Saving the third pole

Apa Sherpa and Dawa Sherpa from Tibet

Impact of climate change. A base camp on the Himalayas, where running water has never been seen before

The Himalayas are called the “roof of the World,” with their impressive and defiant white peaks. Home to Mount Everest and K2, the world’s tallest, the mountainous range takes its name from the Sanskrit meaning literally “abode of snow,” and it is also considered the Third Pole. Yet, due to climate change its white mantle is rapidly disappearing.

At the last Greenaccord’s International Media Forum, 10 out of 100 champions in the fight to stop global warming gathered together (see April’s Living City). Coming from Nepal were Apa Sherpa and Dawa Sherpa. Their stories are remarkable.

Successful climb in 2009. Legendary mountainteer Apa Sherpa stands on top of Mount Everest on his record 19th summit with a climate change message to the world.

Apa Sherpa has climbed Mt. Everest 19 times — the world’s record — and has noticed weather patterns changing in the last two decades. “Last year, it didn’t snow at all during December, January and February, when it should snow heavily, and it finally did massively in May, when usually it’s dry,” he said. “I saw the rapid melting of the snow in the mountains and glaciers and for the first time during the Eco Everest Expedition 2009, I saw running water around Camp 4 and near the summit.” Another danger the region faces is bursting or overflowing of glacier lakes. Apa lost his home and possessions in 1985 when one such lake burst.

Taking advantage of the publicity his record brings, he decided to create a foundation that bears his name. It is dedicated to improving education as well as aid economic development in his home country and his own people, the Sherpas.

At just 26 years of age, Dawa Steven Sherpa is another Everest veteran. Born in Katmandu to a Sherpa and a Belgian mother, after obtaining with honors a Business Administration Degree in Scotland, he decided to continue his family mountain climbing business in Nepal. Recently, he has noticed ice cracking under his feet making the ascent more difficult and dangerous. Glaciers are the “glue” that hold rocks together; as they disappear, rocks and debris easily come down from the mountains. He narrowly escaped death from one of these avalanches. As the bare rock appears, garbage and dead bodies’ surface.

Dawa Steven organized two successful Eco Everest Expeditions not only to clean it from rubbish, but also to draw attention to the impact of climate change on the Himalayas and to field test eco-friendly approaches to running a major mountaineering expedition.

He also founded the NGO IDEAS (Initiatives for Development and Eco Action Support). Among the projects, the Imja Tsho Action Event gathered local Sherpa students and developed a network to make people aware and get ready in case a glacier lake burst in a flood. “Vulnerable mountain communities face the threat of being washed off the mountain slopes. Frail moraine holds back huge lakes formed by melting mountain glaciers. These barriers can break down at any given moment causing the water to thunder down in a vertical tsunami,” said Dawa Steven.

Since the climbing season of 2007, he has shown his entrepreneurial skills by establishing and running the world’s highest bakery at Everest base camp. The small tent burst with the smell of chocolate cake, apple pie, croissants, cinnamon rolls, banana bread and doughnuts. The proceeds go to a trust fund helping local villages prepare for the worst effects of climate change.

Last November, on their way to Copenhagen, Apa and Dawa embarked on a European expedition through 10 cities to raise awareness about the impacts of climate change in the Himalayas. They met high-profile politicians, celebrities and ordinary people in the streets. They delivered the message from the Himalayan communities, which truly exemplify how small communities are literally living at the frontiers of the climate change impacts and can’t remain a mute spectator to the injustice meted out to them.

Maybe the task ahead for all of us is well expressed by Apa: “I have dedicated my last two Everest ascents to raise awareness about climate change issues. This is just a small individual step. And it is definitely not enough. I think we need to work together united if we are to ever find solutions to climate change and the problems it is creating.”

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