In common knowledge, ‘Mount Everest’ is simply the ‘highest peak in the world.’ But in the eyes of poets, filmmakers, nomads, hikers, and climbers, the geographical height of Mount Everest is thousands of times higher than its ‘height’ measured in meters.

The shadows of the peaks of Lhotse, Nupse, Choyu, Amadbalm, Pumari, Thamserku, etc. standing alongside Everest in the Khumbu region, the music of every glacier flowing south from their base camp, every mountain village, centuries-old monasteries and the stories of wildlife are as priceless as the world's best universities.

After the first successful ascent of Everest by Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Edmund Hillary on 16 Jestha, 2010, it was no longer just the highest peak in the world. It was sometimes called the Third Pole, and sometimes a metaphor for the roof of the world. It has been attracting thousands of people for a century as a wonderful confluence of courage, culture, nature and human dreams, says Tendi Sherpa, a famous climber who has climbed Everest 18 times. Makalu Tendi Sherpa, who is also an international mountain guide, says that Everest is the ultimate dream of billions of people around the world who climb peaks lower and higher than Everest. Everest is open to 193 countries under the United Nations and the 8 billion people living in these countries from Nepal and Tibet.

Millions of people are eager to set foot on its peak and write history. Every year, more than a thousand people reach the base camp to climb Everest. Of these, only a few hundred reach the peak and write a story of courage. Whether climbing or descending Everest, every step must be kept in the balance of life and death. That is why in every climbing season, someone ends up on Everest. That is, their journey is close to death. Just as a century ago, British mountaineer George Mallory and talented engineer Andrew Irvine, known as Sandy, disappeared while trying to reach the summit of Everest for the first time.

Just as Prakash Bohra's shoes from Dailekh became iconic in the recent Gen-G movement in Kathmandu, a team of mountaineers found a preserved boot on the north face of Mount Everest. The boot, found in Tibet, has become a mystery to scientists and researchers who are conducting research, saying that the first ascent of Mount Everest may have taken place before Nepal's Tenzing Norgay and New Zealand's Edmund Hillary. The boot, found by the team making a documentary for National Geographic, was sensationally reported in the print edition last year by Hank Sanders of the New York Times, saying, "Boot found on Everest may solve the mystery."

In the year 1978/1979, the climbing team of Mallory and Sandy did not succeed in climbing the world's highest mountain from the Tibetan side. There is no concrete evidence that they reached the summit. Twenty-nine years after Mallory gave the message that Everest could be climbed, members of the British Everest expedition, Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Edmund Hillary, set foot on the summit of Everest from the southern Nepali side on 16 Jestha 2010 (29 May 1953). This was the eighth attempt by humans to climb Everest.

The moment when Tenzing and Hillary set foot on the summit of Everest was not just a victory for two climbers at that time. It was a great moment that will be written in golden letters in the history of all human civilization. When the world was going through despair and instability after the destruction of World War II, Hillary and Sherpa added a new energy of hope, courage and renaissance to all people.

At that time, headlines like ‘Man has conquered Everest’ occupied the front pages of newspapers around the world. The news that human footsteps had reached the world's highest peak, Mount Everest, filled the world with excitement. Kanchha Sherpa (who passed away recently), the last member of the climbing team, had said in an interview with 'Kantipur' a few years ago, 'Hillary and Tenzing's success had become a symbol of national pride. The name of Tenzing Norgay Sherpa had introduced the Sherpa community to the world stage for the first time.'

From the initial survey period to the time of Kami Rita Sherpa, the history of Mount Everest has emerged as a story of extraordinary human courage, spanning a century and a half, from the time of Tenzing-Hillary to the time of Kami Rita Sherpa today. According to the Department of Tourism, Nepalis have been associated with Mount Everest since the survey of 1978. In that first survey expedition, Nepali surveyor Lalbir Thapa was with the expedition led by Colonel Charles Kenneth Howard. In 2032, when Japanese climber Junko Tabei became the first woman to climb Mount Everest, another message of equality spread from Mount Everest to the world, saying that peaks and mountains do not discriminate between genders.

After Pasang Lhamu Sherpa of Chonrikharka set foot on the peak of Mount Everest on April 10, 2050, the doors of tourism and other opportunities opened for Nepali women who were confined to the confines of the Nepali kitchen, says Lhamu Sherpa, who is now inspiring women around the world to reach the mountain through an organization called 'Animauntain'. According to online sources related to Mount Everest, so far about 7,000 people have climbed Mount Everest at least 12,000 times and have set various records. Along with successful climbs, about 300 climbers have lost their lives during the climb. Among the 14 mountains above 8,000 meters in the world, Everest is among the most popular for climbing or trekking to the base camp to observe it.

These and similar stories have been leading people to the foothills or summits of Everest, says Mingma Chhiri Sherpa, chairman of Khumbu Pasang Lhamu Rural Municipality. According to him, among other tourist destinations in the Khumbu region, the most popular for tourists is climbing Everest and trekking to the base camp. According to government statistics, 30,000 to 55,000 domestic and foreign tourists visit the Khumbu region annually. ‘In the financial year 2080/81, 55,767 tourists, both Nepali and foreign, visited the Khumbu region. Most of them came to trek to the Everest base camp,’ said the chairman Sherpa. According to the Sagarmatha National Park, the highest number of tourists arrive during the winter months of Asoj, Kartik and Mansir and the spring months of Falgun, Chait and Baisakh. According to the

rural municipality chairman Sherpa, the peaks around the Khumbu region and the Khumbu Icefall are world famous among tourists, who come to view the beautiful views of the Himalayas. The main settlements in this region include Kharikhola, Lukla, Phakdinu Manjo, Namche Bazaar, Khumjung, Khunde, Tengboche, Forche, Pangboche, Pheriche, Dingboche, Thame, Gokyo, Lobuche, Gorkhep, etc. The gateway to these villages is the Tenzing-Hillary Airport in Lukla. There are daily flights to Lukla from Kathmandu and Ramechhap. The one-way airfare on this route from Kathmandu to Lukla costs 10,500. The first village above Lukla, Phakding, is on the banks of the Dudhkoshi. After this, the entrance to the Everest National Park is Monjo, and Namche Bazaar is on the trekking route.

Sagar Pandey, president of the trekking umbrella organization TAAN, says that the trekking time to the Everest base camp will be 11 nights and 12 days. According to him, it is enough to spend 3 thousand rupees per day to go alone, while it is slightly cheaper to go in a group. ‘A Nepali can trek to the Everest base camp by spending a minimum of 2 thousand to 4 thousand rupees per day.’ He advises those going on the trek to take a mandatory guide and insurance from a registered tour company. He says that doing so will make it easier to face the challenges that may arise during the trek and get rescued.

According to the park’s statistics, there are 1,619 households in this area, where 7 thousand 745 people live. The main caste in the Khumbu region is Sherpa and the main religion is Buddhism. There are Khumbu, Imja, Ngojumpa and Nangpa glaciers in this area. Tourists can observe snow leopards, musk deer, deer, red pandas, 37 mammals and more than 200 birds including ibex, munal, and kalij on the trekking route.

The Khumbu region is not only known for the Everest peak, but also for the tourists as a confluence of courage, culture, nature, and dreams. Every village, mountain trail, and journey here writes a new story for the tourists who go on a trip. The footsteps of three make history. The ordinary journey of anyone who reaches Everest is a story of extraordinary courage. That is why this time, in the context of the Gen-G movement in Kathmandu, the news of the death of Kanchha Sherpa, the last character of the first Everest climb, was published by the media around the world. Because Everest, or Everest, is also a newsmaker destination.