Author: Frances Klatzel
Publisher: Rocky Mountain Books Ltd
ISBN: 1926855914
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 176
Book Description
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.
Gaiety of Spirit
Author: Frances Klatzel
Publisher: Rocky Mountain Books Ltd
ISBN: 1926855914
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 176
Book Description
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.
Publisher: Rocky Mountain Books Ltd
ISBN: 1926855914
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 176
Book Description
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.
Sherpa of Khumbu
Author: Barbara Anne Brower
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN:
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 246
Book Description
In the three and a half decades since Nepal opened its borders and Edmund Hillary stood with Tenzing on the summit of Everest the Sherpa world has changed irreversibly. Becoming a part of the rest of the world and being defined as a natural park have brought new pressures on the people and the land, new expectations about what Sagarmatha National Park ought to look like, whom it is for and by whom it should be managed. Expeditions and trekking groups, with demands for human and animal porterage have affected old animal husbandry practices and, together with other concomitant developments, have vitally affected both the traditional life of the Sherpa people and the fragile high mountain environment of Khumbu. This study, based on extensive fieldwork, looks at animal management in Sagarmatha National Park in the context of Sherpa subsistance, demonstrating the intricacy of the man-land relationship, the adaptability of traditional people and the range of considerations that must be taken into account in any attempt to modify traditional land-use practices. The Khumbu landscape is graphically described and the human role in modifying the natural landscape is explored. Sherpa history and economy are discussed, as are the substantial changes that the traditional life of Khumbu has undergone in the past few decades. Livestock provides a focal point for this wide-ranging investigation and the cattle economy in particular is described in some detail. In sum, this work provides a well-rounded and very readable account of Sherpa society in transition and its interaction with its environment and the external world. Although focusing on the Sherpa, its relevance stretches far beyond its immediatesubject to the study of all traditional societies subject to the pressures of change and the debate on the apparent hiatus between preservation of the environment and the legitimate rights of the people who depend upon it for a livelihood.
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN:
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 246
Book Description
In the three and a half decades since Nepal opened its borders and Edmund Hillary stood with Tenzing on the summit of Everest the Sherpa world has changed irreversibly. Becoming a part of the rest of the world and being defined as a natural park have brought new pressures on the people and the land, new expectations about what Sagarmatha National Park ought to look like, whom it is for and by whom it should be managed. Expeditions and trekking groups, with demands for human and animal porterage have affected old animal husbandry practices and, together with other concomitant developments, have vitally affected both the traditional life of the Sherpa people and the fragile high mountain environment of Khumbu. This study, based on extensive fieldwork, looks at animal management in Sagarmatha National Park in the context of Sherpa subsistance, demonstrating the intricacy of the man-land relationship, the adaptability of traditional people and the range of considerations that must be taken into account in any attempt to modify traditional land-use practices. The Khumbu landscape is graphically described and the human role in modifying the natural landscape is explored. Sherpa history and economy are discussed, as are the substantial changes that the traditional life of Khumbu has undergone in the past few decades. Livestock provides a focal point for this wide-ranging investigation and the cattle economy in particular is described in some detail. In sum, this work provides a well-rounded and very readable account of Sherpa society in transition and its interaction with its environment and the external world. Although focusing on the Sherpa, its relevance stretches far beyond its immediatesubject to the study of all traditional societies subject to the pressures of change and the debate on the apparent hiatus between preservation of the environment and the legitimate rights of the people who depend upon it for a livelihood.
The Sherpas and Their Original Identity
Author: Serku Sherpa
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527594408
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 168
Book Description
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.
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 1527594408
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 168
Book Description
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.
Khumbu Since 1950
Protected Landscapes and Cultural and Spiritual Values
Author: Josep-Maria Mallarach
Publisher: Kasparek Verlag
ISBN: 3925064605
Category : Conservation of natural resources
Languages : en
Pages : 191
Book Description
Documents, using case studies, the non-material values that are to be found in protected landscapes.
Publisher: Kasparek Verlag
ISBN: 3925064605
Category : Conservation of natural resources
Languages : en
Pages : 191
Book Description
Documents, using case studies, the non-material values that are to be found in protected landscapes.
Into Thin Air
Author: Jon Krakauer
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0679462716
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 318
Book Description
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The epic account of the storm on the summit of Mt. Everest that claimed five lives and left countless more—including Krakauer's—in guilt-ridden disarray. "A harrowing tale of the perils of high-altitude climbing, a story of bad luck and worse judgment and of heartbreaking heroism." —PEOPLE A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that "suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down." He was wrong. By writing Into Thin Air, Krakauer may have hoped to exorcise some of his own demons and lay to rest some of the painful questions that still surround the event. He takes great pains to provide a balanced picture of the people and events he witnessed and gives due credit to the tireless and dedicated Sherpas. He also avoids blasting easy targets such as Sandy Pittman, the wealthy socialite who brought an espresso maker along on the expedition. Krakauer's highly personal inquiry into the catastrophe provides a great deal of insight into what went wrong. But for Krakauer himself, further interviews and investigations only lead him to the conclusion that his perceived failures were directly responsible for a fellow climber's death. Clearly, Krakauer remains haunted by the disaster, and although he relates a number of incidents in which he acted selflessly and even heroically, he seems unable to view those instances objectively. In the end, despite his evenhanded and even generous assessment of others' actions, he reserves a full measure of vitriol for himself. This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy. "I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day," writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. "What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients." As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer recounts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I. In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters--a prestigious prize intended "to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment." According to the Academy's citation, "Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer. His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind."
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0679462716
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 318
Book Description
#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The epic account of the storm on the summit of Mt. Everest that claimed five lives and left countless more—including Krakauer's—in guilt-ridden disarray. "A harrowing tale of the perils of high-altitude climbing, a story of bad luck and worse judgment and of heartbreaking heroism." —PEOPLE A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that "suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down." He was wrong. By writing Into Thin Air, Krakauer may have hoped to exorcise some of his own demons and lay to rest some of the painful questions that still surround the event. He takes great pains to provide a balanced picture of the people and events he witnessed and gives due credit to the tireless and dedicated Sherpas. He also avoids blasting easy targets such as Sandy Pittman, the wealthy socialite who brought an espresso maker along on the expedition. Krakauer's highly personal inquiry into the catastrophe provides a great deal of insight into what went wrong. But for Krakauer himself, further interviews and investigations only lead him to the conclusion that his perceived failures were directly responsible for a fellow climber's death. Clearly, Krakauer remains haunted by the disaster, and although he relates a number of incidents in which he acted selflessly and even heroically, he seems unable to view those instances objectively. In the end, despite his evenhanded and even generous assessment of others' actions, he reserves a full measure of vitriol for himself. This updated trade paperback edition of Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy. "I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day," writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. "What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients." As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer recounts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I. In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters--a prestigious prize intended "to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment." According to the Academy's citation, "Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer. His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind."
Tigers of the Snow and Other Virtual Sherpas
Author: Vincanne Adams
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400851777
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 323
Book Description
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.
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400851777
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 323
Book Description
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.
Sherpas
Author: James F. Fisher
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520069412
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 247
Book Description
James Fisher combines the strengths of technical anthropology, literary memoir, and striking photography in this telling study of rapid social change in Himalayan Nepal. The author first visited the Sherpas of Nepal when he accompanied Sir Edmund Hilary on the Himalayan Schoolhouse Expedition of 1964. Returning to the Everest region several times during the 1970s and 1980s, he discovered that the construction of the schools had far less impact than one of the by-products of their building: a short-take-off-and-landing airstrip. By reducing the time it took to travel between Kathmandu and the Everest region from a hike of several days to a 45-minute flight, the airstrip made a rapid increase in tourism possible. Beginning with his impressions of Sherpa society in pre-tourist days, Fisher traces the trajectory of contemporary Sherpa society reeling under the impact of modern education and mass tourism, and assesses the Sherpa's concerns for their future and how they believe these problems should be and eventually will be resolved.
Publisher: Univ of California Press
ISBN: 0520069412
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 247
Book Description
James Fisher combines the strengths of technical anthropology, literary memoir, and striking photography in this telling study of rapid social change in Himalayan Nepal. The author first visited the Sherpas of Nepal when he accompanied Sir Edmund Hilary on the Himalayan Schoolhouse Expedition of 1964. Returning to the Everest region several times during the 1970s and 1980s, he discovered that the construction of the schools had far less impact than one of the by-products of their building: a short-take-off-and-landing airstrip. By reducing the time it took to travel between Kathmandu and the Everest region from a hike of several days to a 45-minute flight, the airstrip made a rapid increase in tourism possible. Beginning with his impressions of Sherpa society in pre-tourist days, Fisher traces the trajectory of contemporary Sherpa society reeling under the impact of modern education and mass tourism, and assesses the Sherpa's concerns for their future and how they believe these problems should be and eventually will be resolved.
Where Is Mount Everest?
Author: Nico Medina
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0698412168
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 114
Book Description
As the recent deaths of sixteen Sherpas underscore, climbing Mount Everest remains a daunting challenge. Located in the Himalayas, Everest is the highest mountain in the world at a whopping 29,028 feet. In this compelling narrative, Nico Medina guides readers through the mountain’s ancient beginnings, first human settlers, historic climbs, and the modern commercialization of mountain-climbing. With stories of expeditions gone wrong and miraculously successful summit climbs, this is a thrilling addition to the Where Is? series!
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0698412168
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 114
Book Description
As the recent deaths of sixteen Sherpas underscore, climbing Mount Everest remains a daunting challenge. Located in the Himalayas, Everest is the highest mountain in the world at a whopping 29,028 feet. In this compelling narrative, Nico Medina guides readers through the mountain’s ancient beginnings, first human settlers, historic climbs, and the modern commercialization of mountain-climbing. With stories of expeditions gone wrong and miraculously successful summit climbs, this is a thrilling addition to the Where Is? series!
Claiming the High Ground
Author: Stanley F. Stevens
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publishe
ISBN: 9788120813458
Category : Ethnology
Languages : en
Pages : 578
Book Description
Stanley Stevens brings new ecological and historical perspectives to his study of a subsistence society in ever-increasing contact with the outside world. The Sherpas of the Mount Everest region, famous for their mountaineering exploits, have frequently been depicted as victims of the world`s highest-altitude tourist boom. But have the Sherpas and their homeland been transformed by tourism? He is the first to analyze the complex interaction of local environmental knowledge, cultural beliefs, and socio-economic and political conditions in changing sherpas subsistence strategies, land use practices, and local resources management institutions. Claiming the High ground is must reading for all those interested peoples and concerned about the conservation of the earth`s high places.
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publishe
ISBN: 9788120813458
Category : Ethnology
Languages : en
Pages : 578
Book Description
Stanley Stevens brings new ecological and historical perspectives to his study of a subsistence society in ever-increasing contact with the outside world. The Sherpas of the Mount Everest region, famous for their mountaineering exploits, have frequently been depicted as victims of the world`s highest-altitude tourist boom. But have the Sherpas and their homeland been transformed by tourism? He is the first to analyze the complex interaction of local environmental knowledge, cultural beliefs, and socio-economic and political conditions in changing sherpas subsistence strategies, land use practices, and local resources management institutions. Claiming the High ground is must reading for all those interested peoples and concerned about the conservation of the earth`s high places.