Kami Rita Sherpa had stood at the top of world just days earlier, exultant at having summited Mount Everest for a record 28th time.
The Nepali climber was given a hero's welcome on his return to Kathmandu, but all that joy appeared to have deserted him as he surveyed life's highs and lows from an armchair in the small, neat living room of his rented apartment, while his wife poured tea."Why stay here?" he asked, speaking in his native Nepali and a smattering of broken English. "We need a future for ourselves... for our children.
Kami Rita was born in the same Himalayan village as Tenzing Norgay, the sherpa who together with New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary made the first summit of Mount Everest 70 years ago. Sherpas, an ethnic group living in the Everest region, have always been the backbone of mountain expeditions. They fix ropes, ladders, carry loads and also cook, making anything between $2,500 and $16,500 or more, depending on experience, during a single expedition."The new generation of sherpas is not taking to climbing. They want to go abroad in search of a better career," he said. "In 10-15 years there will be fewer sherpas to guide climbers. Their number is already low now.
Hiking tour company officials reckon more than 500,000 people are employed in tourism, but many remain economically vulnerable in this impoverished nation of 30 million people.
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