Kathmandu--Mount Everest record holder Apa Sherpa ran for his life when a huge earthquake hit Nepal, and now fears for the future after the disaster cut short the climbing season for the second year in a row.
"Everyone here is scared and depressed, we have lost everything," the climber told AFP by telephone from Thame, deep in the Everest region, one of the villages that is home to the Sherpa ethnic group.
The tight-knit community of around 50 families has produced some of the world's greatest mountaineers, including Sherpa, who is something of a celebrity having reached the top of Everest a record 21 times.
Sherpas, thought to be of Tibetan origin, have a long and proud history of mountaineering, and the term today is used for all Nepalese high-altitude porters and guides assisting climbing expeditions.
On April 25, Sherpa was trekking to Thame, where he was born, when the world appeared to crumble before his eyes, as rocks raced down hillsides and buildings turned to rubble.
The 55-year-old US-based climber ran for his life the moment the 7.8-magnitude quake struck, racing to get off a suspension bridge swaying wildly as tremors rippled through the Himalayas.
When Sherpa finally arrived in Thame, in eastern Solukhumbu district, two days later, what he found was a nylon wasteland, with everyone living under tarpaulin sheets or tents.
The quake and a powerful aftershock had destroyed the village.
"Their jobs are gone, their homes are gone and soon it will start to get cold and windy," said the climber, nicknamed "Super Sherpa" because of his feats scaling the world's tallest mountain.
"We normally need to wire our roofs to the house foundations for protection against wind -- how will we manage this year with just tarps and tents?" he added.
The quake, which left more than 7,800 people dead across Nepal, was the Himalayan nation's deadliest disaster in over 80 years, and was followed by a 6.9-magnitude aftershock the next day.
AFP
