Life in the shadow of Everest
Read MoreYandi Sherpa, 46, drinks tea from a thermos flask inside her home in the town Lukla, which is at the start of the route to Everest in Solukhumbu District, Nepal, on Feb 20th 2016.
At 2,860 meters getting warm and staying warm is both a priority and a challenge. Even getting fresh water to drink can mean a long walk in the cold.Mina Baraili, 20, (c) and her family burn Yak dung to cook and get warm on a cold evening inside their home, which was destroyed by the 2015 earthquakes in Thulo Gumela, Solukhumbu District, Nepal.
The family rebuilt and repaired as best they could but it's still essentially a ramshackle hut with little if any insulation.Looking down from a small peak above the village of Tengboche, in Solukhumbu District, Nepal, at almost 4,000 meters above sea level, on February 26, 2016. Some 70 percent of Nepal's Solukhumbu District exists higher than 3,000 meters above sea level. Much of the terrain is barren, remote and hard to access, yet by the last census in 2011, some 105,886 people forged a living in its harsh climes.
A porter carries construction materials up a steep climb toward the village of Tengboche, Nepal, on February 26, 2016. Such porters are a common sight along the trail that ascends into the Himalayas from the town of Lukla. Apart from infrequent deliveries by cargo helicopters to major towns, everything that reaches villages along the way is carried, either by people or animals, often for many days.