Once upon a time, Nepalese women who wanted to climb the mountains were not easy to do. Then came Dawa Yangzum, who is now twenty-eight years old. This woman paved the route for the most difficult and dangerous mountains in the world, including Everest (several times), even more frightening Chogori and many others. In 2017, she became the first Asian woman to receive a certificate from the International Federation of Mountain Guides, and this spring she helped lead the National Geographic Society’s scientific expedition to Everest to study the effects of climate change in the region.
After Dawa Yangzum witnessed Everest accidents this season, she shared her thoughts on what should be done to improve safety on the mountain.
Popular Everest
Dawa Yangzum has climbed this mountain several times, and she says that every time she sees a large number of Chinese and Indian climbers, as well as many new expedition operators. According to her, there are a large number of inexperienced climbers, and in addition, those who fly by helicopter to see the avalanches. This is not officially permitted, but there are certain companies that arrange such entertainment for Chinese tourists.
What problems arise on the mountain?
Dawa Yangzum says that there are always a lot of people on Everest. Everyone is competing with each other. At the same time, experienced guides are not always found for people. Sometimes small teams blindly follow large groups with little or no prior planning. Larger teams, such as Alpine Ascents and IMG, have more workforce and better capabilities, including good weather forecasters and stronger guides. Small teams are sure that if something suddenly goes wrong, then they will be in better hands if they stick closer to large teams.
What do climbers have to face on the route?
Dava Yangzum mentioned in a Facebook post after climbing Mount Everest that she had to step over bodies on her route. Her group encountered three corpses of people who died this year. In addition, on the eve of the dead, as she says, there were two Russian climbers. The body of an Indian woman was also found nearby. Earlier in previous years, other deaths were reported. Passing people do not touch oncoming bodies, because it is too dangerous to disconnect from the ropes.
What could be causing these deaths?
One of the most important aspects that you need to know about is how to use additional oxygen, since most people depend on it over South Col at an altitude of seven thousand meters. Thus, many deaths, according to Dawa Yangzum, are due to lack of air. In many cases, the wrong amount of oxygen is calculated incorrectly.
Some Western instructors blame Nepalese companies for problems encountered on Everest
According to Dawa Yangzum, there are a couple of excellent Nepalese guides with very capable people on her team. If you look at the number of salvations made over the past few years, most of them were carried out by local companies. But there are also several governing organizations that do not always succeed in doing a good job, and this is often criticized.
Features of conquering mountains
All climbers prefer to walk at their own pace.But, as a rule, very often you have to climb with just one cable, which is quite difficult for everyone. Many times, climbers have already asked the management to solve the problem of bottlenecks. Recently, according to Dawa Yangzum, there was one Indian woman on Everest who was walking in the front line. Since she was very slow, she created a long cork. One of Dawa's friends had to pull it with a rope in order to speed up the movement. But situations like this, Dava claims, don't happen often.
Inexperienced climbers are the biggest problem on Everest.
They are the biggest problem, according to Dawa. What can be done to solve this? First of all, climbers must first climb to at least a height of seven, and preferably eight thousand meters, in order to gain experience. This is best done in Nepal in order to feel the real height, and the experience of climbing Mount Everest will not be superfluous.
It is also worth noting that the culture of recovery in Nepal is different from that in the USA and Europe. The biggest difference is that in Nepal the mountains are much higher, which causes more difficulties. The highest point in the US is more like a regular camp, which is located on Everest. Dawa Yangzum believes that Western guides need the help of experienced craftsmen working in Nepal.
In addition, there are problems with the routes. It is best to climb in early May. But unfortunately, this year, according to Dawa, the weather was extremely cold even at the end of spring, and therefore the paths were poorly laid.
Thus, Dawa insists that everyone needs to get at least the minimum skill and experience of climbing Mount Everest. For example, in her opinion, it is worth taking training from organizations such as the Khumbu Climbing Center and taking courses at the Nepalese Mountaineering Association.
What changes are worth making?
The Nepalese government should limit the number of permits and tighten the rules established for climbers and guides. The government, of course, should not increase the cost of climbing permits, because this adventure should be accessible to all.
According to Dawa Yangzum, only three hundred permits were issued this year, and about four hundred people were refused. But the most important thing, according to an experienced climber, is to improve the quality of the guides who accompany people on the mountain.
Sherpas as a solution to the problem
Sherpas (a nation living in East Nepal) are much stronger than climbers, but they are not supermen either. After dragging the exhausted climbers for several hours, the sherpas also get tired, and sometimes suffer from frostbite. Some of the Sherpas that Dawa saw saw dragged people for many hours, and against this background they looked tired assistants with blue faces.
Sometimes, as Dawa Yangzum reports, wealthy clients hire up to three or more Sherpas. They ultimately receive the necessary support, which helps them reach the top. But it often happens that climbers are literally dragged back down by his sherpas due to the fact that he cannot walk after climbing. Many sherpas get tired and also get into trouble and even lose their fingers. Very often, other Nepalese from the rest of the teams intervene to help.
Dawa Yangzum became the fifth man in the world and the first Nepalese woman to climb the summit of Everest on her own in just twenty-one hours instead of four days, as the others had done before.
Experience on Makalu
According to Dawa, it was very quiet at Makalu, and when she reached the top, there were only two other climbers. It was strange that they met only seven people on this mountain during the ascent. This climb was very different from Everest, which was literally filled with many climbers, as if it were not a mountain, but a city. The difficulty of climbing made this place one of her best experiences in history and helped her become more self-confident.
Thus, now Dawa is an elite mountain guide and believes that in order to make a successful ascent, climbers first of all need a good and instructor experience.