Nepal’s mountain guides, accustomed to risking their lives on some of the world’s highest peaks, have taken on a new role in the aftermath of the country’s devastating floods: entering oxygen-starved hydropower tunnels to search for survivors — and then contributing their own money to the national relief effort.

The Nepal National Mountain Guide Association (NNMGA), whose members include guides certified by the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IFMGA), volunteered its specialist expertise for the first time in a major natural disaster, working alongside the army, police and government rescue teams.

The NNMGA later donated Rs 501,000 to the Prime Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund to help communities affected by the floods. It said it was the first professional mountain guides’ association to contribute to the fund, even before the Nepal Mountaineering Association.

The guides offered to reach people trapped in hydropower tunnels and rescue survivors stranded on steep and inaccessible ground — work that demanded precisely the rope, climbing and high-risk rescue skills normally used in the Himalayas.

Among those deployed were IFMGA-certified guides Ashish Gurung, Dorjee Sherpa, Pemba Wangchu Sherpa, Man Raj Gurung, Chiring Sherpa and Sajan Ghale. They were joined by aspiring guides including Sabin Thakuri, Lukme Tamang, Kusang Sherpa, Bikram Karki, Chhiring Sherpa and Gesman Tamang.

Ashish Gurung, Jenjen Lama and Dorjee Sherpa were sent into the Trishuli A hydropower tunnel, where they joined security personnel in the search and rescue operation and helped carry out a successful rescue.

The government was initially reluctant to accept the offer, according to the association, because officials were unfamiliar with the capabilities of IFMGA-certified mountain guides.

But their work soon attracted attention at the highest level. The prime minister’s office asked the guides to remain on standby as rescue operations continued.

The guides had initially proposed using fixed ropes to reach survivors in inaccessible terrain and, where necessary, deploying helicopters for long-line rescues — techniques routinely used in high-altitude mountain operations.

“Our members worked alongside the Nepal Army, Nepal Police and government agencies involved in the ongoing search and rescue efforts,” said Abiral Rai, treasurer of the NNMGA.

The guides’ contribution did not end when they left the rescue sites.

A significant part of the Rs 501,000 donation was raised through contributions from the association’s own members, Rai said.

The floods caused widespread destruction, sweeping away homes, bridges and other infrastructure and severely damaging hydropower projects. Hundreds of people were killed and thousands reported missing.

Tul Singh Gurung, the NNMGA president, Rai and Pasang Tendi Sherpa, general secretary of the Mountaineering Instructors Association (NMIA), have been involved in efforts to support search and rescue operations since the disaster began.

The NMIA also supplied the NNMGA teams with search and rescue equipment, Rai said.

For Nepal’s mountain guides, however, the rescue effort is already giving way to the work that normally defines their lives.

As the autumn climbing season begins, guides are heading back towards the mountains. Nepal has issued 348 climbing permits for Mount Manaslu, with many expeditions booked months in advance.