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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 scholars began to take an interest in documenting the Sherpa people’s way of life. The Sherpa’s language is an oral one, and with this comes difficulties. Various translations into other languages have caused mistranslations and a loss of meaning. Written by a Sherpa, this book seeks to overcome these linguistic barriers and bring Sherpa culture to the reader. Serving as a collection of knowledge from distinguished scholars of the Sherpa community, religious leaders, intellectuals, social workers, and community organisations, this book is a unique (auto)ethnographic work which bridges the gap between researchers speaking other languages and Sherpa people.
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 area. Drawing on years of field research in the Himalayas, renowned anthropologist Sherry Ortner presents a compelling account of the evolving relationship between the mountaineers and the Sherpas, a relationship of mutual dependence and cultural conflict played out in an environment of mortal risk. Ortner explores this relationship partly through gripping accounts of expeditions--often in the climbers' own words--ranging from nineteenth-century forays by the British through the historic ascent of Hillary and Tenzing to the disasters described in Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air. She reveals the climbers, or "sahibs," to use the Sherpas' phrase, as countercultural romantics, seeking to transcend the vulgarity and materialism of modernity through the rigor and beauty of mountaineering. She shows how climbers' behavior toward the Sherpas has ranged from kindness to cruelty, from cultural sensitivity to derision. Ortner traces the political and economic factors that led the Sherpas to join expeditions and examines the impact of climbing on their traditional culture, religion, and identity. She examines Sherpas' attitude toward death, the implications of the shared masculinity of Sherpas and sahibs, and the relationship between Sherpas and the increasing number of women climbers. Ortner also tackles debates about whether the Sherpas have been "spoiled" by mountaineering and whether climbing itself has been spoiled by commercialism.
Sherpas: The Himalayan Legends Is A Compelling Narrative Of The Hardy Sherpas Who Inhabit The Solu Khumbu District Of Nepal And The City Of Darjeeling In India. The Book Is Based On The Author S Personal Intimate Experience, Human Relations And Meticulous Research.
Since the birth of modern mountaineering, the term Sherpa has been used to refer to Himalayan men working as guides on expeditions in and around the area of Mount Everest. Known mostly for their remarkable mountaineering skills and expertise, Sherpas are much more than mere high-altitude porters. The Sherpas are an extraordinary ethnic people who settled the remote valleys in the Himalayas about 500 years ago and whose culture is steeped in the rich philosophical traditions of Himalayan Buddhism. As distinguished British Himalayan mountaineer Eric Shipton wrote: “ . . . the temperament and character of the Sherpas . . . have won them a large place in the hearts of the Western travellers. Their most enduring characteristic is their extraordinary gaiety of spirit.” For three decades, writer and naturalist Frances Klatzel has lived and worked with Sherpas near Mount Everest. During this time, she has gained intimate access and a profound knowledge of the people, helping to create the Sherpa Cultural Centre at Tengboche, the largest Buddhist monastery in the region. Infused with the author’s own reflections and experiences, and complete with colour photos highlighting Sherpa life from the metaphysical to the everyday, Gaiety of Spirit will take the reader on a magnificent journey toward a richer level of understanding of Sherpa culture, traditions, symbols, belief and history.
Mount Everest - a place of mystery, majesty and unparalleled beauty - rises higher into the sky than any other mountain on Earth. Many stories have been told about the dangers and triumphs of climbing the summit - but few have been written about the Sherpa, the people who have lived on the mountain for centuries and consider it sacred. With stunning photographs and engaging text, Sacred Mountain presents a unique picture of Mount Everest - its history, ecology and people - that will captivate readers of all ages.
Sherpas the enigmatic inhabitants of Everest often evoke the image of superheroes with their extraordinary climbing skills, ability to survive at extreme high altitudes, their reputation for loyalty, and liveliness amidst hardships. This book delves deep into their history and society, their ancestral link with Tibet, their settlement in the Solukhumbu region of Nepal, their tryst with mountaineering and its impact, the challenges, aspirations and the way ahead. It is an attempt to understand the Sherpas in entirety, and to answer certain pertinent questions. Has mountaineering- a western passion and now a commercial activity destroyed the Sherpa culture? Is the Sherpaness we know, a western construct? What does the recently exhibited assertiveness in the Sherpa identity signify? How does the gender shape the mountaineering arena amongst the Sherpas? Are Sherpas- synonymous with mountaineering, moving away from it? Have they been a passive recipient of the changes ushered in their sacred land or have they rather maneuvered the process to their advantage and proved to be the canny tradesman that they earlier were? Contrary to their historical isolation, connected with the world now, what do the Sherpas actually want? The book provides an insight into the hearts and minds of these admirable people.
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 who live at the base of Mount Everest, Nepal, and its "deauthenticating" effects on anthropological representation. This book speaks not only to anthropologists concerned with ethnographic portrayals of Otherness but also to those working in cultural studies who are concerned with ethnographically grounded analyses of representations. Throughout Adams illustrates how one might undertake an ethnography of transnationally produced subjects by using the notion of "virtual" identities. In a manner informed by both Buddhism and shamanism, virtual Sherpas are always both real and distilled reflections of the desires that produce them.
Professor Ortner examines the Sherpas of the Himalayas.
CLICK HERE to download a sample from Sherpa • Ang Tharkay was the sirdar for Maurice Herzog’s Annapurna expedition in 1950—the first 8000-meter peak to be climbed • Ang Tharkay was a key member of the 1951 reconnaissance of Everest—which led to the successful 1953 ascent Sherpas have recently been in the public eye, in part because of the 2013 Everest “brawl,” the 2014 avalanche that took the lives of thirteen climbing Sherpas, and the 2015 earthquake that devastated Nepal. These events and others have led to much public discussion about how Sherpas today are treated and viewed by their Western employers. Sherpa expands our understanding of these issues by providing historical context. The autobiography of Ang Tharkay, who was born in 1908 and became one of the most renowned Sherpas of early Himalayan exploration, has long been a collector’s item in the original French-language edition but it has never been available in English until now. In Sherpa, Tharkay describes his experiences traveling with Eric Shipton and H.W. Tilman and as the sirdar (head Sherpa) on Maurice Herzog’s 1950 ascent of Annapurna. Few such Sherpa accounts have been written, and fewer still from these early Himalayan expeditions. Opening with a brief account of Tharkay’s childhood and background, Sherpa then immerses readers in expeditions on Everest, Nanga Parbat, and, of course, Annapurna. Tharkay reveals some of the politics within the Sherpa support teams: petty arguments and shared struggles that went unnoticed or at least unrecorded by those who hired them. Tharkay’s admiration of his employers is leavened with his recognition of their shortcomings, but his affection for the climbers who employed him, and theirs for him, radiates throughout the story. Sherpa includes an original foreword by Tashi Sherpa, founder of Sherpa Adventure Gear and the nephew of Ang Tharkay. He remembers how he and his young cousins worshipped “Agu” (Uncle) as a respected mountaineer and hero, a warm and safe presence for the family. This title is part of our LEGENDS AND LORE series. Click here > to learn more.
Focusing on some of the most famous climbs of the Himalayas, the author tells the story of his grandfather, Tenzing Norgay, who guided Hillary on the first successful ascent of Everest. He also explores many aspects of Sherpa society and history.