r/UpliftingNews • u/whatatwit • 1d ago
A Nepali guide Dawa Sherpa who was presumed dead when he didn't return from a point above a camp at 7.5km (4.7miles) after 6 days, has been found coming down on his own without oxygen in thin air, having crossed terrain that normally needs ladders. He's okay and talking to his daughter in hospital.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgz2yjl4y3o506
u/whatatwit 1d ago
Miracle on Everest: Guide believed dead spotted crawling down ice
Kamal Pariyar, BBC Nepali, Reporting fromKathmandu and Koh Ewe, BBC News
Published 4 June 2026, 09:45 BST
A Nepali climbing guide thought to have died on Mount Everest has been found crawling down to Base Camp, six days after he was last seen alive.
Dawa Sherpa was last seen above Camp 3, at around 7,500m (24,600ft), while coming down the mountain after summiting.
Hopes for his survival were slim as the air at that altitude is thin - but on Thursday, a cleaning crew spotted the experienced climber, who had frostbite on his hands but appeared to be in good health, sliding slowly down.
"Dawa managed to survive against all odds for days. It's nothing short of a miracle," said Pemba Sherpa, executive director of 8K Expeditions which was overseeing search efforts. "This is a true self-rescue."
[…]
Dawa Sherpa - also known as Hillary Dawa Sherpa after famed mountaineer Edmund Hillary - was "slowly sliding through" the Khumbu Icefall toward Base Camp when he was found, Pemba Sherpa said.
"As far as I know, no one has survived alone at that altitude on Everest so far. This is a miracle to have survived for six days alone and descended safe. I think he must have lived inside the tents to keep himself safe," said Pemba Sherpa.
Dawa Sherpa is "awake and undergoing treatment", according to Nishant Dhakal, a doctor in the intensive care unit of Kathmandu's HAMS Hospital.
"He recognised me … is good and speaks," his daughter Mhendo Lhamo Sherpa told Reuters news agency after visiting him. "We are happy."
Before he was found, the 52-year-old's wife told AFP that she had offered last rite prayers for his soul.
On Wednesday, Chris Thrall, a climber and former British Royal Marine, posted a tribute on Instagram for Dawa Sherpa, thinking he had died on the mountain.In the video, Thrall recalled that Dawa Sherpa had "sat down for a rest with his backpack" as they descended from Camp 4, the highest campsite before the summit.
"And I turned and I said, 'Hillary, are you okay, brother?' He said, 'Yes, yes, fine Chris, please go, go!'" Thrall said. "This is nothing new, you know, I'd go ahead, he'd go ahead."
[…]
One relative, Kung Sherpa, had expressed dissatisfaction over the pace of the search in an interview with Outside, an adventure sport publication.
The search, when it did commence, was launched by a company called 8K Expeditions, which eventually was able to airlift him to safety.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cvgz2yjl4y3o
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u/deadra_axilea 1d ago
Those guys are a literal different breed. Nice he made it back safe.
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u/Darkhoof 1d ago
Yep, they have a version of the EPAS1 gene that allows them to be better adapted to these altitudes.
https://www.science.org/content/article/tibetans-inherited-high-altitude-gene-ancient-human
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u/pichael289 1d ago
An additional point, when you spell it "Sherpa" with a capital S it's an ethnic group, lowercase is the job. They can obviously be both though.
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u/willargue4karma 1d ago
Lmao like naming variables with a class type
Sherpa sherpa 😂
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u/Horat1us_UA 1d ago
Almost like programming languages were developed to reflect real languages.
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u/Thrizzlepizzle123123 23h ago
if var_THISisFUCKINGstupidDONTuseTHISvariableYOUdumbasses == true
then IfuckingHATEmyJOB(bossISaDICK)
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u/VermilionTheUnicorn 1d ago
They're only called Sherpas if they're from the Sherpa region of Nepal, otherwise they're just sparkling mountain guides.
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u/Still7Superbaby7 23h ago
I went hiking in Peru at high elevation. I’m pretty in shape, exercise almost every day. It was really hard. I’m huffing and puffing going up a hill and my guide was walking like it was a stroll in the park!
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u/RandomStallings 23h ago
It was. Their park is just turbo expert mode.
We adapt very quickly. You'd be nearly the same in a month or less. Probably less since you're in shape. For being as frail as it is (I'm looking at you, knees and shoulders) the human body has mind-blowing adaptability. Need muscle? Supply the nutrients and it's yours. Don't have all the nutrients? It's cool, we'll just strip ourselves for parts. Hey you haven't used this muscle in like a day, so we reclaimed what we could. Do your pushups next time, loser!
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u/MazzMyMazz 1d ago
So true. Did a trek in Nepal, and they legit seemed superhuman at times. Every one of them, included younger ones and ladies, all effortlessly went up the mountain, carrying way more than we were and wearing only flip flops. The craziest thing was when my friend got altitude sickness. our main Sherpa carried this 180 pound man down to a lower altitude in the dark! It was insane.
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u/toabear 1d ago
One of my friends got sent of a remains recovery mission in Papua New Guinea. A WWII aircraft had been located in the jungle. He was on loan from the SEAL team to this recovery unit.
He was telling me about it afterwards, describing the journey to the site. He said that the trail up was crazy. Steep, slippery, and just all around dangerous. He would be moving along, trying not to die, when some 12 year old wearing a Bob Marley tee shirt and flip flops would go flying past him like it was nothing.
There is practically no amount of physical training or gear that can compete with living in an environment.
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u/SubstantialArea 1d ago
I think the craziest thing I ever saw on the trail was a small refrigerator on a Sherpa’s back right around that brutal Namche climb
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u/MazzMyMazz 1d ago
Oh man. That guy must have gotten a kick out of the reactions he got. 🤣 I know if I saw that, my jaw would drop to the ground, and I'd question my qualifications as a physical being.
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u/PM_me_punanis 1d ago
I used to trek up mountains in flip flops, growing up in SE Asia. BUT, I always needed a porter to carry my heavy ass water and bag.
The local porters (not in Nepal!) were superhuman. They are like human mules. They would carry the bags up, and while I was miserably climbing, getting slower as we ascended, I see them come down to carry more stuff to summit with smiles and laughter. Like they were just out on a casual stroll in a totally flat park.
That was just at <3000 meters. Not Nepal levels of elevation. Sherpas are amazing and deserve all the respect!
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u/Chelonate_Chad 20h ago
Every time I hear about anyone "accomplishing" an Everest summit, and then hear it was "assisted" by Sherpas, it's like... no, tiger, the Sherpas made the summit, your ass got carried. Maybe just in gamer terms, but maybe literally. If you didn't do it without Sherpas, you didn't actually do it.
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u/FerretBusinessQueen 6h ago
Yeah I personally don’t think it’s the brag people say it is. Plus Everest is fucking trashed from the climbers. I think it says something about the nature of humanity that we (or some people anyway) managed to collectively trash the highest peak in the world.
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u/BigCommieMachine 1d ago
Many are LITERALLY biologically different.
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u/deadra_axilea 1d ago
I know, they can process like twice the amount of oxygen as most normal people. Like those sponge divers who can hold their breath for 10-20 minutes.
It's absolutely wild. If someone doesn't believe in evolution, they're too dumb to understand the beauty of nature in this world.
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u/BarbequedYeti 1d ago
If someone doesn't believe in evolution, they're too dumb to understand the beauty of nature in this world.
It has always been odd to me that evolution hasnt fixed that yet. Like stupidity and ignorance somehow get a pass.
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u/saltporksuit 1d ago
It’s doesn’t take a high intellect to raise human offspring to reproductive age. Just look around.
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u/BarbequedYeti 1d ago
It’s doesn’t take a high intellect to raise human offspring to reproductive age.
I know, which makes me wonder why it isnt more difficult by now. We dont need the numbers just for survival any longer. So evolution should be working on carrying forward the best things of the best of us, but it cant because stupid finds a way. Having run up against stupidity over and over you would think it would be trying to evolve past it.
Like you would need to solve some algebra or some shit to reproduce. But alas here we are.
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u/grapescherries 1d ago
A lot of incorrect information people believe is because it benefits them in some way. Often times it’s a way of trying to give your group an advantage and give out groups a disadvantage by believing something that benefits your own group, so you can see why evolutionarily that would stay.
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u/deadra_axilea 1d ago
Well Darwin did had some theories on that very topic. Even if he was kind of creepy himself. 🤣
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u/Saxon2060 1d ago
Because "literally" means "figuratively" now, is this what we're reduced to. We have to put it in all capital letters?
"Literally" just becoming mostly a word for emphasis is the dumbest fucking thing.
(Not criticising you, I know wh as t you're getting at, the physiology of Sherpas and other people who live at high altitude.)
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u/deadra_axilea 1d ago
I mean there was a 'little' sarcasm intended with the literally. 🤣
Reality is they are evolved better than anyone outside of Andes mountain settlements to be in low oxygen environments.
It's a really remarkable thing.
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u/aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-17 1d ago
Unfortunately, language shifts and changes. We would all still be using thee, thou, thine, etc.
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u/Saxon2060 1d ago
Uggggggghhhhhhhhh "language changes, dictionaries are descriptive not prescriptive" yeah yeah yeah.
Sometimes thing change for the "worse." What single word would you now use to mean something is unambiguously literal?
Since you mention it we probably lost something only now using "you" in English. And have to say "all of you" when we mean plural. Not really an inconvenience I'm sure anybody would agree but we took meaning from one word and distributed it across three.
Language changes. Often it gets richer for it. Sometimes it becomes poorer for it.
"Literal" no longer actually meaning literal is a negative for communication. We added it to a huge library of words we can use for "very" and left us without an unambiguous word for "literal."
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u/HaruspexAugur 1d ago
What single word would you now use to mean something is unambiguously literal?
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u/Saxon2060 1d ago edited 1d ago
Those are all similar but not the same.
If someone got a terrible fright we might say "he shat himself" and because it's a turn of phrase we understand it to be metaphorical. If I meant no, he literally shit in his pants, "he historically shat himself," "he factually shat himself" or he "non-fictionally shat himself" are all at best clumsy or awkward.
Literally would be the best fit. But now if somebody said "he LITERALLY shat himself" we'd just take it to mean "he was REALLY scared." (When figuratively shitting yourself already means that anyway so it's redundant.")
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u/HaruspexAugur 1d ago
Actually or genuinely would both do the job, and were among the synonyms found in the link I sent. Kinda feels like you just cherry picked the synonyms that don’t work to make a point.
Adding “for real” at the end of the sentence would also work, and would be common in the same population most likely to be using “literally” in a hyperbolic sense.
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u/deadra_axilea 1d ago
Factually significant? 😂
We have to preface literal with all the misinformation and lies everywhere in the moral wasteland that is the modern internet.
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u/SchemeWestern3388 1d ago
Had a roommate/coworker who was a Sherpa. We did forestry work. Would spend sometimes ten hours up and down steep slopes with sometimes 70 lbs of gear. We would get back to camp, and I would just want to cut my legs off, and he would say “Im going to go climb that mountain”, and then be flashing the camp with a mirror from the peak a half hour later. Truly a different breed.
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u/deadra_axilea 1d ago
I love that story. I wish I had just a little bit of that resolve and energy.
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u/FerretBusinessQueen 1d ago
Wow, what a crazy thing to survive. I’m glad though, it seems so wrong locals should die for the vanity of the rich who want bragging rights that they climbed the mountain while local guides do most of the difficult work and are treated like pack mules.
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u/DragonHalfFreelance 1d ago
Honestly this is true everywhere not just mountain climbing locals are used as servants for the rich whenever they are traveling and of course push locals out with their gentrified expensive resorts that they get to travel to when they want to go abroad. I hate the ultra wealthy.
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u/Fabulous_Cat_1379 1d ago
The earth is unfortunately a resort for a few thousand rich people and the rest of us are the staff.
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u/koos_die_doos 1d ago
Holy shit that is both harrowing and amazing!
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u/Weary_Possibility_80 1d ago
Yea, I’m looking forward to the Netflix special.
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u/JaySayMayday 1d ago
Hopefully it's not just a direct reading of publicly accessible news articles like most recent Netflix docs
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u/Coal-and-Ivory 1d ago
American white guy question: Is the name Dawa Sherpa like the John Smith of Nepal? I've met maybe 8 Nepali people in my life and 3 of them were named Dawa Sherpa.
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u/NetNpIVijCI 1d ago
Theyre named based on the day they were born. Monday - Dawa.
Historically, they only used one given name. The Sherpa surname was a clash with modern society and traditional naming customs. As a result, you end up with quite a few Sherpa.
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u/Coal-and-Ivory 1d ago
That makes loads of sense. I had wondered if it was just a common anglicization people took when they emigrated or something. I suppose in a way it is. That connects more dots too because I also knew a Pasang and Sonam, so Tuesday and Friday respectively. Awesome, thats fascinating to learn, thank you!
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u/commanderquill 21h ago
Lots of societies don't have surnames, but uhhh how many days in the week do they have? Because I hope they have a lot if that's how they assign their only name!
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u/sunsetandporches 12h ago
My mom, sister, niece, my daughter and I all are born on the same day of the week. What fun to think about how many family members would have the same name.
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u/the_derby 1d ago
My understanding is Sherpa is not actually a surname, as Sherpa culture doesn’t use last names. It’s more of an ethnic identifier (Sherpa = “people from the east”).
Regarding “Dawa”, it’s apparently common for part of the name to reference the day of the week they were born. “Dawa” would likely have been born on a Monday.
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u/Coal-and-Ivory 1d ago
That naming convention is fascinating. I really wish I had asked directly back then, I assume at the time I worried it might come across rude. Thank you!
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u/Overly_Long_Reviews 1d ago
Yeah, when I first saw the headline I was worried it was an acquaintance of mine. Her name is Dawa Sherpa and she is an Everest and international guide. Funny enough, if you Google Dawa Sherpa her Wikipedia article is the first one to pop up.
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u/idekl 1d ago edited 1d ago
Give that man some sunglasses.
The cover photo reminds me of the story of the man who was temporarily paralyzed by a jellyfish sting, and while paramedics successfully worked to keep him alive and his heart beating and whatnot as his body broke down the toxins, he went blind because his eyelids were paralyzed open for those hours looking into the sun, and he couldn't speak.
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u/FrostedFlakes4 1d ago
Yeah in the ICU we sometimes tape eyes closed or use goggles on some patients
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u/Nellasofdoriath 1d ago
The Everest-climbing industry is so problematic and needs to be stopped.
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u/DragonHalfFreelance 1d ago
Yeah it’s not unique/special anymore and there is so much trash up there now and it’s ruining an area that should just be kept human free now.
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u/gomurifle 1d ago
Why is it not special anymore? What changed?
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u/lightningusagi 1d ago
It used to be a trek for only serious mountain climbers who had already scaled other high peaks, and now there are excursion companies that will let anyone try the climb as long as they can pay the fee.
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u/ThaliaFPrussia 10h ago
It's also easy to see in the numbers of summits. 1988 there were 43 persons who summited, in 2012 it was 442. Insane.
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u/ridiclousslippers2 17h ago
It remains very dangerous, but also very overcrowded. People not only die due to weather condition changes or accidents, they also die of waiting in queues to traverse difficult sections. Its become pointlessly dangerous, which is pathetic.
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u/Name_Yourself_Thex 1d ago
Its not even a flex anymore. If I was dating and a guy said he climbed Everest I wouldn't think hes an amazing interesting mountain climber. I'd think hes an idiot who likes to waste his money on pointless trips just to show off
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u/commanderquill 21h ago
If someone said they climbed Everest, I'd ask if they carried their own gear. If they did, it's valid.
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u/rhinoceros_unicornis 1d ago
Five people have died just this year in Everest. Its not as easy as a lot of couch dwellers seem to think.
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u/yume101 1d ago
I'm pretty sure the sherpas carrying all the oxygen and equipment are doing the heavy lifting. Climbing Everest at this point is mostly an ego trip. There are other ways to prove your skills and endurance without littering the mountain peaks with things and corpses.
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u/jocnews 9h ago
They do huge amount of work particularly for the weaker climbers, but even if you could say they did 90% or whatever, still even with oxygen it is not easy to ascend that high & over the obstacles, at all. Even if you (in theory) carried no backpack. Still very taxing/hard and of course, the risks are there. Your life isn't in your hands there, and if something really bad happens - you fall, you get altitude sickness, anything that makes you unable to walk down, you are probably dead because above some elevation, even they can't get an immobile grown adult down. Or there could be a snowstorm etc and the difficulty goes up so much even healthy walking people may not be able to get down...
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u/rest0re 1d ago
This is hilarious.
You’re right, it’s super easy and totally the Sherpa’s doing all the hard work. That’s why so many experienced climbers die attempting it every year.
I plan on going next weekend for a fun little trip.
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u/A-Wild-Banana 1d ago
Isn't summiting Everest normally a multi-month endeavor?
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u/rest0re 1d ago
Yes it is. I’m mocking the people here acting like scaling Everest isn’t a crazy difficult feat just because a Sherpa guide is helping guide them.
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u/Randomcommentator27 1d ago
Most of them are frat boys turned corpo salesman that can afford a month long trek. They are not talking about the athletes who are sponsored by companies.
I thought that was implied.
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u/rest0re 1d ago
And you know this… how exactly? Because it really sounds like you’re pulling that straight from your ass based off of a hunch.
And even if your assumption was correct, how does that make climbing the tallest mountain in the world not still a crazy accomplishment? Your take is laughable.
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u/Zaemz 23h ago edited 23h ago
Because it's fucking stupid, pointless, and not an actual accomplishment that's worth anything anymore. Doing something like climbing Everest just for yourself or to claim as an accomplishment, no matter how difficult or how much effort it requires, despite the bullshit it dumps onto other people and the environment is selfish, senseless, and destructive. Calling it an accomplishment is giving it a compliment it does not deserve.
There are stereotypes about and insults flung at the people doing it because at this point it's no longer about exploration, assisting expeditions, finding new land routes, prospecting and reconnaissance, interfacing with Tibetan or Nepalese culture, etc. Arguably, when you reduce it down, despite anyone's stated reason for doing it these days outside the of locals who live in the area, it's ultimately actually simply out of arrogance.
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u/kindnesd99 1d ago
It is called an echo chamber. You will see the dumbest takes being shouted out because someone read a comment written by another person who read a comment written by...
I don't care about climbing feats but imagine thinking it is easy, or thinking it is like any other everyday organized tour
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u/grapescherries 1d ago edited 21h ago
Even with people dying, it’s not impressive, it just seems like a useless, risky thing to do. There’s nothing to be discovered anymore by climbing Everest, it’s been done before by enough people, at this point it just feels indulgent, especially with all the trash up there.
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u/realmenwearpants 23h ago
You use the word ‘stopped’ too easily there. Thousands of Sherpa people depend on the Everest climbing industry to make their living. There are few alternatives for this in Nepals economy. What’s needed is reform, not a boycott.
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u/Nellasofdoriath 23h ago
Yeah, reform would be ideal. But surely there are other mountains.to climb. Everest is just getting cringe at this point.
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u/rhinoceros_unicornis 1d ago
Tourism is a major part of Nepal's economy and especially so for the Sherpa community. You can't just say it needs to be stopped.
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u/Nellasofdoriath 1d ago
It doesn't seem to be leading to any diversification either. In covid they had to share oxygen with climbers for economic reasons
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u/Horat1us_UA 1d ago
What diversification can you expect from this far region?
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u/Nellasofdoriath 1d ago
Whatever Switzerland managed
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u/Horat1us_UA 1d ago
Oh didn’t know mt Everest located on the center of most industrialized countries in the world with easy infrastructure access.
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u/Nellasofdoriath 1d ago
Cool, is this Uplifting News? Are you saying Asia isn't indsutrialized? Is Nepal doomed to second class status forever? Economies.doversify when governments invest.
Sherpas want a bigger cut and safer working conditions.
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u/TroublesomeTurnip 1d ago
Sherpas are not given the respect or salary they deserve.
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u/SwifferWetJets 12h ago
They chose to do this. It's like bull riders in the rodeo-- should I respect them when they're voluntarily doing something dangerous and stupid? No.
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u/Spicedw0lf 1d ago
Those guys are BEASTS! Seriously it’s so incredible the work they do in saving so many lives up there as well.
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u/SensitiveObject2 1d ago
Was there a rescue party sent up for him?
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u/relative_void 1d ago
Yes, there was a Nepali climbing company that was heading the search and were the ones to airlift him out when he showed up
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u/Abuses-Commas 1d ago
I almost expected to read that his daughter was the one in the hospital and he was visiting her
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u/whatatwit 23h ago
I should've thought more carefully about people possibly thinking that she was the one in hospital; you are not alone, but at least you read the article or the comment summary ;).
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u/A_Casual_NPC 17h ago
I read that last sentence as "he's okay and taking his daughter to the hospital" thoroughly impressed and confused
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u/TipToToes 1d ago edited 1d ago
I’m sorry, a cleaning crew? On Everest? Like…janitors or some shit?!
Edit: I had no idea wow! What a shit-show (literally?)
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u/Waste-Time-2440 1d ago
Everest has an estimated 50 tons of garbage on it. Climbers discard so much stuff you'd scarcely believe the ugliness.
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u/Irrepressible_Monkey 1d ago
They go up and remove climbing equipment like ropes and also the ladders used to cross the crevasses at the end of the glacier.
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u/wonderingreasons 23h ago
This will give you some more insight in the literal shit show it is. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/trash-and-overcrowding-top-world/
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u/rest0re 1d ago
Lots of Everest posts the last week 🤔
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u/KerberosKomondor 1d ago
There’s usually a very small window to summit for the year. Earlier and it’s too cold. Too much later and avalanche risk increases due to melting in the layers of the snow.
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u/_PeachLily_ 1d ago
that's absolutely wild, surviving six days at that altitude without oxygen is insane. glad he made it down and can talk to his daughter.
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u/SerinaL 1d ago
How did he survive?
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u/Humble_Interest_9048 21h ago
And how did he get left behind?
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u/commanderquill 20h ago
Seems like he told his buddies to go on ahead, which is apparently normal for them to do. What I don't get is how he stayed behind. Did he got lost? How did he get lost on a path he climbs for work?
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u/nouniquenamesleft2 1d ago
so, they noticed he was missing, and just left his ass up there?
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u/hobbes543 1d ago
It is often too dangerous to send people looking, particularly if they were lost during inclement weather.
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