless asked to do so — played a hand in events.



The location of ‘Green Boots’ on Everest.

Challenges for the recovery expedition

Any recovery at this altitude is exceptionally demanding. Low oxygen impairs judgment and strength. The frozen remains, weighed down by gear and rigid limbs, can be extraordinarily difficult to maneuver over technical terrain, as frozen bodies weigh a lot.

Cultural considerations add another layer. Many Sherpas come from Buddhist backgrounds and approach handling remains with deep respect and sensitivity.

New Zealand climber and longtime expedition leader Guy Cotter has direct experience with such operations, having coordinated a body retrieval on Everest in 1997. According to Cotter, quoted in The Guardian, the recovery of this particular body “would have been a good thing to have done a long time before now.” He emphasized that bringing remains home to families “brings closure, as long as it’s not putting other people at undue risk.” Cotter also noted the fine balance involved: “There have been situations with body recoveries where more people have died. It’s a very thin line.”

Roughly 200 bodies are believed to still lie on Everest, many in places where retrieval is simply too hazardous or costly. Recent cleanup initiatives have shown progress when conditions and teams align, but each operation demands meticulous planning.

For the families connected to the 1996 Indian expedition, this mission offers the possibility of a dignified closure. Whether suitable teams step forward and whether the weather cooperates in the narrow seasonal window will determine if the operation goes ahead this year.