Everest News

Friday’s avalanche beneath the Khumbu icefall on Everest took the lives of 16 Sherpa guides who were working on the mountain in preparation for the climbing season. Reports coming out of the region have been brief and less than reliable but it has become clear that the incident has thrown the Sherpa community and the mountaineering industry in Nepal into turmoil.

Following the threat of a boycott of the climbing season by the Sherpa guides, the Nepalese government has reached a compromise on a number of the Sherpas’ demands which include the setting up of a relief fund for the injured and increasing the insurance payout for the families of those killed on Everest.

A week of mourning has been declared by expedition teams and around 400 foreign climbers are currently on the mountain hoping to reach the summit after this week. Whether business returns to normal on the world’s highest Mountain this season is yet to be seen. Tensions have been growing in the region, as was visible last season with the outbreak of a fight at 7,500 metres. What this will mean for mountaineering in Nepal is yet to be seen, but there is a sense that changes must be coming.