10 times Everest summiter Namgyal Sherpa dies on Everest

In total shock, disgust and unbelieve, we need to confirm that our beloved friend, partner and director Namgyal Sherpa (36) has died on Mt Everest near 8300m at 16 May 2013 because of heart failure.

Together with Galden Sherpa, Namgyal had successfully guided our client to the 8848m high summit of Everest the same morning. It was Namgyals 10th summit of Everest. However, the celebration did not last long. On the way down Galden witnessed how Namgyal suddenly collapsed at 8300m. When he reached his location, Namgyal complained about not feeling well and pointed to his heart. Just a few moments later Namgyal did not move again and had died.

Namgyal was remarkable man with a remarkable life. After he was born as a son of a poor family in the remote district of Khotang, Nepal, he fled his home town at a young age. He survived in Kathmandu, living under very poor circumstances, but eventually got the opportunity to work for an expedition company. Thanks to his exceptional strength, motivation, talents and charme and kindness, he worked his way from porter to cook eventually becoming senior climbing guide on 8000m+ expeditions. He has guided clients to the summits of Mt Everest, Cho Oyu, Shishapangma and many other 6000m & 7000m peaks in the Himalayas working as head guide for Explore Himalaya and later in his own company Mountain Consult.

What made Namgyal extraordinary was his motivation to help people in need and his support for the natural mountain environment. Namgyal was a.o. founder of the first Extreme Everest Expedition in 2010, an all-Nepali expedition to clear the highest slopes above 8000m of Everest of 2000kg/ 4000lbs of waste, and two dead bodies. In collaboration with local and international NGOs, he has greatly increased local access to clean water and modern hygiene facilities in his home region Khotang, he soly created the Everest documentary ‘Snow’ and was head guide for the Everest Peace Project, Climbing for Water’s High Tea project and he voluntarily put the famous Ranan Lurie’s Art on the summit of Everest (UN project).

Namgyal was married to Doma Sherpa. They did not have children.

A new tragedy at Everest…

A fight between 3 European climbers and Sherpa’s is the latest tragedy at Mt Everest spring season 2013.

Many things have already been said, so if you are interested, we just like to give you a link to Adventure Journal’s article and updates:

http://www.adventure-journal.com/2013/04/violence-hits-mt-everest-as-sherpas-fight-with-ueli-steck-others/

 

A special Everest story…

A special story this spring is about one of our clients who is in pursuit of an important goal in his life: climbing Everest.

British national William McFatter, 43, working for a UK firm that deals with personal security in high risk situations, had a dream to stand on the summit of the highest mountain in the world. Although physically fit and mentally trained to operate in difficult circumstances, he lacked climbing experience at high altitude. He asked us if we would be willing to create a private program that prepared him for his goal.

After a few discussions we both agreed and we prepared a one month training and climbing program in Nepal, phase 1. If he would do well, we would support William in phase 2, climbing Everest from the Tibetan side. Despite deep snow and difficult trails this spring, William passed the training with glory. Guided by Galden Sherpa, they eventually managed to become the first summiteers of Mera Peak 6476m this season, followed by a quick and solid ascent of the more technical Lobuche East 6119m.

Right now William, Namgyal and Galden are in the Chinese Everest Base Camp to perform their last Puja ceremony before heading up Everest. We wish this small, but extremely strong team good luck from our side.

Climb safe and please return healthy and rich in experiences!

Mountain Consult Team

Happy Nepali New Year 2070!

One of the many new years in Nepal, but… the official new year for everybody in this beautiful country! We’re gonna make it a great new year for everybody!

Climbing Everest; tool for personal growth?

It is not a new trend or hype, but around the world more and people get into activities like trekking and mountaineering. It is a fact that climbing Mt Everest has never been more popular then today. Off course, as a result of economical growth in some areas in the world, despite the present financial crisis, people from new strong economies like Malaysia, China, India, Brazil and for example South Africa travel to large mountain ranges such as the Himalayas to trek and to climb. It is very obvious here in Nepal, but I guess it is the same for other areas.

It is not a surprising development. Traveling, hiking, trekking and mountaineering (and other outdoor activities) are expensive activities and without money (and time), it is not possible. So, with economical growth it is likely to see more people explore these activities. But there’s more to it. Money buys many activities, experiences or just ‘things’. So why would a trek or climbing Everest be an attractive option? For different reasons off course. One explanation is that treks and climbing expeditions belong to the so called ‘flow activities’. Activities that offer unique, rewarding and valuable experiences. Although we can look at it from different perspectives, here I like to have a better look at ‘what is flow’ and what could be the reward for, let’s say climbing Everest.

Climbing Everest as flow activity

Flow activities are activities that involve the right balance between a ‘personal challenge’ and ‘personal skills’ within a set of rules that give you feedback on your performance. For flow, you need intense concentration and rhythm. You have to reach a level that you don’t pay attention anymore to things that are less important (at that time). Your self-consciousness and your sense of time change, resulting in such a rewarding experience that ‘difficulty or danger’ become less important than the activity itself. Climbing Everest definitely provides you all these opportunities. A climber explains: “…If you are climbing you don’t think of the problems you have. It becomes a world in its own, a world only for you. It is about concentration, focus. If you are on that mountain, then that is the only reality there is, you control it and it needs to be like that, otherwise you will not succeed. It turns into the only ‘world’ you live in…”.

You recognize the feeling? Now, you could think that it is similar to the effects of drugs, a trance in a night club, a thrill… Yes, partly true, it may even feel quite similar, but there is an important difference!  In contrast to real flow activities, these experiences do not lead to a more complex self-consciousness, or better said, they don’t lead to personal growth. Climbing Everest might!

Personal growth through trekking and mountaineering

So, how to gain personal growth while trekking or climbing a mountain? Well, like I said before, you need to challenge yourself. It does not matter at what level you trek or climb, as long as it is challenging enough for you, and not above (or under) your skills level. Luckily, nature’s rules are clear and honest. She can be easy going and she can be very demanding. No matter what, you will always get clear feedback. Completely neutral.

For that, trekking and mountaineering are unique flow activities that provide you a feeling of exploration, a sense of discovery and a possible development of yourself towards a new kind of reality. A more complex self-consciousness reached because you learned new skills, you gained new experiences. In other words, you learned and you grew.  A simple graph about the essence of growth through flow experience might clarify this idea.

Imagine yourself as a teenager dreaming of climbing Mt Everest. We all start at A1 level, low skills, no experience and hopefully an easy challenge. From there we move on to probably A2 or A3 before moving to A4, the point where we’re still having flow experience, but at different, increased level slowly growing to achieve our dream.

A1 state: low skills, low challenge
First mountaineering experience. A real challenge, everything is new, exiting, impressive and the difficulty is probably and hopefully in balance with the skills. It’s an intense experience, we’re concentrated, we may get into a flow.

A2 state: increased skills/ low challenge
Ok, during our first experience we have learned new skills and if the next challenge remains at the same level, we may leave the flow channel and feel a bit bored.

A3 state: low skills/ increased challenge
If we have not learned new skills, but we challenge ourselves at a much higher and technical mountain, we probably may be afraid and if the challenge is too big, we will fail and return unsatisfied.

A4 state: increased skills / increased challenge
With our new skills and experience, we move on to a bigger challenge, a higher and more technical mountain, we may even decide to climb Mt Everest. We enter the flow channel again and the entire process starts all over again.

Does climbing Everest really lead to personal growth?

That off course depends on you! Your approach to the challenge, your willingness to learn and to experience. But basically, you could say that climbing Everest at least provides most of us the opportunity to grow. I would even say that it is almost unthinkable that you will NOT learn and grow by climbing Everest. Life will never be the same after wards, but THAT you could also experience by trekking to Everest Base Camp. It all depends on your level of development. If it is challenging enough for you or not. If you need to use all your skills to achieve your goal or not.

Want to experience ‘flow’? Choose a challenging trek or climbing expedition!

First, make the decision to do a trek or climb to the summit of a non-technical mountain. Then, get in shape! Here we can have a look at ‘how’ you can choose a trek or climbing expedition that matches your skills. It is not an easy question to answer, as there are many factors that can influence the total experience. Off course, weather and personal health can turn any trip (even below your skills level) into a nightmare. However, a good physical and mental preparation combined with some knowledge, experience and detailed information about the journey, you can choose the right challenge. You should off course understand that venturing into wild nature always includes risks. Many unexpected and even unpleasant things can happen, but… without taking some (calculated) risks, you will never have flow experience and there will never be personal growth. Rely on yourself (with or without help of experienced people) and give your best to grow. It is a dynamic, but rewarding road that most likely will lead to happiness.

What can we do for you?

To support you, we (and many other companies) try to give you loads of detailed information, we provide you realistic pack lists, tables to explain physical requirements and the required technical climbing skills if any of them are needed. We invite you discuss your plans with us; make use of our skills level and extensive experience. Let us suggest ideas and let us explain if you have doubts or questions. It all starts with a few simple questions…