Do Nepalese climbers get the respect they deserve?

Apa Sherpa, a Nepali climber who has made a name for himself in the world by climbing Mt. Everest 21 times, now lives in Salt Lake City, USA. Apa works for Diamond Mold, a company that works on plastic injection molds electrical discharge machining. Similarly, many Nepalese climbers now live in different countries of the world, including the United States.

Even though the name of the country has been spread far and wide through their heroic achievements, the state has not been able to give due respect to the famous climbers. Apart from occasional awards, permanent honors are not given to climbers in Nepal. These Nepalese climbers, who have been named in the Guinness Book of World Records many times, have to follow the same rules as the general public when working in any government body in Nepal.

They are forced to use the public line in airports and are not allowed to enter the VIP lounge even at the Tribhuvan International Airport.

The Nepal Mountaineering Association has agreed with the government that 10 percent of the millions of rupees collected annually in the form of mountaineering royalty should be spent on the welfare of climbers, so that the renowned climbers can lead a dignified life in Nepal. President of the Nepal Mountaineering Association Shantabir Lama, in an interview with NepalNews, said that, if the environment is conducive for the climbers to lead a dignified life in Nepal, the famous climbers will not settle for life abroad.

He said that the association has given special priority to make climbing in Nepal safer. He said that the basic and advanced training on climbing conducted by the association for a long time has played an important role in reducing the risk of climbing and has significantly reduced the death toll. He informed that the association has been providing all possible assistance to the families of the climbers who died in the mountains and also been providing scholarships to their children to study.

Expressing happiness over the favorable environment for tourism in Nepal after the COVID-19 pandemic, he said that the various opportunities in mountaineering convey the message that the tourism industry has a bright future.