Who am I going with?

Everybody has been asking me: who am I going with? Well, it’s not easy finding a partner to climb Mt Everest. I have a lot of friends who would love to go, and are certainly qualified and would make great partners. The stumbling block is the price. I don’t have many friends who have $50k to throw at the mountain (and when you add airfare, tips, rescue insurance and specialized gear that you’ll never use anywhere else such as a down suit and 8000 meter boots, you can probably add $15k to that). I thought that I had lucked out: I went to Pumori in 2000 with a friend who has the experience and a lucrative job… And he wanted to go. Because his daughter was graduating last year, he asked me to wait a year, which I did, but this February, after I had wired the money to Kathmandu, he decided to cancel. I have to admit that it threw me for a loop. Everybody I tell this story to justifiably has questions, but I’m just going to say that I don’t have the answers, and that it’s time to move on. Please let this one go.

So, this winter I had the choice to wait another year or two in the hope that I could find another partner, or just go solo. I had already paid in full, and I wasn’t getting my money back. Obviously, I’m here. The fact of the matter is that I’m 61… waiting has its downsides.

I’m not really going alone. I will have two Sherpas with me. One of them, Galzn, met me at the Lukla airport and will be with me for the whole expedition. The other is already at Everest Base Camp. I’ve been told his name but it went in one ear and out the other (did I mention the 11 and 3/4 hour time change?). I’ve not met him yet. Presumably he’ll be shuttling loads up to the higher camps while we trek around.

There are a select few western climbers who succeed in the Himalayas without Sherpa support, but it’s remarkably rare. Most western climbers hire sherpas, and dare I say it: ALL western climbers hire Sherpas on the easy routes of famous peaks (more on that in a future post). I personally have never stood on top of a Himalayan peak without a Sherpa. I tried once. I didn’t make it. Dede and I got to the top of Baruntse (along with a 3rd American) accompanied by 4 Sherpas, and a few years later I climbed Ama Dablam 1 on 1 with a Sherpa. Even with an American partner, my expectation all along is that we would each be climbing with a Sherpa. It’s just easier and safer that way. Remember that Sir Edmond Hillary made the first ascent of Everest with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay.

So who are these Sherpas? Wikipedia says that “the Sherpas are one of the Tibetan ethnic groups native to the most mountainous regions of Nepal and Tibetan Autonomous Region. The term sherpa or sherwa derives from the Tibetan-language words ཤར shar (‘east’) and པ pa (‘people’), which refer to their geographical origin in eastern Tibet.” Perhaps a more simplistic answer is that they are the people that live in the mountains of eastern Nepal. They are very well adapted to altitude, and, from my point of view, their lives aren’t easy. These two attributes translate well to mountaineering. Their strength and work ethic are amazing to me. 15 years ago I remember trying to keep up with a Sherpa (Nima Tashi) at 22,000’ on Baruntse. He was 10 years my senior and had a fused ankle but I wasn’t even close to keeping up with him. He was in a different league.

Galzn (full name Fur Galzn Sherpa) was born and raised downstream of Lukla. He’s 37, has a wife and two teenage kids in Kathmandu, and makes his living supporting and guiding westerners like me in the mountains. He’s summitted Everest 5 times, and has also climbed Makalu, Lohtse, Daulagiri and Manaslu. I seem to be in good hands. The only downside is that his English is only fair. We can communicate the basic stuff. I can ask him if I should drink the orange juice that was just put in front of me (the answer was no) and talking about what gear to bring seems easy, but asking him what is a “Sherpa” got me nowhere. On the plus side, he laughs easily and if I keep my jokes simple, he seems to genuinely laugh with me. It’ll be interesting to see how our relationship evolves in the next two months.