Renowned Sherpa mountain guide Kami Rita returning from Mount Everest after his record 30th successful ascent. — AP
THE climbing season has come to a close. May is the month when climbers the world over scramble to reach the top of the highest mountain in the world. The window of opportunity is very limited. Soon Mother Nature will make the mountain unclimbable again.
Mount Everest is not a friendly mountain. The terrain is treacherous and the weather is unpredictable. At more than 8,000m the level of oxygen is hardy a third of that at sea level.
It was reported that this year the government of Nepal issued 209 permits to climb Everest, 39 of which were for women climbers. But the published official numbers can be deceiving – the Department of Tourism eventually gave out 478 foreign permits.
Never mind Nepal’s Supreme Court rule that the number of climbers has to be limited. It has come out with many vague rules before, adding to a long list of new rules to join a longer list of previously ignored rules. Nepal needs these climbers. The country offers spectacular mountains, stunning valleys, and friendly people. It is home to seven of the 14 mountains in the world that exceed 8,000m, two of which it shares with Tibet. There is money in the mountains.
Trivialised?: Adventurers attempting to conquer the planet’s highest peak. Mountaineering culture has changed from the time Hillary and Tenzing Norgay succeeded in taming the most iconic, spectacular, and dangerous mountain on Earth. — Pixabay
Back in 1953, a British group led by Sir John Hunt organised a military-style expedition involving 350 porters, 20 Sherpas and a planeload of supplies to support 10 climbers. Today, there are many professional expedition companies with experienced guides equipped with state-of-the art support tech to help climbers realise their dreams.
The promise of attaining the highest point on Planet Earth attracts novices with little experience but lots of money, insatiable pride, and sometimes, a garish display of ego and hubris. “If you can tie your shoelaces, you can climb Everest” is one tagline used to entice novices with money to the mountain.
The first men to ever reach the top of Mt Everest: Norgay (left) and Hillary.-- Wikimedia Commons
But Everest is still as dangerous today as it was in I953 when Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay stood on its top. It might even be more dangerous now because of the number of people on the slopes. Last year was one of the worst on record: 18 people died on the mountain. So far the official toll this climbing season is seven, and perhaps still counting.
We can read about, watch film reels, and enjoy snippets about climbers’ exploits at any time on social media. Everest has now become the most glamorous venue for outdoor sports in the world. It is said to be the new Disneyland in the sky.
On Everest, records are broken as often as mini avalanches happen on its slopes. A Nepali Sherpa, Kami Rita, goes down in history as the person who has summited the mountain the most times – 30. Lhakpa Sherpa has done that 10 times, the most number of climbs for a woman.
The first woman to summit was Junko Tabei of Japan back in May 1975. She was 35 then. Ano-ther Japanese woman made history as the oldest woman to reach the top, Tamae Watanabe, on May 19, 2012, when she was 73 years and 180 days old. Mind you she was only 10 years younger when she first summited on May 16, 2002.
Another Japanese, Yuichiro Muira, born in 1932, became the oldest man to reach the top. He was 80 years and 224 days old when he achieved the feat on May 23, 2013. He beat Min Bahadur Sherhan of Nepal who was 76 years and 340 days old when he celebrated on the top of Everest in 2008.
The race for the youngest, the first disabled person, the first blind individual, the first paragliding descent, the first full descent on skis and on a snowboard, the first two people to marry at the peak, the first twins – and the list could go on and on – is therefore inevitable. And in our case the first Malaysians who achieved the feat were M. Magendran and N. Mohandas on May 23, 1997.
Jamling Tenzing Norgay, the son of the legendary climber, has other views. I met him in London when he talked about his book, Touching My Father’s Soul: A Sherpa’s Journey to the Top of the World, back in 2002.
He told the audience when he was in high school in 1983 he sought his father’s permission to climb. He was told, “I climbed Everest so that you wouldn’t have to”. In 1996, at the age of 31, almost 10 years after his father’s death, and 43 years after his father’s successful climb, Jamling reached the peak of Everest.
Like Jamling, Peter, the son of Sir Edmund Hillary, is an accomplished climber too. He first summited in 1990. In 2003, to mark the 50th anniversary of their fathers’ historic success, both the sons successfully climbed the mountain together.
Jamling Norgay, son of Tensing Norgay, vowed never to summit Everest again after his last summit in 1996 during the tragic season when eight climbers died in a single storm.
Jamling has every reason to be disappointed that Everest has become nothing more than a “target” to be conquered at all cost. Above all else, today the mountain is climbed merely to produce content to increase social media likes and followers.
How mountaineering culture has changed from the time Jamling and Peter’s fathers succeeded in taming the most iconic, spectacular, and dangerous mountain on Earth.
The writer is a trekker and climbs mountains. He celebrated his 70th birthday last November on the slopes of Mount Batur, in Bali. The views expressed here are the writer’s own.
