Kanchha Sherpa, the last surviving member of the first successful Everest expedition, died last week at the age of 92. With his passing, that historic climb has been erased from our immediate memory.

In 1953, the courage and dedication of Sherpas like Kanchha helped Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary reach the peak. Tenzing-Hillary climbed the peak while staying at the last camp that the Sherpas, including Kanchha, had set up at an altitude of more than 8,000 meters.

That event of climbing Mount Everest was a turning point for Nepal to change its identity on the world stage. A decisive member of that expedition, Kanchha would remember those days of climbing until the last moment of his life. For 7 decades, he would sit at his house in Namche Bazaar and recount the exciting memories of that historic climb countless times to thousands of travelers who went on Everest climbing and Khumbu trekking. Climbers considered his house a holy place. It was a dream of those who went on Khumbu trekking to meet Kanchha Sherpa. Without Kanchha, Khumbu would be a desert.

Kanchha's reputation and support

In recent years, five to six hundred people, including Sherpas and climbers, have reached the summit of Everest at the same time. When I met Kanchha several times in the last two decades, he would smile in surprise upon hearing that fact. He would say, 'How do so many people climb?' Then he would wander back to the old days of his climbing, 'At that time, we made Tenzing and Hillary the last camp, but after that, we did not know where and how they would reach the top.' Such memories that sound like fairy tales are no longer heard.

Kanchha was a teenager in 1953 when he climbed Everest. Kanchha, who seemed like a melancholic character to many, kept telling stories about Tenzing until the end – ‘He warmed me by rubbing his feet…, he took great care of me…, I had a strange idea that I should climb him…, he was like a king.’ Listening to Tenzing stories from him was a unique experience.

There are probably few people in the world who became celebrities overnight like Tenzing. When he climbed the highest peak, the Sherpa tribe did not exist for the world. However, when he descended from the peak, the entire Sherpa tribe, along with Tenzing, became valuable and special for the world. After descending from Mount Everest, Kanchha chose an easy and simple life, never pursuing the ambition of climbing the peak again, sometimes becoming a guide, sometimes a porter. Heeded his wife’s request to ‘not risk his life going to the mountains’. And, with the money he earned from the mountains, he opened a lodge in Namche.

Kanchha always worshipped the mountains as a ‘true god’. When I met him in Namche last year, old age had taken its toll. As he walked north, he worried about the mountains in a soft voice, saying, “Now the gods are angry.” He would ask his sons and grandsons and hikers about the low snowfall, the high number of accidents, and the accumulation of garbage in the mountains.

Spending some time with Kanchha and listening to him was not just a return to the past. Those who listened felt that he was a mirror of the impact of climate change and understanding the mountains. Kanchha would tell me that he had learned to write his name just to sign. In recent decades, he would say that the mountains should be given a rest. In the shadow of commercialization, there was a shortage of people who understood his concerns and worked on them. But he never stopped speaking his mind.

Now history in documents

When Tenzing-Hillary’s grandchildren reached Khumbu, they would visit Kanchha and seek his blessings. Perhaps for them, Kanchha was a point of contact for the spirit of their late grandfather. Kanchha would tell them stories of Tenzing-Hillary's greatness and personal memories. Although the historic climb of 1953 was the result of a collective effort, Kanchha believed that Tenzing and Hillary were the true heirs to it due to their karma and religion. Neither Tenzing nor Hillary were in the first-choice team to reach the peak. After the previous two British climbers failed to reach the peak and returned, their turn had come under the guidance of the team leader, Colonel John Hunt. That is why Kanchha used to say that 'faith in the gods prevails more than strength in the mountains'. It is difficult to find the house where Tenzing grew up if you stop

. However, even if Kanchha is no longer there, it is necessary to keep his house as a museum. It is necessary to understand the concerns he expressed. In Khumbu, where he grew up grazing cattle, the sound of helicopters is now heard more than the melody of bells hanging from the necks of yaks. The lives of the people there have changed like a dream. However, Kanchha used to say, ‘If a person acts in a way that angers the gods, it means being selfish.’ Now, we have lost a true devotee of Everest who worries about the mountains with a pure heart.

Beyond technology, the mind of reverence

With the rapid development and expansion of science and technology, reverence and respect for Everest are decreasing. From climbers breaking rules and regulations to breaking ethics for record-breaking races, we hear news of bad deeds.

Kanchha always used to say – Climb the mountains remembering the gods. The ‘gods’ he refers to do not just live on the summit, they are present in every step of the climber. Climbing mountains is not easy. That is why it is said that climbing is a competition not with others, but with oneself. The younger one kept explaining this competition in a soft voice.