Everest 2024: Icefall Doctors Mark Season Start

The Khumbu Climbing Center (KCC) was founded by the Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation (ALCF) to preserve Alex Lowe’s legacy by providing direction and financial support to sustainable, community-based humanitarian programs designed to help the people who live in remote regions of the world. Jennifer Lowe-Anker established the ALCF in December 1999 after the death of her late husband, Alex Lowe. She is an artist and author residing in Bozeman, Montana, with her husband, Conrad Anker.

Founded in 2003, the KCC mission statement reads:

to increase the safety margin of Nepali climbers and high altitude workers by encouraging responsible climbing practices in a supportive and community-based program.

In 2018, I sat down with one of the local principals running the KCC, Tenzing Sherpa, who is also a Sherpa Guide. He also runs the electric co-op for Phortse. I asked the 20-something Sherpa why the training was important compared to the older generation of Sherpas who have been guiding on Everest for decades. “We are learning techniques such as how to build equalized anchor systems, proper knots or crevasse rescue systems, plus learning the signs of altitude sickness. This makes our job safer and the mountains safer for the members.”

The KCC headquarters houses technical climbing gear, educational materials, indoor and outdoor training walls, and an office. Flexible spaces provide classrooms for training and a community meeting place for Phortse. A medical clinic, library, and caretaker’s quarters support both the KCC and the village of Phortse. While the Sherpa ethnicity dominates the classes, they are open to everyone and have even had a few participants from Pakistan.

Conrad Anker, who led the North Face Climbing team, works with the KCC and teaches courses from time to time, as he did this year. The training takes place the last two weeks of January and the first week of February each year for eighty students, usually eighteen to twenty-five years old. The class is divided into four sections: basic climbing skills, including knots, rock climbing, ice climbing and basic first aid. There is also an English-language segment. They have trained over 2,000 men and women since 2003. Each student must pay their own small tuition and insurance or find a sponsor.

The KCC is donor supported and shows these supporters on their website: The North Face, Communities Foundation Of Boulder, VF Europe BVBA, John Bass, High Performance, LTD, Oakley, Inc, VF Hong Kong Limited, Summit Coffee, Bos Foundation, Mazamas, Tim and Mary Barnard, Pamela and Bob Street, Snowbird Renaissance Center, Thomas Beers, Destin Middle School, Bishop Family Foundation, MSU University Foundation, Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund, The Nature Conservancy, Alpinist, LLC, Wilderness Travel, Bluewater Ropes, Bass, Richard, Petzl, Black Diamond, Patagonia, Rite in the Rain, Mountain Hardwear, Mountain Gear, Himalayan Rescue Association, Serac Adventure Films, Friends Of Nepal, Big Sky Wind Drinkers, Adventure Medical Kits, Communities Foundation of Texas, Dale & Elaine Smith, Messner Mountain Foundation Inc, Cottonwood Enterprises, Mammut, Friends of Hyalite.

EverestER: A Base Camp Lifeline

EverestER volunteer medical clinic at Everest Base Camp is up and running and already treating “customers.” They provide medical services to clients for a small fee that the guide company usually pays, but their services are free to Sherpas and locals.

The Himalayan Rescue Association Nepal (HRA) started the first-ever Medical Camp at Everest Base Camp in the spring of 2023. The HRA is a voluntary non-profit organization formed in 1973 to reduce casualties in the Nepal Himalayas, especially considering the increasing number of Nepalese and foreigners who trek up into the remote wilderness.

Dr. Luanne Freer describes her involvement: “Everest ER became a reality in 2003 after a visit to Everest base camp in 2002 when I dreamed of an expansion of the Himalayan Rescue Association mission to provide expert mountain medical care using proceeds from the care of trekkers and climbers to subsidize healthcare for local Nepali citizens. But part of that dream included the eventual transition of logistics to the HRA (check!), and medical direction to Nepali doctors.”

In 2003, EverestER treated nearly 600 patients and, as usual, respiratory symptoms, from viral infections to HAPE, were the most common complaint, accounting for well over 50% of our patient visits.

Adventure Consultants also provide training for their team. Guy Cotter noted, “As part of our ongoing effort to encourage the development of our Nepalese staff, we are pleased to support Wilderness First Aid training just completed in Kathmandu. The more skills we all develop, the stronger we are as a team and the better the outcomes for our groups and local staff on treks and expeditions!”