Percy Fernandez for The New York Times. Norbu Sherpa on the Khumbu Glacier near the Everest base camp in Nepal.

Mountain-climbing is often perceived as a solo, even lone wolf style pursuit of adventure.  The higher the climb, the more collaboration is required for success. Over at India Ink, Malavika Vyawahare shares her conversation with one of Mt Everest’s great guides:

NEW DELHI—Norbu Sherpa, 32, has been working as a climbing guide in the high mountains of Nepal, over 6,000 meters (19,685 feet) for more than a decade. He has been a member of seven expeditions to Everest, the highest peak in the world, at 8,848 meters (29,029 feet), and reached the summit five times. Norbu, who was educated in Darjeeling, is currently part of a National Cadet Corps Everest team from India.

More than 150,000 people belong to the Sherpa ethnic group in Nepal. They are mostly concentrated in the eastern part of the mountainous country and are well -known around the world as excellent mountain climbers, especially in the Himalayan terrain. The first mountaineering team to conquer Everest in 1953 consisted of Sir Edmund Hillary from New Zealand, and a Nepalese Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay. Since then, Sherpas have been part of most foreign expeditions to the Himalaya’s towering peaks, working as porters, guides and support staff.

A recent brawl between three foreign climbers and a group of Sherpas on Everest has focused attention on the relationship between mountaineers and their Sherpa guides. The confrontation occurred on April 27, at an altitude of more than 7,000 meters (22,965 feet), between camps II and III on the Lhotse side of the mountain. Three climbers, Ueli Steck from Switzerland, Simone Moro from Italy and James Griffith from England had an altercation with a group of Sherpa guides, who were opening the route between the two camps by fixing lines on the mountain.

Read the remainder of the post here.