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The South
Asian Life & Times - SALT |
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Contents Adventure & Sport Five
Ultimate Everest Apa
Sherpa-21 Times
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Apa Sherpa - Tiger of the Everest
Apa Sherpa knows Everest better than anyone else
he has been up 21 times a record likely to remain unchallenged. The
super-cool, super-athlete, and super human Apa Sherpa broke his own world
record, one he has owned since his 10th summit in 1999, as he stood on top
of the world yet again in May of 2011. The 53-year old, who is now a
resident of Draper, Utah, USA (he moved there in 2006), seems to share a
spiritual connection with the tallest mountain on earth. It was almost an
annual pilgrimage for Apa to climb and reach the summit of Mount Everest
he also achieved a record of ten ascents in ten consecutive years.
What
were his thoughts as he stood five and a half miles above the earth, SALT
once asked Apa. "I thanked the mountain" he said.
Mt Everest
remained elusive and unconquerable until sixty years ago. When Hillary and
Tenzing became, in 1953, the first to step on the summit of the highest
mountain on earth it was breaking news like none other before. They were
global heroes one a climber from New Zealand, the other an equally
passionate climber - and a Sherpa. The mere fact that they had made it to
the top of the world was welcomed with worldwide celebrations and knighthood
for Edmund Hillary. Nobody in his or her rational mind could have then dared
to dream that fifty-eight years on, a 51-year-old Sherpa would celebrate his
21st successful summit attempt a world record many times over. Yes The
Mountain let him do it 21 times!
SALT in
conversation with Apa lovingly known as The Tiger of the Everest.
SALT:
Mt
Everest in the sixty years since its first ascent is now open to
mountaineering tourism where amateurs and first-timers are being taken up
by guides and resulting in more and more fatalities on the mountain. Should
there be stringent qualifications to allow only people with climbing
experience and not just for reasons of making money?
Apa:
People in Nepal have benefited from Mt. Everest, especially Sherpa people in
the Himalaya. This is good for Nepal and people in Everest region.
I would welcome climbers from all over the
world to climb Everest. My suggestion would be to climb other smaller peaks
before trying to climb Mt. Everest. This will give them a better opportunity
to adapt to higher altitude and climbing experience for their next big
adventure.
Of
the 21 times you have been up the mountain which climb was the toughest
and most challenging? Climbing
mountain is tough and challenging every time, but I would say the first was
the toughest and most challenging.
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