LAST weekend, hundreds of trekkers found themselves stranded on the Tibetan side of Mount Everest when an unexpected storm hit the area. Reports say that heavy snowfall hampered rescue efforts. It took a few days before the hikers, many of them suffering from hypothermia, could be rescued.

Such rescues are costly and we must ask if they are worth it. All human lives are of course valuable but the sport of mountain climbing and particularly the climbing of Everest is deeply intertwined with ideas of racial superiority and colonisation. Should mountain climbers be protected from the consequences of their own recklessness? We have seen mostly Westerners indulging in the sport — although others, including Asians, have joined their ranks. They understand fully the perils involved, but still choose to scale a height of 8,848 metres in a landscape known for its sudden weather changes. Even more pressing is the question of whether people who perpetuate a dangerous economy, in which porters, who carry their loads, often die, should be lauded and rewarded for their actions.

For thousands of years, mountains such as those in the Himalayan range were revered but never actually summited. The reason was simple. People, especially the local residents, knew that the trek would be a treacherous one. At the time, the lust for planting a flag to mark the ‘conquest’ was unheard of. Then the white people saw the mountains. It is worth noting that the first encounter of the British with the Himalayas was through their efforts in cartography and measurement. As Bernard S. Cohn has pointed out in his book Colonialism and its Forms of Knowledge, these efforts were inspired by the need to displace existing forms of knowledge in the subcontinent with Enlightenment-era ideas. The effort to measure and mark the mountains, Everest included, can be seen as one of the first steps in claiming, knowing, and ultimately owning the land. At that time, no British man had climbed the mountain and to accomplish this task they looked around and found a brown man willing to do the white man’s dirty work. There were sadly a lot of these sorts around.

Everest ascents reflect a colonial heritage.

Mathematician Radhanath Sikdar was recruited to undertake the task of measuring the mountain and presented an accurate figure. He reportedly told the surveyor general, “Sir, I have discovered the highest mountain in the world.” Sikdar’s discovery was acknowledged, but he was practically written out of the historical record. The consequence is that the tallest mountain in the world continues to be a reminder of racist colonialist practices.

Everest is named after George Everest who had been surveyor general before Sikdar reported his discovery. But it is doubtful that he himself ever saw Mount Everest. The colonial narrative that the Himalayas had no name prior to the advent of the ‘enlightened’ white people is not correct. The tribes living around Everest — the Sherpas, being the best known among them — indeed had a name for the mountain. They called it ‘Qomolangma’ or ‘goddess mother of the world’.

There have been many reports pointing out the appalling conditions that Sherpas face. They are the ones who fix the lines for rich climbers and carry their loads, a dangerous job for which they get little credit. Climbers pay adventure tour companies tens of thousands of dollars for one expedition while a Sherpa guide makes an average of $5,000. Every climber, therefore, deserves to be censured for being part of an exploitative economy, which takes advantage of the people who perform the hardest and most dangerous work.

The act of wanting to summit a mountain, pla­nting a flag and claiming the land is related to the wish to conquer. This constant ‘conquest’ of the world’s natural wonders is destroying habitats and ecosystems everywhere. The Everest endeavour feeds into the Western concept of self-actualisation and the notion that physical tribulation justifies conquest. Briefly, it is a nonsensical take on a sport which, in fact, endangers the lives of the poor, while giving the rich an adrenaline rush and a label to boast about to their peers. It is devoid of all ethics and morality.

In our world of influencers, extreme climbing is currency. Everest climbers are trailed by camera crews so that their greatness can be recorded and streamed to eager followers. The porters and guides are left out of the picture. Climbing Mount Everest is a holdover from a colonialist world in which brown lives were considered trash and worthy of being lost in the quest of ‘conquest’. The highest mountain in the world should be called Qomolangma, and not Everest, named after a man who probably never laid his eyes on it.

The writer is an attorney teaching constitutional law and political philosophy.
rafia.zakaria@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, October 11th, 2025