The mantras dedicated to Tara, goddess of Buddhism and Hinduism, resonate every morning in the Ventosa i Calvell refuge, in the Vall de Boí. Nima Doma Sherpa gently accompanies the song that her mobile phone emits, just as she does when she is at her house, in distant Kathmandu. Belén Ortiz and Miquel Sánchez, the veteran guards of Ventosa, host Nima, one of the widows of Everest, for a few weeks. When an avalanche took her husband's life, she realized that if she wanted to raise her family, her son, Pemba Chetten, who is now 16, and her daughter, Nima Yangji, 13, she had to go out as well. the mountain to earn a living as a guide for foreign tourists.
Miquel Sánchez, a member of the first Catalan expedition that completed Everest in 1985, and Belén Ortiz have invited Nima Doma to get to know the Pyrenees, learn how a refuge works and also to make contacts with the community of mountaineers who can help. be useful. Sánchez vindicates the work of the Sherpas, considering that their role is vital for mountaineers to complete their ascents in the Himalayas. He is moved to remember the generosity of the late Narayan Shrestha, the Nepalese high-altitude porter who, exhausted after reaching the summit of Everest with the Catalans Toni Sors, Òscar Cadiach and Carles Vallès, on August 28, 1985, did not hesitate to return. to climb a few meters to help his colleagues in trouble.
At 39 years old, Nima treasures a life full of setbacks, adventures and hope. She was born in Khumjung, a small village at almost 3,800 meters above sea level in the heart of the Everest region. Since she was little, she saw mountaineers and hikers from all over the world passing by, whom she offered to carry their loads and earn a few rupees. She was also carrying 14-liter water containers on her back. Her father, now deceased, worked as a guide and in 1993 climbed Everest hired by a New Zealand company.
“I left school after eighth grade and at the age of 21 I got married for love, it was not an arranged marriage,” she says. I moved to my in-laws' home and combined the work of farming, taking care of the yaks and growing potatoes, with being a housewife,” she explains.
Everything went wrong on April 8, 2014, when a serac broke off on Everest, causing an avalanche that killed 16 Sherpas, including Tshering Wanchu, her husband. “He was in camp 2, an agency had hired him as a cook. After his death, I stayed in the village for a year to honor Tshering's memory, but then I went to Kathmandu, I wanted to offer our children a good education. It was clear to me that I was not going to stay at home, I had to go outside and see how far I could go on my own,” she details. In Nepal or India, women who become widows are marginalized and often condemned to destitution.
Nima took action. He took an ice climbing course thanks to the help of the Junniper Fund, a US foundation that supports families of Sherpas who died in the Himalayas. “Learning to climb and getting my guiding license gave me a lot of energy and in 2019 we organized a campaign to raise funds with the goal of climbing Everest,” she adds. Nima and another woman who had also lost her husband in an accident on Everest, Furdiki Sherpa, summited its 8,849 meters on May 23, 2019. This summit brought them a balsamic dose of self-esteem, they showed themselves that they were capable to achieve what they set out to do.
After Everest, Nima climbed Ama Dablam, Chulu East, Lobuche, Island Peak and Cholatse. “My family doesn't like me climbing mountains, but after my husband's death the government didn't help me in anything, neither in my children's education nor in healthcare, in anything. I plan to continue working in the mountains, at least until I am 60 years old,” she explains. When she returns to her country in the next few days she will guide a group of tourists on a trek.
“The mountains give me peace, both in Nepal and in the Pyrenees,” he whispers after quickly climbing Punta Alta, one of the three thousand mountains near Ventosa.
