Everest’s shepherds: We owe the summit to Sherpas

Tenzing Norgay’s friend Rabindranath Mitra had started a rumour about the Sherpa having three lungs. Many believed it. Seventy years later, you could say the same of Dawa ‘Hillary’ Sherpa, without drawing incredulous looks. How did a 52-year-old survive six days on Everest, without food, water and bottled oxygen? The theory we like most is also the simplest – mental strength. Because physiology alone is useless in a hopeless situation. And what can be more hopeless than falling into a 60-foot crevasse, with no way out? But ‘Hillary’ patiently watched snow fill up the gap, clambered out, and kept going till he was rescued.

Of course, physiology helps, and some Sherpa genetic adaptations are incredible. Ordinary folks produce more red blood cells at altitude to overcome oxygen scarcity, but this thickens the blood, making it sluggish. Sherpas don’t. Cambridge scientists found that Sherpa mitochondria – the energy producing part of each cell – are super efficient at using oxygen, and making ATP to fuel muscles. Ordinary folks make less phosphocreatine – our auxiliary energy source – at altitude, but Sherpas produce more. All of this is thanks to thousands of years spent on the Tibetan plateau – Sherpas’ ancestral home.  

And we owe much to it. If Everest has become a walk in the park – more than 11,000 ascents in the past 20 years – it’s thanks to Sherpas. Their experience has made climbing safer. The death rate has halved, from 1.4% before 2006, to 0.7% now. And 40% of all Everest deaths are Sherpas, starting with seven on the second attempt in 1922. Know what? They rarely die near the top, where altitude sickness is the greatest risk. Rather, Sherpas lose their lives in preparatory work, fixing ropes and ladders, carrying provisions. Making our dreams come true.

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