Sherpas fear job loss due to drones on Mt Everest, which will transport equipment and supplies.
Ajay Kumar Rai warns drones could threaten the livelihoods of thousands of Sherpas.
Drones aim to reduce risks in the Khumbu Icefall, but concerns about safety and job impact remain.
Sherpas on Mt Everest are fearing for their jobs after plans were announced to use Chinese drones to ferry equipment up and down the world’s tallest mountain.
Perilous tasks that used to take hours by foot will now be completed in a matter of minutes, as drones capable of carrying up to 15kg look set to transform the climbing experience.
The unmanned aircraft will be used to carry oxygen cylinders up the mountain, retrieve ladders from climbing routes, and remove waste left behind by mountaineers. They will also be used to deliver hot food. It is hoped that they will take away some of the risk faced by Sherpas, by cutting out otherwise menial tasks.
Politicians, trade unions and Sherpas, however, have hit out at the “idiotic” programme, which they say will take work away from the climbing support teams.
“The introduction of drones could take away the livelihoods of thousands of Sherpas,” Ajay Kumar Rai, general secretary of the Nepal Trade Union Congress, told the Telegraph. “For six months, they risk their lives on Everest, and for the rest of the year, they have no work. If drones start replacing them, what will they do?”
Rai said climate change has already hit the Sherpas hard, with avalanches and landslides driving away climbers and reducing their income. Typically, they earn around £4000 ($9000) a season.
“Now, technology threatens to push them further to the edge. We are urging the Nepalese Government to either stop deploying drones or ensure these workers are given alternative jobs.
A DJI Flycart-30. Photo / VCG/VCG via Getty Images
“These men have spent their lives navigating Everest’s treacherous terrain, carrying supplies, and guiding climbers. Their livelihoods cannot just be discarded.
“We will fight to make sure they are not left behind.”
Rajendra Bajgain, a Nepalese MP told the Telegraph: “If this idiotic initiative is going ahead, the Government should provide food and health facilities to the Sherpas from the royalties collected from climbers.”
Different drones have been tested over the past year, and this season’s pilot programme aims to convince expedition operators to invest in the technology.
A trial of the DJI Flycart 30 – a heavy-lift drone costing US$70,000 ($120,000) – saw it transport up to 225kg of equipment per hour between Base Camp and Camp I, a task that would otherwise require 14 people walking for six hours.
Each year, around 600 people attempt to climb the 29,029ft mountain, spending weeks in the area acclimatising. From September, those seeking to summit the world’s tallest mountain during peak season will have to pay US$15,000.
Nepalese officials said drones could reduce the deadly burden on Sherpas, who for decades have risked their lives carrying heavy loads for foreign climbers through Everest’s Khumbu Icefall.
Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay on the South-East ridge. Photo / Getty Images
For decades, Sherpas have shouldered the responsibility of hauling oxygen cylinders, gas canisters, tents, food and ropes across the treacherous icefall, often making over 30 trips per season through one of the world’s most dangerous glacier fields.
The Khumbu Icefall, a constantly shifting river of ice, is notorious for sudden avalanches and collapsing seracs – towering ice columns that can crush climbers. Even experienced Sherpas hesitate to set off when the sun rises, knowing that warming temperatures increase the risk of ice breaking away. Most crossings take place at night or in the early morning, when conditions are more stable.
“Using drones could help us avoid the life-threatening dangers of the icefall,” a Nepalese official said.
Adriana Brownlee, the youngest woman to summit all 14 of the world’s 8000m peaks and only second Briton to do so, said: “The drones could potentially be a good addition to the Everest climbing season as it will facilitate with bringing rubbish down and aiding the Sherpas who carry extreme amounts of equipment up and down the mountain.”
Brownlee, however, warned that drones could introduce new dangers.
“It could also be seen as dangerous though for climbers as they get distracted from the noise or sight of drones. It will be interesting to see how they work this season,” she said.
On April 18, 2014, an avalanche triggered by a falling serac killed 16 Sherpas, forcing the cancellation of that year’s expeditions. In 2023, three Sherpas preparing the climbing route were buried under the collapsing ice – their bodies have never been recovered.
Since 1953, nearly 50 climbers and Sherpas have lost their lives in the Khumbu Icefall, according to records from the Himalayan Database and the Nepalese Government.
