Aid may finally be on the way for Nepali Sherpas carrying heavy loads for foreign mountaineers through the world's highest peak dangerous section.
As the main climbing season begins next month at Mount Everest, expeditions will test drones that can ferry heavy 35 pounds of load at altitude, bringing back ladders used to set up climbing routes, and removing any waste normally left behind.
Items that usually take seven hours to be transported on foot from base camps in Everest to camps can be airlifted within 15 minutes. By reducing the burden on Sherpas, drone operators hope to reduce the likelihood of fatal accidents that have risen as climate change accelerates snow thaw.
“Sherpas take a great deal of risk. Drones make tasks safer, faster and more efficient,” says Tshering Sherpa, the Sagarmasa Pollution Control Committee, is responsible for revising the route through the deadly Khumbu Icefall southwest of the Everest summit.
For about a year, operators have been experimenting with two drones donated by Chinese manufacturers. Pilot testing during this year's Everest climbing season is seen as an important opportunity to convince expedition agencies to invest in more devices that can be used to carry important items such as climbing gear and oxygen cylinders.
The cost of advances for drones may be high, but their supporters say they will ultimately cut costs for the institution.
The ones who can benefit most are experienced Sherpas known as the “Icefold Doctor.” Every year before the climbing season, they gather at Everest Base Camp to fulfill their difficult mission of establishing a route through the shift ice.
They carry a large number of ladders, secure them on the crevass, and place ropes to climb the ice wall. When the ladder rope is set to Camp II along the Khumbu Icefall, there are other Sherpar ferries oxygen bottles, medicines and essentials in various camps. According to the organizers of Expedition, Shelpass makes this dangerous climb at least 40 times per season.
When Icefall doctors advanced to base camp earlier this month, they were still eagerly waiting for the arrival of drone pilots in the Nepal capital, Kathmandu.
“We're looking forward to seeing you in the world,” said Milanpandi, a drone pilot at Airlift, a Nepal startup drone company.
The catalyst for using drones was the latest in many deadly tragedies, including the Everest Sherpas. In 2023, three mountain guides were buried under an avalanche as they secured ropes for foreign climbers.
Their bodies could not be retrieved. Doing so could have damaged ice blocks and put those seeking to obtain the bodies in danger, said Minma G. Sherpa, managing director of Imaiman Nepal, who led the expedition in which Sherpas died.
Looking for ways to improve safety, he attracted him to a Chinese expedition company that used drones at Muztagh Ata, a 24,757-foot peak in China near the Pakistan border. The Chinese used vehicles to ferry climbing equipment, food and other important items to Camp II and defeat them.
“We cooked Chinese food at the base camp and sent it to Camp II in Muzutaguata where climbers can eat hot food,” Sherpa said. “Would you like to use a drone on the south side of Everest, especially the Icefall section of Kumboo?”
At his invitation, a team of Chinese drone manufacturer DJI went to Nepal in the spring of 2024 to test two flycart 30 delivery drones.
The DJI team donated the drones to Airlift, a Nepali startup. Since then, airlift has been testing the limits of drones in the most dangerous section of Everest.
Drone supporters hope they can do more than carry items. As Icefall's shape continues to change, Icefall doctors have a hard time finding their previous climbing routes, complicating setting up new routes each season. Drone operators believe that geolocation can be used to identify older routes.
The device also helps to compensate for the reduced number of Sherpas. More will leave due to improved safety risks and employment opportunities overseas.
But even if all drones can offer it, their price tag has been suspended for several expedition companies.
DJI drones cost more than $70,000 after tariffs in poor countries like Nepal. Startups like Airlift are exploring options to assemble drones in Nepal.
The miracle of a hot meal may ride its cost-cutting efforts.
Last year, drone pilot Dawajamb Sherpa saw firsthand the potential of the vehicle at Himalayan Peak, when the drone used the drone to remove 1,300 pounds of waste during a trial at Mount Amadabram. The food sent from Base Camp was still hot when we arrived at Camp I.
“It takes six hours to follow the normal route to reach Camp I,” Sherpa said. “But the drone served food in six minutes.”
