Ang Tshering Sherpa reports in from Nepal

Two weeks ago, between the 23rd and 25th of November, my son, Dawa Steven and I participated in the Prague Alpinism Festival. This great even is organized by my good friend Ladislav Jirasko. Every year, Ladislav and his team do a great job and I feel very happy to see that each year the festival gets bigger and bigger. This year, the festival was attended by many renowned climbers such as Peter Habeler, Kurt Diemberger and Hans Kammerlander to name a few. I encourage all of you to attend if you are in that part of the world. 

I felt very encouraged to see many strong young climbers also participating. I especially liked the presentation by Boris Lorencic, part of the Piolet d'Or  2006 winning Slovenian team. They were awarded the golden ice axe for their outstanding climb of Mt. Chomolhari (7326m) and her surrounding sister peaks.  

Hans Kammerlander also spoke of his amazing climb of Jassamba (7350m). It was his third attempt on this beautiful mountain. It looked like a very difficult expedition and we are very happy and proud that he finally summitted. I encourage all of you to find out more about these climbers and their great work. 

Furthermore, I felt great pride when Hans Kammerlander and Peter Habeler described Nepal as their second home and favorite place in the world. It was clear from their slide shows and presentations that they love the Nepali people. And of course we consider them also as Nepalese. 

I am also very proud to announce that my own son, Dawa Steven Sherpa, gave a presentation during the festival. He spoke about the dangers of climate change on our glaciers and the urgent need for action. In that context he also introduced his plans for the Everest Eco Expedition in spring 2008.  Eco Everest aims to raise awareness of glacial melting and the formation of glacial lakes and it also aims to raise funds for further and continued studies of those glacial lakes.

Since returning from Prague there has not been so much news in Nepal. It is the quiet season and the atmosphere in Kathmandu is calmer. We are still waiting anxiously for the declaration of the royalty fee reductions of Nepalese Mountains. I believe that this will be done before the New Year. There is also no further news or developments from the Tibet side for the time regarding climbing expeditions in 2008. 

We were honored to be the guests of the Lord Mayor of Prague, Pavel Bem. He kindly invited us to stay in his official residence next to the City hall. The Lord Mayor is also an active climber and had summitted Mt. Everest in spring 2008. I was very surprised to learn of his deep knowledge about mountaineering history and I feel we should be very proud to call such an esteemed person our peer. 

Recently a team of nine producers from "Destination Truth" held a press conference in Kathmandu after spending a week in the Khumbu region in search of the Yeti.  They stated that they had "discovered footprints that merit further investigation."  While the existence of the Yeti is part of our Sherpa folklore, I have also listened to many theories from researchers and scholars. Over my lifetime in Nepal I have listened to many theories about the existence of the Yeti.  And I smile…. 

Sherpa herders claim to have made sightings during the winter and summer season when they take their herd to pasture especially in Gokyo valley of Everest Region. While search for the Yeti has been conducted many times in the Nepal Himalaya during the Spring and Autumn season, maybe it is time to have similar studies during the Summer and Winter months? 

Another type of study was also made very recently by some pioneering Japanese scientists from Keio University, led by Prof. Hiromichi Fukui. Prof. Fukui and his team set up remote controlled video surveillance equipment that will monitor Imja lake, upstream of the Everest Trail. This surveillance system allows researchers to monitor changes in the lake in real time, allowing early warning systems in case of dangers and also to help further studies to reduce the dangers. These are the sort of research work that we hope to encourage and fund with the Everest Eco-Expedition in 2008.    

I hope that you all have a good holiday season and I hope to be in touch again very soon with news about the Royalty fees.

Kind Regards, 

Ang Tshering Sherpa

Chairman

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