Thukla Pass or Thugla (4800 m) is a memorial viewpoint lying along the Everest Base Camp route. It’s the memorial place and the saddest point because the top of the Thukla Pass showcases over 100 memorials of the climbers and Sherpas who lost their lives in the mountains.
Thukla Pass lies at an altitude of 4800 m ahead of Dingboche on the trail that leads to a tiny hamlet of Lobuche. Trekkers can reach the spot with a half-hour uphill trek from Thukla.
The top of the place has small stone and cement structures with beautiful prayers written on them. These structures were built as memorials in the name of the climbers who lost their lives on the Himalayan peaks. The deceased family, and well-wishers or the local sherpas as a sign of respect build these. Some prayers on tombstones include “Go Sleep Forever in Everest, His Soul Will Always Remain Alive, and Rest in Peace.”.
Also well known as the site of Scott Fischer’s memorial among the mountaineering community, Thukla Pass also features the memorials of legendary climbers Babu Chiri Sherpa and Scott Fischer, a famous mountaineer who died on Everest.
If you are there, it will make you emotional to look at those photos and the names on the tombstones.
Travelers stop there to read the stories on the tomb and pay homage to all the great souls who died on the way to their mountain summits.
According to a resident of Khumbu, Jangbu Sherpa, “Everyone can create a monument here, but it should be simple, environmentally friendly, and made with stone only.”
The memorials add up each year. Whenever you travel to that place, it makes you realize that life is short and how dangerous the mountains can be. But those climbers risked their lives to establish the trail and popularize the Everest expedition. The place is also a salutary reminder to take it slow and be careful while attempting the trek or the summit of the tallest peaks.
The Scott Fischer Memorial in Thukla Pass
Although the place has many stone structures commemorating the many who lost their lives on the mountain, Scott Fischer’s memorial stands out. It is big, colorful, and has a clear name on it. Also, people notice his memorial as he was featured in a film named “Everest.”
- Memorial to Scott Fischer
Scott Fischer was an American mountaineer who first climbed Mt. Everest in 1994. He died later in 1996 while descending the same mountain, completing his next expedition. Then the Sherpas built his memorial in the Thukla pass outside of the Dughla village in 1996. Later that year, a doctor who accompanied Scott to the base camp of his 1996 Everest expedition placed a bronze memorial plaque on it.
Thukla, or the Dughla Village
Just below the Thukla Pass is a Sherpa village at the endpoint of the Khumbu glacier. Also called Dughla, the place has several huts for settlements. It’s a lunch point for trekkers, but if you are not feeling well, there are a few accommodations as well.
It’s one of the highest human settlements in the world. However, it’s not a permanent settlement. Locals come there just to cater to travelers during the trekking and climbing season.
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