Posted on 05/17/2002 7:55:10 PM PDT by Balata
Edited on 09/03/2002 4:50:30 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
It was far from lonely at the top of the world Thursday as a single-day record of 54 climbers reached the summit of Mt. Everest, the highest peak on Earth.
Dozens of other adventurers, including 71-year-old Chicagoan Al Hanna, seeking to become the oldest climber to conquer Everest, were poised at other camps on the mountain on the Nepal-Tibet border.
They hope to make it to the top before the official mountaineering season ends May 31. That is when climbers must return to base camp in anticipation of the onset of monsoon rains that make climbing treacherous.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
"Into Thin Air" is a great read and also quite an expeience at IMAX. Dang, and I thought I had a great day!
He did make it that far, but it took quite a while, and along the way he encountered altitude sickness, the Khumba cough, extremely cold conditions, dodgy food, diarrhea, weight loss, etc.etc...
But the experience of getting close to Everest, of seeing the Himalayas up close, of meeting all the other trekkers, of actually seeing Everest Base Camp, are surely memories so grand, as to last him all his life...
But when he finally got to where he could view Everest Base Camp with his binoculars, all he could feel was relief, that he was then going to be able to go down, instead of trying to conquer Everest...he knew all too well, that he was in no shape to do that...
Besides trekking up into the mountains, he went to Chitwan Game Reserve...he hired two locals to take him in on foot, and found the whole experience to be something like he had never, ever done before...he says it was thrilling and dangerous, being at one with all the wild animals in the Reserve, but it was well worth the danger, or perhaps it was that danger, that made the whole experience all the more thrilling...
When he was in Kathmandu, he scoured all the little shops, and found this huge brass statue of a 'Ganesh'...he found it to be beautiful, and searched all of Kathmandu to find another one like it for a little lower price...
But in all of Kathmandu, he could not find another statue like it...so he was able to barter with the shop owner, and eventually got him to cut the price in half...
Of course, now the problem was, how to get it back to the states, because my son still had several months left on his world trip...
So he sent it to me and my husband...As the shop was about to send the statue, the massacre in Nepal occurred, and nothing was allowed to be shipped out of the country...so there was a delay of several weeks....
But then finally the shop was able to send the statue, and they emailed my son, who was now in Europe, and he emailed me...so it was quite an experience getting the info about this statue...
It was routed through Pakistan, then to New York City, then to Sacramento, then to Sea Tac Airport up near Seattle..
Then customs at Sea Tac called us, and gave us just a few days to drive up from Olympia, Washington to get the statue...we had to go to a special place up there, then on to customs with the paperwork, then to the warehouse to pick up the statue...
It was very well packed in a wooden crate, and barely fit into our car, it was so large...we unpacked it, and it was breathtaking...
It was quite the journey for that statue, but it made it here safely, much to everyone surprise...
I guess one of the most memorable experiences he had, was when the came upon a group of Tibetan nomads, and asked if they could spent a few nights with them...the nomads were quite fascinated by the 'giant' American(My son is very tall, at 6'5")...he played with the tibetan children, helped them round up their baby goats, gave the kids piggy back rides, allowed the kids to fiddle with their cameras and gadgets, and then they ate the traditional fare with the family and sat up late at night, conversing as best as they could with the Tibetans...
I myself have always wanted to see Tibet, but I know I will never get there...my son, knowing this, determined to send us some authentic Tibetan artifacts...a prayer wheel, tibetan apron like all the Tibetan ladies wear, a tibetan type of purse, which all good tibetan wifes wear attatched to their aprons, and an authentic pair of embroidered type boots, which are just magnificent...
All together my son spent two months in Nepal and two months in Tibet...it was a time he will remember for the rest of his life, and something to tell his future grandchildren about...
The most precious treasure, these two countries have, are the people. They are friendly, beautiful, interesting, and truly starved for interaction with people outside of their worlds.
They all seemed to at some point ask the same question and that was "Will you come back?". I could honestly tell them 'Yes I would come back because of the people'. When I told them this I could always see a large smile quickly cross their face.
It is very distressing to see the political instability in this part of the world. It could very well be closed to Americans for many years to come.
Sorry, but it's been done. A thousand times.
LOL! No matter how chic and yuppie it is to climb Everest, the bottom line for the trip is survival. Unfortunately when you spar with a mountain like Everest the mountain sometimes wins.
LOL! Well...almost. 808 have made it to the top while an additional 170 crashed and burned somewhere along the trail. That only totals 978, but I guess thats close enough for govt work. I don't think that totals people who have made it up the mountain more than once or some Sherpas who have made many trips.
And what he found all the more fascinating, is that altho the Tibetans are so very poor, and have endured much religious suppression at the hands of the Chinese, still they retain an extremely hopeful attitude, and endure, with a smile...
When he was staying with the nomads, he brought out one of his tourist books, and the nomads were fascinated with looking at the pics...there was a picture of the curren Dalai Lama, and when the Tibetans saw this pic, they each one, kissed the picture, and then held the pic to their foreheads...they were astounded to see the pic, as all pictures of the Dalai Lama are forbidden in Tibet, so this was a real treat for them to see an American bring them a picture of the Dalai Lama..
My son also mourns what the Chinese are currently doing to Tibet...he says, that each small town in Tibet, has a section of town, which the Chinese, have built on, and my son swears China must have only architect, as all these Chinese sections in different towns, look exactly the same, and that they are incredibly ugly...
I guess plans are to eventually move populations of Chinese into these sections, perhaps foretelling the pushing out of the Tibetans themselves, in an effort to eventually intermarry, and push the Tibetans to losing their cultural heritage...
According to my son, the Chinese authorities make it extremely difficult for one to even get into Tibet, and then even once there, the constant stopping at Chinese checkpoints, and the constant searching of luggage, and constant scrutinzing of visas and passports, makes the venture a difficult one, tho worth the trouble...
My son was just so glad to have made the trip to Tibet last year and to able to spend two months there, having to put up with the Chinese police, but also being able to evade them, when he so chose...he feels that with the constant encroachment of the Chinese, eventually the Tibet as he saw it, will no longer exist, or it will just be harder to find for future trekkers and visitors...
She was from one of the mountain tribes, her body was almost fully tattooed, she was bent forward demonstrating a body that had been withered over the years with hard work and pain. She was carrying a large bundle of sticks balanced on her head and when she smiled I could only see about three teeth in her mouth.
What I remember most about her most was her eyes as they literally lite up and shined. Our eyes communicated in as instant and the irony of the moment was not lost on either one of us for you see I am 6'4" tall and am a giant walking through her world.
I could tell you many stories like this. It was a great experience. I'm sure your son has been developing memories like this that will last him a lifetime.
I believe that we should really be celebrating this event, the first ascent of Everest, since according to Hillary Clinton, it was the climb which inspired her parents to name her "Hillary".
The one thing that bothered me was how her parents knew when she was born and years before the climb that some unknown climber from New Zealand, Edmund Hillary would make the ascent. Maybe her mother is actually the "smartest woman on earth".
I see you are also very tall...My son is 6'5", and even here in USA, someone of that height stands out(When my son graduated from college, and the graduates marched outside to the commencement exercises, we had no trouble finding him, just looked for one of the tallest guys)...so in his travels, he always stood out...
He did a brief work stint in Singapore, and his boss arranged housing for him, in a big house, where many different people from many different countries lived temporarily...the lady who ran the house, spoke almost no English, but whenever she came upon my son, she threw open her arms, and said, 'Giant American', and that is what he became known as...
Very good question counselor. How about these two facts?
"While this month marks the 49th anniversary of Hillary's and Tenzing's heroic feat..."
and...
Top Ten Comments Overheard at Hillary Clinton's 50th Birthday Party
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