There has been one person who as kept track of every expedition since 1963 in the Nepal Himalaya. Now in her 80s Elizabeth Holly has interviewed every expedition leader from Reinhold Messner to Jerzy Kukuchka. She really is the gate keeper to the land of the high mountains and if you are on expedition you want to meet with her. She is the encyclopedia of climbing routes and peaks. I met with her yesterday to go over the details of the Kangchung Expedition. I was delighted to find that the West Peak or Kangchung Nup has not seen an ascent since 1959 and has only seen 3 ascents. The East Peak may be a first ascent but research is still being done.
I am always excited to meet with Elizabeth as she has become a friend over the years. She has so many stories and she keeps us climbers in line. After each expedition we have to meet with Elizabeth and she grills us as to what we saw from the summit. She wants to know if we actually stood atop. She can tell you what you will see from the top of any peak. She can tell you rock features, snow depressions, descriptions of gully's and probably what way the wind will be blowing. I am exaggerating only a bit here. One thing I am not exaggerating is Elizabeth's sixth sense. Other expedition leaders will tell you and we have talked about it amongst ourselves, Elizabeth can tell when any leader has entered Nepal with out any information given as to arrival date or flight itineraries. For our Kangchung expedition I had emailed her 3 weeks ago and told her of our plans. I even told her I would be arriving on the 18th even though I was arriving on the 15th. When I walk into the hotel lobby on the 15th two minutes later the lobby Manager called me over to the phone. Two minutes after I entered the hotel! On the other end of the line was Elizabeth wondering if we could meet. This is not coincidence. She has located me within 2 hours of arriving in Nepal for every expedition I have done for the last 18 years. I never have given her any flight details or arrival times.
Thank You Elizabeth for all you do. Keeping track of us dirt bag climbers. Thank you for being the gate keeper for the high realm and knowing where I am going to be at before I even know.
I am always excited to meet with Elizabeth as she has become a friend over the years. She has so many stories and she keeps us climbers in line. After each expedition we have to meet with Elizabeth and she grills us as to what we saw from the summit. She wants to know if we actually stood atop. She can tell you what you will see from the top of any peak. She can tell you rock features, snow depressions, descriptions of gully's and probably what way the wind will be blowing. I am exaggerating only a bit here. One thing I am not exaggerating is Elizabeth's sixth sense. Other expedition leaders will tell you and we have talked about it amongst ourselves, Elizabeth can tell when any leader has entered Nepal with out any information given as to arrival date or flight itineraries. For our Kangchung expedition I had emailed her 3 weeks ago and told her of our plans. I even told her I would be arriving on the 18th even though I was arriving on the 15th. When I walk into the hotel lobby on the 15th two minutes later the lobby Manager called me over to the phone. Two minutes after I entered the hotel! On the other end of the line was Elizabeth wondering if we could meet. This is not coincidence. She has located me within 2 hours of arriving in Nepal for every expedition I have done for the last 18 years. I never have given her any flight details or arrival times.
Thank You Elizabeth for all you do. Keeping track of us dirt bag climbers. Thank you for being the gate keeper for the high realm and knowing where I am going to be at before I even know.
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