Climbing Sherpas vanish from Hills

KOLKATA: In Darjeeling, the town of Sherpa Tenzing Norgay — the hero of Everest — the tradition of the climbing Sherpa is vanishing, ex-deputy director of field training of Himalayan Mountaineering Institute Dorjee Lhatoo said in the city. He was speaking about the Sherpas of Darjeeling at a meet of mountaineers by the Indian Mountaineering Foundation, East Zone.
“Today, I can count on my fingertips the number of climbing Sherpas in Darjeeling,” Dorjee said.While mountaineering expeditions to the Himalayas are now engaging Sherpas mostly from Kathmandu, the Sherpas of Darjeeling are being drawn to other vocations. “Most of the Darjeeling Sherpas are now opting for blue-collared jobs.”
Blaming the lack of policy to nurture the tradition of climbing among the Sherpas, he said there are only five Sherpa instructors in HMI now. While, during the days of Dorjee, there were 12, regular Sherpa instructors and casual ones too. Now, during the climbing season, Sherpas from Nepal often arrive in Darjeeling to take part in expeditions but return to Kathmandu. A few Sherpas also visit other countries like Pakistan for K2 expeditions.
The tradition of organizing Sherpas of Darjeeling for expeditions had started in 1928 with the setting up of the Himalayan Club. After China occupied Tibet and Nepal was opened to foreign mountaineering expeditions, the focus shifted to Kathmandu. Now, with new employment opportunities in Darjeeling, Sherpas are shifting towards other jobs.
Indian Mountaineering Foundation vice president Akhil Bakshi said IMF had signed an MoU with the Chinese Academy of Sciences to study the condition of the glaciers in the upper reaches of the Sutlez and the Brahmaputra rivers in Tibet.