This morning we were greeted by a morning snowfall and zero visibility. It was the final day here in Pheriche before we make the push up to the Pyramid lab at an altitude of 5050m (a gain of about 800m in a single day). The day was generally spent preparing for our trek tomorrow (packing, re-packing, combining bags to reduce the load for porters, etc.). We had our final lecture series that included talks on hyperbaria (Dr. Jeff), and biocultural influences on high altitude adaptation (Taylor Harman) and standing balance in hypoxia (Dr. Nick).
The afternoon was largely consumed by a large game of werewolf, a trekking staple, where players (villagers) are tasked with identifying the werewolves in their midst before they are all consumed. There are special roles and ultimately it devolves into baseless accusations and chaos, to the delight of everyone watching. At the end of the night, the Sherpa participants led the entire lodge in a song with guitar which was extremely moving and wowed everyone. In line with this, the remainder of this post is dedicated to the Sherpa that participated in the study. Students from the SU abroad course were tasked with interviewing one of the participants and writing a brief bio about them. We hope you enjoy getting to know some of the Sherpa as we have.
Mingma
Mingma was born and raised in Taheme Khombu Valley. She is currently 22 years old and resides in Kathmandu. In Kathmandu she is pursuing higher education and studying business. For her future life goals she said that she is still figuring it out, but she hopes to be successful in the field of business. For fun Mingma loves to travel. One of her favorite places she has been is NYC. She also enjoys playing badminton, hanging out with her friends, watching movies, playing a variety of different games, and occasionally she enjoys painting.
Kesang
Kesang is an incredible conversationalist and a pleasure to get to know. We initially started talking about boxing, popular mobile games, and favorite television shows. At 27, having a ton of life experience, a bachelors degree in business, a passion for politics, and very open mind, Kesang is a can chat with about anything and everything. During our time in Namche and Pheriche we enjoyed talks over coffee and tea. He is not only about conversation, however, but he is also an incredible hiker and chess player. During the games and the long hikes, I also got to know more about him and his family. He has an older brother and older sister, the former living in New Jersey, and the latter living in Australia. Although he spends most of his time with his fiancé in his hometown of Kathmandu, he wants to get out and see more of the world that he is always curious about. When I asked him what his life goal was, he chuckled and responded “to be financially stable”. With that I knew that he wasn’t only a comedian, but also a great friend.
Pemba
Pemba is 21 years old from Khunde, Nepal. She has lived all over, spending time in Debuche, Nepal, completing her undergraduate degree outside Mumbi, India, and moving back to Kathmandu, Nepal, before starting her master’s degree come August. She is pursuing a master’s in business but is unsure exactly where she wants to end up after graduation. Pemba enjoys playing games (like Uno), climbing/hiking in the mountains, and spending time with friends. She also enjoys a fresh bowl of noodles and is skilled at making her own homemade pasta. She has done the Everest Base camp trek a few times now and was excited to hear from Nima about an opportunity to join a bunch of researchers on a trek to Pheriche. She has spent the trek getting to know others along the way and spending time with family in Pheriche.
Kanchha
Kanchha is from the Khumbu Valley, about a 1-2 hour walk outside of Namche. He is 31 and currently works guiding treks to Everest Base Camp. His father worked as a mountaineer and guided to the top, but Kanchha chose to focus on trekking and doesn’t have any interest in mountaineering or guiding to the top. Kanchha also teaches in Kathmandu and wants to pursue further education for his teaching In either the United Sates or Canada. In his free time, Kancha enjoys soccer, volleyball, and the phone game Free Fire which is similar to PUBG. He is self described as a pretty good soccer player. He also enjoys hiking and one of his favorite mountains in the region is the ever popular Ama Dablam.
Pemba Thile
Pemba is 21 years old and attends Reliance College in Kathmandu with a major in business. He also currently resides in Kathmandu near his college. Pemba does not currently have a job but is part of a local soccer team, which has left him in superb physical condition and resulted in the highest VO2 max out of any of the study participants in Kathmandu.
Ngima Lhamu
Ngima is 21 years old and originally from the town of Thame, but currently lives in Kathmandu. She is currently attending university where she is pursuing a bachelors degree in business. In her free time, Ngima works part-time as a barista at a local coffee shop and loves visiting or trekking to new places!
Lukpa Tshering
Lukpa and I shared a coffee. Lukpa is 20 years of age and from Thame, a town similar size to Phariche but further west – closer to the Cho Oyo peak. There he has an older sister and younger brother. He plays football and is getting ready to go to Kathmandu to study German where he can travel to make money for his family. One day he hopes to summit Everest and his favorite food is potato pancake.
Phura Kanchhi
Phura was born in Dingbuche (a town over from Pheriche that many of us had the opportunity to visit). She spent the first few years of her life at an altitude close to 4300 meters before moving to Kathmandu where she graduated from high school. In her 26 years of life, she has been to the base camp of Mount Everest two times, worked as an accountant for a preschool, and enjoyed Kathmandu. After completing her participation in the research for this trip she will be returning to Dengbouche for 2 weeks to spend time with her family, including her brother-in-law who has summitted Mount Everest 7 times. In August Phura will be moving to Ontario, Canada to continue her education and get a graduate degree, she will be studying autism. Good luck Phura, I really enjoyed getting to know you and wish you all the best!
Mingma
Mingma is 18 years old and will be going into her first year of university after summer break. While attending university, she plans on studying biology and is excited for the opportunity to study abroad, potentially to the US! Mingma currently lives in Khumjung which is about an hour away from Namche. In her free time, she likes to read, listen to music, and play basketball.
Unisha
Unisha is a 20 year old who is from and still lives in Lalitpur, Kathmandu. She is a Sherpa participant for the research projects on this trek. She got involved in this trip through contact with Nima, our trek guide, who is from the same village as Unisha. She is an only child and lives with her parents while going to school for a bachelors in accounting. Aside from school she enjoys singing, biking, fashion, and arts. Her mom is a singer which is how Unisha grew her interest in singing and music. While she is studying accounting, she says that she would also consider studying fashion and dreams of opening her own clothing/fashion store. While Unisha has enjoyed this trip and is very happy she came, she is looking forward to getting back home to her family.
Kunga
Kunga is 20 years old and originally from Khunde, but she is moving to Kathmandu to go to university for business. She has an older brother who’s 3 years older than her. Some of her favorite things to do are play badminton, dance, sing, and listen to music. She specified that she loved listening to sad music the most. The main type of dance she loves doing is Sherpa dance, which is passed down within families and performed during holidays and festivals amongst family and friends. She mentioned that her grandfather taught her, and her whole family, all that she knows. She has traveled around Nepal, but dreams of visiting Switzerland one day. She has visited Base Camp two times before, and she plans to go back to Khunde to be with her family in the days to come.
Comments