About the founder.

In the 1960’s in Nepal, it was not allowed to have a love affair outside of the tribe\caste. My mother was a Tamang lady and my father was a Sherpa man, but my parents fell in love. I was born in 1966, though my father had two sons from his old wife. Polygamy used to be in practice in those days; some people could have even 7 wives. The good thing is now people are avoiding it. The following year my parents had to leave the village after midnight so they could live together. My mother got smallpox and died so my parents had less than two months together.
My father enrolled with the Indian Gurkhas. He was very broken-hearted but somehow he managed to keep me along with him. In those days there used to be a brigadier named Mr. Sharma, though I don't remember his full name (Sharama is one of the Brahmin cast). He had 3 daughters, so he was looking for a son. Mr. Sharma wanted to adopt me (I think I was around 4 years old by then) but my father refused to hand me over. But Mr. Sharma was so kind to me that he arranged that I could have free meals in the military kitchen until I became an adult. My mother use to call me Bhim (according to myth Bhim is one of the deities who is stronger than 100 elephants). Then my name was Bhim B. Sherpa. But my real name was Dawa which was given to me by Lama (preacher), so now I'm Dawa Sherpa.
I grew up as a vagabond, and spent 12 years in Mizoram, one of the northeast states of India. My father became quite a woman chaser though I don't want to blame him; when my mother passed away he was hardly 22. So I grew up pretty much on my own. After 12 years of exile my father returned to the village because in those days my mother’s family was quite rich and powerful in the village. My father was very afraid that they might blame him as the murderer of my mother. At that time according to our monarchy law, as long as it was not a political crime, if one spent 12 years in exile then one had immunity; exile was punishment itself. Even after all the exile his coming back to the family was not easy and I remember several meetings in our village about trying to punish him. My mother’s family wanted me in my mother’s place and they won. I had to leave my father and began to live with my mother’s family. My mother’s family also managed to get some cash from my father, threatening him to sue for their daughter’s life.
From the house our school was a few miles downhill so I had to walk down every day of week to the school and climb back every evening. The mornings always had frost but I didn’t have shoes or even flip-flops; I did all things barefoot. Several times I went to school without even a bowl of tshampa (a kind of porridge), and when I got back home I still hadn’t eaten, yet I had to go to collect some green tree branches for the goats and sheep, or some dry leaves under the tree to make a bed for the family cattle.
In those days the monthly fee for grade 4 was 5 rupees. Today US$ 1= 70 Nepali rupees so 5 rupees is not more than a few cents. The next year my grandmother refused to send me to school; she told me that the family didn’t have the money to send me to school. This was not true. I wanted to go to school so badly. Then one Saturday when I was in our local weekly market selling my grandma's wheat, I met one of my relative uncles and he asked how school was going. I told him that I'm not lucky enough to go to school. Then he said, "Who said that you or someone has to have money to send you school? You already have won the scholarship and now the government will pay you 20 rupees per month and books also will be subsidized." I will never forget that moment; my feeling was as if someone tied my hands and legs and pushed me off the cliff. I never let my grandma or anyone know that I had learned this secret. Then I started to convince my grandma if I could go to Kathmandu which is our capital, I might make some money for the family and my greedy grandma was convinced that I should go. I had only one outfit of clothes and there were very few people who were sympathetic; many called me ‘Them Singh’ which means bastard, because my parents were from different tribes and were never married.
It was a tradition that when someone returned from the city or from a foreign country like India, they used to be treated like heroes; not because of any heroic event but because they brought some cash with them. Then one day one of my cousins returned to our village from Kathmandu and spread a rumor that in Kathmandu some Gora sahib\Kuire sahib (White sahib) family is looking for small boys to be their baby sitters. The salary would be 150 rupees per month and the baby sitters could join the night school. To me it was a great opportunity to get out of my grandma and her family’s hands. Since I learned the secret of my scholarship I realized if I didn’t get of out of there I would be completely ruined. My grandma was convinced by our cousin that surely I will be making money and the money will come to my grandma. She sent 100 rupees with me. Back then the Kathmandu to Jiri road was not constructed so by foot it took a week to get to Kathmandu from my village. Our cousins have collected 4 boys to be the babysitters. When we got there the truth was not very beautiful and we were divided among different restaurants to be dishwashers and food servers and we had to complete other miscellaneous tasks. What happened was the hotel owners sent money with our cousin to get dishwashers because it was not necessary to pay small boys. I remember in those six months I never got a chance to take a bath, and when we took food to the customers they used to hold their noses because the dishwashing water got onto our clothes and our clothes were never washed.
We started work at 4 AM and we were working up till midnight and on some special occasions we worked until 2 AM. After all of this, every now and than we used to get kicked on our butts by the lady who owned the restaurant. We got infections between our fingers because our hands never got a chance to completely dry. One thing we discovered was at closing time which was after midnight, we’d just flip our clothes inside out and spread them over the kerosene stove to make them hot. We would shake them over the stove and they always made the sound of tiny popcorn. That was the lice in our clothes. The husband was a good man. He used to be a trekking guide (sirdar) for Mountain Travel in Nepal. Whenever he came around we used to get a little soft treat. Someday I might be able to tell the whole story. For now let me jump to another part.
One of our cousins found us by accident and somehow he was able to rescue us from the restaurant, and then I went back to the village the next year. I knew that one of my uncles was in the Indian Gurkhas too, so when he came on his annual 45 day leave I asked him to take me along and help me get a job. He was kind enough so he took me with him to Sikkim. I got a job at a military office as an orderly. This was my first ever paying job. When I reunited with my father after 8 years or so we couldn't recognize each other. The jobs I have done in my life are: farmer, cattle raiser, orderly, cook, laborer, helper in a truck, personal assistant of a sugarmill manager, micro hydro power job site supervisor, and later became a foreman in Bhutan.
I was about 20 years old when I came back to Nepal. I wanted to be a trekking guide but it was not easy either. The system here is if your father, uncle, brother or some of your relatives own the trekking company then there is the chance you can become a guide\sirdar. They send an experienced assistant along with you so you do nothing but be a boss. I was not this lucky so I had to start as a porter. In 1988 early autumn I met a sirdar named Passang Nuru Sherpa. He was leading a Spanish expedition for Dahulagiri. The salary was 60 rupees and the standard load was 30 kgs (66 pounds) of the expedition team’s load, plus our personal belongings like a small cotton quilt and a small blanket. I carried one and half loads (45 kgs) and earned 90 rupees every day. Some of my strong people can carry quite a lot more than that. Today the standard porter load is 30 kgs.
The next year I became a kitchen boy, then became a cook, and worked for Himalayan Journeys for quite a long time.
In 1992 there was a Spanish military expedition on Mt. Everest from the Nepal side. I was hired as a base camp cook but when I got there I wanted to go higher; at least to Camp II, soI asked my Sherpa friends how to get there. They suggested that I wear a down suit and climb to Camp II. Our expedition sirdar gave us quite a load. It was 25 kgs, although the standard load on high mountains is 15 kgs. The next morning when I started to climb, not having climbing experience\technique, it was not easy for me, not to mention the Russian down suit. My Sherpa friends suggested that I anchor the load and get back to the Base Camp. I did as they told me and came back to Base Camp. I ate a good breakfast and changed my down suit to a single layer of gore-tex and climbed back again in the same morning. Everyone had left so it was my first time on those notorious Khumbu Icefall aluminum ladders and I was alone. In the “popcorn” area I met climbing Sherpas returning from Camp II and Camp I. Everyone suggested to me that I get back to Base Camp but I was embarrassed and wanted to accomplish the task anyhow. When I got to Camp I, it was noon. I left my load at Camp I and descended back to Base Camp and got there at around 2 PM. I climbed alone and on the descent I was alone again. Maybe deep in my heart I wanted to climb this mountain once in my life, so I insisted that the sirdar send me back to Camp II to be a cook. I convinced him that I could accomplish the task with minimum error. Now I know that it was the cold causing me a bad stomachache and I had to get up 17 times to go for a toilet. There were 18 Spanish climbers and 6 climbing Sherpas and I was alone to cook and do the dishes. Even in this situation I kept working without complaint because I wanted to prove that I'm not a weak person and I'm worthy to be hired. Anyway the expedition was success and it was time to go home. The same Sherpa friends who suggested that I wear the down suit the first time I ascended through the Khumbu icefall, told me that all the kitchen gear had been given to the Camp II cook (me), but he has to carry it to Base Camp. I really loved the pressure cooker. It was heavy and very efficient; you could turn even bone into jelly. Since we had little manpower, we took only the valuable stuff with us and left the rest. I know now it was very wrong but people used to do it, which was bad. Well! My load was so heavy that I had to wear the head strap and bend my knees on the snow and ice and hold onto something vertical to stand up. I was still happy that I could take this stuff home but it wasn’t true and I was tricked again. That night I got fever at the Base Camp but did not mention it to anyone knowing it was useless. This was my very first Mt. Quomolongma (Everest) expedition.
The next spring, in 1993, I was hired by Alpine Ascents International as Camp II cook. This time was better than the last time. This is where I met Peter Athens (Bada Sahib). During the peak climbing period almost all night long I used to melt snow for drinking water and for other purposes. We did not have the glacier melt running water like nowadays. AAI always used to have a big group; sometimes more than 18 climbing Sherpas and more than 16 climbing clients. I remember that I have never ever failed the morning wake-up; if they ask for wake-up tea at 3 AM or 4 AM, I got up to make it for them.
The following year (spring of 1994) I met Alex Lowe. He was hired as a personal climbing guide for Sandy Hill-Pittman. I will never forget him and his strength, kindness, and helpfulness. I remember that after Camps I to IV were established most of the climbers were down in the villages for a week or so for rest and to restore their energy for the final attempt to the top of Everest, and waiting for the weather window. Here at Camp II, the sun hits the camp at exactly 8:15 AM and it was around 7:00 AM that I heard howling "Hey ke chha!". I stuck out my head and here is Alex in stained long underwear, and when I looked at his feet he was wearing Nike sneakers. My eyes were wide open and so surprised, having never seen anyone climbing in such a way. Actually climbers make sure that they are warm enough and make sure to wear ice climbing boots; no one does this kind of stuff. He smiled, assuring me that he was fine and happy so not to worry about him. The following year in the fall, Alex was killed by an avalanche on Mt. Xisapangm.
Maybe to make it easier for clients AAI always used to have a camp right on the shoulder of Camp II, and sometimes even in the bottom of the shoulder but when the glacier melts the water is always nasty, and brings along all the human wastes with it and causes stomach troubles even though we always boiled the water. People who have been to Mt. Everest know that after the gradual climb of the western cym (or the Swiss climber called it in 1952, the Valley of Silence). Right when you are approaching Camp II, the small last climb is quite hard. I used to leave a couple of thermoses of hot water, teacups, some tea bags and some biscuits right on the way so the climbers could refresh themselves before the last climbing push of the day. Cold Tang was also available. It was for free for anyone; I didn't have to know them. Lots of climbers covered their faces with a scarf or something to keep away the cold. A lot of Sherpa friends recognized me although I haven’t seen their faces, and I made a bunch of friends.
I worked for AAI from 1993 to 2000. I always wanted to climb Mt. Quomolongma, but with AAI it always seemed never. Never, because they required an English speaking guy at Camp II, not only to cook, do dishes, and to keep the accounts of climbing Sherpas hauling loads up and down (they get a bonus according to their loads from camp to camp), but also to be able to relay messages between base to base and to climbers. The first chance to climb Mt. Everest was given to me by Peter Athens in 1996, but that morning when I was about to head for the summit, the biggest climbing disaster in Everest’s history had already struck; we were all stunned by such a disastrous accident. Also it was the year of the Everest Imax movie; David was working on it with his strong climbing Sherpa team and all that heavy equipment. Maybe in later years this became the reason I began to lose interest in climbing Everest or to be a climbing Sherpa. Nothing is more valuable then life itself.
I climbed Mt. Cho-O-You (8,200 meters) with Peter Athens (Peter Sahib) in autumn of 1995 and climbed Mt. Pumori (6,500 meters) the following week. I have climbed many peaks, although here in Nepal anything below 6,000 meters is considered a small peak. I joined Mt. Makalu expedition with a Swiss team in 1994 just to set up the last camp and came back to the base because our team leader, Mr. Andre George, did not wanted any Sherpas to come along. I had joined the same team to climb Mt. Manasalu to do the same thing; set up the camps and come back to the base. Autumn of 1995 was the year when I lost one of my best friends, Lobsang Jangbu. He was swept away by an avalanche at Mt. Everest on the Lhotse Face and his body was never found. In spring of 2000 I was offered a role in a documentary by Peter Sahib. The producer and director was Mr. David Hamlin, and the title was "The Most Dangerous Job". It was produced for CNBC and The National Geographic Channel. This was the year I lost another close friend, Babu Chhere Sherpa, right after we interviewed him for “The Most Dangerous Job”. He had climbed Mt. Everest in 16:55hrs without oxygen and spent the night on the top of Everest and sang the Nepal contemporary national anthem.
In 2002 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first Everest ascent by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, I was asked if I want to join the expedition as a Sherpa representative. The reason I got this chance was because Jamling Norgay Sherpa (the son of Tenzing Norgay Sherpa) climbed Everest in 1996 for the Imax movie, and then made his promise with Quomolongma; vowing that if the mountain let him be on top and brought him back to his family safe, he said, "I will never come back to disturb you again". Otherwise the plan was for him to have celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first ascent of Everest. The team would have been Sir Edmund Hillary’s son Peter Hillary (Bada sahib), and Jamling, the son of Tenzing Norgay Sherpa but Jamling Dai (Dai means big brother) refused to break his promise to the mountain, and I took his place. Just exactly like Tenzing and Sir Edmund, in the spring of 2002 I have been to the top of Mt. Everest. I was Peter Hillary’s climbing partner, and since then we have become good friends. A documentary was produced and directed by Liesel Clark for The National Geographic Channel.
It was the year 2003 when I received an email from Jennifer Lowe-Ankar. Jenny Didi (didi = older sister) and Conrad Dai (dai = senior brother) wanted to start a climbing school in Khumbu at Phortshe village in memory of the late Alex Lowe. Alex was the best person I’ve ever known and one of the strongest climbers too. I know in our hearts he will remain immortal and forever young and I will never forget his smiling face before my tent at Everest Camp II. The purpose and goal of this school was to train local climbing Sherpas, because even though most of us have climbed several mountains several times, we most of the time lack climbing techniques. Happily I joined them as the interpreter, coordinator and instructor. Khumbu Climbing School (KCS) runs under the Alex Lowe Charitable Foundations (ALCF) www.alexlowe.org. and it is one of the most successful projects I have ever participated in. There is no question about how many climbing Sherpas’ lives and climbing clients lives have been saved by this training. Without this training I like to call ourselves "the fixed rope climbers". Also there are no doubts about Sherpa peoples’ climbing ability even without climbing techniques, but this training means "gold with the aroma within it". Today KCS produces about 50 climbing students every year and provides scholarship to the best 2 students at the National Outdoor Leadership School in the United States.
After climbing Mt. Everest I wanted to do something different. I also agree with Sir Edmund Hillary that Quomolongma needs some rest. I decided I wanted to traverse all the above 5,000 meter (16,000 ft) passes in Nepal, which number over 50, with a mountain bike. Great help came from Jenny Didi and Conrad Dai and from Carl Strong. Jenny Didi and Conrad Dai helped me to get sponsorship from The North Face and it was Carl Strong who gave me a custom-framed mountain bike. I wanted to do something new that no one has ever attempted. We named the MTB expedition after our son Gelu Ringi Sherpa (Gelu Expedition), and this company is the continuity of it. We were under budget so we were only able to complete half of the expedition. We started from the far western Nepal frontier at the Karnali river and came out at Mustang District, in Jomsom. It took us 45 days and we lost 22 pounds each and it was one of the hardest things that I have ever done.
I always wanted to have a trekking company but knowing the challenge of starting a company, I have never been brave enough to start one. To have a company and to be able to run it successfully are two different things. But my friend John Nanke from Prescott, Arizona, not only inspired but also helped me in many ways. I have a little different idea of how to run this company. I want to give my colleagues part ownership so no one will feel that they are working for someone else, and also I want to give opportunities to our sisters as female guides, because this is a male dominated society, and especially the trekking business. We don't want to get huge because my goal is to run all the expeditions myself instead of sending hired guides, to assure clients that they are not at the mercy of others. Also we want to dispatch live, via satellite, every trip so the loved ones can see our progress. For now we are only 2 of us: John Nanke and Dawa but as the company grows we will add more people who are interested in being our partners.
A huge kadinche (thanks) with all the appreciations to all our friends and supporters and encouragers: Jennifer (Didi) Lowe-Ankar, Conrad (dai) Ankar, Peter Hillary, Michael Brown, Peter Athens, Rob Hart, Roger Kher, Charles Corfield, Kim Ankar Paddon, Barbra Wentworth, Kevin Tatsugawa and to all the inspiring friends.

Founders.
John and Dawa:-)