SARA LEVINE
As the mountaineering community prepares to mark the first anniversary of the Everest avalanche tragedy last year which killed 16 high altitude workers, the Nepali guides have gone back to what they have to do for a living – risking their lives to fix ropes, ladders and ferrying rich western clients to the top.
Despite the attention to insurance and compensation, the disproportionate risk that the 300 high altitude workers face while employed every year on Everest has not diminished. The least-paid workers are still doing the most arduous and dangerous work on the mountains. A team of eight Nepali guides were busy fixing ropes and ladders on a new, hopefully safer route up the Khumbu Icefall as heavy unseasonal snowfall engulfed Mt Everest this week (pic, above). More than 300 climbers are waiting at Base Camp for the route to be ready and the weather to clear.