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Ten climbers from Nepal paused in the winter of 2021 not far from the peak of K2, the second-highest mountain in the world, which is located in Pakistan. They huddled and moved forward while humming the national anthem of Nepal ‘Sayaun thunga phulka hami.’ The group of elite Nepali climbers led by Nirmal Purja and Mingma G hailed their historic accomplishment as they reached the icy slope of ‘Savage Mountain’ at an altitude of 8611 meters. This was no ordinary feat. It was considered the pinnacle of climbing to complete a winter expedition on K2, one of the most difficult 8000-meter peaks. In fact, it was the only record that remained to be broken. The Nepali climbers, nine of whom were Sherpas, were eager to take home the last trophy. The majority of the K2 summiteers I spoke with in the spring of 2021 said that their expedition was motivated by the fact that the only remaining record to be broken on K2 was a winter climb. “Foreign climbers currently hold the record on these peaks. But the reality is that it’s not possible for them to climb any of these peaks without help from Sherpas,” one of them told me. Mountaineering doesn’t have a very extensive history. It coincided with the decline of the British Empire. In 1856, Peak XV (later known as Everest) was recognized as the highest mountain in the world. Early in the 20th century, European explorers started venturing into the eastern Himalayas. But after the survey of British India proclaimed the mountain to be the tallest in the world, it took climbers more than a century to achieve their goal of reaching the summit of Everest. Having lost its colonies in Asia and Africa, the British Empire was in retreat. Everest offered them the last frontier. A century ago, British explorers started their quest to conquer what is frequently referred to as the Third Pole. The victory over it became a powerful tool for reinvigorating their sense of national pride. For most of the 20th century, the mountain’s major decisions and rope fixing were mostly made by Western climbers. The Western explorers needed labor in the form of porters, cooks, Sirdars, guides. Before Nepal opened up to foreigners after the end of a century of Rana rule in 1951, expeditions were organized in the Indian mountain town of Darjeeling. Sherpas from Khumbu region flocked to Darjeeling for jobs as porters and cooks. Over the decades until the turn of the century, Sherpas became inevitable in mountaineering. Without them, it’s difficult to climb a mountain higher than 8000 meters. Every year, Sherpas carve out a path in the mountains. Hundreds of climbers use the routes they make up, which they construct using ropes and ladders. For a long time, Sherpas have been treated by Western climbers as a mere footnote in their glory. Despite their heroics, bravery, and skills, it’s the western climber who gets all the attention. The Sherpas are frequently portrayed as faceless people, an insignificant cog in the multi- billion-dollar Everest machine. However, they have recently proven that they are the real heroes and master of mountaineering. How did this community of potato farmers and yak herders who lived beneath the tallest mountains on Earth, become accomplished mountaineers? How do they survive in the harsh, remote terrain that is prone to landslides and other natural disasters? Nepali journalists Pradeep Bashyal and Ankit Babu Adhikari trace the rise of Sherpas in their nonfiction narrative “Sherpa: Stories of Life and Death from the Forgotten Guardians of Everest.” The book features a wide variety of characters, from Tenzing Norgay to Kancha Sherpa, who was a member of the 1953 expedition but was unable to reach the planet’s highest point. There’s Mingma David Sherpa, a brave climber from Taplejung district, who originally intended to travel to Darjeeling, but ended up in Kathmandu (He was a member of the record-setting K2 expedition of 2021). The book also shines light on Sherpas who are not always in the limelight—There’s Phurba Tashi Sherpa, who summited Everest for 21 times, but gave up mountaineering after the death of his parents (although he had always told them that he hadn’t hiked up base camp). Then there is the tale of two women who made it to the summit of Everest after their spouses passed away. For me, Kushang Dorjee’s profile was the most captivating read. The dramatic plot twists and turns make the story read like a novel. Kushang traveled to the mountain country of Bhutan before returning to Darjeeling, where he fell in love with a woman and married her. It has all the makings of a fantastic plot, and the authors craft a compelling story out of it. It’s difficult to write narrative nonfiction. You must hone your narrative skills. You must choose the appropriate characters. To take the readers to the heart of the story, you must travel. Above all, it requires time and effort. The authors have carefully selected the characters for each chapter so that they can tell a mélange of mountain stories. They travel to all three valleys in eastern Nepal—Makalu, Rolwaling and Khumbu—to meet their subjects. The authors let their subjects share their stories at their own pace. On the road, they linger to get all the subtleties. In evocative passages, we learn about the evolution of Sherpas as elite climbers and the culture of these valleys Sherpa people call home. The result is an engaging work of storytelling that adds to the body of work on Everest, which already includes Wade Davis’ ‘Into the Silence’ and Jon Krakauer’s ‘Into Thin Air’. Sherpa is a must-read for those curious about the growing industry of mountaineering and the people who are at the center of it. SHERPA: Stories of Life and Death from the Forgotten Guardians of Everest Pradeep Bashyal & Ankit Babu Adhikari Publisher: Octopus Publishing/Hachette, UK Pages: 321, Paperback Deepak Adhikari covered mountaineering for international news agencies including AFP, DPA. He is currently the editor of NepalCheck.Org, a fact-checking platform