Some weeks ago, we published the testimony of an Everest climber who was the last person to see Nawang Sherpa and his client, Cheruiyot Kirui of Kenya, alive. The story raised the question of how responsible sherpas are for the lives of their tourist climbers.
Nawang Sherpa died because he refused to abandon his ailing client near the summit of Everest. Kerui was exhausted and unable to proceed on his own, but he also irrationally refused to take supplementary oxygen. Nawang asked Base Camp what to do. According to eyewitness Jon Mills of the UK, he was instructed to try and convince Kirui to take the oxygen. Afterward, Nawang lost touch. Neither of the two made it down.
Last week, James Muhia, who had climbed Manaslu with Kerui in 2023 (check the post below), posed another question to Explorersweb: Do clients know how much experience their assigned sherpas have, or can they ask?
According to Muhia, Nawang had no previous experience on Everest, which made him a poor fit to guide a climber who wanted to summit the highest peak on Earth without supplementary oxygen.
Unsettling thoughts
Muhia only discovered this when he visited Nawang Sherpa’s family after the tragedy, to extend the Kirui family’s condolences to Nawang’s grieving relatives.
“I was able to meet his brother, wife, daughter, and a few other family members,” Muhia said. “It was a bit unsettling to learn that Nawang had never been [to the summit of] Everest before guiding Kirui.”
Added Muhia: “I think it was quite irresponsible of Seven Summit Treks to assign a no-oxygen client to someone who had no previous experience on Everest. Whereas we appreciate Nawang’s dedication to his client, and sticking with him…his situation might have been caused by his own inexperience.”
The Hillary Step on Everest, photographed by 30-time Everest summiter Kami Rita Sherpa
Before guiding on Everest with Seven Summit Treks, Nawang worked for Ever Trek. After he died, Ever Trek set up a GoFundMe account (now closed). In it, they confirmed he had not summited Everest before the day he died: “[On Everest,] Nawang was guiding for another local Nepalese company, striving to achieve his lifelong dream of summiting Everest,” they wrote.
Did Kirui know?
“I think there is a basic expectation that one is assigned a guide who has the experience to match the demands of such a climb, especially a no-oxygen attempt,” Muhia said. “I do not know if Kirui had any input in the choice of the guide or if he was offered options.”
After Manaslu last year, Muhia intended to climb Everest with Kirui but had to postpone it.
“In their communication with Kirui, SST had indicated they would assign him a five-time Everest summiter,” Muhia noted. “I don’t know at what point this changed.”
The email, sent on Dec. 15, 2023, outlined a “full board upgraded” Everest climb that included a “five-time summiter” as sherpa support. It is unclear how negotiations between Kirui and the outfitter went from that point.
