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Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Yahoo
Could drones really replace sherpas on Everest? Successful trials see drones carry 33lbs of equipment to Camp 1
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. With Everest climbing season opening again imminently, the idea of using drones on the world's tallest mountain to ease the load on sherpas has been making waves Officials in Nepal are gearing up to resume testing drones from next month with the view to use them to carry equipment up the mountain in the future. Trials began in 2024 when Chinese drone manufacturer DJI teamed up with Nepalese drone service company Airlift and mountain guide Mingma Gyalje Sherpa. They completed the first successful drone delivery trials, carrying 33lb (15kg) payloads from Base Camp to Camp 1. On the return flight the drone carried trash back down to Base Camp. According to the New York Times, Mingma G. Sherpa, the managing director of tour operator Imagine Nepal, invited a team from the Chinese drone maker DJI to Nepal in the spring of 2024 to test two FlyCart 30 delivery drones. After the deaths of three mountain guides in 2023, who were buried under an avalanche as they fixed rope for foreign climbers, Mingma said he was seeking a new way to improve safety. During his search he discovered that Chinese expedition companies were using drones on Muztagh Ata, a 24,757ft (7,545m) peak in China, to transport climbing gear, food and other items. 'I thought, why not use drones on Everest's south side, especially the Khumbu Icefall section?' he told the New York Times. The Khumbu Icefall, located between Base Camp and Camp 1, is a dangerous labyrinth of ice towers, crevasses and ladders. The challenges of flying drones on at altitude on Everest are huge, and include high wind speed, freezing temperatures and low air density. Following the 2024 trials, DJI donated the drones to AirLift, whose operators have continued testing, including on Mount Ama Dablam in Nepal. Here, a pilot was able to transport a hot meal using the drone, which reached Camp 1 in six minutes, rather than the six hours it would take on foot. Previously DJI has used the Mavic 3 Pro drone to capture the entire Mount Everest climbing route on camera: While drones could take away risk and enhance safety for sherpas, who may need to complete fewer trips and could use geolocation capabilities to pinpoint routes in changing landscapes, they come at a price. One DJI drone can cost more than $70,000. Local enthusiasts are hoping this year's Everest climbing season will be an opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities of the drone to potential investors. Manufacturing them inside Nepal, rather than importing them, could save on customs taxes. However, there has been backlash from trade unions and politicians who do not want to see technology take away work from sherpas who have dedicated their lives to mountain expeditions. '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?' The best women's climbing shoes 2025: for indoor climbing sessions, valley cragging and all-day mountain adventures The best balaclavas 2025: whether you're skiing, snow shoeing, or ice climbing, protecting your face and neck is a non-negotiable
Boston Globe
18-03-2025
- Boston Globe
Drones will do some schlepping for Sherpas on Mount Everest
'Sherpas bear enormous risks. The drone makes their task safer, faster, and more efficient,' said Tshering Sherpa, whose organization, the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, is responsible for fixing the route through the deadly Khumbu Icefall, southwest of Everest's summit. For about a year, operators have been experimenting with two drones donated by their Chinese maker. The pilot test during this year's Everest climbing season is seen as an important opportunity to persuade expedition agencies to invest in more of the devices, which could be used to carry climbing gear and essential items like oxygen cylinders. Advertisement While the upfront cost of the drones may be high, their proponents say they will eventually reduce agencies' costs. Among those who could benefit most are the experienced Sherpas known as 'icefall doctors.' Before every climbing season, they assemble at the Everest base camp for the daunting mission of establishing a route through the shifting ice. They carry heavy loads of ladders, fix them over crevasses, and lay rope to climb up the ice wall. Once the ladders and ropes are set along the Khumbu Icefall to Camp II, other Sherpas ferry oxygen bottles, medicine, and various essentials to high camps. Sherpas make this dangerous climb at least 40 times a season, according to expedition organizers. When the icefall doctors made their way to the base camp early this month, they were eagerly awaiting the arrival of the drone pilots, who were still in Kathmandu, the Nepali capital, finishing flight clearance documentation. Advertisement 'They are calling us to team up early,' said Milan Pandey, a drone pilot affiliated with AirLift, a startup drone company in Nepal. The catalyst for the use of drones was the latest of the many deadly tragedies involving Sherpas on Everest. In 2023, three of the mountain guides were buried under an avalanche as they fixed rope for foreign climbers. Their bodies could not be retrieved. Doing so could have damaged the ice block and endangered those trying to get the remains, said Mingma G. Sherpa, the managing director of Imagine Nepal, which led the expedition in which the Sherpas died. His search for ways to improve safety drew him to Chinese expedition companies that were using drones on Muztagh Ata, a 24,757-foot peak in China near Pakistan's border. The Chinese were using the vehicles to ferry climbing gear, food, and other crucial items to Camp II and bring them down. 'The Chinese cooked food at base camp and sent it to Camp II of Muztagh Ata, where climbers could eat hot food,' Sherpa said. 'I thought, why not use drones on Everest's south side, especially the Khumbu Icefall section?' At his invitation, a team from Chinese drone maker DJI went to Nepal in spring 2024 to test two FlyCart 30 delivery drones. The DJI team donated the drones to AirLift, the Nepalese startup. Since then, AirLift has been testing the limits of the drones in the most dangerous sections of Everest. The drones' proponents hope that they can do more than carry items. Since the shape of icefall keeps changing, icefall doctors struggle to locate the previous climbing route, which complicates setting the new route each season. Drone operators believe they will be able to pinpoint old routes using geolocation. Advertisement The devices could also help make up for the declining numbers of Sherpas. More are leaving because of the safety risks and better employment opportunities abroad. But even with all the drones can offer, their price tag has given some expedition companies pause. Once customs duties, batteries, a winch system, and other parts are factored in, a DJI drone can cost more than $70,000, a huge sum in a poor country like Nepal. Startups like AirLift are exploring options to assemble the drones inside Nepal, which they say could reduce their cost by more than half. The miracle of a warm meal may ride on that cost-cutting effort. During a trial run last year on Mount Ama Dablam, a Himalayan peak where drones were used to remove 1,300 pounds of waste, Dawa Jangbu Sherpa, a drone pilot, saw the potential of the vehicle firsthand. Food sent from base camp was still hot when it reached Camp I. 'It takes six hours if you follow the normal route to reach Camp I,' Sherpa said. 'But the drone served food in six minutes.' This article originally appeared in
