Pemba Onki Sherpa is no stranger to suffering. He’s encountered plenty in his many expeditions up the world’s tallest mountain.
“Sometimes Sherpas have to undergo immense hardships,” he says. “There was an avalanche in 2014. Many of my friends died… I climbed Everest eleven times and never had such a sad situation in my life.”
Despite this, and another devastating earthquake like it in 2015, climber numbers swelled to record levels last year; the increase tragically contributing to a deadly bottleneck near the summit. The resulting human “traffic jam” cost 10 people their lives.
Whilst a government-invoked nationwide lockdown has ensured no repeat of last year’s tragic events, the consequences of Nepal’s response to combating Covid-19 are no less bleak.
“It has been very difficult… We had a group of Chinese climbers who were all set to come to Nepal. But everything had to be canceled due to Covid-19. The cancellation of expeditions with an agency is a heavy loss in terms of government tax and has a serious impact on the wider economy.”
“All the climbers in Nepal are currently in their homes,” he says. “They have not been able to earn money. They might be facing family and economic problems.
If we are not able to give proper care to hygienic food, cleanliness and travel it will be very difficult to uplift the tourism sector.”
Mount Everest has been closed to climbers since March.
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