In the spring of 2016, Furdiki Sherpa, a widow, climbed Everest.
With the slogan ‘Hami Pani Sakchau’ which translates to we can also do it, Furdiki and Nima Doma, also a widow climbed Everest together. Both of them lost their husbands on Everest and the two, tired of crying, wanted to move on. The only way they thought that was possible was to do something their husbands did for a living; climb Everest.
In 2016, Furdiki was obsessed with Everest like most foreigners are. She wanted to see for herself what the fuss was all about and why people went to the mountain despite all the risks. Fast forward to 2022, Furdiki now has become more conscious about Everest and other mountains.
Speaking at the Seventh International Mountain Festival held in Pokhara on December 10, she feels people don’t respect the mountains anymore.
Furdiki was a speaker at the Seventh International Mountain Festival, which was held in Pokhara on December 10. She was a speaker for the session titled Role of Women in Conserving Mountain Environments. Along with Furdiki, the other participants of the session were author Lukpa Futi Sherpa, trekker Funjo Lama and mountaineer and photojournalist Purnima Shrestha. They discussed changes that are occurring recently in the mountains.
Although Furdiki climbed a mountain, representing widows, she is not happy. Why? Because everything in the mountains has changed, she says.
“It’s not just the snow that’s disappearing, with it culture and traditions are too,” says Furdiki.
Furdiki says that the Everest she saw in her childhood when her father, an icefall doctor, took her to base camp and the Everest of the current time has drastically changed.
“The mountain has changed. Even the base camp has changed. The effects of global warming on the icefall are clear yet no one is doing anything,” says Furdiki.
Furdiki believes the mountaineer and expedition companies are the major cause of declining snow in the Khumbu region. Due to their negligence the snow and culture of the Khumbu region are at risk, she says.
“I believe, it’s the fault of big tour and expedition companies. They provide luxurious expeditions to tourists, which are actually affecting the mountain environments. Their activities are doing a lot of harm to both the culture and environment,” says Furdiki.
For example, instead of setting up four to five tents, they fix one single big tent, occupying a large amount of area. To set up that big tent, the companies appoint the Sherpas to dig the glacier for a month to create space for them and their clients.
Furdiki says she has observed a lot of difference between going to Everest in 2019 and at the end of November 2022. Currently, it is hard to recognise Everest Base Camp.
“I wish the big companies would change their attitude on the mountain,” she says.
Many initiatives to clean the mountains have been initiated, but none have been successful on Everest. The mountaineers leave all their waste in the mountain and as a result, the mountain environment has remained excessively polluted.
“I think the mountains have never been cleaned,” says Furdiki. “Our cultures can only be preserved if the mountains are preserved.”
Furdiki also complains about the helicopters that travel around mountain regions. Helicopters have caused destruction rather than development, she says. According to her, the transportation of goods, through helicopters, that cannot be carried by humans has affected the life of the people in mountains.
To provide luxury for their clients on the Everest expedition, the big companies transport goods by helicopters. These goods include gas heaters and gas geysers and now they even transport coffee machines and ovens. Even the goods that humans can carry are transported by helicopters. Tents, plywood and steel everything is transported to base camp by helicopter, she says.
She also argues that helicopters have created noise pollution in the mountains. It has made life hard there. The helicopters fly more than birds there, laments Furdiki.
“Flying helicopters in the mountain region is not in the interest of foreigners but of Nepali tour and expedition companies. They earn a lot of money through it,” says Furdiki.
For commercial purposes under the pretext of emergency rescue, Nepali businesses are flying helicopters around mountains in vast numbers.
Trekker Funjo Lama also agrees that the mountains are turning snowless. He also echoes Furdiki adding that luxurious expeditions are affecting mountain environments.
Like Furdiki, Lama, who is born and raised in mountains, has also observed many changes in the mountains. While growing up, he experienced heavy snowfall during December and January. But now, it rarely happens as it rains a lot in the mountains.
“In a bid to provide luxury, we have forgotten who we are and what our culture is,” he says.
Lama also told how the negligence in mountains has caused natural disasters and impacted the locals. Just a few months back an avalanche occurred in Manaslu. This was caused due to the mountaineer’s recklessness. The mountaineers returned from helicopters but the locals are still suffering from the roadblocks caused by natural disasters.
Mountaineer Lakpa Futi Sherpa urges concerned bodies to make effective policies for conserving mountains.
“Women have 80 per cent of the contribution to conserving mountains. However, they are not included while making decisions on policies,” says Lakpa Futi Sherpa.
This story was translated from the original Nepali version and edited for clarity and length.
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