Ten years ago, an avalanche on Everest buried sixteen local guides, shining a spotlight on the considerable dangers Nepali Sherpas face in allowing wealthy foreigners to realize their mountaineering dreams.
Without their work, essential for laying out climbing routes, securing ropes, repairing ladders and carrying heavy equipment aloft, few climbers could reach the world’s highest peak.
On April 18, 2014, a wall of snow fell on the Nepalese who, in the freezing darkness, were hoisting heavy equipment up the perilous Khumbu Icefall.
The force of the avalanche threw Dawa Tashi about ten meters, injuring him in the ribcage, left shoulder blade and nose. The young man, then 22 years old, remembers well his friends who perished in the slide. Three of them were never found.
“I was lucky to survive,” he told Agence France-Presse. “In the hospital, every time I tried to sleep, they would appear before my eyes. »
“Tipping point”
“It was very difficult at the time,” recalls Nima Doma Sherpa, who lost her 33-year-old husband Tsering Onchu in the avalanche.
“What to do when the main pillar of your home is not there? The children were small and I wondered how I could educate them and how we could support ourselves.”
Because after the disaster, the Nepalese government, which earns very significant income from the lucrative mountaineering industry in the Himalayas, only offered the equivalent of $400 for funeral expenses to the families of the victims.
A charity rejected en masse by angry Nepalese who then triggered an unprecedented protest movement, to demand better compensation from the authorities in the event of death or injury in the mountains.
The tragedy “was a tipping point for young Sherpas who were frustrated,” said Sumit Joshi, for the Himalayan Ascent company, which lost three guides in the 2014 avalanche.
Since then, its teams no longer make the ascent on the anniversary date.
Improvements but still insufficient
“Ten years later, we are seeing an improvement in their working conditions and the respect they inspire,” says this expedition organizer.
Previously, many Sherpas were forced to rely on charity from Western climbers, despite playing a fundamental role in the success of this multi-million dollar industry.
In the final season in 2023, the Nepalese government earned more than $5 million from Everest access rights alone.
In 2014, the demonstrators at the base camp mainly demanded an improvement in life insurance benefits and the creation of a relief fund.
“We were defending the interests of Nepalese mountaineers, ensuring that they received maximum benefits,” reports Ang Tshering Sherpa, who headed the Nepalese Mountaineers Association at the time.
The amount paid by insurance has been increased by 50% to 1.5 million Nepalese rupees ($11,250) in the event of a death in the mountains.
Helicopters are now allowed to deliver supplies to higher camps, reducing the number of expeditions Nepalis make across the dangerous Khumbu Icefall.
Nepalese companies have supplanted foreign operators to attract the majority of climbers, and living conditions have improved for guides from large companies.
But this progress remains insufficient, believes guide Mingma G Sherpa, “government policies are still not good”.
“The wives disagree”
The dangers of the mountains are such that many guides have left the sector.
“The number of Sherpas has decreased considerably. Today, it is the companies that must look for Sherpas” and not the other way around as was the case in the past, adds Mingma G Sherpa.
“We want to go climbing because we know the environment there, but […] mothers and wives do not agree,” he confides.
Survivor of the 2014 avalanche, Dawa Tashi returned to Everest in 2021. The one who started trekking at the age of 11, has not given up guiding mountaineers and is preparing to accompany six Americans towards the Mera summit, which rises to 6,461 meters.
“There have been improvements after the disaster, but it is not enough,” he also said.
And to mention the 11,000 dollars that each foreigner must pay to the government to climb Everest. “Customers would be happy to pay this amount knowing that it will be used” for their team, he believes, calling on “the government to create a protection fund” for mountain workers.