KATMANDU, Nepal - Buddhist monks cremated the remains of Sherpa guides who were buried in the deadliest avalanche to hit Mount Everest, a disaster that prompted calls for a climbing boycott by Nepal’s ethnic Sherpa community.
The Nepalese government has agreed to create a relief fund for Sherpa mountain climbers who are injured or killed in accidents and to make other concessions to the Sherpas, according to an official at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation. The official, Sushil Ghimire, said some of the revenue the government gets from expeditions to Mount Everest would be set aside for the fund.
Ghimire said Monday that the government also had agreed to provide pensions for older Sherpa climbers and educational assistance for Sherpa children, two concessions that Sherpa representatives demanded at meetings Sunday and Monday at an Everest base camp.
Ang Tshering, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, said after meeting with ministry officials that “climbing will be resumed.”
Ghimire said the government planned to meet today with the Mountaineering Association to sketch out concrete plans to meet the Sherpas’ demands.
A total Sherpa boycott would have critically disrupted the Everest climbing season, which is key to the livelihood of thousands of Nepali guides and porters. Everest climbers have long relied on Sherpas to haul gear, cook food and provide high-elevation guidance.
At least 13 Sherpas were killed when a block of ice tore loose from the mountain and triggered a cascade that ripped through teams of guides hauling gear. Three Sherpas missing in Friday’s avalanche are presumed dead.
“Right now, I can’t even think of going back to the mountain,” said Tashi Dorje, whose cousin was killed. “We have not just lost our family members, but it is a loss for the whole mountaineering community and the country.”
Hundreds of people lined the streets of Nepal’s capital, Katmandu, on Monday as the bodies of six of the victims were driven in open trucks decorated with Buddhist flags. Monks joined the procession offering prayers for the dead, and families and friends displayed banners with photos of the deceased Sherpas.
During the cremation ceremony, dozens of nuns chanted for the victims’ souls to be released as the bodies were covered in pine branches. A daughter of one of the climbers fainted and was taken to the hospital.
Although the work on Everest is dangerous, it has also become the most sought-after job for many Sherpas. A top high-elevation guide can earn $6,000 in a three-month climbing season, nearly 10 times Nepal’s $700 average annual salary.
The avalanche occurred just as climbing was to begin in earnest, with mountaineers set to begin moving above base camp and slowly acclimatizing to the elevation on the world’s tallest mountain. Most attempts to reach the 29,035-foot summit occur in mid-May, when weather is at its most favorable.
Since the avalanche, the Sherpas have expressed anger that there has not been a bigger response from Nepal’s government, which profits from the permit fees charged for the climbing expeditions.
Tshering said about 400 foreign climbers from 39 expedition teams are on the mountain with an equal number of Sherpa guides, along with many more support workers such as cooks, cleaners and porters in the base camp.
The government earlier announced emergency aid of $415 for the families of the deceased climbers, but the Sherpas demanding better treatment.
The Sherpas have asked that the minimum insurance payment for those killed on Everest to be doubled to $20,800 and a portion of the climbing fee charged by the government to be reserved for a relief fund. They also want the government to build a monument in the capital in memory of those killed in the avalanche.
Deputy Prime Minister Prakash Man Singh said the government has been working to help the Sherpas since the rescue began. “We will do what we can, keeping with the standard practice to provide compensation,” he said.
Hundreds of people, both foreigners and Sherpas, have died trying to reach the summit, and about a quarter of the deaths occurred in avalanches, climbing officials say. The previous worst disaster on Everest had been a fierce blizzard on May 11, 1996, that killed eight climbers and was memorialized in a book, Into Thin Air, by Jon Krakauer.
More than 4,000 climbers have reached the top of Everest since 1953, when the mountain was first conquered by New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay.
Information for this article was contributed by Nirajan Shrestha of The Associated Press and Nida Najar and Bhadra Sharma of The New York Times.
Front Section, Pages 2 on 04/22/2014