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With brief biographical details of the climbers.
This book offers a cultural and historical perspective on the Sherpa people, exploring how their traditional way of life has been impacted by such factors as urbanisation, modernisation, globalisation, and tourism. Though Nepal is a small country, it is rich in ethnic, religious, linguistic, and cultural resources. Various communities living in Nepal, including the Sherpas, have their own original cultures, traditions, and practices. Despite outside influence, the Sherpa people have preserved their distinct lifestyle, which encompasses a unique history, culture, religion, language, cuisine, and set of traditions. It was only after the summit of Everest in 1953 that domestic and foreign schol...
Sherpas are portrayed by Westerners as heroic mountain guides, or "tigers of the snow," as Buddhist adepts, and as a people in touch with intimate ways of life that seem no longer available in the Western world. In this book, Vincanne Adams explores how attempts to characterize an "authentic" Sherpa are complicated by Western fascination with Sherpas and by the Sherpas' desires to live up to Western portrayals of them. Noting that diplomatic aides at world summit meetings go by the name "Sherpa," as do a van in the U.K. built for rough terrain and a software product from Silicon Valley, Adams examines the "authenticating" effects of this mobile signifier on a community of Himalayan Sherpas w...
Predominantly on social life and customs of Sherpas of Solokhumbū, Nepal.
The Sherpas were dead, two more victims of an attempt to scale Mt. Everest. Members of a French climbing expedition, sensitive perhaps about leaving the bodies where they could not be recovered, rolled them off a steep mountain face. One body, however, crashed to a stop near Sherpas on a separate expedition far below. They stared at the frozen corpse, stunned. They said nothing, but an American climber observing the scene interpreted their thoughts: Nobody would throw the body of a white climber off Mt. Everest. For more than a century, climbers from around the world have journ-eyed to test themselves on Everest's treacherous slopes, enlisting the expert aid of the Sherpas who live in the ar...
This captivating chronicle delves into the untold story of a tribe of people who have played a significant role in mountain exploration and climbing in the Himalayas. Situated in northern India, Darjeeling was developed as a colonial retreat by the British in the early 1830s and soon became famous for its tea gardens, attracting locals from around the region, Nepal, and Tibet in search of work. When Darjeeling became the jumping-off point for early Himalayan expeditions, workers from the Sherpa and Bhutia communities soon established themselves as the preferred high-altitude porters, bringing fame, entwined with tales of valor, courage, and sacrifice, to the city. These are some of their stories. Over the course of a decade, authors Nandini Purandare and Deepa Balsavar conducted a series of interviews with Sherpas from Darjeeling, as well as their family members, descendants, friends, and contemporary climbers. Headstrap weaves a vivid tapestry of this particular Sherpa community, giving them the recognition in mountaineering literature that they deserve.
When 33-year-old New Zealand beekeeper Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa climbing partner Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Mt. Everest on May 29, 1953, they congratulated each other with a handshake and a hearty embrace. It was the beginning of a lifelong relationship between Hillary and the Sherpa people-a people whose courage, skill, and generosity of spirit made Himalayan exploration possible. Sir Edmund Hillary and the People of Everest is a story of giving back. The book begins with a vivid recounting of the conquest of Mt. Everest and goes on to beautifully chronicle Hillary's humanitarian and environmental efforts over the last half century. His work on behalf of the Sherpas includes raising funds, building schools, setting up two hospitals, and opening 12 medical clinics. His deep love, respect, and concern for the Sherpa people is unwavering, and his commitment shines through in whatever project is at hand.Using personal interviews and intimate photographs, photographer Anne B. Keiser and writer Cynthia Russ Ramsay paint an insightful portrait of an extraordinary man and his unmatched devotion to preserving the culture of the Sherpa people.
The world's most famous mountain, Everest remains for serious high-altitude climbers an ultimate goal. Ed Viesturs has gone on eleven expeditions to Everest, reaching the summit seven times. He's spent more than two years of his life on the mountain. No climber today is better poised to survey Everest's various ascents-both personal and historic. In The Mountain, Viesturs delivers just that: riveting you-are-there accounts of his own climbs as well as vivid narratives of some of the more famous and infamous climbs throughout the last century, when the honour of nations often hung in the balance, depending on which climbers summited first. In addition to his own experiences, Viesturs sheds li...
For generations of adventurers, Mount Everest and the world's greatest peaks have provided the ultimate testing ground for resolute men and women. So why climb? David Breashears answers this question with an intimate look at his life.