The Sherpas were nomadic people who first settled in Khumbu, Nepal. They are regarded as elite mountaineers and experts in their local terrain. They were immeasurably valuable to early explorers of the Himalayan region, serving as guides at the extreme altitudes of the peaks and passes in the region, particularly for expeditions to climb Mount Everest. After Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay successfully reached the summit of Mount Everest in 1953, the term "Sherpa" became a term for a faithful assistant, a porter, or a guide, regardless of their ethnicity. "Sherpa" originally meant "people of the east." The first Sherpas are believed to have walked from the eastern slopes in the 16th century to reach the southern slopes of Mount Everest. In the remote village of the Khumbu valley, the Sherpas' traditional home, they formed their own special culture. Following their religious faith, they never tried to climb until the steady stream of "high peak climbers" from the West made mountain climbing a profitable business. But the Sherpas pay a high price for their special skills. Sherpas account for more than one-third of the people who are killed on Mount Everest. However, most of the 70,000 or so Sherpas in Nepal are not involved in mountain-climbing jobs. Some Sherpas still carry goods across the mountains for trade with people in Tibet. The sudden arrival of westerners has brought some of the comforts of modern life to the larger villages, so they might have telephone service and electricity. For the most part, the Sherpas have kept most of the traditional lifestyle. The arrival of Westerners has also made the Sherpas of Khumbu rich because the tourist economy produces more wealth. But is this better? The question from the principal of a school reflected considerable concern about this: "If the trekkers do not come, where are the jobs?"