Visa Controversy: Mountaineers Denied Entry for Dream Climbs
Dawa Ongju and Pasdawa Sherpa are upset. The two mountaineers had planned everything to go to China to climb Cho Oyu and Shishapangma to finish climbing all the 14 8,000-metre mountains. They were so close to their dream.
On April 4, the two received their visas to go to China and were ecstatic as they were finally going to complete their long-awaited dream. But their joy was short-lived as on April 6 as their agent told them their visas were cancelled by the embassy.
“They told us we could not go to China as we had recently been to Pakistan. During the interview, we clearly told the embassy we had been to Pakistan and they had no problem, but two days after getting our visas, our agent told us we could not go. It makes no sense,” says Dawa Ongju Sherpa.
Their agent, Climbalaya Treks & Expeditions, recently ran an expedition in Shishapangma during which a host of climbers reached the summit. Everyone that applied for visas through Climbalaya got their applications approved apart from two – Dawa Ongju and Pasdawa Sherpa. Record-chasing Norwegian climber Kristin Harila also received her visa as she reached the summit of Shishapangma and is now one mountain away from climbing all 14 8000-ers.
But why? An investigation reveals Harila and Climbalaya might have played a role to make sure the two did not get visas to go to China.
The unhealthy competition
Over the past year, Dawa Ongju and Pasdawa Sherpa have been through a lot. The two guided Harila to the summit of 12 of the 14 8,000-meter mountains. They did so in record time too as they only took 148 days and were only two mountains away from breaking the speed record held by Nirmal Purja Magar (Nimsdai). But with China closing its mountains, they left with disappointment as the two, along with Harila, had to give up on their mission. Following that, Harila jumped ships. While she said she was climbing to prove to the world how capable women were on the mountain, she also stated how she wanted to share the record with her two guides. However, after climbing Manaslu on September 23, 2022, things changed as she started to distance herself from Dawa Ongju and Pasdawa Sherpa.
The betrayal?
Over the past year, Dawa Ongju and Pasdawa Sherpa have been through a lot. The two guided Harila to the summit of 12 of the 14 8,000-meter mountains. They did so in record time too as they only took 148 days and were only two mountains away from breaking the speed record held by Nirmal Purja Magar (Nimsdai). But with China closing its mountains, they left with disappointment as the two, along with Harila, had to give up on their mission. Following that, Harila jumped ships. While she said she was climbing to prove to the world how capable women were on the mountain, she also stated how she wanted to share the record with her two guides. However, after climbing Manaslu on September 23, 2022, things changed as she started to distance herself from Dawa Ongju and Pasdawa Sherpa.
Broken Promises on the World’s Peaks: Mountaineers’ Dream Shattered
“I do not know what changed, but she suddenly cut contact. We had a verbal agreement to do it together but it seems words don’t mean anything anymore,” says Dawa Ongju. Harila joined another company and tried to climb Cho Oyu from Nepal. But due to poor weather, she was not able to reach the summit both in autumn and winter.
“Both of us worked day and night to open routes on most of the mountains. We did it without thinking about our family back home and the dangers of life as we carried on the unthinkable task of carrying 35-40 kg of weight through ravines, crevasses, rock faces and death zones. It sucks that our dreams left unfulfilled,” says Pasdawa Sherpa. Dawa Ongju is just heartbroken. As a climber, he too wanted to climb all 14 8,000-ers. But now with politics played on the highest level, he feels he will never trust anyone involved again. “Everyone lied to us. Everyone cheated us. This is very unfair,” he says.
