THIRD POLE EXPEDITION
April - June 1999

Our indispensable companions

In order to dispel any doubt that may have slipped into the western mind since the historic achievement of Edmund Hillary on Everest in 1953, we need to talk about the famous sherpas.

The word 'sherpa' is made up of 'sher', which means a Tibetan 'from the East' and 'pa', which means 'people'. Originally from the province of Kham in eastern Tibet, the sherpas emigrated to the north of Nepal about five hundred years ago, after crossing the fearsome Nangpa Col at an altitude of over 5.700, close to Cho Oyu (8.201m).

Although they are to be found almost anywhere in the high valleys of Nepal, the sherpas have congregated mainly in the Solo-Khumbu region (300km north-east of de Katmandu), around Namche Bazar (4.680m), the capital Sherpa country.

Their traditional economy, that they still practise today, is agriculture (barley and potatoes) and the rearing of yaks. Used to travelling with everything they need, in the company of their flocks, in these inhospitable regions, and so entirely acclimatised to high altitude, it was only natural that the sherpas should become the preferred partners of the early Himalayan expeditions, because the benefits gained by both parties from working together were mutual: the mountaineers from the west from these stocky men to be perfectly qualified workers; while for their part, the sherpas were able to make the most of this new outlet for their skills to diversify and develop their activities.

These days, although fewer sherpas are hired than was the case for the great expeditions of the 1960s, these men nevertheless remain indispensable partners if any expedition to the Himalayas is to run smoothly. It also has to be said that to travel that far without them would be to miss discovering a hospitable people whose soul is strongly impregnated with the marvellously strange atmosphere that abounds in these regions at the ends of the earth.

This spring, I will be climbing in the company of Manaran Tamang, who has already been with me on four occasions to Everest. When I first met him, some ten years ago, Manaram was a cook plying his trade in a trekking agency run by Zimba Zangbu Sherpa, a former sirdar (sherpa chief), who was known in French-speaking Himalayan climbing circles as the result of a book devoted to him by Robert Rieffel, the former Belgian consul in Nepal. Since then, Manaram has gained a taste for extreme altitudes and never hesitates climbing as high as possible with me. As for Zimba (who has more than 20 years' experience in trekking and expeditions in the highest mountain reaches), he is also still a part of our team; the only difference being that he no longer climbs, but instead takes care of the logistical side of the transport for my expeditions.