The Sherpas from Nepal have been crucial for mountaineering expeditions to the highest mountains in the world. Originally, it was sheer necessity that forced them across the snowline and into the realm of the gods, where according to their belief, they risk losing both this life and the next. Today, the motives are more varied.

Previous colonial relationships between master and servant have also been leveled out, but we, the wealthy, still pay to expose both the Sherpas and ourselves to mortal danger. Could it be that what drives us is our own inner fear—not of the gods’ wrath, and not even of losing our lives, but rather the meaning of it? And equally important: What drives the Sherpas?

These are among the questions Jon Gangdal attempts to answer. Through a rich historical material and his own hard-earned experiences with life and death at high altitudes, he brings the Sherpa people out of the shadow of Himalayan climbing and closely examines their unique living conditions and daily life.