Henry Todd, or how the king of LSD' ended up creating the first low-cost agency for Everest tourists

"A few weeks ago, hundreds of climbers hoping to summit Everest were stranded at the mountain's South Base Camp in Nepal, waiting for a massive block of ice to finally break away and clear the route to Camp I through the Khumbu Icefall. If the climbers were anxious, local agencies were nearly in panic: so much money is at stake that a closed Mount Everest means ruin. But the profits from mountain tourism do not improve the quality of life in a country that, a few months ago, repressed young people protesting in Kathmandu and that in recent days has demolished a vast shantytown sheltering nearly 1.5 million workers, who have been forcibly relocated to places that are equally unfit and even more dangerous."

"The sun shines on Everest, however, and the sherpas who rig the maze of ice and crevasses in the Khumbu have finally found a safe route that avoids the threatening ice mass. None of these workers know who Henry Todd was, but the older owners of Nepalese tour agencies remember him: he funded the first metal ladders to cross the huge crevasses of the Khumbu and to clamber comfortably up the higher ice blocks. It is very likely Todd would have suggested blowing up that infernal ice block so the Everest show and the flow of money could go on."

"Born in Scotland in 1945, he died at his Kathmandu home on November 3 last year aged 80 after suffering a heart attack. He was one of the main promoters of tourism on Nepal's highest peaks, and of Everest in particular a summit he never set foot on. It's not that Todd loved the mountain irrationally, but he loved money, especially when it didn't come from conventional work. He was nicknamed The Toddfathe."

"This is the first spring in the last quarter-century the Scotsman has been absent from base camp; he arrived there after serving seven years in prison as the ringleader of one of the largest drug-production operations in the United Kingdom. Dozens of climbers head toward the summit of Everest last Monday. Purnima Shrestha (REUTERS)"

Hundreds of climbers seeking to summit Everest were stranded at South Base Camp in Nepal while a massive ice block remained stuck in the Khumbu Icefall, blocking the route to Camp I. Local agencies faced near panic because a closed Everest would cause major financial ruin. The sun eventually returned and sherpas found a safe route that avoided the threatening ice mass. The workers involved did not know Henry Todd, but older Nepalese tour owners remembered him for funding early metal ladders across Khumbu crevasses. Todd, born in Scotland in 1945, had served seven years in prison as a ringleader of a large UK drug-production operation. He promoted tourism on Nepal’s highest peaks, including Everest, which he never climbed, and he died in Kathmandu in 2024 at age 80.

Read at english.elpais.com