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Kathmandu Wednesday May 02, 2001 Baishakh 19, 2058.
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Babu’s body arrives to a mournful reception
By Binaj Gurubacharya
KATHMANDU, May 1 - It was the same domestic terminal of the Tribhuwan
International Airport where Babu Chhiri Sherpa was given a hero’s welcome after his
record speed climb Everest last year. But almost a year later on Tuesday when he was flown
back from the same mountain, neither were there any celebrations nor any smiles to greet
one of the greatest mountaineers of all times.
Family members, friends, supporters and fans wept and tossed flowers,
bouquets and khadas as this Everest hero’s dead body was brought back from the
treacherous mountain slopes which took his life Sunday night.
Babu Chhiri was guiding a team of mountaineers from Kathmandu Metropolis
Corporation on Everest when he slipped and fell into a crevasse at Camp II, situated at
6,200 meters. The Ministry for Tourism, Civil Aviation and Culture said that Babu fell 200
metres in the crevasse. Teammates only noticed him missing during dinnertime three hours
later. Chhiri had left the camp alone to take photographs around 4 p.m. They followed his
footprints on the snowy slopes and found his body only around midnight.
The body was put on the back of an open truck and taken to the Sherpa
monastery at Boudhanath. People on the route stopped to get a last glimpse of the Everest
hero. When his body arrived at the Sherpa Monastery, monks played the traditional drums
and trumpets were blown amid the smell of burning incenses. His wife Ang Phuti and
daughters received condolences from government ministers, fellow mountaineers and
supporters of the famous Sherpa.
"This was a loss not just to the Nepalese people but to the entire world
community. His contributions will be remembered forever," said Tourism Minister Omkar
Shrestha.
The body covered with flowers and khadas, has been put in the monastery to
perform the last rituals according to traditions. Hundreds of people lined up to pay their
last respects to the fallen hero.
Babu Chhiri was named in the Guinness Book of Records for having climbed
Mount Everest in the fastest time, last year, he sprinted to the summit from the base camp
in just 16 hours and 56 minutes. He shattered the previous record set by Kaji Sherpa in
1998, who climbed the mountain in 20 hours and 24 minutes. Most climbers take two to four
days to cover the distance from the base camp to the summit.
On May 6, 1999, Chhiri had also became the first man to remain on the summit
without bottled oxygen for 21 hours. Most climbers typically remain at the peak just long
enough to have their photo taken.
Babu Chhiri got his first taste of mountaineering when he was 13 and worked
as a base camp porter for the experienced Sherpas who guide foreigners all the way up the
forbidding summit. In 1989, he successfully led a Russian team up Kanchenjunga, the
world’s third-highest peak. A year later, he conquered Everest and had since reached
the summit 10 times.
In 1995, he became the only man to reach the peak twice in 14 days. Family
members said the body will be kept at the monastery for two days for the public to pay
their last respect and conduct the rituals. Funeral is scheduled for Thursday.
Meanwhile, as news of his death spread, condolence messages continued to pour
in from all over the country. Major political parties, tourism organizations, business
associations and governmental and non-governmental organizations issued statements on
Monday condoling the famous mountaineer’s untimely demise.
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