Sherpas, Gurkhas and the ghosts of the Himalaya

It took more than 100 years, but recognition has finally come by Nepali mountain climbers.

The climbing of mountains by Nepalis, usually Sherpas that is, has a feel akin to a dog biting a man—as in the old journalistic aphorism about news being made only when it is the other way round. Not when it is a commonplace. Yet the winter ascent of K2 on 16 January 2021 by a team of 10 Nepalis managed to catch the imagination of people the world over. After the initial rush of news stories was over, the feature items have continued, and it has been uniform praise for the dectet of heroes.