Sherpas to climb for education

When he was a young boy in Nepal, Apa Sherpa's goal wasn't to climb Mount Everest. Instead, he dreamed of becoming a doctor so he could heal people.

But his father died when he was 12 years old, forcing him to drop out of school and start working as a porter on a mountain pass between Tibet and Nepal.

"There was a need to support my family, and I had to quit school," he said. "I was a porter, I had to carry more weight than my body."

Apa, the second oldest of six siblings, worked his way from porter to trekking guide and then to climbing because the pay was better, and he added, "Everyone was talking about Everest."

Now a seasoned Everest guide and Utah resident, Apa has reached the top of the world's tallest peak 16 times, more than anyone else. He and another record-holding Sherpa, Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa, are leaving for Nepal on March 28 to lead an all-Sherpa expedition with hopes of bringing attention to the Sherpa people and financial aid to Nepal. Like Apa, Lhakpa holds an Everest world record — he's climbed the peak in the record time of 10 hours, 56 minutes and 46 seconds.

In Nepal the two are famous, and Apa is known as the "Super Tiger." However, in the Western world the spotlight rarely falls on the Sherpa people, who serve as guides and porters, risking their lives to make the journey to the top of the world — 29,035 feet — possible for others.

The expedition, dubbed "Super Sherpas," will be the subject of a documentary and a book, with at least 25 percent of the net proceeds to be donated to Nepali schools, hospitals and other deserving entities.

"There's not many Sherpa people with very good education," Lhakpa said. "Our expedition will make a documentary and history and tell our story, we will raise money for Sherpa and Nepalese education and schools. ... Education is very, very important."

The two will be assisted by four other Sherpas and the documentary team will be all Sherpas as well. They'll be supported by friends from Utah at base camp as they take a route designed to highlight the role of the Sherpa and Nepali people since the historic summit of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa in 1953.

The guide and porter pay ranges from $500 to $5,000 for expeditions, according to the Super Sherpas, while non-Nepali guides and team leaders can earn $15,000 to more than $100,000 for the same trek.

"What's exciting to me is to know people are going to be able to find out who the real kings of Everest are," said Roger Kehr, who will co-manage the base camp. "When the all-Sherpa team summits, that's going to be one huge big day for Nepal."