Everest avalanche: are Sherpas put at risk by Western climbers?
Sherpa protests bring Everest climbing season to a halt after 16 die in avalanche

NEPALESE guides have brought this year's climbing season on Mount Everest to a halt after the worst-ever accident on the mountain's slopes left 16 of their colleagues dead.
Mountaineers from all over the world, many of whom had paid tens of thousands of pounds to join an Everest expedition, are now stranded at base camp amid chaotic scenes four days after the avalanche at the Khumbu Icefall.
Sherpas say they have decided to stop climbing to honour their colleagues and in protest at the paltry compensation offered by the Nepalese government to families of the dead.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
One guide, Pasang Sherpa, said: "Sixteen people have died on this mountain on the first day of our climb. How can we step on it now?"
As the Nepalese government scrambles to amend its original compensation offer to resurrect a critical part of its tourism industry, questions are being asked over the safety of the climb, and whether Sherpa guides are compensated adequately for the "disproportionate" risk they take in helping foreign mountaineers scale Everest.
What happened? On 18 April, just before 7am, a huge overhanging bulge of ice, the size of a house, broke loose from the side of the mountain and smashed against the slope below. On it were 25 men who had been working to secure rope lines in advance of mountaineers aiming to scale the world's tallest peak. The avalanche killed 16, all of them Nepalese; three of the bodies were buried and may never be found.
What was the government's compensation offer? The Nepalese government first offered families of the victims around £240 each – barely enough to cover funeral costs, according to The Guardian. The Sherpas responded angrily, demanding the government increase their compensation offer to approximately £600 per family. They also want improved insurance payments for guides are killed or seriously injured and a larger share of the permit fee the Nepalese government charges foreign climbers to take part in the expedition.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Where does money go? This spring, Nepal's Ministry of Tourism issued permits to 334 climbers to attempt Mount Everest or its neighbours, Lhotse or Nuptse. Every climber attempting to scale Everest has already paid a £6,000 peak fee to Nepal's Ministry of Tourism. According to National Geographic almost all of this money vanishes "into the pockets of government bureaucrats". Conrad Anker, 51, who has climbed Everest three times, said: "I'd bet less than one per cent of the $3m in permit fees collected each year goes back to the mountain".
Could the accident have been prevented? Jon Krakauer, an American writer and mountain climber, notes in the New Yorker that one Everest tour manager, Russell Brice, made the decision two years ago to pull all his guides, clients, and Sherpas off the mountain because of his concerns over the huge bulge of ice that "was hanging like a massive sword of Damocles" directly over the Khumbu Icefall, which lies on the main route up the Nepal side of the mountain. At the time he was criticised but, Krakauer says, his decision has now been vindicated.
Will the accident bring an end to the climbing season? It is unlikely. Sherpa guides will probably wish to get back to work "within the next week or two", Krakauer says, given their dependence on Everest for income. In the meantime the thousands of mountaineers stranded at Everest's base camp are "in limbo", according to the National Geographic, and will have to "look into their hearts" to decide whether climbing Everest is worth the risks – both for themselves and also for their Sherpa guides.
-
Taking aim at Venezuela’s autocrat
Feature The Trump administration is ramping up military pressure on Nicolás Maduro. Is he a threat to the U.S.?
-
Comey indictment: Is the justice system broken?
Feature U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan has indicted former FBI Director James Comey on charges of lying and obstructing Congress
-
Government shuts down amid partisan deadlock
Feature As Democrats and Republicans clash over health care and spending, the shutdown leaves 750,000 federal workers in limbo
-
Nepal chooses toddler as its new ‘living goddess’
Under the Radar Girls between two and four are typically chosen to live inside the temple as the Kumari – until puberty strikes
-
Russia is ‘helping China’ prepare for an invasion of Taiwan
In the Spotlight Russia is reportedly allowing China access to military training
-
Interpol arrests hundreds in Africa-wide sextortion crackdown
IN THE SPOTLIGHT A series of stings disrupts major cybercrime operations as law enforcement estimates millions in losses from schemes designed to prey on lonely users
-
Why Gen Z in Nepal is dying over a state social media ban
IN THE SPOTLIGHT A crackdown on digital platforms has pushed younger Nepalis into increasingly violent clashes with government forces
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American cities
Under the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctions
The Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?
today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come