Tenzing Norgay and the Sherpas of Everest

Glory is a whimsical thing and no one knows who it will strike. It is a marvel how a poor isolated mountain tribe was made a household word-how the Sherpas became THE Sherpas. Of course they unquestionably deserve it but many others equally deserving were ignored. But that is how life works and the Sherpas are not to be begrudged their glory. They have certainly worked hard for it. The Sherpas are a border people filtering between Tibet and Nepal. Their chance came from the curious fact that rich Europeans like to climb mountains. It was found that the Sherpas hardihood made them ideal for porters. I would have liked for this to have a little more about Sherpa culture. Instead, what this book really is is an biographicalical collection. As such the book gives a number of famous Sherpas. But the star is Tenzing Norgay. His was a true Horatio Alger story. Born a Tibetan serf he ran away to find a better life. It was thus he found his vocation, and made himself world famous. It is natural enough that he should shine, both because he is in fact a Sherpa tribal hero and because the author(an Australian woman married to a Sherpa)is related to him. The book is a cheerful book and pleasantly few axes to grind. Unfortunatly there are enough real complaints the Sherpas might have, to be sure. Explorers have long tended to take their native hirelings for granted and the Sherpas were at first no exception. However by their skill and dedication the Sherpas earned the immense respect of their employers and the rest of the world. The tale of Everest from the Sherpas point of view is one that needs to be brought out. Thankfully it was and this book is worthy of your time. It is a grand tribute to those gallant people, the Sherpas.

Tashi Tenzing Sherpa is a grandson of Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, who was (with Edmund Hillary) the first person to summit Mount Everest. Tashi has also summitted Everest, and now works as a Himalayan expedition guide from his new home in Australia. A half-dozen other relatives, and quite a few friends, have also summitted mountain - - and, for the most part, successfully descended the mountain as well. This book is meant to tell the story of Everest from the Sherpas' eyes. It certainly succeeds at this. The appendix, which lists all Sherpa summits, provides documentation of these mountaineering successes that differs significantly from the stories of heroic foreigners on Everest that we outsiders tend to hear. From this perspective, it's not surprising that Tashi managed to score two A-list people to write forewards to his book, Sir Edmund Hillary and the Dalai Lama. Both of these men have been advocates of the Sherpas, and Tashi does right by them. Though successful in its documentation, its success is more mixed as a book. It succeeds most when, in the middle, it is the most personal. The book is less interesting when it tells stories that other people could, in principle, also have told. The book falls into three parts. In the first, Tashi tells the story of the Sherpa people in general, and provides capsule stories of some early Sherpa mountaineers. These stories seem as if they've been told elsewhere, and they don't really benefit from the fact that Tashi has personal knowledge of some of the players. The second part draws on family memories and Tashi's own experiences to tell the stories of Tenzing Norgay, his descendants, and Tashi himself on Mount Everest. This part moves well, and tells a compelling story. The third part returns to presenting capsule stories of particular Sherpas on Everest. Again, Tashi's personal ties disappear here, and many of them read like encyclopedia entries. The book includes a large number of black-and-white pictures, past and present, which are very interesting. On a final personal note, I finished reading this book at roughly the same time that Sir Edmund Hillary died, a fact that lent poignancy to the book when I learned of Hillary's death the next morning. For that reason, it lingers a bit more with me than it will probably linger with you. But if you're interested in Tenzing Norgay and the Sherpa people, you'll probably enjoy the book.

Tashi Tenzing has transcended the popular myth of a load carrying Sherpa, living day to day on the lower slopes of Everest. Instead he is well educated in western ways and fully aware of the politics and modern methods involved with mountaineering, soliciting clients and making a very good living. He has, however, (with the help of his ex Australian wife) managed to genuinely explore his ethnic heritage and trace the history and movements from Tibet to the Nepalese Solo Khumbu area to India's Darjeeling, of his famous grandfather, Tenzing Norguay, who successfully completed the very first climb of Everest with Ed Hilary in 1953. Not unnaturally perhaps, there emerges a hint of bitterness against the ways in which his grandfather's generation were treated by early western expeditions, most of which started out from Darjeeling and attempted the north face route from the Tibet side. These observations are to be expected because Tashi is looking at the past from the perspective of a more critical present. Notwithstanding the author's viewpoint, we learn a lot about the role of Sherpas and their great contributions to Himalayan climbing. This newer book adds to to the Tenzing family biographies and accounts by Tenzing Norgay himself and by Jamling Tenzing who is Tashi's uncle by another wife of the original Tenzing. Adding authenticity and respect for Tashi is the fact that in May 2007 he, himself, summited Everest (from the Tibet side) for the third time with a lady European client.

This is a very valuable reference book written by Tashi Tenzing, grandson of the legendary Tenzing Norgay. It provides detailed accounts of the lives of Sherpas and their contributions to Himalayan expeditions. The first chapter introduces us to the mountains and the people living in their shadows. The author traces the origins of the Sherpa people and how the summit of Everest came to be a prized trophy which sparked a race between European nations. The next few chapters deal with the history and politics of Everest expeditions, mentioning pioneering tigers of the snow like Ang Tshering. Only in the 4th chapter does Tenzing Norgay come into the limelight. The author goes into great depth and detail, revealing the rather human side of this idol. Chapter 6 gives us a brilliant historical account of Tenzing's successful summit of Mt Everest in 1953. The uniquely Sherpa point of view is refreshing. Like Tenzing's life after the climb, the book then runs into an anti-climax. However, the author picks up the momentum again, writing about his own quest for Everest. Tashi reached the summit in May 1997 and became the first third generation Sherpa to accomplish the task. The book finished off with writeups on other Tenzings and other outstanding Sherpas on Everest. I would recommend the book for readers who are interested in history and biographies. It's fair that the book is not just about Tenzing Norgay, but the sheer amount of details, including a lot of "family matters" not related to mountaineering may cause the reader looking for adventure stories to lose his focus. This is a good reference but not a page-turner.

This book written by a grandson of Tenzing Norgay, the most renown Sherpa, and his wife living in Sydney is very unique, as all other previously published books on Everest expeditions or anthropology of Sherpas were written by so-called "non-Sherpa" mountaineers born and grown-up outside of Himalaya region. This book tells us a fascinating "insider's" story about the development of sherpas' community with the discovery of the highest peak on the earth (Mt. Everest) in Hamalaya region, and a subsequent increasing rush by overseas mountain-climbers to this rather remote and isolated region of earth. The 1953 great success by the sherpa Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary from New Zealand in reaching the summit of Everest for the first time opened the "golden" age of Himalaya trekking, and changed dramatically the way of life in Sherpas' community, better or worse, depending on the given aspects. Among many inspiring episodes interwoven in this book, the life-long "multi-cultural" friendship of the Swiss climber Raymond Lambert and the NZ climber Sir Edmund Hillary with Tenzing Norgay and his family is most moving for myself, a Japanese amateur alpinist living overseas for more than three decades. Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first ascent, we have recently translated this book into Japanese, and are planning to publish it for Japanese youth and olds in 2003. The German, French and Italian versions of this book are also scheduled to be published around May 29, 2003, comemmorating this historical event or moment. Depending on your own mother tongue, you are highly encouraged to read one of these five versions including the original English to share the excitement associated with scaling the world-highest peak with the sherpas in Himalaya region or those now working overseas in a variety of fields other than mountaineering.