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Katmandu, Nepal: As a new biopic puts the life of mountaineer Tenzing Norgay Sherpa on screen, his son says climate change is transforming the Himalayas and making mountaineering increasingly dangerous.<\/p>\n
Released on Friday, \u201cTenzing,\u201d an Apple TV film, recounts the first confirmed ascent to Everest\u2019s summit in 1953.<\/p>\n
But it focuses on the journey from the perspective of Tenzing Norgay Sherpa who, together with Edmund Hillary, completed the climb that until then was deemed impossible.<\/p>\n
More than seven decades after Sherpa stood atop the world\u2019s highest peak, Nepal is grappling with the aftermath of catastrophic flood that has put a spotlight on the impact of climate change on mountains.<\/p>\n
Jamling Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, 61, said that these disasters are \u201ca warning for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNepal is very vulnerable to this because half our country is covered with mountains,\u201d he told AFP.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s going to affect the people living lower down below the valley along the river.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two years ago, Sherpa saw that his father\u2019s village Thame, at an altitude of 3,800 meters (12,460 feet), was swept away by a devastating flood caused by a glacial lake outburst.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a big threat. The moment glaciers recede… the lakes are going to rise and then one day, it\u2019s going to breach and break. And that\u2019s exactly what is happening,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt happened in Thame, half of the village was wiped off (the map).\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Price to pay\u2019 <\/p>\n
The younger Sherpa followed in his father\u2019s footsteps to Everest in 1996, a dream he had since he was eight years old.<\/p>\n
\u201cI looked up to him as my greatest role model, you know, he was my hero, and I wanted to become just like him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But the signs of global warming are appearing on Everest itself.<\/p>\n
Sherpa said that guides are now finding water appearing at Camp 2 about 6,400 meters (21,000 feet) high.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was never water at all. It\u2019s always solid ice up there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sherpa said that comparative photographs of the mountain show how much the glaciers have receded since his father\u2019s climb.<\/p>\n
For climbers and mountaineering Sherpa community, the changes are also making their occupation more dangerous, with unpredictable weather and frequent avalanches.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we have to be very careful now as to how we look at mountains and how we approach climbing mountains nowadays,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sherpa said that the responsibility of addressing climate change lies largely with the world\u2019s biggest emitters.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not only affecting us in the Himalayas, it\u2019s affecting European countries, it\u2019s affecting places in the US with all these wildfires,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we don\u2019t start taking care of our planet, there\u2019s going to be a price to pay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018Long overdue\u2019 <\/p>\n
The climate-induced disasters affecting mountain communities form a striking backdrop as the film premiers \u2014 featuring Genden Phuntsok in the title role, with Tom Hiddleston as Hillary, as well as Willem Dafoe.<\/p>\n
Tenzing Norgay Sherpa\u2019s story was long overshadowed in previous accounts told from a Western perspective of the historic trip up the mountain, which measures 8,849 meters (29,032 feet).<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it was long overdue, a film, a biopic about my father, his life,\u201d Sherpa said, adding that the pioneer did not get the recognition he deserved.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut at the same time, he really didn\u2019t care about it. It wasn\u2019t the fame he looked for, why he climbed the mountain. He climbed because it was his passion and he had a dream to climb this mountain,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Tenzing Norgay Sherpa\u2019s historic climb made the term \u2018Sherpa\u2019 synonymous with courageous mountain guides and workers.<\/p>\n
Sherpa said that while mountains were a passion for his father and many Nepali climbers are getting recognition, financial necessity still drives the mountaineering industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Sherpas climb today to keep bread and butter on the table, you know, to feed their children, to give their children a good education, so their children wouldn\u2019t have to do the same thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
That economic dependence makes the changing conditions in the Himalayas particularly significant for Sherpa communities whose livelihoods are tied to mountaineering.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile he (Tenzing Norgay) was still alive, before the 80s, nobody talked about climate change because we didn\u2019t see the changes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe notice this now.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n