He climbed Mount Everest five times, for a living

SSArshad Ali, IE, Kolkata, Fri Jun 07 2013: In the last six years, Phurba Sherpa has scaled the Mount Everest five times. The 30-year-old's expeditions to the highest mountain peak in the world is not for his love for mountaineering. "Yeh mera rozgaar hai (this is my livelihood)," says Phurba, who works as a guide-cum-porter for members of various expedition teams.

Born and raised in the hills of Darjeeling, Phurba belongs to the Sherpa community, famous world over for their trekking abilities.

At one point in his life, Phurba, like many others, was fascinated with mountaineering. But soon, he says, he "realised the drawbacks of such a risky career".

"As a child I used to wonder if I would ever be able to scale such heights. Now I am doing it but out of compulsion," says the class VII passout who has found no option to make a living become a guide and help climbers scale the Himalayas.

"It's only me who knows what I have to go through during an expedition. Every time I set off for the Mount Everest, I know I may not return alive. I have seen friends and cousins die right in front of my eyes. But to feed my family, this is the only thing I can do," adds Phurba, who has two daughters, aged 11 and 9.

Phurba, who like other guides belonging to the sherpa community, carries heavy instruments and essentials of the climbers with them as they scale the mountains, is paid anything between Rs 1.5 and 2 lakh for expedition to Mount Everest, which is a two-month affair. For smaller expedition, he says, they are paid around Rs 20,000.

"Those who get injured in accidents or die, their families get insurance money. There are associations like Mountaineering And Trekking Association and another named after Tenzing Norgay of which sherpas like me are part. If any of the association members die while on the job, their families are usually taken care of by the association. But many are not members of such associations and their families find themselves in dire situation in case a tragedy strikes," he adds.

After a certain age when they are not fit to climb the mountains, many sherpas eke out a living by becoming a tourist guide, or they live on their savings.

Phurba wants his daughters to study and get into a "better profession". "My daughters don't like mountaineering and I am happy about it. I would want them to study well and get into a better profession," he says.