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Sonam Sherpa. stood up and played his riffs long before rock music became a fad in India. Now, at a time when more youth anthems are hip-hop or EDM, Sherpa has passed away at a young age of 48— not leaving behind a single album. The lead guitarist of one India’s oldest rock bands, Parikrama, reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest in Kurseong while recording music for an upcoming movie. There are a handful of rock bands in India that can proudly claim that they have been around for 30 years. Parikrama is one of them and Sherpa, along with mates Nitin Malik and Subir Malik, have hung around right from the start⁠— at the dawn of economic liberalisation in India⁠ where not just foreign goods but even culture flowed in freely— and they never really stopped until today. And, all their music is available to be <a href="http://parikrama.com/home.html" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">downloaded freely on their website</a>. The band opened for rock icons Iron Maiden in India, Parikrama's 1996 single ‘But it rained’ featured in <a href="https://rollingstoneindia.com/rs-polls-top-twenty-five-indian-songs/" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Rolling Stones’ top 25 Indian rock songs</a> of the decade, and they have played thousands of concerts across India. Watch video: Parikrama's biggest hit, 'But It Rained', a song inspired by the kidnappings in Kashmir. 
 <div type="Youtube" id="5kQ-fEilgSc" title="But It Rained Official Video Song | Parikrama | ArtistAloud" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5kQ-fEilgSc/mqdefault.jpg"></div>



 “I just didn't realise there were metal/rock bands of this quality in India. I was so impressed by their (Parikrama’s) playing and attitude and professionalism and all of the Iron Maiden band and crew watched and listened to their entire set backstage,” <a href="https://ironmaiden.com/news/article/maiden-help-india-band-parikrama-on-their-first-ever-uk-visit-for-an-indian-act" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Rod Smallwood, the manager of Iron Maiden said</a>. At one point, a Parikrama gig was almost inevitable in any college fest in India. Hundreds, sometimes thousands, of students thronged to watch them rock it! Watch video: Parikrama performing a 'hate ballad', Vaporize, at <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03xgdpq" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">BBC's Download Festival in Donington Park in Leicestershire, UK</a>.
 <div type="Youtube" id="-do_QHowMCY" title="Parikrama Vapourize@ Download Fest Donington Park" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-do_QHowMCY/mqdefault.jpg"></div>



 Sherpa was the most famous among a generation of top-notch artists, who flooded India’s rock music scene in the 1990s and 2000s, from the east and north-eastern part of India. Born in Kalimpong, Sherpa went on to set up a school for aspiring musicians in New Delhi’s Hauz Khaz. Sherpa, or Parikrama for that matter, never became icons in the fullest sense but for the time they remained active, they put out some memorable music and thousands of concerts across the country. The band even composed music for independent movies like Manjunath (2014). Watch video: 'The Rock Song' from an independent production, Manjunath. It's a movie based on a true story of an IIM (Lucknow) graduate who joined a government company and lost his life fighting corruption. 
 <div type="Youtube" id="u8OW_5qRvlQ" title="The Rock Song - Manjunath - Full Audio - K.K - 2014" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/u8OW_5qRvlQ/mqdefault.jpg"></div>



 Sherpa was, arguably, one of the most understated stars⁠— in a genre that celebrates outrage— who played the lead guitar for Parikrama, a rock band that was formed in 1991 and peaked in India in the mid-2000s. Iron Maiden even invited the band to perform in the UK. For a band that had painstakingly created a market for a relatively new genre of music in the country, Parikrama never cashed in on the fan following they had built one good at a time. “They are yet to release a full-length album, because they prefer giving out their music for free. They have had millions of downloads from their site and other related pages. They did release a free multimedia CD of their singles and videos in 2001. The band does not have any policies against their music being copied and distributed. They have made their music available for download on their official website,” the band’s Wikipedia page explained. The early 1990s was a watershed moment for rock and metal music in India, as the Rolling Stones described it, for rock enthusiasts in India. Alongside Parikrama, there were colleagues from Indian Ocean, Pentagram and Indus Creed showing the way to thousands of India’s homegrown rockers who followed them. And one of the pioneers, Sherpa, has breathed his last today. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/everybody-needs-a-haircut-says-celebrity-stylist-jawed-habib-who-does-not-fear-the-effect-of-a-slowdown/articleshow/74132791.cms?upcache=2" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Star hairstylist Jawed Habib reveals why the slowdown doesn't hurt his $30 million biz</a>

One of the pioneers of Indian rock scene passes away at 48 without a full-length album

Rescue operations continued on Friday in <keyword id="3937503" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="chintels-paradiso" source="Orion">Chintels Paradiso</keyword>, a residential society in <keyword id="11900977" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="gurugram" source="Orion">Gurugram</keyword>'s Sector 103 where a portion of a building has collapsed, to safely evacuate a couple who are still trapped in the building. The couple, identified as a retired bureaucrat Arun Srivastava and his wife, have been stuck on the first floor of the building and rescue teams were trying to get them out, officials said. The roof collapsed on Thursday evening during a repair work on the sixth floor of Tower-4 of D-block. According to a senior police official, two persons were declared dead. Rajesh Bhardwaj, whose wife <keyword id="322108" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ekta-bhardwaj" source="Orion">Ekta Bhardwaj</keyword> (31) died in the incident, filed an <keyword id="6358015" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="fir" source="Orion">FIR</keyword> against Ashok Solaman, Managing Director of Chintels, the developer and the contractor of the construction, at the Bajghera police station under the relevant sections of the IPC. Bhardwaj in his complaint alleged that due to the incident his wife got fatal injuries and passed away at around 7 p.m. in a hospital. The victim was inside her flat when the incident took place. "In connection with the incident, an FIR has been registered and further probe is underway," Deepak Saharan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (west) said. On Friday, Deputy Commissioner, Gurugram, <keyword id="9005024" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="nishant-kumar-yadav" source="Orion">Nishant Kumar Yadav</keyword>, said that an Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), Vishram Kumar Meena will investigate the incident. Yadav, while interacting with the reporters late on Thursday evening, said that "the ADC will also include the officers of the concerned departments and representatives of the society in the investigation". The officials said, only the first, second and fourth floors were occupied, the rest of the floors were empty. Meanwhile, some residents have alleged that they had raised several issues, including the structural integrity of the building in the past and lodged multiple complaints too but nothing had happened. <keyword id="3159024" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sonam-arora" source="Orion">Sonam Arora</keyword>, a resident, tweeted: "A portion of a balcony in a tower had fallen in July last year, and we had lodged complaints with the concerned authorities, but no action was taken". The Chintels Paradiso condominium has nine towers, comprising 530 apartments and 420 families are living in it. Chintels Paradiso project was launched in 2011 and the possession to property owners was given in 2018. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/elon-musk-shares-update-on-starship-rocket-that-will-take-humans-to-the-moon-and-mars/articleshow/89494564.cms">Musk shares update on Starship rocket that will one day help Earthlings colonise Mars</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/drop-in-food-delivery-charge-pleases-zomatos-customers-but-not-investors/articleshow/89494347.cms">Zomato’s customers are happy, but investors are not</a>

Gurugram building collapse: Rescue operation on to save trapped couple

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Adrian Ballinger is a high-altitude-mountain guide who has led climbers to the top of Mount Everest.</li><li>In May, he became the first person to ski from the top of Makalu, the world's fifth-highest peak.</li></ul>In May, after 10 years of planning, as well as trying and failing twice, the American <a href="https://www.adrianballinger.com/about">high-altitude-mountain guide</a> Adrian Ballinger found himself at the summit of one of the world's tallest mountains.Almost 28,000 feet, Makalu is just 12 miles away from Mount Everest — a mountain Ballinger has climbed several times, along with K2, the world's second-tallest mountain. He is <a href="https://www.adrianballinger.com/about">the fourth American</a> to summit both mountains without using supplemental oxygen.But at Makalu, Ballinger wasn't there only to climb — he was making his third attempt to be the first person to ski down from the summit of the world's fifth-tallest mountain.The first time he tried to ski down Makalu in 2012, he couldn't because it was too dangerous. Three years later, Ballinger returned but had to turn around just below 26,000 feet on the mountain because of a risk of avalanches.Finally, in May, he made it to the top along with his two Sherpa guides, Dorji Sonam Sherpa and Pasang Sherpa.He spent less than 10 minutes at the summit. He'd made it to the top — but he couldn't celebrate just yet.Ballinger talked to Insider about his nine-hour ski down, which made him the first person on record to descend Makalu's summit on skis.<h2>Ballinger spent a year preparing to ski Makalu</h2>"Once I decided I wanted to try, I spent a year at home of focus, dedicated training, working towards being ready to try to ski Makalu," Ballinger said.That meant cardiovascular training to prepare his body to climb and ski at extreme altitudes, as well as six months of skiing at Lake Tahoe, where he lives, and in Europe.In addition to training — and his two decades of experience — Ballinger had to raise money from sponsors to be able to afford the trip. Ballinger flew to Nepal with a team from his <a href="https://alpenglowexpeditions.com/">expedition-guiding company, Alpenglow Expeditions</a>, which included mountain guides from the US and professional athletes who were doing projects on the mountain. On the mountain, Alpenglow Expeditions works with local Nepali Sherpas. The team spent a few days in Kathmandu, Nepal's capital, organizing equipment, food, and permits, before taking helicopters to base camp, which sits at about 15,000 feet.<h2>It took a month for the team to acclimate to the higher altitude</h2>At base camp, Ballinger and the team began the process of acclimating to the higher altitudes and preparing for the climb.The group hired local porters from the village below the mountain to help them carry their equipment up to Advanced Base Camp, at 19,000 feet. For the next month, Ballinger and his Sherpa partners would go back and forth between that camp and three others they would set up toward the summit.<div type="image" title="Ballinger sits with his Sherpa teammates in Makalu Advanced Base Camp discussing final plans for the summit attempt over cups of hot coffee and tea. From left to right is Dorji Sonam Sherpa, Adrian's Sherpa Sirdar (lead sherpa) and long-time climbing partner and friend. To Ballinger's right is Phu Rita Sherpa and Ngima Tenzing Sherpa." height="1667" width="2500" msid="96464948" hostid="261" sizebytes="198348"></div>On days moving from one base to another, Ballinger said his backpack could weigh between 40 and 45 pounds, with tents, food, technical equipment like rope and ice axes, and his ski equipment.<div type="image" title="adrian ballinger wearing his skis on his back as he puts rope along the summit ridge of Makalu" height="9504" width="6336" msid="96464949" hostid="261" sizebytes="1854636"></div>"By going through this process, our bodies build more red blood cells, which are essentially like the trucks that carry oxygen right to our brain and organs and muscles," Ballinger said.Along with his Sherpa teammates, Ballinger fixed rope along the summit ridge as they went from camp to camp so they could eventually find their way back down. "Up at these really extreme altitudes, I was doing 1,000 feet in three hours," Ballinger said, adding that he was using supplemental oxygen.Makalu is known for being a more technical mountain to climb than Mount Everest and other mountains, Ballinger said. At some parts, Ballinger and his Sherpa teammates were climbing up open snow slopes that looked like black-diamond ski runs. Other times, they were crossing crevasses in active glaciers. "We're having to wander through these crevices and make sure we don't fall into them, essentially falling into the earth," Ballinger said.<div type="image" title="Adrian Ballinger climbing up Makalu" height="1667" width="2500" msid="96464950" hostid="261" sizebytes="198822"></div><h2>They made the first summit of Makalu in 3 years</h2>The final push to the summit took 10 hours. Ballinger and his Sherpa teammates left Camp 3 at 10 p.m. to start their climb to the top of the mountain. "On these big mountains, you usually climb through the night because you want the most hours of daylight possible to get back down alive," Ballinger said. "Our goal is to summit as close to sunrise as possible, then get back down off the mountain before it gets dark again."As the sun rose around 5 a.m., Ballinger started to get worried, realizing he had a long way to go."We'd already been climbing for a long time, and I was trying to conserve energy for skiing," he said.The last few hundred feet of the route took about two hours as the team had to pass through a "knife-edge" part of the summit ridge. "On one side, it dropped down 3,000 feet, and the other side dropped 5,000 feet down into Tibet," Ballinger said. "We were just dancing along the top of that ridge."When they made it to the top, Ballinger and the Sherpa team were the first people to summit Makalu in three years."It was a very magical moment," he said. "Dorji Sonam Sherpa, who feels like my brother in Nepal, we've been climbing together for 20 years. He was the one who finally did the last rope for the summit and got on top first. Then I climbed up behind him, and it was really special."<h2>'A lot of my time on that summit day came down to not wanting to end up dead'</h2>Soon after, it was time to start the trip down."A lot of people think the summit is this place where you celebrate and have this amazing time," Ballinger said. "We were kind of scared and in a big storm and spent all of two minutes on top."Because the final summit ridge was so thin, Ballinger said if he had put his skis on at the true summit, he would've had to wait for a different group of climbers behind him to get to the top before he would have room to ski."I was getting too cold staying on top and decided that I couldn't wait. I went down about 15 meters and out of the way of those other climbers who were using the rope," he said, adding: "I guess that means the last 40 feet of the mountain still remain to be skied."The ski down wasn't as smooth as skiing at a resort, he said. There were rocky parts he had to avoid, and at times, he had to slide when the terrain was too steep.At a few places on the mountain, like a 200-foot rock cliff called the French Couloir, Ballinger had to take his skis off to reduce risk, and ended up rappelling down the cliff.<div type="image" title="Ballinger entering a steep section of skiing below camp 3, around 24,000'." height="6336" width="9504" msid="96464951" hostid="261" sizebytes="1344892"></div>Through really icy sections, Ballinger would clip a lanyard to the fixed rope his team had put up during their ascent and ski down slowly to avoid falling.On the lower part of the mountain, below Camp 2, he could finally start enjoying skiing.When he wasn't worried about falling, slipping on rock, or an avalanche, Ballinger listened to music to relax. At the same time, Ballinger thought of his then-pregnant wife, Emily Harrington, also a professional rock climber, who found out she was pregnant right before he left to climb Makalu. "In my 25-year career as a climber and skier, this was one of the most risky," Ballinger said. "A lot of my time on that summit day came down to not wanting to end up dead."From where he started on the summit back to where he stopped, Ballinger said he skied 9,500 vertical feet over nine hours. At the bottom, he still had a 40-minute walk through rocky terrain to get back to Advanced Base Camp. He walked with his two Sherpa partners, his videographer Griffin Mims, and the Nepali cooks who had come to meet him at the edge of the snow."We all walked back together, and I can see the lights of Advanced Base Camp shining in front of me, and that's when I got to celebrate and feel joy and feel safe again with my whole team" Ballinger said. "It's the most magical feeling I can imagine, being safe after doing something like that. It was really fantastic."

What it's like to climb up and ski down Makalu, the world's 5th-highest mountain

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Video taken by divers showed a false killer whale twirling right in front of them in Costa Rica.</li><li>Research biologist Robin Baird said the species has been documented passing fish to humans.</li></ul>A extraordinary video captured the moment a false killer <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gray-whales-or-devil-fish-friendly-to-humans-baffling-scientists-2023-7">whale</a> appeared to dance and twirl in front of a group of scuba divers near Costa Rica, but it wasn't the first time the species got friendly with humans.False killer whales, so-named because their skulls are like a smaller version of an <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/killer-whales-may-be-imitating-orca-striking-sinking-boats-researchers-2023-5">orca's</a>, are members of the dolphin family and are found in all of Earth's oceans, primarily in tropical regions. They're typically dark grey or black and are highly social creatures.The company Rich Coast Diving, which posted the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/richcoastdiving/posts/pfbid0HUAStVGmm6tP9mciiPvKmVr4ahAWpUvbeXW9uhBtxK77dPtzoXvak8mSwLR3RrDGl?comment_id=1452001765532671">video</a> last month, said in a Facebook post that as soon as its divers jumped in the water they could hear squeaking sounds that started getting louder and louder. Initially, they thought the sounds were coming from dolphins, but they began to become more intense and included clicking sounds they were less familiar with."Suddenly two massive shadows came right at us and one just stopped right in front of the group," the company wrote, adding that the next thing they knew, a 13 to 16 foot false killer whale "started shaking and dancing and twirling and twerking and blowing bubbles!! Right in front of us! It was so close and just stayed there giving us the show of a lifetime!"The company said the divers were in shock and just trying to understand what was happening. After about two minutes, the two false killer <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/video-humpback-whales-disrupt-orca-hunt-seal-hiding-antarctica-2023-9?inline-endstory-related-recommendations=">whales</a> swam off. The boat captain later told the divers a whole pod had passed by, which may have explained how loud and intense the vocalizations were.The company added that the species is known to be social and playful and they "can only guess" what the whale was trying to communicate to them. One person from the company said in a comment under the video that in their 18 years of diving this was the first time they'd ever experienced something like this.But it was not the first time that false killer whales have been documented appearing to socialize with humans.<div type="image" title="A false killer whale breeches in San Diego, California during the February whale season." height="1360" width="2205" msid="104355117" hostid="261"></div>Robin Baird, a research biologist and the Hawaii program director for <a target="_blank" href="https://cascadiaresearch.org/">Cascadia Research Collective</a>, told Insider that it's hard to say for sure what the false killer whale in the video was doing.But Baird, who studies the species near Hawaii, said false killer whales interact with people quite regularly, and are known to approach swimmers. However, the whales also interact with humans in way that appears distinct from how other whale and dolphin species do: by bringing people fish.Baird described some of those encounters in his 2016 book, <a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=13989a17c65725fb58c42efd0e69dc97603ff954829e9fab2755bf89b73ea27e&amp;postID=65270b02cf767c5e2ea2df3e&amp;postSlug=video-false-killer-whale-twirls-divers-species-bring-humans-fish-2023-10&amp;site=bi&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FLives-Hawaiis-Dolphins-Whales-Conservation%2Fdp%2F0824859987">"The Lives of Hawai'i's Dolphins and Whales: Natural History and Conservation."</a>One case took place near Kona in 1984, when researcher Dan McSweeney jumped into the water while following a group of false killer whales. Two whales were vocalizing nearby, when suddenly McSweeney saw a third whale swimming right toward him with most of an ahi, or yellowfin tuna, weighing approximately 100 pounds, in its mouth."The whale stopped a couple of meters away and opened its mouth, letting the fish go, and the momentum carried the fish towards Dan," Baird wrote. "The whale was obviously offering the fish to him, and Dan reached out and took it."The false killer whale proceeded to blow bubbles before moving away from McSweeney and then circling back, stopping beside him. McSweeney then pushed the ahi back towards the whale, which grabbed it and swam back to the other whales. The false killer whales then passed the fish back and forth and began to eat it, with each of them getting a share.<div type="image" title="False killer whale" height="2338" width="3507" msid="104355118" hostid="261"></div>The sharing of prey is common for false killer whales, which are long-lived creatures with strong social bonds, Baird said. He's observed false killer whales in Hawaii catching large fish like ono or mahi mahi and passing them back and forth. None of the whales will eat the fish at first — until it is eventually returned to the individual who caught it, and who will take the first bite before sharing with the others.Baird told Insider the behavior likely serves to strengthen social bonds between the false killer whales, which engage in cooperative <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/killer-whales-play-boats-califronia-same-orcas-attacked-gray-whales-2023-6">hunting</a> and will typically spend their entire lives in the same social group.Another similar interaction between false killer whales and humans occurred in British Columbia in the 1980s. A lone false killer whale, far from its typical range, would catch fish and offer them to people on boats. In one case, the whale brought a salmon to two guys on a small boat and would let go of it beside the boat, only to grab it once it started to sink.The fact that the whales are offering fish to humans in the same way they pass it back and forth amongst themselves suggests they don't just view humans as something interesting that they can play with in the water, but as something that is "very similar to them," Baird said.As for the video of the false killer whale twirling before the divers, he said it's likely on that same scale of behavior."These cases of offering fish to people, to me, reflect that they're somehow viewing humans as something similar to them," he said. "Something that they can relate to."

Remarkable video showed a false killer whale twirling and 'twerking' in front of divers. The species is known to socialize with humans, even bringing them large fish.      

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="12266" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Nepal">Nepal</keyword>'s <keyword id="20048" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="tourism">tourism</keyword> industry is reeling after the <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> forced an early end to the <keyword id="14834" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Mount-Everest">Mount Everest</keyword> climbing season.</li><li>Over 1 million workers in Nepal, from Sherpas to cooks, rely on tourism, which brings $700 million to the economy each year.</li><li>A lengthy lockdown has put thousands of people in financial difficulty.</li></ul>Hundreds of climbers attempt to reach the summit of Mount Everest each year.But this year, things couldn't be more different.The coronavirus pandemic shuttered climbing and trekking businesses through the rest of 2020, and locals who depend on tourism for their livelihood are feeling the impact. Over 1 million people in Nepal rely directly or indirectly on income from tourism.The loss is especially painful for those who live around the mountain — around 80% of that population depends on mountaineering and mountain tourism, according to the <a href="https://www.nepalmountaineering.org/">Nepal Mountaineering Association</a>. Last year, Everest expeditions alone employed 54,000 people, including cooks, Sherpas who accompany climbers, and porters who carry loads up to base camp."The closure of expeditions has made things very difficult for me. This is my year's earnings," said Phurba Nyamgal Sherpa, an Everest tour guide from the nearby village of Khumjung. "I don't have any other job. It is very difficult."<a href="https://tourism.gov.np/files/statistics/19.pdf">Nearly 1.2 million tourists</a> visited Nepal in 2018, bringing in <a href="https://nepalindata.com/resource/tourism-status/">more than $700 million</a> in sorely needed revenue to one of the poorest countries in Asia. The 40 or so expeditions that take on Everest during the spring climbing season can bring in over $4 million in permit fees alone, as well as provide employment to thousands of local people who work in hospitality.Sharmila Lama, a trekking and mountain guide, should have summited the Annapurna massif in April and earned around $8,000 across the lucrative climbing season, which runs from early April to the end of May."And then, just when the season started, the lockdown started," she said. "Not only my personal life, but all the workers involved in the tourism sector. There is a huge impact on us." She is now living back in the capital Kathmandu with her son and sisters, waiting for the lockdown to pass, in hope of returning to the mountains before her savings run dry."The rental bills keep adding up here in the city," she said. "I have to pay the rent, and it is difficult to manage food for the time being. Also, our pockets are emptying day by day." There have been almost 6,600 confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 19 deaths in Nepal, <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html">according to Johns Hopkins University data</a>. The lockdown is the last thing the country needed.Climbing on Everest was effectively called off following an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/apr/22/nepal-everest-talks-sherpa-strike-avalanche">avalanche in 2014</a> that killed 16 guides. One year later, an <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-32479909">earthquake that killed around 9,000 people</a> nationwide again triggered deadly avalanches on the mountain. Tourism officials had dubbed this year "<a href="https://visitnepal2020.com/">Visit Nepal Year 2020</a>" — a marketing push aimed at delivering higher visitor numbers and welcoming people back to the country after the earthquake. Many hotels took out loans to spruce up their properties and entice tourists. But without government bailouts, many now face ruin.<div type="image" title="Everest5" height="1080" width="1920" msid="76415320" hostid="261"></div>"The main problem at the moment is paying the rent. We have to pay a monthly rent of $2,900," said Raju Bhatt, owner of the Alpine hotel in Kathmandu. His hotel has 21 rooms and would normally be at full capacity at this time of year with tourists from China, Europe, and the US. "Compared to last year, business is zero this year. There are no guests in the hotel. We normally have full occupancy at this time. We are managing on our reserves and our personal savings."One positive impact of the lengthy lockdown has been the noticeable drop in air pollution in the Kathmandu Valley. It has even been possible to make out Mount Everest itself, 165 kilometers away — it's normally obscured by layers of smog.But the world's highest peak hasn't been entirely quiet.A Chinese team summited the mountain in May as part of a survey expedition to measure the height of the mountain and install 5G telecommunications to the northern slopes.But on the Nepalese side, and in the normally bustling villages along the trail to base camp, there's an eerie silence."We hope that this hard time goes soon, Ang Tshering Sherpa said. "This is what we are hoping, and we are hoping that soon there is sunshine in the world."

'This is my year's earnings': Nepal's tourism industry is reeling after the Everest climbing season was canceled

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Lhakpa SherpaLhakpa Sherpa, right, is the women's record holder for Everest summits.</div></div></div><ul><li>Lhakpa Sherpa holds the women's world record for <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/everest">Mount Everest</a> summits.</li><li>She's reached the peak nine times, and says she's readying to complete trek number 10 in 2019.</li><li>For the 10 months of the year when she's not guiding people up the world's tallest mountain, Sherpa washes dishes at a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/whole-foods">Whole Foods</a> in Connecticut and takes care of her two youngest children.</li></ul> Lhakpa Sherpa has climbed to the top of Mount Everest a record-breaking nine times. That's more summits of the world's highest peak than any other woman, dead or alive.She's not done yet - the 44-year-old mountain climber is <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/a-whole-foods-employee-is-preparing-to-climb-mount-everest-again-2018-4">gearing up for climb number 10</a> in 2019.When not on the mountain, Sherpa doesn't go to the gym or endure extreme workouts to stay fit. Instead, she clocks 40 hours a week hauling trash and washing dishes at a Whole Foods in West Hartford, Connecticut. The $11.50/hour job pays the bills and helps Sherpa support her two daughters.Come April, Sherpa will leave the girls, ages 11 and 16, and travel back to her home mountain. After growing up in the shadow of the 29,029-foot-tall peak, the effort doesn't seem optional to her."I feel I'm addicted, in my body," Sherpa told Business Insider, explaining that when she doesn't climb, she feels sick. "I like to go again and again."<h2>Climbing Everest is a team sport, and sherpas often risk their lives leading the way </h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">Lhakpa SherpaLhakpa Sherpa at work in West Hartford, Connecticut.</div></div></div>Sherpa grew up gazing at the mountains in Nepal. One of 10 siblings, she could see Everest from her family's yak house. As a kid, nature was often her only teacher. Sherpa never received a formal education, but did a lot of hiking in the hills. Everest always loomed in the distance. At 15, Sherpa started hauling gear on mountains in the Himalayas, carrying heavy loads between camps in high-up spots, including on the third-highest mountain in the world, Kanchenjunga. She learned the trade from her father, and would usually hike for about seven hours a day, six days a week. She first summited Everest when she was 27.Sherpas have been an integral part of nearly every successful Everest summit, ever since Sir Edmond Hillary became one of the first two people to officially make it to the top with his climbing partner Tensing Norgay in 1953. The word sherpa means "easterner" and refers to the place sherpas originally came from - eastern Tibet - though it often functions as a last name, as well as the term for Everest guides. Some <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sherpa-people">150,000</a> sherpas live in the mountains of Nepal, India, and Tibet. Of course, not all ethnic sherpas are mountain climbers, and not all sherpa guides hail from the ethnic group (Norgay didn't). It was not a common practice for sherpas to hike to the top of the world's highest peaks - a landscape they considered the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sherpa-people">home of the Gods</a> - until Westerners started paying sherpas to help them reach the summits in the 1900s.On Everest these days, sherpas guide the way, carry heavy packs, cook meals, and make sure their team is strong enough to make it to the top. The men's record holder for Everest climbs is Kami Rita Sherpa, who's done the trek 22 times.Sherpas endure tough conditions on their climbs. In 2014, tragedy struck when <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/everest-photos-show-reality-of-climb-2018-5">16 sherpas were swept away by an avalanche</a> on the mountain as they hauled gear to help paying customers make it to the peak. That led to a sherpa strike on Everest for the rest of that season, as other porters mourned their dead and lobbied for better pay. At least 94 Sherpas have died climbing Everest, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/04/14/599417489/one-third-of-everest-deaths-are-sherpa-climbers">according to NPR,</a> accounting for roughly a third of all deaths on the mountain. When climbing, Sherpa said she carries out special summiting rituals to stay safe."I talk with the mountain," she said, "very quiet." She also meditates, envisioning the successful climb and telling the mountain not to kill her. "I have children waiting for me," she tells the peak, referring to her two daughters and 23-year-old son. "I need to go back." Sherpa made $5,000 on this year's two-month expedition.<h2>Preparing for a successful climb</h2>Sherpa doesn't do much extra training in Connecticut, aside from hauling the trash at work. But she believes strong women like her make better climbers than men, since they tend to be more careful and deliberate."Men only wanna go up, you know?" she said.Sherpa said she can tell people are ready to summit after they've climbed some smaller peaks first, since one of the best ways to acclimate to Everest is in fits and starts. That involves hiking to higher altitudes until you start to feel sick with a headache or nausea (maybe even vomiting), then climbing back down.Such incremental work helps climbers prepare for the dangerous "dead zone" above 8,000 meters (~26,250 feet). There, some oxygen-starved hikers are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/high-altitude-climbers-psychosis-hallucinations-2018-1">known to get loopy</a>, shedding clothes in the freezing conditions or talking to imaginary companions. Climbers sometimes pass frozen dead bodies, some with hair fluttering in the wind.Groups hike this part of the mountain under the cover of night because the treacherous walk back down is safer in the light of day, and the trek's too long to be in the sun round-trip. Sherpa said her groups usually start their seven-hour journeys around 10 p.m. to reach the summit safely. They can only spend about 10 to 20 minutes there before embarking on the 12-hour hike back to base camp. Ideally, the trek is done by sunset.Sherpa said the guides could do it in half that time if there weren't tourists along. <div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image">Lhakpa SherpaLhakpa Sherpa, left, is readying for climb number ten next year.</div></div></div>At camp, climbing crews often eat stews made with sheep and goat meat. It's a change from the burgers, burritos, and soda Sherpa subsists on in Connecticut, but the garlic and ginger help with altitude sickness and headaches, and the broth keeps bodies warm. <h2>The next trek</h2>For her past climbs, Sherpa has worked for her brother Mingma's company, which usually picks a Tibetan route up Everest. But she recently started her own venture, <a href="http://cloudscapeclimbing.com/">Cloudscape Climbing</a>, and plans to head to Kathmandu with the inaugural crew in April. Sherpa aims to take her group to the summit from the Nepal side of the mountain.Sherpa said her kids don't have any plans to follow in her footsteps on Everest. She's proud of the "A pluses" and "B pluses" they're getting at school, she said, and they're helping her improve her own reading and writing. But when her daughters aren't studying, Sherpa still encourages them get out of the house."Go outside! Look at the trees," she tells them. It's advice she follows strictly. "I cannot stay home too much," Sherpa said.<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Lhakpa SherpaThe view from one of Sherpa's Everest climbs.</div></div></div> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mount-everest-death-zone-first-hand-account-2017-9">There's a region near the top of the world's tallest mountains called the 'death zone' - here's a first-hand account of what it's like</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

This record-breaking Everest climber has reached the summit nine times. She makes $11.50 per hour washing dishes at Whole Foods.

<ul class="summary-list"><li>In a Tibetan cave, anthropologists discovered tools and DNA from <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ancient-humans-interbred-denisovans-twice-2018-3">ancient human ancestors</a> called <keyword id="507203" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Denisovans">Denisovans</keyword>.</li><li>The findings show that Denisovans adapted to living in a high-altitude, low-oxygen environment about 120,000 years before modern humans in the region did.</li><li>Modern-day Tibetans may have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/r-gene-from-extinct-human-species-fortifies-high-altitude-tibetans-2014-02">inherited some of those genetic adaptations</a>.</li><li>Last year, scientists unearthed <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/160000-year-old-jaw-from-human-ancestor-in-tibet-cave-2019-5">a 160,000-year-old jawbone</a> in the same cave. The new findings suggest the jawbone belonged to a Denisovan, too.</li></ul>Forty years ago, a Tibetan monk wandered into the holy Baishiya Karst Cave and stumbled across a jawbone.The accidental discovery was the beginning of an anthropological mystery, the solution to which has shed new light on humans' most enigmatic ancestor.Scientists hypothesized that the bone came from a Denisovan, an early human species related to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/climate-change-made-neanderthals-cannibals-2019-4">Neanderthals</a>. But Denisovan remains had previously only been found in Siberia's Denisova Cave, more than 1,400 miles away.Anthropologists couldn't detect any DNA in the jawbone fossil, and without genetic proof, there was no way to be sure who the bone came from. But this year, researchers returned to Baishiya Karst and were finally able to collect ancient DNA - not from bones, but from the cave floor itself. Their findings, published <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/370/6516/584">in the journal Science</a>, showed that the jawbone did indeed <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/370/6516/584">come from a Denisovan</a>. The research also revealed that these ancestors thrived in <keyword id="6364076" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="tibet">Tibet</keyword>'s harsh, high-altitude environment.Kira Westaway, an archaeologist from Macquarie University in Australia who was not involved in the study, told Business Insider that the discovery put "a lot more 'meat' on the bones of the Denisovan story."It sheds light on "the nature and length of their occupation, their ability to adapt to high-altitude locations, their behavior and survival capabilities in the hostile environments of the Tibetan plateau," Westaway added.<h2>Denisovans occupied the cave for 100,000 years</h2><div type="image" title="3. The opening of the cave from inside" height="3749" width="4999" msid="79631609" hostid="261"></div>When researchers dug into the frozen ground of Baishiya Karst in February, they found remains of gazelles, foxes, and rhinos along with stone tools.They also extracted DNA from different layers of cave sediment that dated back 100,000, 60,000, and 45,000 years."Similar to a CSI crime scene, human DNA from blood, sweat, and skin cells can be found everywhere that humans occupy. And the freezing-cold climate of the Tibetan plateau is the perfect environment for DNA preservation," Westaway said.Genetic analysis revealed that the DNA was Denisovan, since it matched genetic markers from the bones found in Denisova cave. That confirmed that the jawbone discovered in 1980 was "the first skeletal evidence of Denisovans outside of Denisova cave," Westaway added.<div type="image" title="Mandible" height="914" width="1888" msid="79631612" hostid="261"></div>Anthropologists determined last year that the jawbone was 160,000 years old.That conclusion, coupled with the more recent finding of 45,000-year-old cave sediment with DNA in it, suggests Denisovans consistently occupied Baishiya Karst cave for more than 100,000 years.Denisovans, it seems, lived on this part of the Tibetan Plateau at least 120,000 years before modern humans showed up. They were able to survive at altitudes of more than 10,000 feet. Temperatures on the plateau during the time they were there could have hit a bone-chilling <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/may/01/denisovan-jawbone-discovered-in-tibetan-cave">negative 22 degrees Fahrenheit</a>.<h2>Denisovans passed on the genes that enabled them to handle Tibet's high altitudes </h2><div type="image" title="Baishiya Karst Cave" height="3575" width="5355" msid="79631616" hostid="261"></div>Denisovans disappeared about 50,000 years ago, but their DNA can be found in the genes of modern humans across Russia, east Asia, and some Pacific islands. Up to 5% of modern Papua New Guinea residents' DNA <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ancient-humans-interbred-denisovans-twice-2018-3">shows remnants of interbreeding</a> with Denisovans. Some people in Tibet today also possess some Denisovan DNA - and those genetic traits may help Sherpas weather high altitudes.Usually, when humans reach high altitudes (where oxygen levels are lower), our bodies make more hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that helps carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. But too much hemoglobin can make it harder for the heart to pump blood around. That can lead to mountain sickness <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/r-gene-from-extinct-human-species-fortifies-high-altitude-tibetans-2014-02">and heart attacks</a>.Many Tibetans don't experience this issue, however, because their bodies don't make that extra hemoglobin. Instead, their DNA contains a gene called EPAS1, which prevents that blood-thickening process. That gene comes from Denisovans.The idea that modern Tibetans' owe their unique adaptation to oxygen-scarce environments to ancient human interbreeding with Denisovans was first introduced in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature13408">a 2014 study</a>. The discovery of the Denisovan jawbone and DNA in Tibet adds credence to that line of thinking.<h2>'We know more about their DNA than what they actually look like'</h2><div type="image" title="The entrance to Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains in southern Siberia near the Russia-Mongolia border where the remains of a female Neanderthal were found is shown in this 2011 photo released on February 17, 2016. A new study has found that her genome contained DNA from Homo sapiens, indicating that our species had interbred with Neanderthals about 100,000 years ago. REUTERS/Bence Viola/Max-Planck-Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology/Handout via Reuters " height="531" width="800" msid="79631618" hostid="261"></div>Denisovans are distant cousins of Neanderthals, but anthropologists have unearthed far more bones from the latter group. Until the jawbone discovery, the only Denisovan fossils scientists knew of were a tiny finger bone, three teeth, and fragments of a skull and jaw from Siberia.<div type="image" title="Denisova_Phalanx_distalis" height="425" width="640" msid="79631623" hostid="261"></div>Yet DNA evidence suggests Denisovans were prolific across Asia, passing along their genetic makeup to Homo sapiens tens of thousands of years ago."Denisovans are the only species of human that we know more about their DNA than what they actually look like," Westaway said. "How can we know so little about a key species of human that contributed to our DNA and was a major player in the story of human evolution?"The lack of Denisovan bones also makes it difficult to separate this ancestor from other ancient humans in the fossil record.But as researchers discover more places that Denisovans once lived, identifying their fossils could get easier."It could even be that Denisovan fossils are sitting in museums across the world," Mike Morley, a geoarchaeologist from Flinders University, <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/in-a-tibetan-cave-australian-archeologists-find-evidence-of-a-mysterious-ancestor-20201102-p56aow.html">told The Sydney Morning Herald</a>. "We simply don't know what a Denisovan fossil looks like."

Ancient tools and DNA discovered in a Tibetan cave shed unprecedented light on humans' most enigmatic ancestor, the Denisovans

Disaster at 18,200 feet

<keyword id="619668" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Arunima-Sinha">Arunima Sinha</keyword> whooped for joy. After a gruelling climb over 52 days, several near brushes with death, and as severe a test of her will as she had ever faced, she was on top of the world. She had conquered Everest – the first woman amputee to accomplish this feat. Since that day in May 2013, Sinha has scaled the highest peaks on five other continents and is just one summit away – McKinley in North America – from completing the Seven Summits Challenge to reach the highest point on each of the seven continents. A former national level volleyball player in India, Sinha was travelling from Lucknow to New Delhi in 2011 by train when robbers tried to snatch her gold necklace. “I resisted and so they pushed me out of the train,” says Sinha, who watched in horror as another train sped towards her and ran over her left leg. “I lay by the train tracks bleeding and screaming in pain the entire night, fighting off rats.” Villagers found her in the morning and carried her to the local hospital, which lacked basic facilities. Doctors amputated her left leg below the knee and inserted a rod in her right leg to support it – without anaesthetic. Sinha on Mt Elbrus Photo: courtesy of Arunima Sinha Sinha was moved to a New Delhi hospital where she was fitted with a prosthetic leg and spent four months recovering. Those were her “darkest hours,” when she came to hate the look of pity in people’s eyes. She took inspiration from Yuvraj Singh, an Indian cricketer who had successfully battled lung cancer and was forging his return to the elite levels of the sport. After leaving hospital, she contacted Bachendri Pal, who in 1984 had become the first Indian woman to summit Everest. Pal heads the Tata Steel Adventure Foundation, funded by India’s leading steelmaking company. Moved by Sinha’s story, Pal took her under her wing. “When I met Arunima, I told her, ‘In your heart you have already climbed Everest. Now you merely need to prove it to the world’,” says 65-year-old Pal. “In the early stages, she could barely walk. Her legs would bleed and swell up making every step excruciating. But she persisted.” Sinha spent two years under Pal’s guidance, building both her physical and mental toughness. She enrolled in the Nehru Institute of Mountaineering, Uttarkashi, training in the mountains of Uttarkhand, Ladakh and Nepal. Sinha on Mt Vinson in Antarctica. Photo: courtesy of Arunima Sinha “I felt demotivated when I couldn’t keep up with the other climbers, but I was determined to outpace them,” says Sinha. After eight months her legs grew accustomed to climbing. She ascended progressively higher mountains, moving to Island Peak or Imja Tse (6,189 metres) in the eastern Nepalese Himalayas and Mount Chamser Kangri (6,622m) in Ladakh, India. She learned to use ropes to climb, carrying 20kg of supplies and walking with crampons for traction on ice. Tata Steel helped her cross the final hurdle, providing sponsorship to cover costs that can range from US$40,000 to US$90,000. On April 1, 2013, Sinha began her quest as a part of the company’s Eco Expedition Everest Group. Climbers tackle hazards that include freezing temperatures, altitude sickness, avalanches and blizzards. After reaching Camp 2 at 6,400m, the second of four stops en route to the 8,858m summit, Sinha ran into serious and unique difficulties. <h2 style="margin-top: 1.14286rem; margin-bottom: 0.428571rem; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.71429rem; line-height: 2.21429rem; font-family: Merriweather, serif; vertical-align: baseline;">I resolved that I would not let the fear of death hold me back … I knew that if I turned back then, I would never forgive myself. It was now or neverSinha on risking her life to continue through Everest’s death zone</h2> “Banging my feet against the snow to get a grip on the ice, I damaged my artificial leg stump. On several occasions my artificial leg turned 180 degrees and I had to put it back to its normal position which slowed me down,” she says. “I had to crawl along the slope to move forward, annoying the climbers behind me.” At Camp 4 at 8,000m – the infamous ‘death zone’ where the ambient oxygen level is so low that the body’s cells slowly begin to die – Sinha witnessed dead bodies, and even saw a climber who had run out of oxygen take his last few breaths. “I resolved that I would not let the fear of death hold me back,” she says. On May 21, after hours of strenuous climbing, Sinha’s group had reached the Hillary Step, just 100m from the summit. Stretched in front of them was <a href="https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/3012340/now-time-crowd-control-everest" class="link-text">a human traffic jam along a dangerously narrow route</a> in which only one person could pass at a time. It took two hours for the jam to clear, by which time Sinha was running low on oxygen. Sinha on Mt Everest. Photo: courtesy of Arunima Sinha Her sherpa, Neema Kancha, warned that if she continued up, she might not survive the climb down. “I knew that if I turned back then, I would never forgive myself. It was now or never,” says Sinha, who pushed on. Two hours later, she stood on top of the world. “I felt like dancing, crying and laughing, all at the same time. I wanted to tell the world: here I am!” Unfurling the Indian flag, she recorded a one-minute video, asking Kancha to send it home if she didn’t survive. The climb down Everest is far more deadly than the ascent. Thirty steps into her descent, Sinha’s oxygen ran out. Luckily, a climber had turned back before reaching the summit and left behind an extra oxygen cylinder which Sinha put to lifesaving use. <h2 style="margin-top: 1.14286rem; margin-bottom: 0.428571rem; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.71429rem; line-height: 2.21429rem; font-family: Merriweather, serif; vertical-align: baseline;">I would not have climbed Everest had I not met with the accident in 2011. Though I lost my leg, it made me a stronger person</h2><h2 style="margin-top: 1.14286rem; margin-bottom: 0.428571rem; font-variant: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-size: 1.71429rem; line-height: 2.21429rem; font-family: Merriweather, serif; vertical-align: baseline;">Arunima Sinha</h2> When Sinha’s artificial leg came loose, she could not risk removing her gloves to secure it in the biting cold (-30 to -40 degrees Celsius) as she could have lost her hand to <keyword id="1101430" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="frostbite">frostbite</keyword>. Instead, she held the support rope with one hand, and her prosthetic with the other, dragging herself down to the first stop. It usually takes 17 hours from Camp 4 to the summit and back. It took her 28 hours. Her determination was well rewarded. Sinha with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Photo: courtesy of Arunima Sinha “At 23 years of age I lost my leg, but at 25 years of age I realised my dream,” she says. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched her memoir, Born Again On The Mountain, in December 2014. In 2015, Sinha was awarded India’s fourth highest civilian award, the Padma Shri, and the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award. Sinha has established an eponymous foundation to empower women and disabled children, and plans to set up a sports academy for underprivileged and physically challenged children in India’s Uttar Pradesh state. “I would not have climbed Everest had I not met with the accident in 2011. Though I lost my leg, it made me a stronger person,” she says, adding she wants to give opportunities for growth to others. Sinha on Mt Elbrus. She is one peak away from completing the Seven Summits Challenge. Photo: courtesy of Arunima Sinha There is no mountain high enough to stop amputee Arunima Sinha, who has scaled: <keyword id="14834" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mount-Everest">Mount Everest</keyword>, Nepal, Asia, 8,858m – May 21, 2013 Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Africa, 5,895m – May 11, 2014 <keyword id="1127684" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mount-Elbrus">Mount Elbrus</keyword>, Russia, Europe, 5,642m – July 25, 2014 Mount Kosciusko, Australia, 2,228m – April 20, 2015 Aconcagua, Argentina, South America, 6,961m – Dec 25, 2015 Carstensz Pyramid (Puncak Jaya), Indonesia, Asia, 4,884m – July 8, 2016 Mount Vinson, Antarctica, 4,892m – Jan 1, 2019

The first woman amputee to summit Everest shares her incredible story of determination

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"></div></div></div><a href="http://www.jagged-globe.co.uk/news/item.php?id=2767">Google executive Dan Fredinburg </a>was among 18 people killed on Mount Everest after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake ravaged Nepal on Saturday.A woman who identified herself as Fredinburg's younger sister, Megan, <a href="https://instagram.com/p/16G9prRFsR/">said on his Instagram page</a> that he had a major head injury after the avalanche triggered by the quake. He didn't survive.The catastrophic earthquake Saturday <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/r-some-buildings-collapse-in-nepal-capital-after-77-quake---witnesses-2015-4">killed more than 1,300 people</a> and leveled ancient buildings in the Nepali capital of Kathmandu. The quake was so strong that it also killed people in nearby India, Bangladesh, and Tibet.Fredinburg - <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredinburg">who was head of privacy for Google X</a> - <a href="http://www.eonline.com/news/533529/sophia-bush-says-boyfriend-dan-fredinburg-is-safe-after-mt-everest-avalanche-kills-at-least-12-people">survived</a> last year's deadly avalanche on Mount Everest, <a href="https://instagram.com/p/mlE7JaxFoY/">according to media reports and his Instagram account</a>.Earlier this month, he was featured <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/12/mount-everest-sherpa-disaster-one-year-on">in an article in the Guardian</a> about his 2015 adventures on Everest with two other Google employees. "They're not licensed to talk on Google's behalf to journalists and Google's press office declines to confirm any details," the Guardian noted. "But last month, Google announced that it had joined up with a local non-profit organisation to launch a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/12/google-street-view-captures-images-of-everest" class=" u-underline" data-link-name="in body link" data-component="in-body-link">Street View of the trek </a>into base camp and it's an open secret that another Street View camera is being carried to the summit."Fredinburg posted this to Instagram three months ago: A 2004 graduate of the University of California, Irvine, Fredinburg has worked for Google for eight years, according to his <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredinburg">LinkedIn profile</a>. He described <a href="https://twitter.com/danfredinburg">himself on his Twitter page</a> as an "adventurer, inventor, and energetic engineer."Here's the entire Instagram post that the woman identified as his sister wrote:This is Dans little sister Megan. I regret to inform all who loved him that during the avalanche on Everest early this morning our Dan suffered from a major head injury and didn't make it. We appreciate all of the love that has been sent our way thus far and know his soul and his spirit will live on in so many of us. All our love and thanks to those who shared this life with our favorite hilarious strong willed man. He was and is everything to us. Thank you.Two other people in Fredinburg's group faced non-life-threatening injuries, <a href="http://www.jagged-globe.co.uk/news/item.php?id=2767">according to Jagged Globe, the group he was hiking with</a>. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to Dan's family and friends whilst we pray too for all those who have lost their lives in one of the greatest tragedies ever to hit this Himalayan nation," the group said in a statement. Last year around this time, Fredinburg posted this image of Everest base camp: The avalanche at Everest in 2013 <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/apr/22/nepal-everest-talks-sherpa-strike-avalanche">killed 16 sherpas</a>, after which Fredinburg posted this on Instagram:Today we paid our respects to the 16 lost in the icefall and attended a Sherpa rally afterwards. I gave my thanks to the Sherpa community for the chance to be one of very few to go on the mountain this year."Google released this statement on Saturday:I just had the immensely sad task of sending the following to all Google employees. My thoughts are with everyone in Nepal, and with Dan's family and friends. "Early this morning, Nepal experienced the worst earthquake in its history, registering 7.8 on the Richter Scale. Current reports are that over 1,000 people were killed. It's a terrible tragedy. Sadly, we lost one of our own in this tragedy. +<a href="https://plus.google.com/118379867252655067881" class="proflink aaTEdf">Dan Fredinburg</a> a long-time member of the Privacy organization in Mountain View, was in Nepal with three other Googlers, hiking Mount Everest. He has passed away. The other three Googlers with him are safe and we are working to get them home quickly. The Crisis Response team has launched Person Finder[1] for Nepal, and is working to get updated satellite imagery to aid in the recovery effort. Google.org is committing $1M to the response, and we'll have gift-matching available soon. Our thoughts are with the people of Nepal, and with Dan's family and friends during this terrible time."

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