In Memorium: Jumik Bhote

He was a good man, a simple mountain man, born in a village high in the Himalaya near the Tibetan border of Nepal. All people from that village have the surname Bhote, which means people of the mountains. There is no way to know exactly how old he was because those kind of records are not kept in the remote areas of Nepal and are not all that accurate even in the Kathmandu urban area. We think he was about 25. His name was Jumik Bhote.

The first time I saw Jumik was the first time we traveled to Kathmandu. His brother, Pemba, our Sherpa, picked us up at the airport in the family bus. Jumik was proudly standing beside it and confidently chauffeured us to our guest house. This bus, worn and aged that it was, represented the livelihood for Pemba and Jumik’s family as they drove it on the ring road taking paying passengers around Kathmandu. Somehow the bus generated income, extremely small, that kept a roof over the Bhote family and permitted them to eat two meals a day of dahl bat, rice and lentils, the traditional Nepali meal. Pemba picked up any extra money he could by serving as a tourist and trekking guide.

In our first visit, we went on to know and love Pemba and Jumik’s family: their mother, other two brothers, and six sisters. We shared a bond that could transcend the distance between Nepal and America. Jumik, in addition to driving the bus with his younger brother Tshering, was in school at that time but was not the world’s best student. He failed his school leaving exams and could not go on to college so he began to think about finding work as the bus finally began falling apart.  He was hoping for better opportunities.

The overwhelming majority of the Nepalese people live in abject poverty. The one place that money can be earned is in the mountains. Life is terribly hard in Nepal and climbing Sherpas risk their lives to make money. They do not climb for sport. Jumik became a climbing Sherpa. A western friend convinced him to take the technical climbing course and paid the tuition for him. He was hired as a Sherpa for a Korean climbing team. They summited Shishapangma, and on that expedition the team members recognized Jumik’s abilities, honesty, organizational skills, and winning personality, and made him their lead organizer. He led them to summit Mount Everest and he also summited Everest with another expedition. The next expedition he led for the Korean team summitted Lhotse. Meanwhile the Koreans decided they wanted to summit all 8,000 plus meter peaks they had not yet conquered and hired Jumik to lead the expeditions. This was a testament to his competence in the mountains and good news for the family, financially speaking. He was responsible for buying tents and all equipment, hiring porters and arranging for yak trains to get supplies to base camps, planning the climbs, affixing all ropes, etc., etc., etc. He was on a testosterone high. He was boylio (strong).

For the first time, with Pemba and Tshering working with Jumik in this climbing business, Pemba, organizing rather than climbing, and Tshering as a climbing porter, the Bhote family had hopes of ending their money worries. Their mother was more relaxed than she ever had been because survival at last seemed assured. Pemba, the eldest son, was also getting some well-deserved relief from the constant pressure of supporting the family by himself, both financially and emotionally. Jumik was now helping. Jumik bought himself a black Yamaha motorbike and was a real thulo manche (big man). He was young and invincible. We were all so happy because the family finally had earning power in the mountains– if they were careful and lucky.

On July 29, 2008, Jumik became the father of a son named Jen Jen. This birth occurred in Kathmandu while Jumik was on the most deadly mountain in the world, K2, in Pakistan, leading the Korean expedition. They summited on Friday, August 1.  On the way down the mountain, luck ran out. While on the part of the mountain called the Bottleneck, an ice serac broke off above them, and three Koreans and two Nepalese died. Jumik was one of those killed by the ice serac. Another Sherpa from Jumik’s village, but not part of the family, Pasang Bhote, died attempting to rescue Jumik. It was a deadly day on the world’s deadliest mountain. In all,  eleven people died that day because of the serac avalanche.

It would be comforting to me if I could say that Jumik died in a place he wanted to be, doing what he loved, but truthfully, he was doing what he could to provide for his family. He was not climbing for the love of climbing. He was doing honorable work for honorable reasons, and I honor his memory. I am saddened for his family, friends and village in Nepal. As he is a Buddhist, I pray for a safe and speedy journey to his next life. And in all the publicity about the eleven deaths on K2 on August 1, 2008, not once were the Sherpas who died acknowledged by name. Only the western climbers receive that respect from our part of the world. It makes me wonder about our ethics when lost western lives are recognized by name and Sherpas are simply called Sherpa.

Judy C. Aull

United States of America

August 13, 2008

Editor’s Note: Jumik Bhote was tragically killed in the recent K2 accident.  I was approached by Mrs. Judy A. Aull about posting a tribute to Jumik Bhote–throughout our emails we both agreed that many of the Sherpa people are often forgotten in these situations.

I have written extensively about the Sherpa people and how they are percieved a bit differently in the world of climbing.  This is a travesty that many people agree with, yet not much is ever done to try to correct the situation.  The Sherpa’s that lead our climbers to the top deserve 90% of the credit for a successful expedition.  They are also instrumental in search and rescue efforts to save those in trouble.  Sir Edmund Hillary, who many remember as being the first person to conquer Mt. Everest realized the Sherpa people’s plight.  He stopped before the Everest summit and allowed Tenzing Norgay to step foot on the top at the exact same time as he.  Hillary knew who the real summiter was.  It is with that same respect that I ask you to remember those who may not have been mentioned, but do deserve the dignity to be noted for the people they are.  Jumik Bhote has a family.  He worked to support his family.  He didn’t climb for fun or celebrity status, he done so out of need.  These are the guys we should be lighting the candles for.  For those before and those after (and there will be) stop and give them a moment of respect and remember that without them, we would simply be spectators at base camp.  These are our true champions.  May he rest forever on the mountain and be at peace-     Jason A. Hendricks, Editor, The Adventurist

Pictured (from left to right): Jumik Bhote, his girlfriend and loving companion Dawasangmu, Thuk Mu, Pemba’s girlfriend, and Pemba Bhote, Jumik’s loving brother.