Working on top of the world (+videos)
- April
- 16
5:23 am Live Window
His picture hangs in the Sherpa museum, above the terraced village of Namche Bazaar, and almost everyone in the Solu-Khumbu valley knows who he is. He is stopped often, sometimes by people just wanting to shake his hand. A Western climber we meet on the trail stops to hug him. She tells us confidently, You are in good hands, youre with the best.
But Dawas world is a long way from that of other climbers of the worlds highest mountain, aided by Sherpa guides. He lives a humble life in a small house and grows potatoes and other vegetables for food. He bathes in a small tub that he fills with cold water.
While Western climbers pay upward of US$70,000 (NZ$88,000) to climb the 8850-metre Mt Everest, Dawa gets paid about US$10 (NZ$12.50) a day while on the mountain, less than US$1 an hour. Only if he gets a client to the top does he receive a guaranteed bonus of US$1000; if the climb isnt successful, he may only get a tip that is substantially less.
Regarded as one of the best climbers in Nepal, he makes more money guiding trekkers on the well-worn trail from the small village of Lukla to the rocky Everest Base Camp, at least 10 days hike away, than he does risking his life on the higher reaches of the mountain.
And though his clients are usually equipped with the latest mountaineering gear, Dawa still wears a thin, black North Face jacket he was given almost a decade ago and pants that he bought for a dollar.
He gets an equipment allowance, but often buys only the minimum needed for a climb, relying instead on old equipment, and pockets the balance of the money.
His income from mountaineering means he earns a good living by Sherpa standards the average annual income is less than US$500 but its a meagre amount considering the risks of the job. Death is just one false step away.
When Dawa retires - he is 49 now and hopes to climb for several more years yet - he will return to his village and grow vegetables. There will be no speaking tours, no sponsorship deals and no writing of motivational books.
Such is the life of most Sherpa guides. They carry back-breaking equipment to camps high on the mountain, they cook for their clients, they run life at Base Camp and they string ropes and ladders along the perilous routes leading to the summit. On Everest, they lead climbers as they go higher into the so-called Death Zone, then - with luck - ensure everyone makes it back down again, safe and alive.
For them, there is no heroism attached to climbing Everest - its a job. One they love, but still a job. This is what I do, he says in broken English. If you stay at home, you make no money. I have no other job. But I love this one. I grow potatoes and buckwheat, and spinach and radishes, and carrots and peas. And I climb mountains.
***
Like most climbing Sherpas, Dawa started young. He was born in Phortse, about a two-day hike from the foot of Everest, the oldest of six children.
His father was a guide, a sought-after job among the locals because of the relatively good money that can be made. Young Sherpas who do not guide or porter are often destined for a life herding yaks or growing crops in the terraced fields that fill the valleys. Others leave the mountains for the cities, where they can become estranged from their heritage.
Dawa went to Edmund Hillary School in Phortse, but had to leave to help his family. He started portering when he was still in his teens, and spent three years carrying loads weighing up to twice his body weight from village to village. He often walked the trails in barefeet or in shoes made from yak skin and grass. Strong and dedicated, he soon became a cook helper, then a Sherpa leader on climbing teams. He first went to Everest Base Camp when he was 14, with his father.
His story is typical of many Sherpas who take on the wearying work in order to feed and house their family. It was difficult, very difficult, he says of his early work.
Dawa first got to the upper reaches of Everest in 1979, climbing to the top camp on the West Ridge before turning back because of bad weather. His father had also climbed to high points but had never reached the summit. Dawa knew he would go higher one day.
The first time was really exciting, just great to climb mountains. And, I was good at it, he says. I liked to try to go to the top, but I didnt get any chance to go. I knew I could.
However, at 22, he was forced to put his climbing career on hold. His parents were killed in a bus crash and he was left to look after his younger brothers and sisters. All the money he made from trekking went to the family, all living in the one tiny house. He didnt get back to Everest for eight years.
But eventually, on the morning of May 10, 1990, he stood at the top of the world, joining Peter Hillary at the summit. He stayed there for about 20 minutes, realising a dream - and his stocks began to rise. A Sherpa with Everest under his belt can start to forge a decent career, if he is lucky and the mountain lets him.
***
It is difficult to get Sherpas to talk of their Everest exploits. Ask them if theyve been to the summit and theyll more often than not just shrug and nod. While some in the West make a career out of talking about the mountain, Sherpas rarely discuss it.
Kami Rita has been to the top of Everest 10 times, one of just 16 people - all Sherpas - to achieve the feat.
When asked how many times hes summited, he quietly says 10, but elaborates no further.
Dawa has done it five times, in 1990, 1993, 2001, 2006 and 2007. He will set out for number six in about a month, when climbing season opens.
Everest has allowed both Kami and Dawa to help put their children through school in Kathmandu. Dawa is also helped by former clients he now counts as friends, people who send him money to help educate his three young children.
The mountain has also opened up the world. Dawa spends some of his off-seasons in Canada, visiting friends he has met while guiding or climbing. Last year he went to Banff, the resort town in the Canadian Rockies, and hiked up Sulphur Mountain while everyone else took the tourist gondola. Kami is regularly hosted by friends in Europe.
The mountain has its price, however. More than half of the more than 200 climbers killed on Everest since Sir Ed Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first climbed it in 1953 have been Sherpas.
Dawa has survived several avalanches. In the early 1980s, he came out of a slide on Everest that claimed three Sherpas and one Canadian. A massive chunk of ice slammed into Dawas leg - he rested for 10 days then headed back up the mountain.
But climbing is not difficult for him, he says with humility. He can go places others cant go - to him the Death Zone is just another place to visit, albeit one with a great view. It is very hard for you . . . but not for me, he says with a twinkle.
***
This year has already been a good one for Dawa Nuru. He spent three weeks guiding a group of trekkers in February, the quiet time on the trails because of the harsh Nepali winter. In May, he will join a US-based climbing expedition on Everests southern route. After that, he will return to his home in Phortse and his long-suffering wife. But if more trips come his way, he will take them - the money is too good to pass up.
He knows he has perhaps eight or 10 years left climbing high, but hopes to lead trekking groups after that. And he also knows there will come a day when he does little more than tend to his potatos and till the fields for his spinach.
He will be devastated, not only financially, if the mountain is closed to climbers. I love my job. You can visit many places and meet different people and hear different languages. And I can work in the mountains, which I love. The early morning, with the sun, it is a beautiful view. Mountains can make you happy. When you are climbing and you get higher and higher, its exciting and you enjoy it so much. In the mountains I am always happy.
TIMES ARE CHANGING ON EVEREST
Sherpas, for the first time, are facing competition from Tibetan guides on the northern slopes of the mountain - or at least they were till China closed climbing access to Everest from the Tibet side this season.
The Tibetans are not natural climbers, but recognise that money can be made from the steady stream of Westerners keen to tackle the northern route. In some cases, they have undercut Nepal-based companies, taking work from the Sherpas.
Remarkably, rather than feuding about it, the Sherpas have offered to help train their Tibetan neighbours, ensuring that safety on the mountain remains paramount. If climbing begins again from Tibet, Sherpas will be there climbing alongside.
Sherpa climbers, too, are changing. The new generation is educated, business savvy and more commercially aware. Many have economics backgrounds gained at Western colleges. These climbers will help move their people forward in getting more reward for their risk. Last year, a group of local climbers banded together to demand more pay from their United States-based climbing company.
***
Climbing Everest can cost Western mountaineers in excess of US$70,000 (about NZ$88,000), all paid well in advance of a summit attempt.
The cost includes a climbing fee charged by the Nepal Government, wages for Sherpa guides, porters and cooks, tents and accommodation in Kathmandu, and equipment such as stoves, fuel, medical supplies, communications and oxygen. The climbing companies - mostly based in the US, New Zealand and the Britain - also take their cut.
Few climbers go without some support from a professional climbing outfitter. Trekking to Everest Base Camp with help of a company can cost up to US$6000 (NZ$7500).
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