A new episode of The Rest of Everest was released out onto the Interwebs last night, which not only continues the trek up to Everest Base Camp, but also kicks off my Rest of Everest DVD Contest, which was announced a few days back, in which you’ll have the opportunity to win a copy of Everest {the other side} the film that launched the podcast.
Episode 126 is entitled A Death In The Family, which is fairly ominous and fully explained later in the episode. But as the show opens, the team is still in Dingboche and preparing for a rest that that includes an acclimatization trek to help them all adjust to the growing altitude. Early on we also see how the team managed to charge all of their gadgets, which included the use of a car battery that one of the Sherpas was lugging up the Khumbu Valley.
During the acclimatization trek, the team climbed well above the village and had some nice views looking back down, but the weather was definitely closing in on them. Heavy clouds were shrouding the nearby peaks, and obscuring the view, throwing a gloomy shadow across the region. That shadow matched the mood of the group, as they soon found out that one of their Sherpa guides, a man named Tendi, received word that his brother had died in Everest BC. The news was all the more tragic when it was discovered that he perished from drinking poisoned alcohol. This story made the rounds during the spring climbing season last year, but this episode puts a very personal spin on it. Tendi left the trek at that point, to retrieve his brother’s body, and would later rejoin the team.
The weather continues to have an impact on the trek, with heavy snow hitting Dingboche, and preventing us from seeing some of the spectacular views that we’ve been use to seeing in the past few episodes. The Himalaya are out there, but we get only glimpses of them through the thick clouds. Thanks to the snow however, the team gets a bonus rest day in the village, which they seemed to enjoy. The spent the day playing cards and hanging out at Sherpa Net, the local Internet cafe, that surely has to be the highest in the world. As a technology professional, it was pretty cool to see the set-up there, and hilarious to hear that people complained about the Internet access at 15,000 feet. We really are spoiled by our access these days.
Even though the team doesn’t really go anywehere this week, this is a fun, fascinating episode to watch. For Everest fans, this series of episodes is really doing a great job of introducing us to a part of the world we’ve heard about for a long time, but haven’t had a chance to see before.
As always, you can watch the episodes on the Rest of Everest website or you can subscribe to the podcast within iTunes.
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The death of Tendi's brother was very sad for all of us westerners. Our Sherpa friends reacted to this news very differently than we did. The main concern for Tendi was to make sure his brother's body was retrieved quickly so that his soul could pass with the assistance of a Lama.
The support Tendi had from his fellow Sherpa touched all our hearts. What Jon didn't film in this episode was all of us standing on the ridge, watching the group walk toward Everest Base Camp. We just stood there in silence as they made their way over the next ridge.
Dingboche has a special place in my heart. Spending so much time there gave us all (trekkers and staff) the opportunity to really get to know one another.
I fell in love with the country as well, after 6 weeks there last year. I went for the trekking and I stayed for the rich culture and friendly people and I love them.
Best Regards,