Everest economy shift: Sherpas move from muscle to mass market, edge out Western firms

For decades, Western companies sold the Everest dream to the world while Sherpas provided the muscle. Agencies based in New Zealand, Britain and the US marketed summit attempts to wealthy climbers and charged premium fees while Sherpas carried oxygen cylinders through Khumbu Icefall, fixed ropes above 8,000 metres, set up camps in avalanche zones and guided — sometimes even carried — exhausted clients to the summit.

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