A Climbing Sherpa Guide is the most essential element for your safe and successful Everest climb. Climbing Sherpa Guides provide essential functions, such as opening routes to climbers (especially through the Khumbu Icefall above Everest Base Camp), fixing lines, and managing tents and provisions in high altitude. Without these functions, a successful summit of Everest would be near impossible. 
Mountaineers know the value of a Climbing Sherpa Guide in the Himalayas. However, many beginner mountaineers and visitors who have never been to the Himalayan region may not fully appreciate the difference between a “guide” as the term is used generally and a “Sherpa Guide” (also referred to as a “Climbing Sherpa Guide). A “guide” may be commonly defined as: “A person who advises or shows the way to others; a thing that helps someone to form an opinion or make a decision or calculation.”
Although a Sherpa Guide is all of this, he is much more. The Sherpa are an ethnic group in Nepal who live north east in the mid mountainous region. Most have a surname of “Sherpa.” When climbers started climbing the high mountains of the Himalayas, they first hired Nepali people to support their journeys. But it quickly became apparent that the Sherpa people possessed a particular strength and skill vital to greater success and safety in the mountains. For one thing, the Sherpa people do not suffer from high altitude sickness like other peoples not as accustomed to mountain living and were a very courageous people ready for challenging adventures. The Sherpa people also had the same characteristics of honesty, responsibility and trustworthiness common to other Nepali peoples.
Over time, foreign climbers began to train the Sherpa people, who were also very open to learning English and pursuing additional training in mountaineering. After a few years of experience, these people began to work as guides, sharing their culture, tradition, history and education about the mountains with their foreign counterparts. Further, many climbers have found that local Sherpa people can accurately predict the wind, snow and temperature from the clouds. After a time, mountaineers and climbers began to refer to this special class of guides as “Sherpa Guides.”
As an historical aside, in 1960, as tension with China increased, the Nepali government influenced the Sherpa people to grow. In 1976, Khumbu became a national park and tourism became a major economic force.
Today, our climbing guides are professionals who are trained and assessed either via the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IFMGA) resulting in a greater repertoire of skills that enables them to provide a dedicated level of security to climbers during their expeditions. Alternatively or in addition to this experience, climbing guides have many years of mountaineering experiences on the world’s biggest peaks. Our guides are experienced in both advanced and basic rescue courses and all have a minimum of three years’ guiding on Everest, Makalu and Manaslu.
When climbers arrive at Everest Base Camp (EBC), our Base Camp staff and Climbing Sherpa Guides will have everything prepared so that climbers may immediately rest and focus on proper acclimation efforts. After leading all expedition teams through a Pooja ceremony for their safe and successful climbs, the Sherpa Guides will open the route and establish Camp 1. Once ready to attempt it, climbers will be taken to Camp 1 to acclimate, where climbers will remain for 1 or 2 nights depending on physical fitness and speed of acclimation. Climbers will eventually move to Camp 2 and descend back to EBC. Passage through the Khumbu is necessary during these acclimation hikes and our lead Sherpa Guide, Sirdar, will train climbers through the Khumbu for use and advanced technique of safety procedures, ice axes, crampons, descending fixed lines and crossing ladders through the ice fall.
During these times, our high altitude Sherpa Guide will supply gear, equipment and food at Camp 2. Similar acclimation hikes up to Camp 2 will follow and, depending on weather conditions and other factors, climbers may spend 1 or 2 nights at Camp 2 before returning to EBC via Camp 1. During rest and time at base camp, a group of our Sherpa guides will continue to open routes, fix and provision camps and fixed lines for preparation toward the summit push.
After Camps 1, 2 and 3 acclimations, our Climbing Sherpa Guide will monitor weather forecast, group fitness and recovery conditions. If all factors are in line, the summit push will commence. On the summit push, you will move through Camp 1, Camp 2, Camp 3 and finally to Camp 4 before moving to the summit. At Camp 4 (South Col) you will wake up and begin to prepare for the summit push. Beginning at Camp 3 and on to the summit push, each client will have their own Climbing Sherpa Guide so that climbers may proceed at their own pace. The Sherpa Guide will carry two extra oxygen bottles for the climber and for himself and climbers are required to carry only drinking water, extra gloves, energy foods, a camera and the oxygen bottle that is in use. The Sherpa Guide will of course always and especially during this stage be responsible for the inevitable difficulties faced in high altitude.
If climbers are forced to return to EBC for any reason before the summit push (such as poor weather, insufficient group physical fitness or accident), a retry will be attempted by interested climbers in the event a window of weather is available. However, the “retry” is not generally needed.
Following the climb, the Sherpa Guides clean camps and areas above EBC by bringing all all equipment, trash and empty oxygen bottles back to EBC.
Clearly, the Sherpa Guides make the lives of foreign climbers more secure and pleasant. They are a happy and easy going people who take great pride in their mountaineering heritage.
Dhaulagiri (8,167m), located in western Nepal, is the seventh highest peak in the world. The Dhaulagiri Circuit trek explores wild and remote regions of the Himalaya and is appropriate only for trekkers with mountaineering experience including experience on high passes and challenging terrain.
Chulu West is situated above the Manang Valley with breathtaking views across to Annapurna II, III and IV, Gangapurna, Glacier Dome, Dhaulagiri, Tilicho Peak and Manaslu. If Chulu Far East is the Island Peak of the Annapurnas, then Chulu West is the Mera Peak of the Annapurnas; it is a little more remote and has no real technical difficulty. The caravan route to Chulu West takes you through the classic trek around the Annapurna Massif, ascending the Marshyangdi Valley and crossing the Thorong La, before descending the Kali Gandaki Valley to Pokhara. It begins with a drive from Kathmandu to Beshisahar (790m / 2,591ft), then trekking begins to Kart (1800m / 5905ft), Tinmang (2350m / 7,709ft), Chame (2700m / 8,858ft), Pisang (3200m / 10,498ft), Manang (3400m / 11,154ft), Ledar (4230m / 13,877ft), and Chulu West Peak Base Camp (4000m / 13,123ft). Above Base Camp there is steep, loose rock requiring fixed rope but otherwise the route is primarily a snow climb.
Mount Everest is the highest mountain in the world. Mt Everest is located in Nepal standing on the Nepal-China border with the height of 8,848 meters (29,029 ft) above sea level. Everest is known as “Sagarmatha” in Nepal and “Chhomolongma” in Tibet. Although it is the tallest mountain and attracts many climbers of both advanced and limited climbing skill, it is one of the easier mountains to climb. Mt. Everest was first summated by Nepali Sherpa Tenzing Norgay and New Zealand climbers Mr. Edmond Hillary with a British expedition in 1953 from the South Col route. Climbing Mt Everest is the aim of many people in their life.
Mount K2 is the second highest mountain on Earth, after Mount Everest. Mt K2 lies in Pakistan in the Karakoram Range of the Himalayas. There are many peaks in Karakoram range, the second peak, K2 is the highest point of the Karakoram Range and the highest peak in Pakistan. K2 is known as the “Savage Mountain” due to the difficulty of ascent and the second-highest fatality rate among the “eight thousanders” for those who climb it. For every four people who have reached the summit, one has died trying. The first ascent of K2 was completed by an Italian expedition team which was led by Mr. Ardito Desiofinally. His team Mr. Lino Lacedelli and Mr. Achille Compagnoni successfully ascended to the summit of K2 (8611m/28,251ft) via the Abruzzi Spur climbing route on July 31, 1954.
Mount Kangchenjunga is the third highest mountain in the world with the height of 8,586 m (28,169 ft). It is located in Nepal standing on the Nepal-India border. Kangchenjunga is the highest peak in India, and also the name of the surrounding section of the Himalayas and means “The Five Treasures of Snows”, as it contains five peaks. The treasures represent the five repositories of God, which are gold, silver, gems, grain, and holy books. Kanchenjunga is the easternmost highest mountain on the earth. Mr. Joe Brown and George Band of British Expedition team on 25 May, 1955 climbed this peak for the first time.
Lhotse is the fourth highest mountain in the world. It is connected to Everest via the South Col. Lhotse means “South Peak” in Tibetan. In addition to the main summit at 8,516 metres (27,940 ft) above sea level, Lhotse Middle (East) is 8,414 metres (27,605 ft) and Lhotse Shar is 8,383 metres (27,503 ft). It is located at the border between Tibet (China) and the Khumbu region of Nepal. Mount Lhotse was first climbed in 18 May,1956 by Mr. Fritz Luchsinger and Ernst Reiss from Switzerland. Mt. Lhotse is becoming famous for its tremendous and dramatic South face. The South face raises 3.2 km and is 2.25 km wide making it the steepest face of this size in the world. Lhotse is is registered as one of the most extremely difficult climbs and is rarely attempted.
Mount Makalu is the fifth highest mountain in the world with the height of 8,481 metres (27,825 ft). It is located 19 km (12 mi) southeast of Mount Everest, on the border between Nepal and China. Mt Makalu was first climbed by an American team led by William Siri in the spring of 1954. The South East Ridge and the Northwest Ridgeare the main climbing routes on Mt. Makalu. It is located at the co-ordinates of 27°53’21” N and 87°05’27” E in the eastern part of Nepal.
Mount Cho Oyu is the sixth highest mountain in the world. It is located in Nepal-China border in Nepal. Cho Oyu means “Turquoise Goddess” in Tibetan. The mountain is the westernmost major peak of the Khumbu sub-section of the Mahalangur Himalaya 20 km west of Mount Everest. Cho Oyu is known as being one of the easiest of the 8,000 meter peaks due to its straight forward approach and lack of objective dangers. Mount Cho-Oyu was first climbed on on October 19, 1954 by Australian Joseph Joechler, Herbert Tichy (Italy), Pasang Dawa Lama (Nepal).
Mount Dhaulagiri is the seventh highest mountain in the world with the height of 26,795 feet /8,167 meters. It is located just north of central Nepal. The name Dhaulagiri comes from the Sanskrit word where Dhawala means “Dazzling, White Beautiful” and Giri means “Mountain”. The normal climbing route for Dhaulagiri is the Northeast ridge. The exact coordinates are: 28°41’48”N, Latitude and 83°29’42”E Longitude. Dhaulagiri was first summated by an Austrian, Swiss and Nepali expedition on May 13, 1960.
Mount Manaslu is the eighth highest mountain in the world. It is located in the Mansiri Himal in the west-central part of Nepal. Its name, which means “Mountain of the Spirit”, comes from the Sanskrit word Manasa, meaning “intellect” or “soul”. Manaslu was first climbed on May 9, 1956 by Toshio Imanishi and Gyalzen Norbu, members of a Japanese expedition. It is usually a first choice for adventures climbers looking to climb an 8000m peak. The exact coordinates are: Latitude 28°33’01”N, Longitude 84°33’42”E.
Mount Annapurna is the tenth highest mountain in the world. Annapurna is a series of peaks, the highest of which is called Annapurna I, with the height of 26,545 ft /8,091 m. The peaks in the Annapurna range are some of the world’s most dangerous to climb. In fact, they have a fatality rate of about forty percent. The peaks exact location can be found at the coordinates of 28°35’45”N83°49’20”E. The Annapurna massif contains six major peaks, Annapurna I (8091m/26,545ft) Annapurna II(7937m/26,040ft) Annapurna III(7555m/24,786ft) Annapurna IV (7525m/24,688ft) Gangapurna (7455m/24,457ft) Annapurna South (7219m/23,684ft). Maurice Herzog & Louis Lachenal climbed for the first time in June 3, 1950.
