April 11 Namche to Thambo and back, 11,200’ Warm and sunny

Today we decided to go with Mingma Sherpa to meet his mother about an hour and half walk from here. Mingma climbed with my good friend and fellow climber Bill Burke. Bill and I go way back. We climbed together on Aconcagua in Argentina what seems like a lifetime ago. Bill “the bulldozer” as I think of him is a remarkable man. Bill is a retired attorney who has argued and won two cases before the Supreme Court. He has now climbed all Seven Summits except Everest. This year will be his third attempt on Everest. He made it to the South Summit in 2007 only about 300 feet below the true summit before having to turn back spent. Oh and did I mention Bill is 67. I call him the bulldozer because although he isn’t particularly fast he just keeps going and going. He also knocked of Carstenze Pyramid in Indonesia – which many call the eighth summit for good measure.

To digress for a moment, some in climbing circles try to claim that Carstenz is the Seventh Summit because it sits on the same oceanic plate as Australia. Ignoring the flimsiness of that argument what isn’t debatable is that Indonesia is not part of Australia. The problem arises for the same reason most problems arise – money and bragging rights. Unfortunately for the outfitters and purist Kosiescu (sp?) the highest point in AU can be reached by ski lift. At under 8000 feet the purist don’t consider it a mountain at all and how is an outfitter going to make money off climbers if they can rent a car in the Melbourne airport and knock it off in four hours including drive time?

Carstenz on the other hand is an outfitters dream. It is very difficult to get a permit to climb and currently it is only safe to fly there in a helicopter over areas controlled by a terrorist insurgency. Because of that it typically cost about $18,000 for a trip that involves less than a week of climbingl. For the purist it is a little over 16,000 foot high and a moderately difficult rock climb at high altitude. Most ascents are one day affairs from base camp at 12,000 and some change. Carstenz also has a US connection. On the opposite side of the month a Louisiana minig company operates one of the largest and richest open pit mines in the world. When a friend of mine was stranded because their helicopter never returned they decided to descend the mine side. They were promptly detained for most of a day and then told they were being turned over to local authorities for trespassing so they could get to sample the local Indonesian penal system. When the guards arrived at the front gate they put them out and told them to wait for the authorities - like they were going to do that. Later they surmised it was a scare tactic – but a very effective one.

Mingma’s home was the first Sherpa home I have spent much time in. Sleeping accommodations are on the first floor with the communal living area, kitchen and prayer room on the upper floor. Southern hospitality has nothing on Sherpa hospitality. We were greeted with hot tea and crackers. I thought maybe Mingma’s mom was a cook because there were tons of pots lining the walls. They all found that quite amusing. In the Sherpa tradition family wealth takes on the form of large pots. In an area lacking banks it kind of makes since and if someone where to break in – I use that term very loosely since I never saw a lock – it would be hard to run off with a giant pot to the local Sherpa pawn shop. She had copper kettles as large as washtubs and tons of smaller pots. Apparently they also serve as cupboards because she kept going to different ones.

Eventually she insisted on fixing us some potatoes Nepalese style. Think a cross between new potatoes and fondue. We set around this big pile of potatoes peeling them with our fingers and dipping them in a variety of sauces, salt and butter. Once you commit it was as delicious as it was messy. I did pass on the aged nack (a female yak) cheese. I also took a Cipro later just in case.