Thank You to the Sherpas of Everest

Condolences and prayers to the families who lost loved ones in the Everest Avalanche.  Without your sons and fathers Everest would never get climbed.

 You are the ones that make it possible for all who do not have the skill or strength to fix rope.  You are the ones that make it possible for all.

I hope you realize how important you are, I hope you realize that Everest is your mountain.  The mountain does not belong to Western Guide Services it belongs to you.

You are the angels of everest both in the physical and, for those who have died on her slopes, spiritual.

Peace and prayers to the safe passage of lost ones and to the families left behind.  

outstanding clients

We have a group of outstanding clients.  The high altitude arena is a new frontier for most.  Often when we enter a new experience or arena we want to try to gain as much control as possible.  As we grasp the reigns the full possibility of the magic of travel in the mountains is often diminished.  I believe this to be true in life.  The harder we grasp the less the spontaneous and wild the experience.

 This is the first time to altitude for most of them and they have entered this new experience with open hearts.  We move up to 14,200 feet tomorrow.   I am excited to see friends in the Thame and Gokyo valley as well as get a closer look at a climb for next October.  Peace to all.

Shiva Temple Kathmandu

Real Holy Men at Pashuputinath.  The Saddhu on the left had walked barefoot to upper Mustang valley.

Today our trekking group had a great time at the Shiva temple.  We witnessed bodies being prepared for cremation.  Most of the holy men at the temple are just for show.  We ran into these two who actually walk to holy places barefoot with only a cotton shawl.  We are talking Himalayan trails barefoot and often with snow.  They never know when or where there next meal will come from.  They just walk without fear.

Sherpa in Los Angeles

A Sherpa friend of mine was visiting Los Angeles.  His adventure was relayed to me by a friend who lives in Aspen.  I thought of my Sherpa friend and his life.  Waking at 5 a.m. every morning to the silence of the Himalayan dawn.  Only the wind and mountains brush the high atmosphere, stirring the soul.  A true nature bath. 

My friend would start his prayer meditation, as most Sherpas from the Khumbu region do, each morning.  His home is nestled in a hanging valley at 14,600 feet, higher than any peak in the lower 48.  After prayer he would start a fire in the stove, bundle himself and go for a walk in the shadow of holy Mt. Khumbila.  There are no trails where he walks.  He has shown me places in the Gokyo Valley where no foreigner has been.  Snow leopard dance here.

When my friend in Aspen relayed the story of my Sherpa friends travels in Los Angeles she laughed and paraphrased a statement that he had said.  He was riding in a car down Interstate 5 looking around, maybe a slight hint of discuss on his face.  He says to the person driving the car ( imagine a strong Sherpa accent). “Here we are driving down highway, coffee in one hand, steering wheel in other hand, texting on phone, and no one knows where they are going.”  I know this friend well and believe this statement had a physical as well as a spiritual meaning to it.  I believe he was speaking in metaphor.

I am a bone marrow transplant survivor.  Death seemed near on many occasion in the 3 year journey. There were times during the ordeal when I felt I was walking through an endless dark night with no light in sight, deep endless dark.  The beauty of such a severe journey is the awareness that comes.  I remember my life before transplant and know my life after.

My Sherpa friends statement “no one knows where they are going” reminds me to be awake and aware of how I spend my minutes. Every moment is sacred and being mindful of these sacred moments makes us truly alive.  

Stairway to moon

Several years back I was sitting around a small fire in the remote Himalaya.  We had a diverse trekking group.  It was dark but the stars in North Nepal on the border of Tibet cast a wonderful sprinkle of light.

The conversation turned to the moon.  How Beautiful, How blue, How mysterious, A spiritual teacher, How men had been there, and walked in the unknown.  On that comment a Sherpa from a small village of 8 stone huts interrupted.  "No man has been there!"  He said it with complete conviction.  We all smiled, humbled by the purity of the Sherpas statement.  I said "Well yes, man has flown there".  I grabbed a stick and mimicked a rocket flight.

The Sherpas are mountain people, they walk everywhere.  They will walk 3 days to make a 3 minute phone call.  2 days to visit a friend for an hour.  The trails are stony and steep.

The Sherpa interrupted again "No! No! No!  You show me the trail that goes there."