While reading the Outside Blog over at Outside Online I saw a link to an article about Sherpas living in New York City that recently ran in Outside Magazine.
It seems that an increasing number of Sherpas are leaving their traditional home in Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan, and Northern India and heading out to England, Australia, Germany, and the United States to start a new life.
The article focuses on Tsering Norbu Sherpa, grandson of Tenzing Norgay, who now drives a cab in New York City, a place where the Sherpa population continues to grow. In fact, New York is now home to the largest population of Sherpas outside of the Himalaya, many of whom are former guides.
Some have fled the region looking for a better life elsewhere, some are taking advantage of the contacts they have made in the West to forge their own economic fortunes, while others are simply looking to explore a part of the World that most of their cousins will never have the opportunity to see.
ABC News also picked up on the same story, and ran their own piece the increasing number of Sherpas in New York City, who are forging out a new life for themselves.
Both pieces, which are companions to one another, take an interesting look at these tough, hardy people. Those of us who follow the climbing scene, especially in the Himalaya, already have a healthy respect for them. I already held them in high esteem thanks to their strength and skills in the mountain, but it takes a different strength altogether to leave everything you know behind to strike out for a new place in order to start a new life.
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This is interesting.
Here in Fort Collins, Colorado there are a few Sherpa families. A couple in particular run a tremendous restaurant called Mount Everest Cafe. It is buffet-style all you can eat Nepali and Tibetan food.
The real deal.
Plus these guys are so friendly and good-natured. Going there gives you a real sense of what the Sherpa culture is like (and how it tastes…). These guys have been porters on numerous Himalayan expeditions and treks, but moved to the USA for the financial and educational benefits.
They are very good ambassadors for the Sherpa People. Plus, they love wearing their “Rest of Everest” t-shirts that I gave them!
Jon
http://www.therestofeverest.com