Download or read book In the Shadow of the Mountain written by Silvia Vasquez-Lavado and published by Henry Holt and Company. This book was released on 2022-02-01 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “In climbing the Seven Summits, Silvia Vasquez-Lavado did nothing less than take back her own life—one brave step at a time. She will inspire untold numbers of souls with this story, for her victory is a win on behalf of all of us.”—Elizabeth Gilbert Endless ice. Thin air. The threat of dropping into nothingness thousands of feet below. This is the climb Silvia Vasquez-Lavado braves in her page-turning, pulse-raising memoir chronicling her journey to Mount Everest. A Latina hero in the elite macho tech world of Silicon Valley, privately, she was hanging by a thread. Deep in the throes of alcoholism, hiding her sexuality from her family, and repressing the abuse she’d suffered as a child, she started climbing. Something about the brute force required for the ascent—the risk and spirit and sheer size of the mountains and death’s close proximity—woke her up. She then took her biggest pain as a survivor to the biggest mountain: Everest. “The Mother of the World,” as it’s known in Nepal, allows few to reach her summit, but Silvia didn’t go alone. She gathered a group of young female survivors and led them to base camp alongside her. It was never easy. At times hair-raising, nerve-racking, and always challenging, Silvia remembers the acute anxiety of leading a group of novice climbers to Everest’s base, all the while coping with her own nerves of summiting. But, there were also moments of peace, joy, and healing with the strength of her fellow survivors and community propelling her forward. In the Shadow of the Mountain is a remarkable story of heroism, one which awakens in all of us a lust for adventure, an appetite for risk, and faith in our own resilience.

Download or read book In the Shadow of Everest written by Robert S. Ove and published by Tate Publishing. This book was released on 2011 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the verge of retirement, Robert Ove was struck by an advertisement in the Lutheran Magazine for a volunteer mission trip to Kathmandu, Nepal-a valley in the shadow of Mt. Everest. His wife, Pat, agreed to join him in this yearlong adventure. Their time in Nepal changed their lives. They came to love the Nepalese and became lovingly known as Abba and Ama (Father and Mother). They now encourage everyone to take at least a short-term mission trip at some point, but not without proper advice on what to expect. Though every country and culture is different, Robert's personal experience in Nepal offers invaluable information for future missionaries on dealing with language barriers, exotic foods, foreign transportation, foreign politics, religious customs, disease and contamination, adverse living conditions, and religious intolerance. Some struggles span continents; others are more localized. Join Robert as he encourages and forewarns you. Discover the miracles that abound In the Shadow of Everest despite, or perhaps in light of, the seeming misfortunes that have befallen the inhabitants. See what God can do if you obey his leading, even when you think your future is on the golf course.

Download or read book Gaiety of Spirit written by Frances Klatzel and published by Rocky Mountain Books Ltd. This book was released on 2011-11-29 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Climbing the Seven Summits written by Mike Hamill and published by The Mountaineers Books. This book was released on 2012-05-04 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: CLICK HERE to download the first 50 pages from Climbing the Seven Summits * First and only guidebook to climbing all Seven Summits * Full color with 125 photographs and 24 maps including a map for each summit route * Essential information on primary climbing routes and travel logistics for mountaineers, with historical and cultural anecdotes for armchair readers Aconcagua. Denali. Elbrus. Everest. Kilimanjaro. Kosciuszko. Vinson. To a climber, these mountains are known as the Seven Summits* -- the highest peaks on each continent. If you've ever dreamed of climbing Denali or Everest, or joining the even more exclusive "Seven Summiters " club, then Climbing the Seven Summits is the guidebook you need to turn your dream into reality. With Mike Hamill as your guide, you will discover different approaches to tackling the list, as well as details on what you'll need to plan an expedition and what to expect from each climb. For each mountain you'll learn about documents and immunizations, expedition costs, training, guiding options, climbing styles, best seasons, essential gear, day-by-day itineraries, summit routes, maps showing approaches and camps, regional natural history, cultural notes, and even post-climb activities like going on safari in Africa or wine-touring in South America. Throughout you'll also find helpful and inspiring stories from the likes of Conrad Anker, Vern Tejas, Damien Gildea, Eric Simonson, and other famed climbers. Special insider tips from Hamill, based on his years of experience, as well as full-color photographs of each peak round out this collectible guidebook. And, because there remains some controversy about whether Kosciuszko in Australia or Carstenz Pyramid on the island of New Guinea is the "seventh summit," this guidebook to the Seven Summits actually covers eight mountains! *Within mountaineering circles there is debate over which peaks are considered the official Seven Summits. For the purposes of this guidebook, the Seven Summits are based on the continental model used in Western Europe, the United States, and Australia, also referred to as the 'Bass list.'

Download or read book The Next Everest written by Jim Davidson and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2021-04-20 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A dramatic account of the deadly avalanche on Everest—and a return to reach the summit. On April 25, 2015, Jim Davidson was climbing Mount Everest when a 7.8-magnitude earthquake released avalanches all around him and his team, destroying their only escape route and trapping them at nearly 20,000 feet. It was the largest earthquake in Nepal in eighty-one years and killed nearly 8,900 people. That day also became the deadliest in the history of Everest, with eighteen people losing their lives on the mountain. After spending two unsettling days stranded on Everest, Davidson's team was rescued by helicopter. The experience left him shaken, and despite his thirty-three years of climbing and serving as an expedition leader, he wasn’t sure that he would ever go back. But in the face of risk and uncertainty, he returned in 2017 and finally achieved his dream of reaching the summit. Suspenseful and engrossing, The Next Everest portrays the experience of living through the biggest disaster to ever hit the mountain. Davidson's background in geology and environmental science makes him uniquely qualified to explain why the seismic threats lurking beneath Nepal are even greater today. But this story is not about “conquering” the world’s highest peak. Instead, it reveals how embracing change, challenge, and uncertainty prepares anyone to face their next “Everest” in life.

Download or read book Two at the Top written by Uma Krishnaswami and published by Groundwood Books Ltd. This book was released on 2021-10-01 with total page 36 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary each tell their story, culminating in their thrilling ascent of Mount Everest. Tenzing Norgay grew up in Nepal, herding yaks in the shadow of Chomolungma, the mountain also known as Everest. He has always dreamed of climbing to the top. He becomes a guide, leading treks through the Himalayas, and finally attempts the highest mountain himself, but doesn’t make it. Across the ocean, in New Zealand, Edmund Hillary grew up tending his father’s bees. He climbed his first mountain at sixteen and has climbed all over the world ever since. He tries Everest, with no success. In 1953, the two men set out on the same expedition to climb Everest. Their party numbers four hundred, counting all the guides and porters. But the climb is grueling, and eventually Norgay and Hillary are the only two determined to continue. They tramp over windswept glaciers, crawl across rope bridges, hack footholds in the ice ... until finally they reach the top of the world! This remarkable true adventure story, told in a dual narrative, includes illustrated backmatter rich in geography, history and science. Key Text Features author’s note bibliography facts further reading historical context illustrations Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.3 With prompting and support, identify characters, settings, and major events in a story. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.3 Describe characters, settings, and major events in a story, using key details.

Download or read book Bringing Progress to Paradise written by Jeff Rasley and published by Conari Press. This book was released on 2010-09-15 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What does it mean to bring progress—schools, electricity, roads, running water—to paradise? Can our consumer culture and desire to “do good” really be good for a community that has survived contentedly for centuries without us? In October 2008, climbing expedition leader and attorney, Jeffrey Rasley, led a trek to a village in a remote valley in the Solu region of Nepal named Basa. His group of three adventurers was only the third group of white people ever seen in this village of subsistence farmers. What he found was a people thoroughly unaffected by Western consumer-culture values. They had no running water, electricity, or anything that moves on wheels. Each family lived in a beautiful, hand-chiseled stone house with a flower garden. Beyond what they already had, it seemed all they wanted was education for the children. He helped them finish a school building already in progress, and then they asked for help getting electricity to their village. Bringing Progress to Paradise describes Rasley’s transformation from adventurer to committed philanthropist. We are attracted to the simpler way of life in these communities, and we are changed by our experience of it. They are attracted to us, because we bring economic benefits. Bringing Progress to Paradise offers Rasley’s critical reflection on the tangled relationship between tourists and locals in “exotic” locales and the effect of Western values on some of the most remote locations on earth.

Download or read book Tigers of the Snow and Other Virtual Sherpas written by Vincanne Adams and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2014-05-06 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Beyond the Next Village written by Mary Anne Mercer and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2022-05-02 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Beyond the Next Village is Mary Anne Mercer’s memoir of discovery, growth, and awakening in 1978 Nepal, which was then a mysterious country to most of the world. After arriving in Nepal, Mercer, an American nurse, spent a year traveling on foot—often in flip-flops—with a Nepali health team, providing immunizations and clinical care in each village they visited. Communicating in a newly acquired language, she was often called upon to provide the only modern medicine available to the people she and her team were serving. Over time, she learned to recognize and respect the prominence of their cultural beliefs about health and illness. Encounters with life-threatening conditions such as severe malnutrition and ectopic pregnancy gave her an enlightening view of both the limitations and power of modern health care; immersed in villagers’ lives and those of her own team, she realized she was living in not just another country, but another time. This unique story of the joys and perils of one woman’s journey in the shadow of the Himalayas, Beyond the Next Village opens a window into a world where the spirits were as real as the trees, the birds, or the rain—and healing could be as much magic as medicine.

Download or read book My Old Man and the Mountain written by Leif Whittaker and published by Mountaineers Books. This book was released on 2016-09-20 with total page 359 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: • A fresh perspective on a famous father and a legacy forged on the icy slopes of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak In 1963, the world followed the first American Mount Everest Expedition, and watched as “Big Jim” Whittaker became the first American to stand on top of the world. He returned home a hero. My Old Man and the Mountain is Leif Whittaker’s engaging and humorous story of what it was like to “grow up Whittaker”—the youngest son of Jim Whittaker and Dianne Roberts, in an extended family of accomplished climbers. He shares glimpses of his upbringing and how the pressure to climb started early on. Readers learn of his first adventures with family in the Olympic Mountains and on Mount Rainier; his close yet at times competitive relationship with his brother Joss; his battle with a serious back injury; and his efforts to stand apart from his father’s legacy. With wry honesty he depicts being a recent college grad, still living in his parents’ home and trying to find a purpose in life—digging ditches, building houses, selling t-shirts to tourists—until a chance encounter leads to the opportunity to climb Everest, just like his father did. Leif heads to Nepal with all the excitement, irony, boredom, and trepidation that are part of high-altitude climbing. Well-known guides Dave Hahn and Melissa Arnot figure prominently in his story, as does “Big Jim.” But Leif’s story is not his father’s story. It’s a unique coming of age tale on the steep slopes of Everest and a climbing adventure that lights the imagination and fills an emotional human endeavor with universal meaning.

Download or read book Insight Guides Nepal Travel Guide eBook written by Insight Guides and published by Rough Guides UK. This book was released on 2017-12-01 with total page 691 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nepal maintains a formidable allure for travellers - the name "Kathmandu" alone is enough to set feet itching. Be inspired to visit by the new edition of Insight Guide Nepal, a comprehensive full-colour guide to this fascinating and dramatically beautiful country, home to eight of the world's ten highest mountains. Inside Insight Guide Nepal: A fully-overhauled edition by our expert Nepal author Stunning, specially-commissioned photography that brings this breathtaking country and its people to life. Highlights of the country's top attractions, including the mighty Mount Everest and the medieval temples of Bhaktapur in our Best of Nepal.Descriptive region-by-region accounts cover the whole country from the cultural riches of the Kathmandu Valley to the Terai's jungles. Detailed, high-quality maps throughout will help you get around and travel tips give you all the essential information for planning a memorable trip. About Insight Guides: Insight Guides has over 40 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce around 400 full-colour print guide books and maps as well as picture-packed eBooks to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture together create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.

Download or read book The Springs of Namje written by Rajeev Goyal and published by Beacon Press. This book was released on 2012-09-11 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Peace Corps volunteer’s inspirational story about the power of small change In 2001, Peace Corps volunteer Rajeev Goyal was sent to Namje, a remote village in the eastern hills of Nepal. Brimming with idealism, he expected to find people living in conditions of misery and suffering; instead, he discovered a village full of happy, compassionate people. After organizing the villagers to build a water-pumping system in the midst of the dangerous Maoist war that had gripped the country, Goyal learned how complex rural development truly is. He also witnessed how the seemingly lowliest villager can hold profound power to influence not only his or her own village but also the highest rungs of government. Years after this experience, Goyal applied the lessons he learned in Namje to his work on Capitol Hill. Approaching Congress as if it were a Nepalese caste system, Goyal led a grassroots campaign to double the size of the Peace Corps. His unique approach to advocacy included strategically positioning himself outside the men’s room of the capitol building waiting for lawmakers to walk out. As a result of his determined bird-dogging, Goyal managed to make allies of more than a hundred members of Congress and in the process, he ruffled the feathers of some of the most powerful figures in Washington. But due to his efforts, the Peace Corps was granted a $60-million increase in funding, the largest dollar-amount increase in the organizations history. On this path to victory Goyal endured a number of missteps along the way, and, as he reveals, his idealism at times faded into fear, anger, and frustration. In this honest and inspirational account of his life as an activist, Goyal offers daring ideas for how the Peace Corps and other organizations can be even more relevant to our rapidly changing world. He urges environmentalists, educators, farmers, artists, and designers to come together and contribute their talents. Filled with history, international politics, personal anecdotes, and colorful characters, The Springs of Namje is a unique and inspiring book about the power of small change.

Download or read book Locating the Field written by Simon Coleman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-09-09 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Are reports of the death of conventional fieldwork in anthropology greatly exaggerated? This book takes a critical look at the latest developments and key issues in fieldwork. The nature of 'locality' itself is problematic for both research subjects and fieldworkers, on the grounds that it must now be maintained and represented in relation to widening (and fragmenting) social frames and networks. Such developments have raised questions concerning the nature of ethnographic presence and scales of comparison. From the social space of a cybercafe to cities in India, the UK and South Africa among others, this book features a wide range of ethnographic studies that provide new ways of looking at the concepts of 'locality' and 'site'. It shows that rather than taking key fieldwork processes such as globalization and mobility for granted, anthropologists are well-placed to examine and critique the totalizing assumptions behind these notions.

Download or read book No Barriers written by Erik Weihenmayer and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2017-02-07 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bestselling author Erik Weihenmayer, who Jon Krakauer calls “an inspiration,” tells the epic story of his latest adventures, including solo kayaking The Colorado River.

Download or read book Tenzing and the Sherpas of Everest written by Tashi Tenzing and published by HarperCollins Australia. This book was released on 2011-01-01 with total page 43 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2003, the world will celebrate the 50th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary and tenzing Norgay Sherpa's historic ascent of Mount Everest, an event which became the defining moment in 20th-century adventure and delivered fame and glory to the men who took part in the expedition. All, perhaps, except tenzing, who, after a brief honeymoon period with the world's media and political leaders, returned to his humble home in the hill station of Darjeeling, India, and never properly received the credit and plaudits he so richly deserved. In 1986 he passed away, having touched the hearts of all those he came across, and having done so much for his people. tenzing and the Sherpas of Everest is the inspiring story of this poor and illiterate man who left his small ancestral village in a remote part of the Himalaya and through grit, courage and sheer determination climbed the world's highest mountain and become a hero around the globe. But it is also a tribute to tenzing's family and the Sherpa people who have contributed so much to exploration in the Himalaya over the last hundred years.

Download or read book Flying Off Everest written by Dave Costello and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2014-05-06 with total page 219 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Perched impossibly on a ridge overlooking a 10,000-foot drop into Tibet, Sano Babu Sunuwar and Lakpa Tsheri Sherpa wait. Heel to toe, connected at the waist by a pair of carabineers that’s connected to nothing else, they stare down the North Face of Mount Everest, a red and white nylon tandem paragliding wing fluttering behind them. They know that jumping off the top of the world marks only the beginning of a longer, more audacious journey. And they know that the two-mile ride down Everest will be the easiest part. If the jump doesn’t kill them. In April 2011 the two unsponsored Nepalis set out on an unprecedented expedition to climb Everest, paraglide from its peak, and paddle nearly 400 miles to the ocean. Little problems wouldn’t stop them. Like the fact that Babu had no technical climbing experience. And that Lakpa had never been kayaking—or swimming. But after summiting, surviving their flight off the world’s tallest mountain, and being arrested, robbed, and nearly drowned—repeatedly—the two friends discovered their adventure had only just begun.

Download or read book Nepal Himalaya written by H. W. Tilman and published by Read Books Ltd. This book was released on 2013-01-28 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There can be no country so rich in mountains as Nepal. This narrow strip of territory, lying between Sikkim and Garhwal, occupies 500 miles of India's northern border; and since this border coincides roughly with the 1,500-mile-long Himalayan chain, it follows that approximately a third of this vast range lies within or upon the confines of Nepal. So starts this breathtaking account of mountaineering and exploring this isolated and awe-inspiring country by one of the most famous men in mountaineering. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.