On April 23rd, our guest speaker was Ang Dawa Sherpa, a fellow Rotarian from Nepal, and one of the Himalayas' most accomplished mountaineers. Ang is an internationally certified mountain guide with more than 21 years of high altitude expedition experience. A ten time summiteer of Mount Everest, he and his wife, Pasang Phuti Sherpa, hold the Guinness Book Record as the fastest couple to summit Everest at 2 days, 7 hours and 36 minutes on May 14th, 2019. Everest is the worlds highest mountain above sea level at 29,032 feet, which is 6.6x Vermont's highest peak Mt Mansfield at 4,395 feet.
Ang started hiking in 2005 and made his first summit of Everest in 2007. Ang also runs ANH Sherpa Treks and Expeditions, and gave us a few pointers on how to make climbs at high altitudes. While most understand that physical fitness is needed, mental fitness is required to overcome fear from storms and the unknown, and technical ability is needed in cases of emergency such as if your guide gets sick or injured on the trail.
Other interesting facts were that Sherpa is not a job title, but one of the many Tibetan-speaking ethic groups who are globally renowned as expert mountain guides and high-altitude porters, carrying 66-220 lbs up the mountain, sometimes exceeding 100-175% of their own body weight. High altitude porters have to carry food, tents and oxygen for their clients. Absolutely amazing, and so was Ang's talk.
To see and hear Ang's presentation to our club, visit: https://youtu.be/NsjeRL_OMNU
To read more on ANH Sherpa Treks and Expeditions, go to: https://anhsherpaexped.com/