Why Some Sherpas Say There Won’t Be Any Guides On Everest In 10 Years | Inside Everest

a small shift of this ladder can turn catastrophic in a matter of seconds navigating this path safely is the responsibility of Everest climbing guides many of whom are ethnic Shas who earn 4 to 10 ,000 per climb but usually these guides can count on only one Expedition per year the job is one of the most dangerous in the world forch and while 2023 saw the most Climbers on record it also saw the most deaths 332 people have been lost to Everest in the last century over a third of them were Mountain [Music] guides it's 2 a.m. at base camp and FBA wua is leading a team of guides and climbers of the world's tallest [Music] mountain speech F wangu has touched Everest's Peak 14 times already for speech forch fore speech foreign speech fore speech ] foreign spech forch forign speech foreign speech foreign [Music] speech he begins every climb with a Puja ceremony praying for safe Passage and paying respect to the mountain even with his success rate he never underestimates the deadly risks forign speech speech for speech for speech foreign speech foreign speech over the next several weeks this group of 16 will climb for hours on end in total darkness face the threat of avalanches and storms and cross deadly passageways fura wangu and his team of experienced guides are their best chance of making it to the summit and surviving it gives you a lot of confidence you know when your sherper has 15 16 Summits like some of these sherpers here when you're at high altitude and you're in those situations and they tell you you know it's okay it's going to be okay it's very reassuring that they've summited so many times it's more than just mentally reassuring on the mountain the choices guides make directly affect whether a climber lives the next morning another group of climbers is gearing up for its Expedition it takes a bit of time know to put it but it safy your foot on the minus 30 or 50 sometimes near base camp at 5,364 M climbing guides lead a vital training [Music] course without this refresher climbers won't know how to work with their specific Expedition team the guides are using the limited time they have today to review how best to handle Steep inclines and to teach their Team how to problem solve on the spot sorry [Music] on the course is one of the services included in a mountain guides cost guides only work with experienced high altitude Mountaineers a requirement of the nepales government but that doesn't mean the climbers are ready to Brave Everest's extreme climate yet I think if you are talking about high altitude mountaineering it's important to do this you know at least every 6 months it keeps your body ready for I thinking lack of oxygen like came here by helicopter which is not probably it was not the best idea the first St R quite hard it will be ism's second attempt at summiting Everest he confronted the danger that awaits his new team over a decade ago we almost reached uh 8,500 but because of the very unfavorable weather conditions had to return so the summit was very close so after 11 years I I'm back [Music] ismile averted catastrophe in his first summit attempt but not everyone is so lucky when climbers are critically injured guides have to be prepared to switch an expedition to a rescue and provide emergency relief in May 2023 a team of Sherpa guides rescued a climber from Everest's Death Zone over the course of 6 hours the guardes carried him on their backs down to Camp 3 since the 2019 season as a safety measure Nepal has required every climber to be accompanied by at least one climbing guide and choosing a local guide has its distinct benefits on Everest many of these Mountain guides are shibas an ethnic group native to the slopes of Mount Everest the Conquering team was composed of 20 Americans AED by Shera tribesmen who acted as carriers though the term Shira is informally used as a casual for Everest guides the shida people have been closely involved in mountaineering here since the very first Everest Expeditions their tissues use oxygen more efficiently and preserve muscle energy Better Than People from lowlands that's one of the reasons shb guides can assist their climbers with heavy loads without risking as much physical strength I've got a very good sherper um you know and he carries he carries um a lot so about 10kg I would carry but they would carry three times that and it's indispensable especially here at the Kumo icefall where three sharpers lost their lives in 2023 at an elevation of 5,486 M the team slowly makes its way through shifting glaciers the group is also relying on the work that locals known as icefall doctors did months earlier these specialized climbers establish the safest route to the top of Everest every season a separate fee of $600 per Expedition member goes to these icefall doctors to use the ladders and ropes they set [Music] up but even with a clear path climbers are still in danger of crevasses opening and closing and even unexpected Avalanches forign spe for spee forign speech ] for speech ] forign speech [ speech [Music] fore considering the danger it's no surprise that mountain guides are one of the biggest expenses in summiting Everest climbers pay as much as $100,000 for the Expedition and a chance at standing at the top of the [Music] world for each of these climbs guides certified by the International Federation of mountain guides associations can charge agencies $10,000 less experienced climbing guides make only $4,000 per climb the agency F wangu works with Mau Adventure says it pays guides an additional $1,500 for every successful Summit I think it's okay for for what it is um it's okay and you know the nepales government have to make money from it the sherpers have to have to make money and you know it would be an insult I think if we would just come and and pay hardly anything and and Summit the mountain the majority of summits occur in the spring season so most guides are hired for only one Expedition limiting their yearly income F Wu says guides don't see enough money to justify continuously risking their lives speech spee for speech ] foreign speech speech ] foreign for speech ] speech forign speech guards also have to pay for their own gear an investment of as much as $7,000 that includes clothing boots and backpacks that must withstand extreme conditions on the mountain the down suit alone can cost $2,000 and some gear needs to be replaced every few years often times working as a guide in the increasingly commercialized Everest industry comes out of necessity speech foreign speech for spech forign for speech speech speech foreign speech ] foree speech spee to stay afat takes on work this is common for many local guides who struggle to make hands meet from a job that routinely puts their life in [Music] danger forch foree spech that's one of the reasons gin shida quit his career as a climbing guide [ foreign speech speech ] foreign forign speech ] forign speech ] for speech ] foreign speech ] forign speech ] for speech IGN speech ] foreign speu openly questions whether the risks are really worth it and he thinks it's a question more by guides will ask spee for spech for spech if forar wangu is Right a declining number of expert Mountain guides will coincide with the growing Everest tourism industry in Spring 2023 Nepal issued a record number of 478 permits to Summit Mount Everest this broke the record set 2 years earlier when it issued issued 409 permits but as the industry grows so too does the frequency of fatalities spring 2023 saw 18 deaths 15 confirmed and three presumed making it the deadliest season for Climbers on Everest six of those lost were sh by guides at the same time Napal is seeing a growing job market with locals increasingly choosing other professions speech for speech speech ] speech ] foreign speech ] spe [ foreign ] for speech ] fore speech speech speech ] foreign forign speech [ fore [ speech ] for speech ] speech for speech ] forign speech foree the rising death toll on Everest has put more pressure on the nepales government to manage tourism on the mountain in 2025 it plans to increase the price of climbing permits for foreigners to $15,000 up from $1,000 the government says the salaries of high altitude guides and workers will also increase this could be a Beacon of Hope for some younger locals who still see a future in being a mountain guide like shant unlike fangu shashant is able to pursue his education still the mountain compels him about that speech speee speech speech but the truth is that the future for guides on Everest is unclear [ speech ] foreign IGN spech ] speech [Music] ] foreign speech forch [Music] speech

Channel: Business Insider

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Keywords: Business Insider, Business News, Everest, Mount Everest, Sherpa, Guide

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Length: 17min 34sec (1054 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 07 2024