Sherpas pay financial price after quake in Nepal
SEATTLE — Mount Everest is normally buzzing with activity this time of year, with hundreds of hopeful climbers gathering at base camp to attempt to summit the world’s tallest peak during a narrow 10day window in May before the monsoons arrive.
It is also the most lucrative season for Sherpas, the locals living in the highaltitude regions of the Himalayas who support climbing teams as porters, guides, rope-fixers, cooks and dishwashers.
But Everest is basically closed after a magnitude-7.8 quake triggered a massive avalanche that killed 19 at base camp and more than 6,300 people throughout Nepal.
That leaves Sherpas, who can earn up to $5,000 to $7,000 during the threemonth climbing season, wondering how they’ll make up that lost revenue in a country where the per capita income is about $730 annually.
Ang Tshering Sherpa, president of Nepal Mountaineering Association, an umbrella body of mountaineering agencies and climbers in Nepal, said Sherpas are worried the season may be over.
Steve Mock, director of a climbing school for Nepali called the Khumbu Climbing Center, said the lower incomes also mean Sherpas now have less money to rebuild their homes.
“Insurance for that sort of thing is simply not available in Nepal, so rebuilding costs come directly out of pocket,” he said. “Many save up money from working on Everest for years in order to build a decent house that may well have been destroyed or at least damaged by the quake. So financially, this is simply devastating.”
The financial burden could spread beyond just the Sherpas. Everest is a major economic driver for the country.