Thank you to the MGIS Team.

We had a great time in San Diego at the MGMA Convention and representing your company.

Your company is providing the medical community with professionalism and opportunities that are needed in this industry and it was shown by your loyal customers.

Thanks again for all your support!

Kimbery and Apa at the MGIS Booth.

http://sunvalley.plumtv.com/node/6388 

Thame School children. Thame Nepal.

Liam O’Sullivan’s recent claim of a new speed-ascent climb up Mt. Rainier is sparking some very intriguing interest. Liam O’Sullivan recently claimed the fastest time of 4 hours, 46 minutes, and 29 seconds. This bested the previous Mt. Rainier speed-ascent record by 3 minutes, previously held by Justin Merle. Merle’s attempt came earlier in July.

Liam O’Sullivan’s attempt at the ‘unofficial’ record has drawn much interest around the climbing community, and has even sparked a bit of controversy as you can read through any of my previous posts concerning these speed climbs. Besides the interest and controversy it looks like there are a series of other climbers lining up to take a shot at O’Sullivan’s recent record. One attempt could come as early as Saturday.

I think I might have to place my money on Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa. He said he is wanting to do the climb in 4 hours, and I am not going to be one to doubt him. I have covered recent summits of Mt. Everest by Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa and his SuperSherpa cohert Apa, who happens to hold the record for most sucessful summits of Mt. Everest with 18. Lhakpa Gelu is a very strong climber and has specialized in speed ascents before many were even thinking of heading in that direction. Come Saturday, Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa may make Liam O’Sullivan the shortest lived ‘unofficial’ record holder in Mt. Rainier climbing history.

All of the guys involved in chasing this record are being very friendly about the whole ordeal and playing down the competitive nature of the climb. You can bet as the seconds and minutes start clicking off O’Sullivan’s record, that things are going to get serious. Justin Merle is already contemplating a second attempt to break Liam’s record, but that probably won’t happen until next year. With Lhakpa Gelu heading up on Saturday, he could end the quickly declinig climbing season on Mt. Rainier as the ‘unofficial’ record holder. The Adventurist wishes Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa the best of luck. I have supported Lhakpa Gelu and Apa Sherpa with each of their endeavors over the previous couple of years, and these guys never cease to amaze me. I will have my eyes on Mt. Rainier come Saturday and will offer up an update as soon as I get it.

Apa Sherpa is to Mt. Everest what Michael Jordan was to basketball. He has succeeded and excelled at every level. Mt. Everest is his NBA Finals. With finesse and strength, Apa Sherpa has slowly carved a reputation that will be very hard to surpass in the world of climbing. He has successfully summited the world’s highest peak an unprecedented eighteen times. An achievement that no other climber can lay claim to.

The Salt Lake Tribune recently had an opportunity to meet up with Apa Sherpa. It is an insightful and unglamorous look at how Apa, although the epitome of climbing on Mt. Everest, struggles to live in his second home, the United States.

In 2006, Apa Sherpa moved from his native country of Nepal to Salt Lake City, Utah. The move was due, in part, to Apa wanting to help out his family who remained in Nepal. He wanted to build a foundation that would help to keep his kids from having to embark on the same path that he chose on Mt. Everest, ushering up climbers to the top of the world’s highest peak. A job, that by all accounts, could very easily rank right up there with the most dangerous jobs in the world.

Apa Sherpa, while recently being afforded the opportunity to actually climb on his own merits, struggled for many years carrying up climbing gear, tents, and oxygen for many of the world’s top expeditions on Mt. Everest. The Sherpa people are known for their stamina and abilities to carry heavy loads at high altitude, offering many of them a steady job each spring. Most make more money in a month than what they could in a single year, in Nepal.

For the past ten years, many climbers from the western world have relished in an unabashed celebrity status upon reaching the top of Mt. Everest. Many have turned their successful summit into books, speaking engagements, and a whole slew of other means to earn a successful living after achieving what many consider the epitome of mountain climbing. Apa Sherpa wanted a piece of the pie for himself. Not just himself though, but for his family.

The article in the Salt Lake Tribune paints a picture that is insightful, yet a bit disturbing for someone of Apa’s stature in the climbing community. He will no doubt go down in the journals of Everest history as one of the best climbers of all time, yet, in Salt Lake City, Apa Sherpa walks around unnoticed and struggles to survive monetarily on a day to day basis. He lives with a close friend, Jerry Mika, who gives Apa room and board, as well as a job with his own company designing outdoor equipment.

Apa Sherpa is very intent on offering his own family a better means to survival. I recently covered a few items, most notably a Poisk Oxygen canister, that were being featured on Ebay. In the listing for this item, it was made very clear that all proceeds were going to help support Apa Sherpa’s family in Nepal. Apa is pretty open about his wishes, yet, in the United States, he is finding the road to be a bit more rough than say, a Conrad Anker or Ed Viesteurs. Both of these guys have been able to turn their love of adventure into full time jobs that goes to support even more adventurous expeditions.

Why Apa Sherpa has not been elevated outside of the mountaineering community to a higher status in the world, is actually quite dumbfounding. He still struggles with gaining sponsors for his climbs, and even at that, is still looking to Ebay to make a few bucks so his family can survive. This seemingly tells a tale of the difference between eastern and western climbers and how they are perceived in the media and the public. I am not going to go as far as to make this a racially biased issue, but perceptions going out in the world would suggest that climbers can make a decent living in the United States with companies just throwing money around to potential expeditions. This is just simply not the case for most foreign climbers who come to the United States in search of the ‘motherlode’ if you will.

All of this is quite sad, but does reveal some insight into the different perceptions that companies and the media place on ‘local’ climbers, as opposed to those that were foreign born. Even with 18 successful Mt. Everest summits to his credit, Apa Sherpa is still finding life to be quite tough.

In the past couple of weeks, most people in the United States do not even realize that one of the best climbers in the world, Inãki Ochoa, died on Annapurna. When Inãki first got into trouble, there was nobody around that could help the struggling climber at high-altitude. Within two days time a call went out to all climbers in the area. In the days that ensued, some of the top climbers in the world would race to Annapurna, risk death for one of their own, and still come up shorthanded. It was an amazing effort from all fronts. Even though the rescue was not a success, it did show us the heart and soul of many of the world’s elite climbers. In the United States press, this story of heroic efforts and dubious tragedy has not even garnered a mention. It didn’t feature American climbers or American Companies, so why would the public care?

The scope of all of this is really quite hard to understand. I cover all aspects of many of these climbs, including those of Apa Sherpa in 2007 and 2008, as well as the recent struggle and death of Inaki Ochoa. Many of my viewers come from all over the world, with it being almost a 50-50 split between American readers and those from foreign countries. Perhaps the companies that throw their money to the American climbing community could find a bigger audience, a more productive business, if they would just follow along and treat the international climbing community with the same vigor and thought that they do with the American climbers. In the United States, our climbers are thought to be the strongest in the world. If people would just open their eyes, many would get a very different outlook at how these statistics are being played out by the press.

Don’t get me wrong, I feel like supporting our own climbers, especially those that rank in the upper tiers of the climbing community, should be fully supported to continue doing what they do. On a different note though, how cool would it be to see Apa Sherpa, or a Ueli Steck sporting Nike shoes on the television? They emphasis the “Just Do It” philosophy perhaps even better than a Micheal Jordon or Labron James. On top of that, the money would actually be going to those who need it. People like Apa Sherpa.

We visited the Sawtooth Botanical  Garden along with our friend Steve Wagner who took us to one of the most beautiful locations in Sun Valley, ID. Apa turned the prayer wheel many times.  The Pray Wheel was blessed the Dali Lama which is one of only 2 Prayer wheels blessed by his Holiness in the United States. The garden was amazing and our host Jennifer explained to us how the garden was built and the meaning.

Jennifer gave us a card that read as we walked through the “Peace Garden”  I relax and enjoy life . I know whatever I need to know is revealed to me in the perfect time and space sequence.  As we walked Jennifer said we should take our time to relax and enjoy the peacefulness that the garden was made for. Thank you Jennifer for your hospitality.

 

THANK YOU PLUM TV AND THE CREW FOR THE GREAT INTERVIEW AND RECOGNIZING APA SHERPA AS A WORLD CLASS ATHLETE AND HIGH LIGHTING APA’S DREAM.  THE INPORTANCE OF EDUCATION FOR THE CHILDREN OF HIS HOME VILLAGE AND THE REMOTE MOUNTAIN AREAS IN NEPAL.

http://sunvalley.plumtv.com/videos/everest_second_home

                                       SAVE THIS DATE AND BOOK EARLY TICKETS GOING FAST!!

 THIS IS A PROGRAM CO-SPONSORED WITH THE LIBRARYThree Cups of Tea author to speak in Hailey on August 8, 2008.David Oliver Relin, co-author of Three Cups of Tea, will present a talk and slide-show with Apa Sherpa and Lahkpa Sherpa (the SuperSherpas – Mt. Everest record holders) on August 8, 2008, at 8:00PM at the Hailey Community Campus.Three Cups of Tea, which tells the story of Greg Mortenson’s journey and adventures building local schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan, has won numerous awards and prizes and remains on the New York Times bestseller list (100 weeks so far!).A book signing will follow the presentation, which is sponsored by Steve and Lila Wagner and the Community Library.A reception for David and the SuperSherpas will be held in a private home the afternoon of the presentation. The event will include refreshments and a signed copy of Three Cups of Tea. For more information, contact Steve Wagner at 208-788-4245.

Tickets for both the talk and slide-show at the Community Campus ($35) AND the private reception ($150) are now available at Chapter One bookstore in Ketchum (208-726-5425).

Proceeds from the two events will benefit a school-building project in Apa Sherpa’s village in Nepal. Currently, students in this village must walk 3½ miles to school if they want to attend classes beyond the sixth grade.

For more information about the SuperSherpas, visit www.supersherpas.com

For more information about the presentation at the Hailey Community Campus, contact Community Library Programming Coordinator Caroline Clawson at 208-726-3493, ext. 120.C o l l e e n D a l y
E x e c u t i v e D i r e c t o r
T h e C o m m u n i t y L i b r a r y
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Hot Chillys - serious performance base layer for serious fun.

If your idea of fun is climbing Mt. Everest

(a world-record 18 times, no less) what would you choose to wear?He chose Hot Chillys.Apa Sherpa (left), on the summit of Mt. Everest (29,029 feet) for the eighteenth time, May 22, 2008.Hot Chillys is proud to sponsor Apa and the SuperSherpas in theirquest for conscientious mountaineering and education.Come by our booth at Outdoor Retailer for a meet and greet with theSuperSherpas on August 9th, from 5-6:00pm.www.supersherpas.com

 

A reception for David and the SuperSherpas will be held in a private home the afternoon of the presentation. The event will include refreshments and a signed copy of Three Cups of Tea. For more information, contact Steve Wagner at 208-788-4245.

Tickets for both the talk and slide-show at the Community Campus ($35) AND the private reception ($150) are now available at Chapter One bookstore in Ketchum (208-726-5425).

Proceeds from the two events will benefit a school-building project in Apa Sherpa’s village in Nepal. Currently, students in this village must walk 3½ miles to school if they want to attend classes beyond the sixth grade.

For more information about the SuperSherpas, visit www.supersherpas.com

For more information about the presentation at the Hailey Community Campus, contact Community Library Programming Coordinator Caroline Clawson at 208-726-3493, ext. 120.C o l l e e n D a l y
E x e c u t i v e D i r e c t o r
T h e C o m m u n i t y L i b r a r y
2 0 8 7 2 6 . 3 4 9 3 ext. 1 0 3

 They’re two men who’ve reached great heights in their lives. Lahpka Gelu Sherpa and Apa Sherpa have both set mountaineering records that have left many outdoor enthusiasts breathless.

On May 22, 2008, Apa Sherpa broke his own world climbing record by reaching the top of Mt. Everest for an amazing 18th time. Apa, who was born in Nepal and now lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, works to spread humanity and educating the American Culture on the Napalese culture.

Lahpka Gelu Sherpa gained fame when he broke the record for the fastest ascent to the summit of Mt. Everest. He made the climb in 10 hours, 56 minutes (and 46 seconds)! He also lives in Salt Lake City.

The two men tour together as the Super Sherpas. They will appear at a special event hosted by Smoky Mountain Outfitters. It’s June 7 from 10am to 6pm at Winery Square on Highway 321 in Gatlinburg. For more information call (865) 430-2267.