The Nepali people define mountains differently from most of the world, according to trekking guide Tila Roka. What many would consider a mountain, towering thousands of meters high, only graduates from “hill” to “peak” if it is above 7,000 meters (22,966 feet).
The word “mountain” is saved only for those above 7,000 meters, and this whole system is complicated by snow. Nothing can be considered a mountain unless there is snow on it. By these definitions, as Roka explains, when snowlines move each year due to a warming Earth, the definitions of what is and isn't a mountain in Nepal change as well.
But climate change in Nepal isn’t only defined by its consequences on the mountains. The storms at the highest peaks manifest as floods in the rivers miles below, and droughts force climate refugees out of the cold desert of Upper Mustang. Those living in the capital of Kathmandu suffer the effects of the warming climate in the form of floods, while mountaineers at the highest points of the world see changes to their climbing gear and tools.
Those whose livelihoods, homes, and professions are so intertwined with the state of the environment are often the voiceless in climate advocacy, despite understanding the nuances of a changing climate.
Lucky Chhetri, trekking guide and co-founder of 3 Sisters Adventure Trekking company, explained that her profession exists because of the mountains. “So we need to respect it,” Chhetri said.
From the all-female training camp for trekking guides in Pokhara to the peaks that these aspiring guides hope to ascend—the faces of those living at the highest points of the world speak volumes about their stories.
A young boy watches the streets of Kathmandu from a window three stories above. Two weeks later, the streets below succumbed to flooding during a late September storm. Image by Lauren Fox. Nepal, 2024. Mira Lamichhane (left) and Jaya Laxmi Kumai (right) plant trees by the river in Lwang Village as part of their community service component in the monthlong Empowering Women of Nepal (EWN) female trekking guide training. They hope that these trees will help soak up floodwater from the nearby river during the next storm. Image by Lauren Fox. Nepal, 2024. Anisha Baram, a trainee of the Empowering Women of Nepal training camp, practices her final course presentation. Baram will be presenting on environmental aspects of the trekking industry. Image by Lauren Fox. Nepal, 2024.
Empowering women
“It took time to convince people here that women could guide in the mountains,” Empowering Women of Nepal (EWN) co-founder Lucky Chhetri said of challenges in the effort to start the EWN training camp in 1999.
Chhetri explained that there was also a need among female travelers, not just locals, for female guides in the industry. “Women traveling alone then was totally different. Some women were trekking in the Himalayan region with male guides, and something would go wrong—they were frightened, ” Chhetri said.
A local man in Lwang Village listens to the members of the EWN training camp. Image by Lauren Fox. Nepal, 2024. Sushmita Gurung (from left), Amita Rana, Usha Pariyar, and Supriya Gurung, four members of the EWN fall training camp, are shown on the final night of the course. Neither knew each other before the training started a month ago, but now they say they are close friends. Image by Lauren Fox. Nepal, 2024. Members of the EWN training program work on their final presentations during the last night of their training. Machhapuchhre, or “fishtail”—a peak in the Annapurna region—can be seen in the background. The trainees hope to be selected as assistant guides for EWN’s partnership company, 3 Sisters Adventure Trekking. Image by Lauren Fox. Nepal, 2024. Lucky Chhetri (left) and Dicky Chhetri (right) sit in their home in Pokhara. Dicky, Lucky, and Nicky are three Nepali sisters who opened 3 Sisters Adventure Trekking in 1996. They each run a different component of the organization: Dicky runs the Empowering Women of Nepal nonprofit, Lucky runs the 3 Sisters Guesthouse in Pokhara, and Nicky runs the trekking company. Image by Lauren Fox. Nepal, 2024.
Part of the program's initial goal was to empower grieving widows of mountaineers to become active participants in the industry. Currently, the program attracts more women from urban or suburban areas of Nepal— no longer only bringing rural Nepali women into the industry. However, they still lead by the founding principle to bring Nepali women into the male-dominated trekking industry and promote gender equality in the tourism sector.
“Nobody thought I could be productive in our society,” Dicky Chhetri said, regarding her desire to train to become a guide at a time when training programs were only for men.
Trekkers eat dinner at the Manang Guest House and Restaurant in Tal on the first night of their two-week trek. Peaks in the Annapurna region are reflected in the window. Image by Lauren Fox. Nepal, 2024. The 4 Seasons Guesthouse in Chame has been in Chhiring Buti Lama’s family for generations. She said guesthouse generational work has recently shifted. Young people have more of a choice of what they want as a profession. Chame, sitting next to the Marsyangdi River, risks flood damage each year. Many youth leave the mountains because of instability in the land. Image by Lauren Fox. Nepal, 2024. Paltie Gurung builds a makeshift backpack cover in her home in Gharu to help trekkers keep their bags dry in the September 2024 storm. She has warned trekkers of the rockfall danger. Image by Lauren Fox. Nepal, 2024. A resident of Ngawal hurries outside to cover plants during the late September storm. Crops that are not yet ready to be harvested risked being ruined by the snow. Image by Lauren Fox. Nepal, 2024. Santi (right) and Amar (left) Gurung sit in their guesthouse kitchen in Ngawal during a storm. The electricity has turned off, and they sit by their stove for heat. They said they worried about a mountaineering group that left their guesthouse, Hotel Peaceful, that morning and headed to Chulu West Peak summit as the storm was hitting. Image by Lauren Fox. Nepal, 2024. In the days following the storm, the skies clear up along the Annapurna Circuit Trail. Image by Lauren Fox. Nepal, 2024. Dokpa Gurung explains that his guesthouse is the only one at the Thorong La Pass High Camp. At this point near the end of the Annapurna Circuit Trail, trekkers might have to wait days at the high camp during bad weather. Image by Lauren Fox. Nepal, 2024. Low clouds hang over the Thorong high camp camp. Image by Lauren Fox. Nepal, 2024. Trekking guide Tila Roka clears off her glasses in the early morning accent of Thorong La Pass. Roka has been guiding for 13 years. Image by Lauren Fox. Nepal, 2024. A monk blesses trekkers in Muktinath, the first town after Thorong La Pass and a holy site in Nepal. This is one of the few holy sites where both Buddhists and Hindus practice synonymously. Hindus believe that gods are in the mountains. Image by Lauren Fox. Nepal, 2024.
