This study examines the association between mountaineering and risk in Himalayan mountaineering. The research draws on ethnographic fieldwork in Solukhumbu and Kathmandu, Nepal in 2019, 2020, and 2024 to study the lifeworld of high-altitude Nepali climbers through a narrative approach to data analysis. In this paper, I study the meanings that climbing sherpas attach to high-altitude mountaineering, focusing on their subjective lived experiences in response to risks in mountaineering. I explore the various ways in which Nepali climbers negotiate fear and anxiety arising out of precarity through close encounters with death and near-death like experiences. I examine key motivational aspects that determine the participation of Nepali climbers in high-altitude mountaineering. The paper is informed by lifeworld approach, and it shows the different perceptions towards mountaineering that exist among high-altitude climbers positioned hierarchically within the mountaineering industry. The mainstreaming of their lived experiences reveals an ongoing process of shifting power dynamics.
Michel Gulati (Thu,) studied this question.