Ang Tshering Sherpa

The numbers fill Ang Tshering Sherpa with confidence. “We hope that mountaineering in Nepal will revive very soon,” says the President of the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) when we meet at the International Mountain Summit in Bressanone in South Tyrol. According to his words, expeditions to Nepalese mountains higher than 6,500 meters, which are managed by the government, have already achieved 87 percent compared with the time before the devastating earthquake in April 2015. Climbing on mountains lower than 6,500 meters, managed by the NMA, has even fully recovered. Trekking is between 40 and 50 percent again, depending on the region, the head of the NMA says: “We need to let the world know that the best way to help Nepal is by visiting. Each and every person who spends time in Nepal will help to revive the economy and rebuild the infrastructure.”

Less but true liaison officers

Mount Everest

As NMA president Ang Tshering has to work on several construction sites related to expeditions. For example, the case of an Indian couple that made headlines all over the world, because they had obtained their Everest certificates by fraud, faking the summit pictures of other climbers. “We need to monitor more strictly and seriously those climbers who are not good for climbers’ image,” says the 62-year-old. The Nepalese liaison officers are no big help. They usually take their money that the expedition teams have to pay, are not seen at the base camps, but confirm afterwards that team member have reached the summit. “We asked the government to send only one liaison officer per mountain, not 30 or 40 on Everest or other mountains,” says Ang Tshering.

Everest aspirants should be more experienced

Ang Tshering (2nd f.r.) with Reinhold Messner (l.)

But it is difficult to implement such reforms because “unfortunately the government is changing every six or eight months. You have to convince them. And when they are about to understand, they change again.” That is why the discussion about new mountaineering rules for Mount Everest is already lasting for such a long time, says the head of NMA, adding that the reform is urgently needed: “Everest is the highest mountain in the world and it is not easy to climb. Either they climb in the European Alpes or the Nepalese mountains or elsewhere abroad, they do need more experience.”

“Mountaineer only interested in price”

Like others, Ang Tshering sees the problem that especially new expedition operators from Nepal are attracting clients offering dumping prices: “They are picking up people who have not any knowledge about climbing, how to use the equipment. Such agencies are spoiling the tourism industry.” The NMA president is also head of Asian Trekking, one of the country’s leading expedition operators. “We must not compromise the safety conditions ot the other Nepalese operators who are well prepared, well organized and more experienced than the new companies who have no knowledge about expeditions”, says Ang Tshering Sherpa. “Climbers, however, are only looking at the price, they don’t look at the safety conditions. This is the problem.”

South side of Mount Everest

The workers were the first. Today nine Sherpas reached the summit of Mount Everest, as first climbers this spring, said Ang Tshering Sherpa, President of the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA). The Sherpas belonged to a team including members of several expedition operators, which fixed ropes up to the highest point at 8,850 meters. It was the first summit success on the Nepalese side of Everest since 2013.

Two seasons ended prematurely

I deliberately ignore the alleged success of Chinese Wang Jing and her Sherpa team on 23 May 2014. She had been flown by helicopter to Camp 2. That spring, the season had ended prematurely, after an avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall had killed 16 Nepalese climbers. In 2015 a huge avalanche which was triggered from the nearby seven-thousander Pumori by the devastating 25 April earthquake had hit Everest Base Camp and killed 19 people. After that all expeditions had departed.

Way is paved

After the Sherpas have now prepared the normal route on the south side up to the summit, the way for the members of the commercial expeditions is paved. Several teams want to take the very the first good weather window for a summit attempt. It is due to open from Saturday to Monday.

Melting glacier on Mount Stanley in Uganda (© www.25zero.com)

It is no more than a coincidence, but a suitable one. This year the “International Mountain Day”, which, since 2002, is observed every year on 11 December, coincides exactly with the final day of the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris – that will end tomorrow hopefully with an agreement on climate protection which is more than just hot air. Mountains are considered as early warning systems for climate change (see the video below). Everyone who is often in the mountains would have to be blind not to perceive the changes. Glaciers are melting almost everywhere at record speed. For instance, more than two dozen mountains in Asia, Africa and South America, which are located near the equator and were once glaciated, will probably be completely ice-free within the next two to three decades. Permafrost in the mountains is in retreat too: soils that were permanently frozen before are thawing. Increased rockfall, more frequent landslides or mudslides are the result – not only in the Himalayas.

More than just environmental problems

“Saving our Himalayas means saving ourselves and our future generations”, said Ang Tshering Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) when he visited the climate conference in Paris these days. “The Himalayas are water towers for three billion people in Asia. If these water towers for almost half the world’s population are empty, it will not only create environmental problems but a humanitarian and political crisis.”

DAV calls for new ideas in tourism

On occasion of the “International Mountain Day”, the German Alpine Club (DAV) pointed to the impacts of climate change for the Alps. Even with a successful conclusion of the summit in Paris these consequences could be “possibly mitigated but not stopped”. In addition to melting glaciers and less permafrost, more extreme weather events and lack of snow are expected, the DAV stated. “We need new ideas in tourism”, said DAV Vice President Rudolf Erlacher. “Unfortunately, in many places the imagination is only sufficient to construct snow-making equipment.” The resorts had to make their offerings more sustainable and diverse, said Erlacher: “The Alps offer unique winter experience also off-piste.”

Update 11.12.: Now the two dates don’t coincide at all. The UN conference in Paris has been extended until Saturday. That does not sound like a good omen.

Rescue in Everest Base Camp

My heart is heavy. My thoughts are with the people in Nepal – and also with the climbers on Mount Everest. After the devastating earthquake on Saturday, the death toll is rising continuously. Meanwhile, it’s more than 2,000 across the country. And also from the base camp on the Nepalese side of Everest more and more victims are reported. As reported before, yesterday’s earthquake had triggered a huge avalanche from the seven-thousander Pumori vis-a-vis Everest that had hit the Base Camp at 5,300 meters. Today, the area was shaken by ​​strong aftershocks of magnitude 6.7 on the Richter scale. “Another three small avalanches. All good. Pfiu!!!” Romanian climber Alex Gavan tweeted. German mountaineer Ralf Dujmovits told me via satellite telephone that a very strong aftershock was also felt on the Tibetan north side: “But everything’s okay. The Sherpas told me that yesterday’s earthquake triggered an avalanche at the North Col. However, no one was hurt.”

At least 17 dead recovered

Trail of devastation

Ang Tshering Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association NMA told Reuters that at least 17 bodies were recovered and more than 60 injured climbers were rescued on the Nepalese south side of Everest. More than 20 injured were flown by helicopter to Pheriche, a small village at 4,371 meters where the Himalayan Rescue Association has been running a small clinic for many years. The doctors in Pheriche are unlikely prepared for such a large number of injured climbers. But a further transport to the capital Kathmandu currently makes little sense because the hospitals there are overcrowded.

Icefall route “relatively intact”

The route through the Khumbu Icefall which is secured with aluminum ladders and fixed ropes had been destroyed in parts by the quake. Therefore more than 100 climbers had to stay overnight in Camp 1 and 2 above 6000 meters. Some of them were flown down by helicopter.  Meanwhile, other climbers were able to descend through the icefall. A member of the US expedition organizer Mountain Trip reported that the route was “relatively intact”. He said, that also in the high camps were a few injured climbers, which would now be brought down. Others suffered from altitude sickness. Mountaineers in Base Camp spoke of at least 20 dead, many climbers were still missing. Three victims from the USA have been named: an expedition doctor, a cameraman and a mountaineer, who was a Google executive.

One tragedy among very many

Kathmandu, the day after

Even with the now recovered 17 dead, yesterday’s avalanche is the worst disaster in the history of Everest climbing. Last year, 16 Nepalese climbers were killed in an avalanche in the Khumbu Icefall. In respect of more than 2,000 earthquake victims throughout Nepal yesterday’s avalanche on Everest is one tragedy among very, very many.

Update 13.15: An official of the Nepalese Tourism Ministry said that at least 22 bodies have been recovered in the Everest region, 17 in Base camp, five below. More than 200 people were missing in the region.

Tent village on Everest South Col

“The Lord of the smells“ – this was the title of a story I wrote more than 20 years ago for a German magazine dedicated to parents. At that time my wife and I were swaddling three children several times daily. Once the garbage men threatened to ignore our trash can packed with diapers, not only because it stank, but also because it was so heavy. One day, under the impression of having disposed again several portions of human waste, I wrote said article about the suffering of a swaddling father. It was never published. “Funny, but a little bit to stinky”, the chief editor of the magazine replied. Meanwhile, the public seems to be not as squeamish as in former times: A statement of Ang Tshering Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, about the problem of human waste in the high camps on Mount Everest led to a true “shitstorm” on the Internet.

It’s the quantity that matters

“Climbers usually dig holes in the snow for their toilet use and leave the human waste there”, Ang Tshering told reporters in Kathmandu. This alone would not be a huge problem, but in the particular case of Everest it’s the quantity that matters. Finally, about 700 climbers relieve themselves in a single spring season in the high camps on the highest mountain on earth. “Human waste is one of the biggest problems in the popular mountains”, Ang Tshering had already said at a meeting of the Asian Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UAAA) in Hiroshima in November 2014.

Toilet bags and astronaut food

Toilet tent (not on Everest, but on Kokodak Dome)

“It is a health hazard and the issue needs to be addressed”, said Dawa Steven Sherpa, Ang Tshering’s son. Since 2008, Dawa Steven has been leading the so-called “Eco Everest Expeditions”  that are committed not only to summit successes but to environmental protection too. Dawa recommends his clients to use environmentally friendly re-sealable toilet bags in high camps and to bring them back to base camp. It could be also helpful to live during climbing on some kind of fluid astronaut food that is high in calories but causes little defecation. These products specially developed for expeditions – such as Peronin (I had good experiences using it on my summit day on Kokodak Dome) – are already on the market.

Biogas from human waste of Everest Base Camp?

Gorak Shep

In Everest base camp on the south side of the mountain, the disposal of human waste is regulated for many years. The feces from the toilet tents – about 12,000 kilograms per climbing season – are collected in tons and carried by so-called “shit porters” to lower villages such as Gorak Shep, about five kilometers away from base camp. There the human waste is dumped into open pits and creates a risk of contaminating the drinking water. Two Americans, the expedition leader Dan Mazur and the engineer Garry Porter, want to solve this problem. The human waste is to be collected in leak-proof containers and should be used for a biogas digester. The project, that was founded in 2010, is ready to go into the testing phase.

P.S.: Of course, the problem is not limited to the south side of Mount Everest. Ralf Dujmovits once told me that he had difficulties to find a clean place for his tent in Camp 1 on the North Col due to the feces everywhere.

South side of Everest

The same procedure on Everest as every year? Probably not, but a reliable forecast is difficult. “There seem to be less people on expeditions and also less people trekking in Nepal”, the New Zealander Russell Brice replies to my question which influence the avalanche disaster on Good Friday 2014 and the subsequent end of all great expeditions on Everest south side will have on this year’s spring season on the highest mountain in the world. “It seems that more people want to go to North side, and less people to South side”, says the head of the expedition operator Himalayan Experience. However, Brice withdrew his tendered Everest expedition in Tibet and decided to just operate on the south side this year.

Less climbers on the south side?

SummitClimb offers an expedition to the north and one to the south side of the mountain. “It seems in 2015 more of our SummitClimb members are interested in climbing the Tibet side of Everest than the Nepal side of Everest”, the US-British climber Dan Mazur, who founded SummitClimb in 1987 and has led many Everest expeditions since then, writes to me. “The result of which might be that this could be better for those people who choose to go to the Nepal side, because it might be less crowded than in previous years.” There were “more people expressing interest in our 2015 Post Monsoon Autumn Everest Expedition”, says Dan.

A little bit of uncertainty

“Would I have more clients if the 2014 incident hadn’t happened? I’m not sure”, says Tim Mosedale. The British climber will lead an Everest expedition in Nepal this spring: “Certainly there’s a little bit of uncertainty and people are looking for extra reassurances.” Simone Lowe, head of the British expedition operator Jagged Globe, is “not seeing any appreciable difference. Of course, people may be anxious but more so, that there will not be another tragedy, anywhere on the mountain.”

The price decides

The Tibetan side

Dominik Mueller, head of the German operator Amical alpin, will lead an expedition on the Tibetan side during the upcoming season. “We don’t have less or more requests for Everest than in the previous years”, says Dominik. “Certainly some clients were considering to switch to the north side – but I think regardless of the events in 2014. At the end of the day, the conditions on the mountain play the key role.” He expects that it will take a few years to identify a real trend. Ultimately, the price will decide, says Dominik: “If China continues its policy of demanding more and more money, some operators may consider to switch back to the south side again. And those operating in Nepal may decide to stay there instead of switching to the north side.” The DAV Summit Club informed me that it  cancelled its scheduled Everest spring expedition in Tibet due to a lack of participants.

“Fickle posturing”

The US operator Peak Freaks hit the brakes for other reason and called off its scheduled expedition in Nepal. Among other things Peak Freaks refers to “the local government’s fickle posturing and vague statements regarding possible rule changes for mountaineering permits”. An untenable situation, Ang Tshering Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineeering Association (NMA), also considers: “With less than 90 days remaining to start climbing, it’s the government’s responsibility to clear the confusion at the earliest.”

Snow banner on Everest

Waiting for the calm after the storm. Currently the wind is blowing strongly in the summit region of Mount Everest – with speeds up to 60 knots (about 110 km per hour). A summit attempt of one of the about ten teams on the Tibetan north side of the mountain is out of question. Not until 16 May a good weather window with low wind is expected. On the south side of Everest, according to the U.S. expedition leader Eric Simonsen, the “Icefall doctors” brought down their ladders and ropes from the Khumbu Icefall. Until next season, the material is deposited in a storage in Gorak Shep, the last permanently inhabited small village near Mount Everest at 5200 meters. Thus there will be definitely no climb to the 8850-meter-high summit from the Nepalese side this spring. This week in Kathmandu, the Japanese climber Ken Noguchi presented on behalf of his environmental protection organization “Seven Summits Actions for Sustainable Society” a donation of $ 100,000 to Ang Tshering Sherpa, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA).

NMA to coordinate the aid

With the money that Noguchi collected in Japan, the families of the 16 victims of the avalanche on Everest (look at the moving video of the New York Times “Last minutes on Everest” below) shall be supported. The Nepalese government has commissioned the NMA to ensure the education of the children of these families.

Ang Tshering announced that his association was in the process of creating a relief fund to which the NMA would add a matching sum. “We are receiving emails and phone calls from our friends around the world with the interest to support the family members”, said Ang Tshering. In many countries climbers have started charity projects for the relatives of the avalanche victims – such as German doctor and mountaineer Matthias Baumann, who was at Everest base camp when the avalanche came down:

In 1999, Ken Noguchi became, at the age of 25, the youngest person at that time to scale the “Seven Summits”, the highest mountains of all continents. The cancellation of an entire climbing season on the Nepalese side of Everest like this spring should not repeat, the 40-year-old Japanese said: “If this happens again, foreigners will give up on Mount Everest.” Or switch to the Tibetan side of the mountain. The blind Austrian climber Andy Holzer is planning to do that next year. “I want to walk away from the chaos that has arisen on the Nepalese side. I do not want to become a pawn in the hand of the Nepalese government and the Sherpas”, the 47-year-old said after his return from Nepal.

Economic factor Mount Everest

Nepal sees his mountain luck run out. “The government must frame policies to gain a competitive edge”, a report by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation said which was quoted in the “Himalayan Times”. The neighbouring countries had started aggressive campaigns to attract more climbers. India had offered a discount of 50 per cent on climbing fees, Pakistan had waived off royalties for all peaks below 6500 meters, the report said. Nepal is charging fees for mountains which are much lower, e.g. for 5500-meter-high Chhukung Ri, a popular trekking peak in the Khumbu region.

Online visa applications

Last year 298 expeditions came to Nepal, twelve less than in 2012. The revenue from climbing fees fell by more than seven per cent to 3,91 million US-Dollar. Ang Tshering Sherpa, former long-time president of the Nepalese Mountaineering Association, sees the reason for this in the parliamentary elections last November. The tour operators were fearing strikes or even violence that might leave their clients stranded for days, Ang Tshering said. The government in Kathmandu has just made a first step to friendliness towards customers by launching an online application system for Nepal.

Everest makes the cash tills ringing

The data of the tourism ministry show how much the country is depending on expeditions to Mount Everest. The permit fees for the highest mountain on earth made 80 per cent of the revenue. There was a large gap to the 8000ers Lhotse (4,5 per cent) and Manalsu (4,2 per cent) in second and third place. Considering the outstanding importance of Everest it is little wonder that all discussions in Nepal about stricter rules for climbers have fizzled out.

6000er before climbing Everest

Recently, Ang Tshering Sherpa said in an interview with the German newspaper „Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung“, there would be almost no changes for foreign climbers on Everest in 2014. They would only have to get a special permit by the tourism ministry if they want to make a record attempt on Everest. That was recommended by a commission with Ang Tshering. Furthermore it had proposed that mountaineers from Nepal should have climbed at least a 6000er before getting a permit for the highest mountain. In recent years there have been complaints about poor climbing skills of some Sherpas on Mount Everest.

Two Broad Peak 8000ers?

Nepal has to be patient for about one more year. At its general assembly in Pontresina in Switzerland the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA) has not yet decided whether it will recognize additional 8000-meter-peaks or not. According to the Nepal Mountaineering Association a UIAA commission had named six side peaks that could be accepted as prominent peaks with a unique identification: Kanchenjunga West-Peak (alias Yalung Kang, 8505 m), Central-Peak (8473 m) and South-Peak (8476 m), Lhotse Central-Peak (8410 m) and Shar (8382 m), Broad Peak Central (8011 m). “Both Nepal and China Mountaineering Association delegates welcome and fully support the UIAA initiation”, Nepalese Ang Tshering Sherpa, Honorary member of UIAA, wrote to me after his return from Switzerland. “Also Pakistan Alpine Club and Indian Mountaineering Foundation delegates were very positive but need more time to get approval from their association’s annual general meeting which will be held end of Dec 2013 or January 2014.”

Nepal hopes for a larger number of expeditions

Ang Tshering says that the question of new 8000ers will be discussed again at the meeting of the UIAA Management Committee in May 2014 in Istanbul in Turkey and afterwards at the next general assembly in Flagstaff in the USA. In Pontresina Ang Tshering had campaigned for the recognition of the additional 8000ers. “It is our duty to make mountaineering exiting for the next generation and make them feel that they are able to also achieve new successes”, the 59-year-old Nepalese said to the delegates. “Recognizing new peaks will also mean that a larger number of expeditions will be going to our mountains for climbing.”

Brawl on Everest a “single incident”

Ang Tshering Sherpa

In another speech at the UIAA general assembly Ang Tshering reviewed current discussions about Mount Everest. The Sherpa attack against Ueli Steck, Simone Moro and Jonathan Griffith at the end of April was a very unfortunate incident, he said: “We hope that this single incident will not ruin and tarnish the image of the country and century long reputation of all Sherpa’s hard work, dedication, deliberation, honesty, courage and sacrifices for the sake of putting so many climbers on the top of Mt. Everest and other Himalayan peaks.”

Ladder at Hillary Step only one of many suggestions

Ang Tshering also referred to improvements in spring 2013 to manage the great number of climbers, e.g. by fixing double ropes at bottle necks. These measures had “led to a safer and more secure climbing season with no reports of traffic jams”, he said. Ang Tshering denied that Nepal had made any decision to fix a ladder at the Hillary Step. The delegates of his country  were “very upset”, that during the conference in Pontresina there had been rumors and criticsm concerning this point without giving the Nepalese the opportunity to express their view on it. In his words the ladder was only one of many suggestions and ideas the Nepalese authorities had received: “It is our intention to protect our mountains and that does mean that we have listen to new ideas, deliberate on their consequence and make informed and democratic decisions.”

Ang Tshering Sherpa

Ang Tshering’s biography can be assumed to be symbolic of the success story of the Sherpas in the past six decades. He was born in 1953, half a year after the first ascent of Mount Everest. In his home village Khumjung, on 3780 metres near the highest mountain of the world, Ang Tshering attended the school that was founded by Sir Edmund Hillary. The English skills which he had aquired there enabled him to work as a porter and interpreter for expeditions. In 1982 Ang Tshering founded „Asian Trekking”, today one of the leading agencies for expeditions and trekkings in Nepal. He married a Belgian woman, his son Dawa Steven studied in Scotland. Ang Tshering was and is not only a successful businessman with best worldwide contacts but has always been engaging for mountaineers. Since 1990 he is a member of the executive board of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, for nine years he was the president of the organization. In addition the 59-year-old Nepalese is the Immediate Past President of the Union of Asian Alpine Associations (UAAA) and Honorary Member of the International Mountaineering and Climbing Federation (UIAA). „Everest has put Nepal on the map as an ultimate (adventure) tourism destination”, Ang Tshering wrote to me after I had asked him for his thoughts about Everest on occasion of the 60-year-jubilee of the first ascent.

Threatened by the effects of climate change

As a young man

„Everest is regarded as a Goddess Mother of the Universe in Sherpa folklore. She is the guardian in who’s shadow sherpa children grow up. We think of Everest as massive, solid, unchanging, strong, lofty and unable to be hurt.” But according to Ang Tshering the truth is that only few people know that Everest is one of the most endangered places on earth due to the effects of climate change. „There are over 3000 glaciers in the high Himalaya and in the last 50 years, almost as many glacial lakes have formed.” This urgent message has been less immediately noticed at lower altitudes, Ang Tshering says.

Eco Everest expeditions

Garbage collecting on Everest

Since 2008 Ang Tshering and his son Dawa Steven organize the so called „Eco Everest expeditions” of Asian Trekking. The goal is that the mountaineers do not only reach the summit but also carry down garbage from the slopes of Everest on their way back. „It is the entire world’s responsibility to help conserve the mountain and its surroundings from environmental degradation. We need to respect and protect Mother Nature’s treasures”, Ang Tshering writes. (You find his full statements on the two Everest-60-pinboards on the right side of the blog.)

Only with Mother Nature’s blessing

On occasion of the diamond jubilee of the first ascent Ang Tshering wishes Mount Everest, that it „continues to keep inspiring people to explore their boundaries and push their limits, all the while realizing that only with Mother Nature’s blessing do we reach the top.” He himself has not stood on top of the world. In 1977 Ang Tshering Sherpa reached the South Col on nearly 8000 metres. But weather turned bad and he couldn’t reach the summit.