The Mount Everest avalanche that killed 13 mountain guides Friday may have an upside for the Sherpas who make their living guiding foreign trekkers up the world's tallest peak: A better safety net. Following the tragedy, the Sherpas are threatening a total boycott -- unless the government provides better insurance compensation and more emergency aid for guides.
Friday's avalanche hit a group of 50 climbers -- mostly Nepalese Sherpas -- as they were preparing camps along one route, in advance of the climbing season. It's the worst accident on Everest since 1996, when eight climbers disappeared into a storm. According to data compiled by Himalayan Database, a group that tracks mountaneering in the region, 87 Sherpas died on Everest between 1924 and 2013. Add the 13 fatalities from over the weekend and that number jumps to 100.
The graph below tracks those deaths up to 2013, when Sherpa fatalities spiked.
Of those, more than two thirds perished while preparing climbing routes for paying mountaineers.
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