Sherpas Abandon Everest Climbing Season To Honour Avalanche Victims
Sherpas abandon Everest climbing season to honour avalanche victims - throwing plans of hundreds of foreign climbers into disarray
Avalanche on Mount Everest killed at least 13 local guides on Friday Further three guides who remain missing on mountain are presumed deadSherpas said it would be 'impossible' to now continue with climbing seasonOne guide said: 'We want to honour the members we lost'Hundreds of foreign climbers may now have to abandon climbing to summit
Avalanche victims were cremated on Monday in a moving Buddhist ceremony
By [/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=Emma+Glanfield Emma Glanfield]
Published: 15:56 GMT, 22 April 2014 | Updated: 20:13 GMT, 22 April 2014
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Nepalese mountain guides have decided to abandon this year's climbing season on Mount Everest to honour their colleagues killed in a deadly avalanche.
After a memorial service for the victims today, one guide said it was ‘impossible' for them to continue climbing following the disaster which left 13 Sherpas dead and three missing.
The news throws the plans of hundreds of foreign climbers into disarray as it is deemed almost impossible to reach the summit without the help of the Nepali guides and porters.
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Sherpa mountain guides have decided to abandon climbing season on Mount Everest for the remainder of this year after the avalanche on Friday killed at least 13 guides and left three others missing, presumed dead
Relatives of the Mount Everest avalanche victims attend a cremation ceremony in Kathmandu
Dorje Sherpa, a guide who attended the memorial service at base camp, said the Sherpas had discussed their options and confirmed most of them were planning to pack and leave as early as tomorrow.
He said: ‘It is just impossible for many of us to continue climbing.
While there are three of our friends buried in the snow, I can't imagine stepping over them. We want to honor the members we lost and out of respect for them we just can't continue.'
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Last Friday, several Sherpa guides were hauling climbing gear between camps when a chunk of ice tore loose and triggered an avalanche. Thirteen bodies were recovered and three Sherpas are still missing, presumed dead.
After the avalanche, the government quickly said it would pay the family of each Sherpa who died 40,000 rupees, or about £391.
The Sherpas said they deserve far more — including more insurance money, more financial aid for the families of the victims and new regulations that would ensure climbers' rights.
Earlier today, Nepal's government appeared to have agreed to some of demands made by the Sherpas ahead of the boycott, tour Lệ Giang such as setting up a relief fund for those who are killed or injured in a climbing accident - but the funding falls short of what the Sherpas wanted.
[ ] Buddhist monks attend prayers for Nepalese mountaineers who were victims of the avalanche on April 18
The daughter of Ang Kaji Sherpa, one of the victims of the Mount Everest avalanche, collapses during a cremation ceremony at Syambhu in Kathmandu, Nepal
Sherpa Pasang, of the Nepal National Mountain Guide Association in Katmandu, said the group would try to negotiate with the Sherpas and the government because a total boycott would harm Nepal's mountaineering in the long term.
The Everest climbing season provides livelihoods for thousands of Nepali guides and porters.
Climbers have long relied on Sherpas for everything from carrying gear to cooking food to high-altitude guiding. Without them, reaching the summit would be almost impossible.
Most attempts to reach the summit are made in mid-May, when weather is most favourable.
If the Sherpas boycott the season, many of the climbers would have to forfeit most or all of the money they have spent to go up Everest, which in some cases adds up to around £50,000.
At least one expedition company has cancelled the 2014 attempt for its six-member team.
‘Our team members have empathy for the Sherpa community and we wish for everyone to be able to mourn their lost family and friends in peace,' the Adventure Consultants Everest Expedition 2014 Team said on its website.
Relatives carry the body of one of the Nepalese climbers killed in the avalanche - the disaster which prompted the climbing boycott by Nepal's ethnic Sherpa community
At least thirteen men were killed in single deadliest accident in the history of the world's highest mountain. They were laid to rest on Monday in a traditional Buddhist ceremony
Relatives of the Nepalese climbers killed in wait for the funeral procession to begin in Katmandu on Monday
THE MOST DEADLY CLIMBING ACCIDENT RECORDED IN EVEREST HISTORY
At least 13 people were killed and a further three remain missing after the avalanche swept the Khumbu Icefall - one of the most dangerous parts of the climb to Everest - on Friday.
The Sherpa mountain guides were trying to fix ropes and crack snow and ice to carve out a route for foreign climbers when they were caught in the avalanche at an altitude of about 5,800m, just below Camp One, at about 6.30am.
Nepalese officials have now called off the search for the three missing men - saying there is no chance of finding them alive and that their rescuers are being put at risk.
At least three other guides caught in the deadly avalanche survived, but are in intensive care and being treated for broken limbs, ribs, blood clots and other injuries in Kathmandu hospitals.
In the wake of the avalanche, the Sherpas have expressed anger that there has not been a bigger response from Nepal's government, which profits from the permit fees charged for the climbing expeditions.
The avalanche caused the most deadly recorded climbing accident in Everest history.
It has resulted in several Sherpas quitting and boycotting expeditions for the remainder of the climbing season.
The Ministry of Tourism said in its statement the government had agreed to the following:
— A relief fund to help Sherpas injured in mountaineering accidents and the families of those killed, and to pay for rescue during accidents on the mountain.
— The government said it will stock the fund every year with 5 per cent of its earnings from Everest climbing fees — well below the 30 per cent the Sherpas are demanding.
Nepal earns some £2million annually in Everest climbing fees.
— Nepal will increase the insurance pay-out for those killed on the mountain to 1.5 million rupees (£14,600), up from the current 1 million rupees. The offer falls short of the Sherpas' demand for 2 million rupees (£19,500).
— The government will build a memorial to the men killed in Friday's avalanche.
— The government also will pay additional money to help rehabilitate the injured.
A Nepalese woman holds her hands together in prayer during the cremation ceremony for one of the victims of the avalanche - The single deadliest accident in the history of the world's highest mountain
Relatives observe the cremation ceremony of Nepali Sherpa climbers, who lost their lives during the avalanche
Since the avalanche, expedition teams have declared a week of mourning.
About 400 foreign climbers from 39 expedition teams were on the mountain with an equal number of Sherpa guides, along with many more support staff such as cooks, cleaners and porters in the base camp.
At the base camp memorial service, Buddhist lama, or priests, read religious scripts, and Sherpas and foreign climbers burned incense butter lamps and prayed for the dead.
The victims' bodies were cremated on Monday.
More than 4,000 climbers have reached the top of the world's highest mountain since 1953, when it was first conquered by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay.
Hundreds of people have died trying.
Deadly force: The avalanche that killed at least thirteen Sherpas is pictured as it barrels down Mount Everest
Since the deadly avalanche on Friday, pictured, expedition teams have declared a week of mourning
JUST TRYING TO HELP OTHERS: THE SHERPAS WHO DIED WHEN THEY WENT UP EARLY TO FIX LOOSE ROPES
When the Nepalese government released this list, only 12 were dead and four were missing.
The latest reports have the number of fatalities up to 13 but they have not disclosed who is the new fatality.
Name of expedition
NBC Everest Expedition
Adventurist Everest Expedition
AAI Everest Expeditions
AC Everest Expeditions
Jagged Globe Everest Exped.
Himalayan Ecstasy Lhotse
Everest Chinese Dream
Name of Trekking Company
Shangrila Nepal Pvt.
Ltd.
Himalayan Guides Nepal Treks
tour shangrila Nepal Pvt. Ltd.
Himalayan Guides Nepal Treks
Summit Nepal Trekking
Himalayan Ecstasy Treks
Seven Summit Treks Pvt.
Ltd.
Names of sherpas
Mingma Nuru Sherpa- dead
Derji Sherpa- dead
Dorjee Khatri- dead
Then Dorjee Sherpa- dead
Phur Temba Sherpa- dead
Ang Tshiri Sherpa- dead
Nima Sherpa- dead
Tenzng Chottar- missing
Phurba Ongyal Sherpa- dead
Lakpa Tenjing Sherpa- dead
Chhring Ongchu Sherpa- dead
Pasang Karma Sherpa- dead
Asman Tamang- dead
Ankaji Sherpa- missing
Pem Tenji Sherpa- missing
AAsh Bahadur Gurung- missing
