Life and Death on Mt. Everest: Sherpas and Himalayan Mountaineering

by Sherry B. Ortner

The Sherpas were dead, two more victims of an attempt to scale Mt. Everest. Members of a French climbing expedition, sensitive perhaps about leaving the bodies where they could not be recovered, rolled them off a steep mountain face. One body, however, crashed to a stop near Sherpas on a separate expedition far below. They stared at the frozen corpse, stunned. They said nothing, but an American climber observing the scene interpreted their Nobody would throw the body of a white climber off Mt. Everest.


For more than a century, climbers from around the world have journ-eyed to test themselves on Everest's treacherous slopes, enlisting the expert aid of the Sherpas who live in the area. Drawing on years of field research in the Himalayas, renowned anthropologist Sherry Ortner presents a compelling account of the evolving relationship between the mountaineers and the Sherpas, a relationship of mutual dependence and cultural conflict played out in an environment of mortal risk.


Ortner explores this relationship partly through gripping accounts of expeditions--often in the climbers' own words--ranging from nineteenth-century forays by the British through the historic ascent of Hillary and Tenzing to the disasters described in Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air. She reveals the climbers, or "sahibs," to use the Sherpas' phrase, as countercultural romantics, seeking to transcend the vulgarity and materialism of modernity through the rigor and beauty of mountaineering. She shows how climbers' behavior toward the Sherpas has ranged from kindness to cruelty, from cultural sensitivity to derision. Ortner traces the political and economic factors that led the Sherpas to join expeditions and examines the impact of climbing on their traditional culture, religion, and identity. She examines Sherpas' attitude toward death, the implications of the shared masculinity of Sherpas and sahibs, and the relationship between Sherpas and the increasing number of women climbers. Ortner also tackles debates about whether the Sherpas have been "spoiled" by mountaineering and whether climbing itself has been spoiled by commercialism.

Genres: Anthropology, Nonfiction, Mountaineering, Ethnography, Adventure, Read For School, Travel

376 pages, Paperback

First published August 9, 1999

Reviews

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

The title says LIFE AND DEATH ON MT. EVEREST,
the book actually has very little about actual climbing.

It's basically an anthropology of Sherpa life, past and present.

Mostly a bore, except for chapter 8,
Many women's expeditions have gone to Nepal the last 30+ years
and many seem to think the Sherpas should provide sex along with other services.

Now Sherpas say: "For Women's expedition you not have to pay, I work for free"

It sounds like every time they hump a load up the hill they get a hump in the sack as a bonus.

One joke the Sherpas pass around:
"trekking work is very easy.
You only need one word of English: Yes
Sherpa climb high? YES
Carry load? YES
Cook dinner? YES
Client wants to fuck? YES

Not just looking for Travel adventure,
some of the clients want "adventure sex" as well.

What a world we live in.

Oh well, there are plenty of men who go to Bangkok.
Probably women too if the truth were known.

[Ambar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a 'serious' book about sherpa and their cultures, wrote by anthropology Prof Ortner. At first the study more likely what Clifford Geertz did with Javanese muslim. What make this book stand out is because telling story about mountaineering from sherpa's view and how the changes of culture and religions including their perceptive to modernism.

I read it because try to understand the misconception of Western people toward Sherpa and their attitute. The book explained so many aspects of their live, including basis of live, religions, cultures and why they are become Sherpa as a race, rather just a name.

Beautiful book, well written, very deep and fascinating facts.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of textbookish...very in depth on the Sherpa life/history. Wasn't interesting enough for me to get excited about reading at nights. I like a little plot and this had none.

[Laylah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a fascinating book worth the read if you have any interest either in mountaineering or Nepal, colonialism, etc.

[Marsha Altman · Rating 5 out of 5]

An anthropological study of Sherpa life in the Khumbu region. Serves more as a general history of the Sherpas in Nepal and mountaineering. Definitely the best book on Sherpas and climbing culture there is.

[Sally Edsall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ortner's work is rigorous, as in the best of academic work, but is delightfully readable. Apart from some necessary theorising and explanation of methodology, it is very accessible. This is the book to get into when you've had a diet of Boys (mostly) Own Adventures in the Himalayas, and are looking for something a bit chewier.

It is in fact a good companion volume for anyone with an interest in the sociology of mountaineering.

I also read at the same time Arlene Blum's 'Annapurna: a woman's place' which is an exemplar of both 70s feminism and counterculture. Ortner places the various waves of mountaineering (military style expeditions/macho competitiveness/ beginning of women's involvement / counterculture) in their historical and sociological context, whilst simultaneously placing the Sherpa at the centre of the story.

It also tells much about the interaction between mountaineering and Sherpa Buddhism - the changes to that religion and the various responses and attitudes of the Sherpa to the religion.
Never does Ortner present the Sherpas as a homogeneous mass. She gives both a good depiction of the big picture, but also incorporates enough post-modernist sensibility to recognise that the Sherpa are not an indistinguishable mass with identical reactions, motivations etc.She also examines seriously Sherpa as the agents of change (eg through strikes) and where Sherpa power vis a vis sahibs lies.

People who enjoy this would also enjoy Ed Douglas's 'Chomolungma Sings The Blues'. Douglas is a climbing journalist who, whilst not an academic like Ortner, also has a lot to say about mountaineering and a strong focus on Sherpa involement.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sherry Ortner writes a fascinating expose of Sherpa culture and identity underlying the Western conquest of Everest. While a bit dry and academic at times, and the organization vascilstes between categorical and chronological causing a bit of content whiplash, this work avoids many of the traps that often befall Western anthropological studies. Overall a fascinating and meticulously researched read on a side of the Everest story that one doesn't get in many of the more classical adventure texts.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my new favorite ethnography, one of the few I've read that I didn't want to put down. Ortner explores the relationship between Sherpas and foreign climbers from the beginning of the 20th century up until the present. If you haven't read an ethnography before, this would be a good place to start. It is extremely interesting while still challenging in someways (I love anthropological theory, others may not).

[Michal Thoma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is different book about the Everest climbing. If you're looking for the heroic stories and adventurous climbs and similar crap, don't even start reading, you'll be very annoyed. If you are interested in how the mountaineering shaped the culture of Sherpas and kind of sociology of mountaineering, go ahead, you'll not find better.

[Kristi]

Too dense....I didn't even make it to the second chapter - I kept falling asleep. It's a great sociological text about the sherpa/sahib relationships of the past and present though. If you're interested...

[Tinae Goodell, Lowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this history of MT. Everest talking about the people themselves. It was really a good book, worth reading if you like learning about climbing.

[Stanley Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy to understand summary of sherpas in the Himalayas, although not exactly entertaining to read.

[Clara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite frankly the best book on mountaineering & sherpas there is. Here Ortner provides an illuminating study on the relationship between Sherpas and foreign climbers, culture and livelihood, religion and sport. With scathing accuracy, Ortner identifies the colonialism (often ignored in classic adventure texts) that underpins climbing.

If you have even an inkling of interest in mountaineering, read this!! @all the negative reviews, yes, it's an ethnological study different from books like Into Thin Air and Buried in the Sky, but forgo your Western exceptionalism and learn about the true heroes of high climbs.

[Leila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow