There aren't many people who know the 'roof of the world' as well as Prakash Sperpa.

The 29-year-old man from Nepal regularly climbs the highest peaks that the Himalayas have to offer.

6000 meters, 7000 meters, 8000 meters above sea level - and with it intense sunshine, strong winds and sudden changes in the weather.

The certified mountain guide, who has been running his own company for some time, is used to some adversity.

An expedition like the one that Sherpa now wants to tackle with Benedikt Böhm is a completely new experience even for the experienced Nepalese.

Sebastian Reuter

Editor-in-Chief on duty.

  • Follow I follow

Within eight hours, the 44-year-old speed mountaineer Böhm and Prakash Sherpa want to climb the 7126-meter-high Himlung Himal on the border with China together with their two companions in the coming days - and ski down again directly.

A trip that will push the body and the psyche to the limit and demands great respect from Prakash Sherpa.

"I'm actually never scared in the mountains," says Sherpa, when asked about the dangers he has in mind during the expedition in the Himalayas.

"But I'm not a professional skier, so that's going to be a bit exciting."

In order to keep the dangers for themselves and others as small as possible, Sherpa and Böhm meticulously planned the way to the summit of the Himlung Himal.

The route for the high-speed tour, which lasted a few hours, was worked out and studied down to the smallest detail.

All participants of the expedition have sketched fear maps in the past few weeks and recorded on them at which points on the route they could feel uncomfortable and unsafe.

These maps were then compared with each other and the individual passages discussed.

This is intended to reduce fears in advance and strengthen team spirit.

"If you plan and experience such things and climb together into such risk zones as the Himalayas, then it is important to me that you share the same values," says Böhm about his companion Sherpa.

Especially when the pace is so high and concentration has to be maintained for hours, you have to be able to rely on each other 100%.

"And I'm sure of that with the Prakash," says Böhm.

A partner who only does “his thing” professionally and from whom one never hears anything again afterwards is out of place with him.

“When I'm out with Prakash, he always has a big smile in his eyes.

It reminds me a bit of me before,” says the ski mountaineer from Bavaria.

He wants to help hand over the baton to the locals in the Himalayas.

For a long time, they were just helpers for mountain tourists from Europe, America and Australia and should develop their own dreams and visions - in terms of mountaineering, but also for life in general, says Böhm.

Sherpa is also enthusiastic about the German.

This has been an inspiration for him since he first saw him on one of his skiing adventures.

“I am deeply impressed and honored to be able to be alongside an extreme athlete like Benedikt Böhm in my home country.

Our expedition is truly unique in its form,” he says.

Sherpa explains what personal mission he is pursuing in the expedition: “I want to show that we Sherpas are not just there to take mountaineers to 8,000 meters.

We can take part in real adventures like this speed ascent, but we also want to show our beautiful country and the diversity of life.” He refers to the beginning of the Himalaya expedition, when Böhm and his crew were in Chitwan National Park in the informed about the protection of tigers, bears, elephants and many other animals as part of a WWF project.

Nevertheless, the mountains and especially the high mountains are of course the environment in which he feels most comfortable, says Sherpa.

At the thought of the view one has from a summit in bright sunshine, he regularly becomes melancholic.

On his Instagram profile he writes: "Our fascination with the mountains teaches us that not everything in the world can be explained rationally."