Sherpa climbs Everest in order to help save it

DRAPER — When Apa Sherpa made his first trip to the top of the world, he did it to support his family in Nepal.

After completing his record 18th summit of Mount Everest, though, his perspective has changed. Now, the Draper resident and record-setting mountaineering star is climbing to save Everest.

"Before, when I lived in Nepal, I did it to support my family," Sherpa said. "Now, we are here and I have my company. When I climb, I do it to support Nepal and help my people, my mountains."

A few years ago Sherpa brought his family to Utah where they live with a friend and business partner — "I want them to have education. Education is number one for us" — but his heart still takes him back to his homeland and the mountain he knows so well.

When he returns now, though, it is not with the sole purpose of guiding wealthy westerners with a thirst for adventure to the top of the world's tallest peak. Now, with a broader perspective, he climbs to restore the mountain to its natural state.

"We need to try to clean it up every year if we can," Sherpa said a couple of weeks ago at a welcome-home gathering. "When I take people up, everything they take, when they come down, they have to bring their own bag (of waste) down."

And that means all waste — water bottles, energy bar wrappers, oxygen canisters and human waste. It all comes back down and nothing is left behind. After one of his recent trips, Sherpa said he brought 632 items down in his effort to clean up the mountain he loves.

"In Nepal," he said, "they didn't know anything about global warming or pollution. Now they are more aware, and the government, they are getting smart. There's nobody messing up the mountain."

Now safely back on flat ground in Utah, Sherpa will turn his attention to education. He has a meeting with the Granite School District this month, where he will try to schedule appearances for assemblies with students. Eventually he would like to take his educational speeches nationwide in an effort to increase awareness of his mountain.

"I hope the younger generation follows (our example) in the future," Sherpa said.

His days climbing Everest as the world's foremost mountaineer may be behind him in some regards. But he hopes his celebrity — no matter how large or small it is — will help preserve his native land.