Team Marie Curie is accompanied by Sherpas for their expedition to the summit of Everest. The Sherpa – ‘eastern people’ – live in the Khumbu Valley, the national park surrounding Everest and originate from Eastern Tibet.

Sherpas are employed by Everest mountaineers as guides and double up as porters, carrying some of the supplies and heavier equipment such as the oxygen tanks.

Sherpas are invaluable – they know the local terrain like the back of their hands and are excellent mountaineers. Like the guardian angels of the mountain, they clear the routes from one Everest camp to another with agility and skill. Without their expertise, few expeditions to the summit would be successful.

A genetic resilience to high altitude and impressive physical endurance, give the Sherpas their edge. They have bigger lung capacities and lower blood pressure than the average person so they find it easier to function at extreme altitudes.

Sherpas have a religious bond with the landscape and treat the mountain, Chomolungma -‘Mother of the Universe’, with spiritual reverence. Dangerous points on the route to Everest, particularly the steep ice towers and ladders, are scattered with prayer flags and stones to protect those who pass, with the guardian angels leading the way.

by Marie Curie Cancer Care