![\"Nepali-climbers-step-out-of-the-shadows-for-K2-triumph-rapid-news-rapidnews\"](\"https:\/\/dailyrapidnews.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Nepali-climbers-step-out-of-the-shadows-for-K2-triumph-rapid-news-rapidnews.jpg\")
<\/p>\nNepali mountaineers have for decades toiled in the shadows as foreign climbers win accolades for conquering the world\u2019s most treacherous peaks, but now a team has carved the Himalayan nation a place in history by achieving the first-ever winter summit of K2.<\/p>\n
Their ascent in mid-January of the world\u2019s second-highest mountain \u2014 the notoriously challenging 8,611-metre (28,251-feet) \u201csavage mountain\u201d of Pakistan \u2014 shone a much-deserved spotlight on their own climbing prowess.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThis is not just our success \u2014 it is for all Nepalis, so that our future generations can look back and be proud about achievements of Nepali climbers,\u201d one of the 10 summiteers, Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, told AFP.<\/p>\n
Kami Rita Sherpa, who has climbed Everest a record 24 times, said the recognition was long overdue.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Western climbers did not set the records without the help of Sherpas,\u201d he told AFP in Kathmandu.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the routes are set by us, the food is cooked by us, their loads are carried by our brothers \u2014 they haven\u2019t done it alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
To reflect their immense pride in making the achievement in their country\u2019s name, the team sang the Nepali anthem, with their distinctive national flag fluttering in one of their hands, as they neared K2\u2019s savage summit.<\/p>\n
Since the first British teams set their sights on summiting Everest in the 1920s, Nepali climbers \u2014 mostly from the Sherpa ethnic group \u2014 have been by their side.<\/p>\n
But they did not aspire to reach for the heavens \u2014 among Nepal\u2019s poorest communities, they risked life and limb to help foreign climbers achieve their life-long ambitions because they needed to feed their families.<\/p>\n
Ang Tharkay, who was part of the successful 1950 French expedition to Annapurna \u2014 the first recorded ascent of a peak above 8,000 metres \u2014 refused to be part of the summit team.<\/p>\n
For him, being part of the record books was less important than running the risk of losing his fingers and toes to frostbite, which would jeopardise his livelihood.<\/p>\n
The industry has since grown into a lucrative sector, attracting hundreds of foreign climbers each year and bringing in millions of dollars in revenue for the government.<\/p>\n
An experienced guide can make up to US$10,000 \u2014 many times the country\u2019s average annual income \u2014 for several months of hazardous work.<\/p>\n
The risks remain high despite the commercialisation of the sector, with Nepalis hired by foreign climbers making up a quarter of deaths on Himalayan mountains, according to the authoritative Himalayan Database.<\/p>\n
In 2014, an avalanche killed 16 Nepalis who were hauling gear up Everest, triggering an unprecedented shutdown of the season and demands for better compensation and benefits.<\/p>\n
The exploits of the K2 team, which included Nirmal Purja, who last year smashed the speed record for summiting the world\u2019s 14 highest peaks, reflect the changing approach of modern-day Nepali climbers.<\/p>\n
In 1953, Tenzing Norgay Sherpa achieved international recognition when he completed the first summit of Everest with New Zealand mountaineer Edmund Hillary.<\/p>\n
But in the following decades, only four other Nepalis have claimed first summits of the 14 peaks above 8,000 metres, compared to nearly 70 mostly European mountaineers.<\/p>\n
In recent years, however, climbers like Purja have set record after record, and are hopeful their feats will inspire the next generation of Nepali mountaineers.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, local expedition groups \u2014 instead of playing second fiddle to foreign climbing agencies \u2014 now bring the bulk of paying clients into Nepal.<\/p>\n
Italy\u2019s legendary Reinhold Messner has seen the transformation first-hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I heard the K2 news I thought \u2018finally!\u2019,\u201d Messner told AFP, recalling that in his first ascent of Everest without supplemental oxygen in 1978, the Sherpas would follow him as he navigated upwards.<\/p>\n
In contrast, today\u2019s Sherpas are in front of the climbers, setting routes and guiding them.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is an evolution\u2026 and this is also important for the future economy of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alpine journalist Ed Douglas, who has called for better protections for the high-altitude workers, said the climbers deserve credit for \u201ctaking control of their own industry\u201d.<\/p>\n
The K2 winter summit showed that Nepalis \u201care now mountaineers in their right\u201d, added Dawa Steven Sherpa, who runs Asian Trekking, an expedition company.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no question about whether they deserve to have that place on the podium with all the other celebrated mountaineers that have come before us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nepali mountaineers have for decades toiled in the shadows as foreign climbers win accolades for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan"],"yoast_head":"\n