Willi Unsoeld, a member of the first American expedition to conquer Mount Everest in 1963 once maintained, “You’ve climbed the highest mountain in the world. What’s left?” However, it seems there is a Sherpa who would strongly disagree with this sentiment, having made the journey from Everest base camp to the mountain’s summit a record-breaking nineteen times.

49-Year Old Nepalese Sherpa, Apa, is known only by a single name as is often the tradition for Sherpas. However, as he now holds the record for number of ascents of the highest mountain in the world, this does not seem to have hindered his reputation. Having grown up in the foothills, he began carrying equipment and supplies for climbers at the age of twelve, and completed his first Everest climb in 1990 at the age of 28. He has since made the climb from Everest base camp, which stands at 5,360 metres, to the summit which towers at 8,848 metres, almost every year.

Apa had recently made plans to make an astounding twentieth climb this spring, however this expedition would have been quite different as he had set a goal for himself and his team to collect and remove 15,430 lbs of rubbish from the mountainside as they climbed. The team of 17 Sherpas and 12 others would not have been working alone, but had plans to recruit porters who would assist them in getting the bags of litter from the side of the mountain back to Everest base camp.

However, this would have been more than just an Environmental expedition; Apa was also using the monumental occasion afforded by his twentieth climb as a way to contribute to Nepal’s tourist campaign. Nepal opened its borders to tourists in the 1950s but the industry has suffered during years of instability. A new target has now been set that aims to attract half a million tourists to the country in the year 2011; whether this be achieved by people visiting Everest base camp and the Himalayas, those wishing to trek the Annapurna Circuit, or those who might be fascinated by more remote places such as the Kingdom of Mustang. For Sherpas such as Apa, who relied on mountain trading and yak herding prior to the introduction of tourism into Nepal, this is a particularly important goal.

Apa had one final goal to add to this celebratory climb, as he intended to carry the remains of the ashes of Sir Edmund Hillary to the top of Everest with him in order to scatter them at the peak. Hillary was one of the first men to conquer the journey from Everest base camp to summit in 1953, and passed away in his home country New Zealand just two years ago. Whilst most of his ashes were scattered in Auckland Harbour, the rest were donated to the Sherpa community. The memory of Sir Edmund remains important to many of the Nepalese, for as stated by Apa, “without him we would have no clinics and we would have no schools.”

Unfortunately, Hillary’s final journey is not to take place, due to the predictions of Buddhist Lamas. The Lamas warned that the plan to scatter the ashes would bring bad luck, as they considered it to be a holy place. However, whilst Hillary’s final resting place may not be Everest itself, or even Everest Base Camp, it is not far away. The ashes are currently kept in a monastery not far from the mountain, whilst plans are being formulated for the building of a park that will commemorate the mountaineer.

Author Bio: Jude Limburn Turner is the Marketing Manager for Mountain Kingdoms, an adventure tour company who have run the classic trek to Everest Base Camp for over 20 years. They now offer treks and tours worldwide, including destinations in North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Central and South East Asia.

Category: Sports
Keywords: Everest Base Camp