caused enormous changes among the Sherpa culture, perhaps the other phenomena which impacted the culture during the 1950s had an even more disrupting effect on the culture and its traditions-tourism. When Sir Edmund Hillary scaled the heights of Mt. Everest in 1953, he did so with the assistance of Sherpa guides and porters. Because of their ability to tolerate the limitations of high altitude existence, the Sherpas became internationally famous as a crucial element necessary for any successful climb in the Himalayans. The opening of the region to a heightened level of tourism soon developed, and, along with it, the economy and culture of the local inhabitants experienced dramatic changes compared to the decades before the 1950s, “Along with the mountaineering came other tourists, as thousands of back-packers and hikers came to walk to the base of Mt. Everest, bringing employment and affluence to the region. Today, the annual per capita income of Sherpas is nearing $1,000, nearly eight times Nepal’s national average. Towns have electricity and phone links to the outside world. There is a hosp
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