Climbers head home as Everest Sherpas refuse to work

I've always found it amusing that wealthy people boast of things like mountain climbing and hunting big game in jungles, when it's low-paid natives who do the work and guide them.

http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/29/travel/mount-everest-base-camp-empties/

By Andrea Oschetti, for CNN
updated 6:03 PM EDT, Tue April 29, 2014

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"Why is everyone leaving?" a German climber asks me. "There is still one month of opportunity before the monsoon arrives."

Despite conflicting reports to the contrary, the mountain is still open.

The government has not issued any prohibition against climbing, releasing a statement on April 24 encouraging expedition teams to go ahead with the season.

But support for this season's climb has trickled away, day after day, since the April 18 avalanche that left 13 guides dead and three missing -- the deadliest accident in the history of the world's highest peak.

A group of about 50 people, mostly Nepali Sherpas, were hit by the avalanche at more than 20,000 feet just above base camp in the Khumbu Ice Fall.

Sherpas, an ethnic group from Nepal's Himalaya region famed for their climbing prowess, aren't officially stopping anyone from attempting the risky journey, though hundreds involved in the lucrative Everest trekking industry have refused to climb.

"Without the Sherpas we cannot climb and there is nothing we can do about it," says Tessarolo.

"We made Everest a circus. This year the Sherpas decided that the show will not go on."
Sherpas open the route on the Nepali side of Everest, through the treacherous Khumbu Icefall.

They fix the climbing lines all the way to the summit of Mount Everest, transport the equipment to make camp, climb next to their clients while carrying their oxygen and food, and rescue those in danger.

Without their assistance, making the long, dangerous journey is nearly impossible for all but the most experienced of climbers.