Strike

The Sherpa assembly, gathered at Mount Everest Base Camp, rejected on 21 April, 2014, the compensation of three hundred and fifty dollars offered by the Nepalese government. ‘We have decided to suspend all climbs for the remainder of the year to honour our fallen brothers,’ the Sherpa spokesman announced. Simultaneously, the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation promised that ‘mountaineering activities would resume safely in a couple of days.’ The response from Everest: ‘Under no circumstances. In all of history, this is the first Sherpa strike.’

That same day, Sherpa delegates conveyed to the government a list of thirteen demands. Among other points, they demanded an increase in their fees, a review of the life insurance system, and a social containment fund for emergencies financed with a percentage of the royalty that Nepal charges mountaineers for each ascent. They also demanded that a monument be erected in Kathmandu in honour of the sixteen dead. The Ministry received the request. It only agreed to the final demand: it promised to build a mausoleum. The strike, of course, went ahead.