Latest news with #MilanPandey
Time of India
22-04-2025
- Time of India
From seven hours to seven minutes: Drones could revolutionise climbing Mt Everest this year
At Everest Base Camp , 5,364 meters above sea level, technology is reshaping tradition. Drones are now being used to transport ropes, ladders, and oxygen cylinders across the dangerous Khumbu Icefall — a deadly stretch that Sherpa climbers have navigated for decades to fix climbing routes for expeditions on the world's tallest mountain, as per a CNN Travel report. Nepal-based start-up Airlift Technology has introduced drone assistance to support the 'icefall doctors,' the specialist Sherpas who open and maintain the climbing route from Base Camp to Camp One, located at 6,065 meters. This route, though only 1.8 miles long, takes experienced Sherpas nearly seven hours to traverse. A drone can cover it in under seven minutes. Milan Pandey, a drone pilot with Airlift, told CNN that the initiative was born out of a collaboration with local authorities and mountaineering groups. 'The Sherpas tell us where equipment is needed and send us coordinates. We fly the material there. It saves time and reduces the number of trips they need to make through dangerous terrain,' he said. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Highly Prestigious OMEA Award for Indian Manufacturers ansoim Learn More Undo (Join our ETNRI WhatsApp channel for all the latest updates) Mingma G Sherpa, founder of the expedition company Imagine Nepal, said the drone technology addresses a long-standing safety issue. 'I lost three friends in an avalanche in 2023. We were looking for ways to make the work safer. I had seen drones used elsewhere and thought it could work here,' he told CNN. Live Events MORE STORIES FOR YOU ✕ « Back to recommendation stories I don't want to see these stories because They are not relevant to me They disrupt the reading flow Others SUBMIT Drones also support clean-up efforts. Airlift Technology used them to remove 1,100 pounds of waste from Camp One in a recent operation. The use of drones comes at a time when Everest climbing faces multiple challenges. Everest expeditions became more expensive in 2024 due to rising permit fees and environmental regulations. At the same time, the number of climbers continues to rise each year, increasing the workload on Sherpa guides who often make multiple trips before climbers begin their ascent.
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Yahoo
Drones can deliver supplies on Mount Everest this year, and it may change climbing forever
At the top of the world amid pristine white glaciers and towering rock, silence reigns. Suddenly it is broken by a ladder falling from the sky. Milan Pandey is sitting back down at Everest Base Camp, looking out over views that few have ever seen — and he got there without having to pull on a crampon or wield an ice ax. He is a drone pilot, and his work may change things on the world's highest mountain forever. The ladders, ropes and oxygen cylinders that Pandey can transport via drone to aid the Sherpas or 'icefall doctors' at Khumbu Icefall, a glacier located between Base Camp and Camp One, could likely save lives on the mountain. Specialist Sherpas who hail from the nearby hills and mountains have been navigating and setting the trail for climbers on Everest for seven decades. Dozens have lost their lives in the process. Pandey, of Airlift Technology, a local drone-mapping start-up, believes that with his technical expertise in using drones combined with the Sherpas' decades of mountaineering knowledge, they can make it safer to be on the roof of the world. Base Camp is located at a height of about 5,364 meters (17,598 ft) above sea level and Camp One at 6,065 meters (19,900 feet). The aerial distance between the two points is roughly 1.8 miles. It takes Sherpas six to seven hours to make this journey, but it takes a drone about six to seven minutes. Mingma G Sherpa of Imagine Nepal, an expedition company that's been guiding climbers for nearly a decade, recognized the need for this kind of assistance when he lost three of his friends and mountain guides in an avalanche in 2023. Their bodies could not be recovered. 'They had to keep going up and down the mountain twenty times to first figure out the route and then come back for the equipment. I had heard they use drones in China to help with this on another mountain, so I thought 'why not here?'' he said. Around the same time, Raj Bikram, CEO of Airlift Nepal, was in touch with the Khumbu municipality for 3D-mapping Mount Everest using drones when the region's mayor asked how much weight the drones could carry. In April 2024, with the help of two drones donated by China's DJI, Airlift began experimenting. 'In the beginning, because it was also our first time at the Everest Base Camp, we were not sure how the drone would perform at that altitude and at that temperature,' Bikram said. Visibility and wind speeds are among the main challenges. It took a month for them to learn the terrain. Airlift Nepal's first clean-up drive used a drone to bring down about 1100 pounds of trash from Camp One to Base Camp. That took more than 40 flights: The drone can carry about 66 pounds of weight, but they only transport about 44 pounds at a time to be safe. For the 2025 Everest climbing season, Pandey says that Airlift Technology will help Sherpas transport equipment before the season starts, then pick up trash once it begins. The Sherpas tell Pandey which direction they need to go, then Pandey flies a small drone first to navigate the trail. Then, the Sherpas do what they've always done — climb to the precarious icefalls, or the parts of a glacier that are the hardest to navigate. 'Once they find out 'here we need a ladder,' 'here we need a rope,' they will send us the coordinates via walkie-talkie and then we fly the equipment there,' Pandey explained. The drones are also able to fly in life-saving equipment like oxygen cylinders and medicines. Airlift currently has two DJI drones, only one of which is being operated on Everest this year. The second one is a backup, and if there's need for more drone flights, they'll consider deploying both. One challenge is money. Each drone costs $70,000, and that's before they even begin operating. 'Everything is expensive at Base Camp,' Bikram said. 'Because there's no electricity we need a lot of fuel to charge batteries. The cost of actually getting to the camp, the manpower cost, accommodation, food, there's a lot.' For Bikram, an aeronautical engineer, drones have always been a passion. He made a 'DIY Drone' in Nepal over a decade ago at a time when they were almost nonexistent in the country. This proved vital in assisting aid efforts during the 2015 Nepal earthquake. 'It's not just that we are providing equipment. Search and rescue is one of our main priorities. When people veer off the trail we can help geolocate them,' Pandey added. Some in the Sherpa community are turning away from working in the perilous high mountains and instead are moving abroad for better jobs and pay. 'We hope that our drones will actually make this a safer profession and bring more people back to this climbing tradition. It's what our country is known for, and without the expertise of the Sherpas we would never be able to navigate this terrain,' Pandey said. 28-year-old Dawa Janzu Sherpa has been a 'frontman' on Everest with the icefall doctors for eight years. The team of Sherpas is led by an elder who has developed his expertise in navigation and decides the trail, but it is the frontman with his might and youth who goes to the icefall first. 'This season there is a lot of dry ice which makes it very hard to fix trails, and there are a lot of ice towers in between,' he said. While drones can now be used to determine a tentative path before they set out, inclement weather means that things are constantly changing. Janzu Sherpa says this is a risky job, and with employment hard to come by, for him, this work has been more about the paycheck than the passion. Drones have been reducing time and risk level by half. 'Our work is time sensitive. If we don't fix the trails quickly upcoming expeditions will be slowed down, so having the drones bring the equipment up means that we don't have to go back down just to bring the ladder up with us.' 'With the bad weather we've seen so far this year we would not have fixed the trail in time if not for that help,' he added. Janzu Sherpa is the sole breadwinner for his wife and two daughters. 'This is an adventurous job and there is a lot of risk, so if there's a way to make it safer I welcome it.' The first group of climbers have reached Base Camp for the 2025 climbing season. It's a narrow season, so almost everyone will attempt their ascents in April and May. Drone use 'is part of the evolution of climbing,' says Caroline Ogle of New Zealand-based Adventure Consultants, who has spent five seasons at Base Camp managing expeditions from what she refers to as 'the amphitheater of Everest.' 'If you compare back to the early years … when there were no satellite phones or the kind of weather forecasting we have available now, all those types of technology have evolved to make climbing safer. I feel the use of drones is part of that natural evolution, particularly in the context of making things safer for the high altitude workers (Sherpas),' Ogle said. Lisa Thompson, who has climbed the seven summits — the highest peak on all seven of the traditional continents — and now trains climbers through US based Alpine Athletics, agrees with Ogle and sees drones as a 'welcome and responsible evolution.' 'I don't believe this innovation takes away from the craft or tradition of climbing. The mountain is still the mountain. The challenge is still real.'
CNN
21-04-2025
- CNN
Drones can deliver supplies on Mount Everest this year, and it may change climbing forever
At the top of the world amid pristine white glaciers and towering rock, silence reigns. Suddenly it is broken by a ladder falling from the sky. Milan Pandey is sitting back down at Everest Base Camp, looking out over views that few have ever seen — and he got there without having to pull on a crampon or wield an ice ax. He is a drone pilot, and his work may change things on the world's highest mountain forever. The ladders, ropes and oxygen cylinders that Pandey can transport via drone to aid the Sherpas or 'icefall doctors' at Khumbu Icefall, a glacier located between Base Camp and Camp One, could likely save lives on the mountain. Specialist Sherpas who hail from the nearby hills and mountains have been navigating and setting the trail for climbers on Everest for seven decades. Dozens have lost their lives in the process. Pandey, of Airlift Technology, a local drone-mapping start-up, believes that with his technical expertise in using drones combined with the Sherpas' decades of mountaineering knowledge, they can make it safer to be on the roof of the world. Base Camp is located at a height of about 5,364 meters (17,598 ft) above sea level and Camp One at 6,065 meters (19,900 feet). The aerial distance between the two points is roughly 1.8 miles. It takes Sherpas six to seven hours to make this journey, but it takes a drone about six to seven minutes. Mingma G Sherpa of Imagine Nepal, an expedition company that's been guiding climbers for nearly a decade, recognized the need for this kind of assistance when he lost three of his friends and mountain guides in an avalanche in 2023. Their bodies could not be recovered. 'They had to keep going up and down the mountain twenty times to first figure out the route and then come back for the equipment. I had heard they use drones in China to help with this on another mountain, so I thought 'why not here?'' he said. Around the same time, Raj Bikram, CEO of Airlift Nepal, was in touch with the Khumbu municipality for 3D-mapping Mount Everest using drones when the region's mayor asked how much weight the drones could carry. In April 2024, with the help of two drones donated by China's DJI, Airlift began experimenting. 'In the beginning, because it was also our first time at the Everest Base Camp, we were not sure how the drone would perform at that altitude and at that temperature,' Bikram said. Visibility and wind speeds are among the main challenges. It took a month for them to learn the terrain. Airlift Nepal's first clean-up drive used a drone to bring down about 1100 pounds of trash from Camp One to Base Camp. That took more than 40 flights: The drone can carry about 66 pounds of weight, but they only transport about 44 pounds at a time to be safe. For the 2025 Everest climbing season, Pandey says that Airlift Technology will help Sherpas transport equipment before the season starts, then pick up trash once it begins. The Sherpas tell Pandey which direction they need to go, then Pandey flies a small drone first to navigate the trail. Then, the Sherpas do what they've always done — climb to the precarious icefalls, or the parts of a glacier that are the hardest to navigate. 'Once they find out 'here we need a ladder,' 'here we need a rope,' they will send us the coordinates via walkie-talkie and then we fly the equipment there,' Pandey explained. The drones are also able to fly in life-saving equipment like oxygen cylinders and medicines. Airlift currently has two DJI drones, only one of which is being operated on Everest this year. The second one is a backup, and if there's need for more drone flights, they'll consider deploying both. One challenge is money. Each drone costs $70,000, and that's before they even begin operating. 'Everything is expensive at Base Camp,' Bikram said. 'Because there's no electricity we need a lot of fuel to charge batteries. The cost of actually getting to the camp, the manpower cost, accommodation, food, there's a lot.' For Bikram, an aeronautical engineer, drones have always been a passion. He made a 'DIY Drone' in Nepal over a decade ago at a time when they were almost nonexistent in the country. This proved vital in assisting aid efforts during the 2015 Nepal earthquake. 'It's not just that we are providing equipment. Search and rescue is one of our main priorities. When people veer off the trail we can help geolocate them,' Pandey added. Some in the Sherpa community are turning away from working in the perilous high mountains and instead are moving abroad for better jobs and pay. 'We hope that our drones will actually make this a safer profession and bring more people back to this climbing tradition. It's what our country is known for, and without the expertise of the Sherpas we would never be able to navigate this terrain,' Pandey said. 28-year-old Dawa Janzu Sherpa has been a 'frontman' on Everest with the icefall doctors for eight years. The team of Sherpas is led by an elder who has developed his expertise in navigation and decides the trail, but it is the frontman with his might and youth who goes to the icefall first. 'This season there is a lot of dry ice which makes it very hard to fix trails, and there are a lot of ice towers in between,' he said. While drones can now be used to determine a tentative path before they set out, inclement weather means that things are constantly changing. Janzu Sherpa says this is a risky job, and with employment hard to come by, for him, this work has been more about the paycheck than the passion. Drones have been reducing time and risk level by half. 'Our work is time sensitive. If we don't fix the trails quickly upcoming expeditions will be slowed down, so having the drones bring the equipment up means that we don't have to go back down just to bring the ladder up with us.' 'With the bad weather we've seen so far this year we would not have fixed the trail in time if not for that help,' he added. Janzu Sherpa is the sole breadwinner for his wife and two daughters. 'This is an adventurous job and there is a lot of risk, so if there's a way to make it safer I welcome it.' The first group of climbers have reached Base Camp for the 2025 climbing season. It's a narrow season, so almost everyone will attempt their ascents in April and May. Drone use 'is part of the evolution of climbing,' says Caroline Ogle of New Zealand-based Adventure Consultants, who has spent five seasons at Base Camp managing expeditions from what she refers to as 'the amphitheater of Everest.' 'If you compare back to the early years … when there were no satellite phones or the kind of weather forecasting we have available now, all those types of technology have evolved to make climbing safer. I feel the use of drones is part of that natural evolution, particularly in the context of making things safer for the high altitude workers (Sherpas),' Ogle said. Lisa Thompson, who has climbed the seven summits — the highest peak on all seven of the traditional continents — and now trains climbers through US based Alpine Athletics, agrees with Ogle and sees drones as a 'welcome and responsible evolution.' 'I don't believe this innovation takes away from the craft or tradition of climbing. The mountain is still the mountain. The challenge is still real.'
CNN
21-04-2025
- CNN
Drones can deliver supplies on Mount Everest this year, and it may change climbing forever
At the top of the world amid pristine white glaciers and towering rock, silence reigns. Suddenly it is broken by a ladder falling from the sky. Milan Pandey is sitting back down at Everest Base Camp, looking out over views that few have ever seen — and he got there without having to pull on a crampon or wield an ice ax. He is a drone pilot, and his work may change things on the world's highest mountain forever. The ladders, ropes and oxygen cylinders that Pandey can transport via drone to aid the Sherpas or 'icefall doctors' at Khumbu Icefall, a glacier located between Base Camp and Camp One, could likely save lives on the mountain. Specialist Sherpas who hail from the nearby hills and mountains have been navigating and setting the trail for climbers on Everest for seven decades. Dozens have lost their lives in the process. Pandey, of Airlift Technology, a local drone-mapping start-up, believes that with his technical expertise in using drones combined with the Sherpas' decades of mountaineering knowledge, they can make it safer to be on the roof of the world. Base Camp is located at a height of about 5,364 meters (17,598 ft) above sea level and Camp One at 6,065 meters (19,900 feet). The aerial distance between the two points is roughly 1.8 miles. It takes Sherpas six to seven hours to make this journey, but it takes a drone about six to seven minutes. Mingma G Sherpa of Imagine Nepal, an expedition company that's been guiding climbers for nearly a decade, recognized the need for this kind of assistance when he lost three of his friends and mountain guides in an avalanche in 2023. Their bodies could not be recovered. 'They had to keep going up and down the mountain twenty times to first figure out the route and then come back for the equipment. I had heard they use drones in China to help with this on another mountain, so I thought 'why not here?'' he said. Around the same time, Raj Bikram, CEO of Airlift Nepal, was in touch with the Khumbu municipality for 3D-mapping Mount Everest using drones when the region's mayor asked how much weight the drones could carry. In April 2024, with the help of two drones donated by China's DJI, Airlift began experimenting. 'In the beginning, because it was also our first time at the Everest Base Camp, we were not sure how the drone would perform at that altitude and at that temperature,' Bikram said. Visibility and wind speeds are among the main challenges. It took a month for them to learn the terrain. Airlift Nepal's first clean-up drive used a drone to bring down about 1100 pounds of trash from Camp One to Base Camp. That took more than 40 flights: The drone can carry about 66 pounds of weight, but they only transport about 44 pounds at a time to be safe. For the 2025 Everest climbing season, Pandey says that Airlift Technology will help Sherpas transport equipment before the season starts, then pick up trash once it begins. The Sherpas tell Pandey which direction they need to go, then Pandey flies a small drone first to navigate the trail. Then, the Sherpas do what they've always done — climb to the precarious icefalls, or the parts of a glacier that are the hardest to navigate. 'Once they find out 'here we need a ladder,' 'here we need a rope,' they will send us the coordinates via walkie-talkie and then we fly the equipment there,' Pandey explained. The drones are also able to fly in life-saving equipment like oxygen cylinders and medicines. Airlift currently has two DJI drones, only one of which is being operated on Everest this year. The second one is a backup, and if there's need for more drone flights, they'll consider deploying both. One challenge is money. Each drone costs $70,000, and that's before they even begin operating. 'Everything is expensive at Base Camp,' Bikram said. 'Because there's no electricity we need a lot of fuel to charge batteries. The cost of actually getting to the camp, the manpower cost, accommodation, food, there's a lot.' For Bikram, an aeronautical engineer, drones have always been a passion. He made a 'DIY Drone' in Nepal over a decade ago at a time when they were almost nonexistent in the country. This proved vital in assisting aid efforts during the 2015 Nepal earthquake. 'It's not just that we are providing equipment. Search and rescue is one of our main priorities. When people veer off the trail we can help geolocate them,' Pandey added. Some in the Sherpa community are turning away from working in the perilous high mountains and instead are moving abroad for better jobs and pay. 'We hope that our drones will actually make this a safer profession and bring more people back to this climbing tradition. It's what our country is known for, and without the expertise of the Sherpas we would never be able to navigate this terrain,' Pandey said. 28-year-old Dawa Janzu Sherpa has been a 'frontman' on Everest with the icefall doctors for eight years. The team of Sherpas is led by an elder who has developed his expertise in navigation and decides the trail, but it is the frontman with his might and youth who goes to the icefall first. 'This season there is a lot of dry ice which makes it very hard to fix trails, and there are a lot of ice towers in between,' he said. While drones can now be used to determine a tentative path before they set out, inclement weather means that things are constantly changing. Janzu Sherpa says this is a risky job, and with employment hard to come by, for him, this work has been more about the paycheck than the passion. Drones have been reducing time and risk level by half. 'Our work is time sensitive. If we don't fix the trails quickly upcoming expeditions will be slowed down, so having the drones bring the equipment up means that we don't have to go back down just to bring the ladder up with us.' 'With the bad weather we've seen so far this year we would not have fixed the trail in time if not for that help,' he added. Janzu Sherpa is the sole breadwinner for his wife and two daughters. 'This is an adventurous job and there is a lot of risk, so if there's a way to make it safer I welcome it.' The first group of climbers have reached Base Camp for the 2025 climbing season. It's a narrow season, so almost everyone will attempt their ascents in April and May. Drone use 'is part of the evolution of climbing,' says Caroline Ogle of New Zealand-based Adventure Consultants, who has spent five seasons at Base Camp managing expeditions from what she refers to as 'the amphitheater of Everest.' 'If you compare back to the early years … when there were no satellite phones or the kind of weather forecasting we have available now, all those types of technology have evolved to make climbing safer. I feel the use of drones is part of that natural evolution, particularly in the context of making things safer for the high altitude workers (Sherpas),' Ogle said. Lisa Thompson, who has climbed the seven summits — the highest peak on all seven of the traditional continents — and now trains climbers through US based Alpine Athletics, agrees with Ogle and sees drones as a 'welcome and responsible evolution.' 'I don't believe this innovation takes away from the craft or tradition of climbing. The mountain is still the mountain. The challenge is still real.'
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
