52 “how do you tell your boss” Dr. Raghunath Aryal interview with Padoan in Kathmandu, 2009.
53 “grave human rights crisis” See Report of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, U.N. GAOR, 60th Sess., UN Doc. A/60/359 (2005), available at www.nepal.ohchr.org. See also Nepal: Heads of Three Human Rights Organizations Call for Targeted Sanctions, The International Commission of Jurists (April 18, 2006).
53 forced to flee The estimated number of refugees varies from 100,000 to 150,000, according to UNHCR, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International.
55 sneak in Interviews in Hungung were conducted by Zuckerman in 2009. As a journalist, he was not permitted in the region, so he snuck in.
56 250 people This estimate is based on Zuckerman’s observation during the height of the tourist season in 2009. Others have given different estimates, ranging from fifty to several hundred. The discrepancies may be a result of migration during the tourist season as well as the various meanings of Hungung, which, depending on context, can refer to an individual village, a collection of villages, or a region of the Upper Arun Valley.
58 “wasn’t safe to stay” This is based on interviews with Pasang’s parents in Kathmandu and his relatives and friends in Hungung. The village is now peaceful.
61 publicity stunt Most pundits were other climbers, interviewed by the authors in Kathmandu. Ms. Go was not overtly criticized in mainstream climbing blogs, such as ExplorersWeb and Everest News. Pasang had a vague understanding of the controversy surrounding Go, based on his online research and conversations with others, but it’s unlikely he knew the level of detail as described here.
62 kept rain out Lahmu Bhoteni, 2009 interview with Padoan at the home Lahmu shared with Big Pasang in Kathmandu.
4: THE CELEBRITY ETHNICITY
For the details on Sherpa genetics, we examined more than twenty studies. Cynthia Beall, professor of anthropology at Case Western Reserve University and an authority on Tibetan genetics, compiled much of the data. Although Beall’s research focuses on Tibetan highlanders, she said her research is generalizable to Sherpas. Evolutionarily speaking, Sherpas split from Tibetan highlanders very recently. To make this section easier to understand, we use the term Sherpa when, in many instances, the researchers studied Tibetan highlanders. We also interviewed Beall, and this section includes information from ongoing research. For the ethnicity details, we drew extensively from interviews and correspondence with Professor Sacherer and Professor Diemberger. The biography of Tenzing is based on an interview with his son, Jamling Tenzing Norgay, visiting Tenzing’s private museum at his home (Ghang La in Darjeeling), viewing his mountaineering gear at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute Museum in Darjeeling, and library research, with Tiger of the Snows by Tenzing Norgay (with James Ramsey Ullman) serving as a primary source and Ed Douglas’s Tenzing: Hero of Everest serving as our main secondary source.
64 Sherpa® diaperbag These are all real products, and the Sherpa trademark signs are part of the product names as advertised.
65 red-blood-cell count One of the best overviews of the research on this topic is C. M. Beall, “Adaptations to Altitude: A Current Assessment,” Annual Review of Anthropology 30 (2001), pp. 423–46.
65 populations well adapted to altitude In extreme altitudes, Sherpas’ bodies will ramp up red-blood-cell production, but not nearly as much as the bodies of other populations do.
65 dominant genetic trait Researchers have yet to identify the location of this gene, and the Sherpa red blood cells affected by this gene have yet to be compared with red blood cells in other populations.
66 oldest Sherpa clans See Michael Oppitz, “Myths and Facts: Reconsidering Some Data Concerning the Clan History of the Sherpa,” Kailash 2 (1974), pp. 121–31. When Oppitz wrote the clan history, he used the term Khamba throughout. At the time of his paper’s publication, he was unaware of the linguistic distinction between Khampa, meaning someone from Kham in eastern Tibet, and Khamba, meaning a poor, landless wanderer. The latter can be a derogatory term.
66 as much as 30 percent Interview and correspondence with Sacherer, October 2010.
66 naming system The naming system varies among villages and families. The version here is based on the system in Rolwaling.
67 roughly twenty clans The number of clans that are Sherpa is disputed. This number reflects an inclusive definition of the ethnicity. By the narrowest definition, there are only four clans plus a handful of subclans.
68 one of four types of Bhotias See Ed Douglas, Tenzing: Hero of Everest (Washington, DC: National Geographic, 2003), p. 6. The four Bhotia ethnic groups are Sikkimese, Sherpas, Drukpas, and Tibetans.
68 the Mayflower Sacherer provided this analogy.
68 Good faith Communication with Sacherer based on an unpublished manuscript, “The Sherpas of Nepal: Using Anthropology to Reconstruct History.”
69 bloodthirsty barbarians Zuckerman interview with Professor Hildegard Diemberger, University of Cambridge, 2010. Buddhists are not vegetarian, per se. No sin attaches to consuming the flesh of an animal that has died of natural causes. Slaughter, however, is a sin. And, as sin goes, there are varying degrees. Diemberger emphasizes the distinction between slaughter for consumption and sacrificial slaughter. Tibetan Buddhists, including Sherpas, do eat meat of slaughtered animals for essential nutrition, although they feel guilty about it and try to avoid direct responsibility by nudging the animal off a cliff or buying their steak from a Muslim butcher. Slaughter for consumption can be justified from the Buddhist perspective because it provides nourishment for the body, fueling it to perform good deeds. But Sherpas draw the line at sacrificial slaughter, which they regard as a gratuitous waste of life.
69 “stab you in the back” See Douglas, Tenzing: Hero of Everest, p. 11.
70 Tsechu, a pilgrimage site The name of the birthplace of Tenzing Norgay has been subject to half a century of translation error. Tshe-chu, which means “long-life water” in Tibetan, is a well-known pilgrimage site in the Kharta region. In some biographies of Tenzing Norgay, Tshe-chu was replaced by the word Cha-chu, which means “hot mineral springs” in Tibetan. See Ed Webster, Snow in the Kingdom (Eldorado Springs, CO: Mountain Imagery, 2000).
71 recruitment hub In the 1930s, Everest was attempted from the north side in Tibet, and the expeditions were exclusively British. Britain had a choke hold on Everest permits thanks to its influence with the Tibetan government.
71 “never get a job” Tenzing Norgay (with James Ramsey Ullman), Tiger of the Snows (New York: Putnam, 1955), p. 30.
72 compensate Sherpas preferentially See Douglas, Tenzing: Hero of Everest, p. 12.
72 “his attractive grin” See Eric Shipton, That Untravelled World (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1969), p. 97.
73 any mortal Tenzing had also come very close to the summit in 1952 with Swiss partner Raymond Lambert. The duo had reached 28,215 feet, just 813 feet shy of the summit.
73 “single cramponed foot” Jamling Tenzing Norgay and Broughton Coburn, Touching My Father’s Soul (Harper San Francisco, 2001), p. 93. Other books give slightly different versions of this incident.
74 “like a giant fish” John Hunt, The Ascent of Everest (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1953), p. 209.
74 “A few more whacks” Edmund Hillary, High Adventure: The True Story of the First Ascent of Everest (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003, anniversary edition), p. 226.
74 “under her wings” We used the version that appeared in the New York Times. Tenzing’s choice of metaphor also belies his origins. His biographer, Ed Douglas, learned that “hen” is the local name for Everest in the Kharta region.
74 Union Jack Tenzing held up four flags strung in the following order: the United Nations, the United Kingdom, Nepal, and India. The Union Jack is the most visible in the photograph. Tenzing’s face was obscured by the oxygen mask. Ed Douglas wrote that this anonymity allowed every nation to project its dreams onto this iconic image.
74 “on television” See
Tenzing Norgay, Tiger of the Snows, p. 272.
75 press conference. This version of the press conference is from Jamling Tenzing Norgay’s recollection of how his father, Tenzing, described it. Contemporary British sources describe Hunt’s press conference less critically. Hunt’s comments were based, in part, on Hillary’s account of having to drag Tenzing up the Hillary Step. No known transcripts exist.
75 “it doesn’t matter” Hillary did eventually say that he was first on the summit, but he waited to do so until after Tenzing’s death.
76 “draw their knives” See Douglas, Tenzing: Hero of Everest, p. 11. James Ramsey Ullman’s notes for Tiger of the Snows are in the Princeton University Library. Although anthropologists sometimes use the term Bhotia to mean a larger grouping of which Sherpas and Tibetans are part, Tenzing is using the term Bhotia interchangeably with Tibetan.
5: INSHA’ALLAH
Both authors visited Shimshal in April 2009, and Padoan traveled with Shaheen Baig through northern Pakistan in June 2009. The authors interviewed Shaheen’s wife, Khanda, his children, his parents, his close friend Qudrat Ali, his climbing partner Simone Moro, and his employer, Nazir Sabir, as well as the families of Karim and Jehan. The folklore of the region is from stories locals told Zuckerman and Padoan, supplemented with academic studies and Pam Henson’s Shimshal (Obisan Press, 2006) and The Women of Shimshal (Shimshal Publishing, 2010). Many of the details relating to the Baltit Fort are based on the authors’ visit to it and interviews with Soukat Hayat of the Baltit Heritage Trust. For descriptions of Younghusband’s exploits, we relied on his own accounts in Wonders of the Himalaya (John Murray, 1924) and The Heart of a Continent (John Murray, 1896), as well as Peter Hopkirk’s The Great Game (John Murray, 1990). We supplemented the research with Patrick French’s biography Younghusband: The Last Imperial Adventurer (HarperCollins UK, 2004), and Where Three Empires Meet (Longmans, Green, 1918) by contemporary historian E. F. Knight. Knight was present during the siege of Hunza as a reporter for British newspapers. Some of the details about the Mir are also from R. C. F. Schomberg, who wrote Between the Oxus and the Indus (Lahore: al-Biruni, 1935) and befriended Safdar Ali in exile. For the campaign to defeat the Mir, we also drew from Algernon Durand’s The Making of the Frontier (London: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1899). The quotes and details, such as the Mir’s conversations with Younghusband, appear in several of these accounts and are based largely on Younghusband’s own writings. The physical descriptions are from photographs and the contemporary accounts. For the details of the porter selection process, we interviewed Haji Baig, the only living high-altitude porter of the 1953 Nanga Parbat expedition, and we visited the Durbar below the Baltit Fort where the selection took place. The Mir’s ceremonial coat is on display at the Darbar Hunza Hotel. As mentioned above, Padoan climbed with Karim on Broad Peak in 2004, so some of the observations about him are from their interactions. The descriptions of Karim’s interactions with his family and his departure for K2 are based on interviews with his wife, Parveen, and his father, Shadi.
79 a strange creature For further reading, see Michel Peissel, The Ants’ Gold (New York: HarperCollins, 1984), in which the author sets out to solve this mystery posed by Herodotus. The legend of the gold-digging ants was popular with Alexander and his troops.
79 “bigger than foxes” Herodotus, The Histories, 3.102–5.
79 marmots Marlise Simons, “Himalayas Offer Clue to Legend of Gold-Digging ‘Ants,’ ” New York Times, November 25, 1996.
79 “the Bride” Iftikhar Haider Malik, The History of Pakistan (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008).
81 had to be secured For further reading, see Peter Hopkirk, The Great Game (London: John Murray, 1990).
81 considered marriage “coercive” For more details, see Patrick French, Younghusband: The Last Great Imperial Adventurer (HarperCollins UK, 2004), p. 283.
82 “bullets and stones whizzing” Francis Younghusband, The Heart of a Continent (London: John Murray, 1896), p. 228.
83 vodka and brandy See Francis Younghusband, Wonders of the Himalaya (London: John Murray, 1924), p. 183.
83 “hereditary failings” E. F. Knight, Where Three Empires Meet (London: Longmans, Green, 1918), p. 350. Knight portrayed Safdar Ali in harsh terms, but the Mir eventually found his apologist. Colonel R. C. F. Schomberg, who befriended Safdar Ali during his exile in Yarkand, claims that at least one instance of fratricide (the killing of a fourth brother in Shimshal) was “self-defense.” Schomberg could find no excuse, however, for the other killings. See R. C. F. Schomberg, Between the Oxus and the Indus (Lahore: al-Biruni, 1935), p. 153.
83 “redeeming feature” Algernon Durand, The Making of a Frontier (London: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1899), p. 230.
83 “paying blackmail” Younghusband, Wonders of the Himalaya, p. 199.
84 “soap for his wives” Younghusband, Wonders of the Himalaya, p. 201.
84 “poor creature” Younghusband, Wonders of the Himalaya, p. 202.
84 on a platter Knight, Where Three Empires Meet, p. 361.
84 “pomade and cosmetics” Knight, Where Three Empires Meet, p. 487.
84 pseudoscientists See, for example, Ralph Bircher, The Hunzas: A People without Illness (Bern: Huber, 1936).
85 20 rupees In 1953, the exchange rate for one U.S. dollar was 3.3 Pakistani rupees.
86 hereditary Mir Crown Prince Ghazanfar Ali Khan would have ascended the throne in 1976 if Pakistan had not disbanded the kingdom two years earlier and stripped his father of royal status. The Mir’s family continues to wield significant political power in the elected government. As a show of respect, the crown prince is called “Mir” by foreign dignitaries.
87 Wakhi Wakhi-speaking people of Shimshal are considered a distinct ethnic group from the Hunzas. During the Great Game era, many Hunza raiders employed by the Mir assimilated into Wakhi villages.
87 taste the summit Simone Moro was even closer to the summit when he turned around at 2 p.m. In 2011, Moro would pioneer the first winter ascent in the Karakorum on Gasherbrum II.
89 crystal palace The mythical palace is translucent with gaudy pearl and coral decor. Gottlieb W. Leitner, The Hunza and Nagyr Handbook (Calcutta: Superintendent of Government Printing, 1889), p. 6.
91 “What about carpentry?” This conversation is based on Shadi’s recollection.
6: THE APPROACH
We rode a jeep along the same route that Karim took. We based these descriptions of the ride to Askole on that road trip. Further descriptions of Askole are from Padoan’s trek to K2 as well as from videos and conversations with climbers about what they were doing during their trek to Base Camp in 2008. Because of political instability, many of the LAPs interviewed for this section were interviewed not in their villages but rather in Skardu or Machulu. (They were compensated for their three days of travel expenses.) The description of K2 Base Camp is from photos, videos, and interviews, as well as from Padoan’s visit to the Gilkey Memorial in 2004. The descriptions of what the porters carried are from interviews with the climbers. Chhiring described sky burials, but his description was supplemented with the writings of anthropologist Sherry Ortner. The incident involving Mr. Kim and the quartz rock was described by several sherpas as well as by Jamie McGuinness.
95 “rolling down avalanches” See E. F. Knight, Where Three Empires Meet (London: Longmans, Green, 1918), p. 359.
96 LAPs In Balti, low-altitude porters are called khurpas. For clarity and consistency, we use the term low-altitude porters, even in translations where the speaker used the word khurpas.
99 Yaqub As a LAP, Yaqub was responsible for bringing his own food. The expedition kitchen crew is responsible only for feeding the HAPs and the clients. (As with many other porters, Yaqub doesn’t use a last name.)
101 the uninsured Although expeditions could buy more extended coverage for their porters, Raza said he’d never heard of that happening in his thirty-four years with the company.
101 uninsurable Of course, you can insure
anything if you’re willing to pay a high enough premium. Celebrities often insure such body parts as legs, faces, buttocks, and breasts, for exorbitant premiums, but this hasn’t caught on with the 8000er set.
103 sky burial The practice differs throughout Tibet and Nepal, depending on the materials available.
7: WEATHER GODS
The discussion of the attack on the Danish Embassy is based on news reports from Al Jazeera and videos. Pakistan’s Ministry of Tourism and Alpine Club president Nazir Sabir provided details of the climbing rates and the reasons behind the changes. Shaheen described his encounter with Hugues, and photos on Hugues’s blog corroborated many of the details. The description of Ger’s injury is from interviews with friends and family, including Annie Starkey, Banjo Bannon, and Joëlle Brupbacher. The description of Roeland van Oss’s near-death experience is based on interviews with Jelle Staleman and Wilco. The description of Yan Giezendanner’s workstation is from Padoan’s visit to his home in Chamonix. The description of the final team meeting is from interviews with several of the men who were present, as well as from video footage.
108 seven times more A permit to climb Everest from the south side in Nepal was $70,000. As with K2, up to seven mountaineers are included in the price of the permit.
110 “would be obscene” This is what Shaheen heard Hugues say. The photographs of the corpse appeared on Hugues’s blog on July 9, 2008.
111 “completely bitchy” This dialogue did not occur between Nick and Wilco. They were interviewed separately about their feelings toward each other and their quotes were spliced.
112 customary toll The Dutch team brought 4,000 meters of new lightweight Endura rope, which cost $5,500, and they fixed the route along the Cesen to Camp 4. A donation to the team that brings the rope and fixes it is customary on 8,000-meter peaks. Wilco was asking for $450, a reasonable sum under the circumstances.
116 ideally, below 18,000 feet This is equivalent to 5,484 meters; the benchmark many climbers use is 5,600 meters.
Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day Page 24