Sherpa

1

Douglas:
This is an astonishingly

chance relationship.

Between western climbers

and the sherpas.

When climbing began,

the sherpas had no conception

of what mountaineering might be,

and yet, suddenly they were

on this journey

from being people who just

genetically were really good

at altitude to becoming,

you know, international

mountain guides 100 years later.

Man:
1953... coronation year.

The world was turned by the news

that Everest had at last

been conquered

by a British expedition

led by colonel John hunt.

Accompanied by the famous

sherpa tenzing,

Edmund Hillary climbed

the summit

of the world's highest mountain.

Douglas:
When tenzing norgay

reached the summit of Everest,

that is such an amazing moment.

It's one of the most

beautiful moments

in climbing history.

That's the moment

when the word "sherpa"

has the meaning of brand in

the way that we understand it.

The world

was captivated by tenzing.

And he fixed in our minds

the popular image of a sherpa,

as this smiling, friendly,

almost heroic figure.

Jamling:

A lot of the western world.

Do not know what a sherpa is.

So, a sherpa, you know...

You climb mountains, you know?

And that's the first instinct,

but they have no idea

that we are

actually an ethnic group

of people.

We believe in reincarnation...

Life after death.

And you continue to be reborn

and reborn and reborn

until the day you reach nirvana.

So, your next life is determined

by your deeds of this life.

We sherpa people have a great

respect for the mountain.

Norgay:

Over here, we climb mountains,

but it's a holy place.

There's a huge difference in,

you know,

the attitude, the feeling.

Western people approach it

as a physical challenge...

Push your limit to see

how close you can get to death.

But there's

1,000-year-old stories

we have about

the mountain's history,

which these people

have no idea about.

And I think some people adapt

and learn and respect it.

Some people don't.

Douglas:
If phurba is one of the

most successful climbing sherpas.

Of his generation,

then his counterpart

amongst expedition leaders

is his boss, Russell Brice.

Brice:
I've been running

commercial expeditions here.

Since 1994.

I think I'm the person

that's been

on more Everest expeditions

than anyone else in the world.

- It's all oxygen.

- All oxygen.

And I brought those

two broken ones in kathmandu.

How can I explain phurba tashi?

This year, he might climb

Everest 22 times...

More than anyone else

in the world...

And such a special person.

He's incredibly strong

on the mountain.

Good idea. Water here.

Hi, guys.

Lots of new faces.

Douglas:

The service-industry aspect.

Of climbing Everest

has developed and developed.

So what mountaineers in 1975

maybe would have put up with,

the people who are coming now

want something a bit more.

You know, they want

a very comfortable base camp.

Everything's good.

So much work for these guys

to make all these platforms

and put tents up.

The activity here

has changed utterly.

It has become an industry,

and that industry is people,

largely, by sherpas.

And they may not still

fully understand

what it is that compels us

to climb mountains,

but they are fantastically good

at delivering the experience.

Woodward:

So far, so good, actually.

Everybody's looking

and sounding quite healthy.

A couple mild headaches,

but that's to be expected.

Okay, folks.

Let's roll on out of town.

Steven:
In the old days,

people did everything

on the mountain together.

And today,

the mountain has changed in that

the operators

take care of everything.

Brice:
In the old days,

if you got one person

on the summit,

that was success.

Now, we need to get everyone

on the summit.

So if you want to get everyone

on the summit,

you need much more

creature comfort.

Certainly the type of person

that comes on an expedition

has changed considerably.

We bring people here to help

them fulfill their dreams.

Hey! Yeah!

Phurba, how's it going?

Good to see you.

You boys have done hard work.

Oh!

Hey, phurba. Peter. How are you?

It's been a goal as a climber.

I know to a lot of climbers,

it might be trivial,

but to me,

being on top of Everest

is just an achievement

of a dream.

Johnson:
Part of the reason why

you want to come and climb...

You want to experience

those things,

see if you can do it, see

if you can physically do it.

It's a massive undertaking.

The training is phenomenal.

And, you know,

it's not something

you put together

in a couple weeks.

It's months of planning

and months of getting organized.

Everest has always

been attractive

for several reasons for me.

I love the Buddhist side to it.

I love the whole...

I love the nepalese people.

So, for me, it's been a more

enjoyable mountain than most

because I think

that it's so cool,

that you get to share it

with these beautiful people.

Man:
Have you ever seen a man

so particular?

Man #2:

Are you watching this right now?

Man #3:
It's like a caveman.

Douglas:
And so, for just

eight hectic weeks each year,

Everest base camp

becomes this thriving village.

And in recent years,

overcrowding on Everest

has been the source

of a lot of controversy.

Williams:
It might just be

the last place on earth.

You'd expect to find

a traffic jam...

The top of the world...

Mount Everest.

Man #4:
These archive images

show how lineups

cause long

and unnecessary delays.

Man #5:
More than 4,000 climbers

have been to the top of Everest.

600 people do it in a good year.

It has become a very necessary

part of the nepalese economy.

Man #6:
Expedition companies

charge up to $100,000

to clients wanting

to make the ascent.

Man #7:
Climbing Everest has

become a bucket list ambition

and a multi-million-dollar

industry.

Douglas:
This is a, you know,

big employer...

Lots and lots of people.

There are more sherpas

working on the mountain now

than there ever

have been in history.

But they only get

a small fraction of the pie.

Man #5:
The sherpa guides

earn up to $5,000

for a two-month expedition,

10 times the average annual pay

in their isolated homeland.

Douglas:

The whole Everest circus.

Just seems to get

bigger and bigger,

and this season is no exception.

Russell Brice's team

is just one of 38 expeditions

on the mountain this year.

All these people have to be

looked after,

and all their equipment has

to be moved up the mountain.

You have Google maps

photographing the route

to the summit.

There's a Hollywood

feature film.

There's even a guy in a wingsuit

trying to jump off the top

and fly all the way down.

Flisler:

So, we're here to put on one.

Of the most

ambitious television projects

in the history

of the media world.

So he'll be flying down here,

and we're gonna be

broadcasting it all live.

There's a reason

that superman movies

or Batman movies

and spider-man...

All these superheroes

are so popular.

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