Over nearly three decades, Apa Sherpa has witnessed the effects of a warming climate and an overcrowded peak.
I didn’t want to be a climber. My dream since I was young was to become a doctor.But I had to make a choice between my dream and my family. I chose my family.
APA SHERPA as told to EMILY ATKIN
Photo courtesy of the Apa Sherpa Foundation
I was born in Thame, Nepal, around 1960. I’m not exactly sure what year. When I was 12 years old, my father passed away. He was the only breadwinner of the family, and I was the only child who could go out and work to earn. My mother, being a housewife, had no other source of income. I was in fourth grade. I had no choice but to become a porter.
Being a porter will pay you about $5,000 per climb—but only if you get to the top. It’s less if you just go to the base camp. It doesn’t seem like that much, but a dollar here is like 100 over there. So in our minds, it’s worth the risk, because what else are we supposed to do? Back in our village, they do have schooling, but the education isn’t that great. So most people end up climbing to earn money for their families. There aren’t many other opportunities.
I didn’t get that much money from portering. So when I became older, I became a trekking guide. It’s very risky, very dangerous, but you get a little more money. So I started climbing these smalls peaks—6,000 meters. I didn’t summit Everest, which is about 8,800 meters, until 1990.
The first time I climbed to the top, I was excited for the adventure. But to me, it was my job. And it was a very dangerous job. Once, in 2006, two of my Sherpa climbers got buried when ice collapsed in the Khumbu Icefall . One of the climbers was my niece’s husband. Despite many rescue efforts, we were never able to recover their bodies. I had to return back home to my niece without her husband.
The Western people, they always ask about the adventure. But this was very tough. It’s very hard to put it in words. I wish this on nobody.
This article first appeared on http://newrepublic.com . The original can be read here .