Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day (27 page)

62
kept rain out
Lahmu Bhoteni, 2009 interview with Padoan at the home Lahmu shared with Big Pasang in Kathmandu.

4: THE CELEBRITY ETHNICITY

For the details on Sherpa genetics, we examined more than twenty studies. Cynthia Beall, professor of anthropology at Case Western Reserve University and an authority on Tibetan genetics, compiled much of the data. Although Beall’s research focuses on Tibetan highlanders, she said her research is generalizable to Sherpas. Evolutionarily speaking, Sherpas split from Tibetan highlanders very recently. To make this section easier to understand, we use the term
Sherpa
when, in many instances, the researchers studied Tibetan highlanders. We also interviewed Beall, and this section includes information from ongoing research. For the ethnicity details, we drew extensively from interviews and correspondence with Professor Sacherer and Professor Diemberger. The biography of Tenzing is based on an interview with his son, Jamling Tenzing Norgay, visiting Tenzing’s private museum at his home (Ghang La in Darjeeling), viewing his mountaineering gear at the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute Museum in Darjeeling, and library research, with
Tiger of the Snows
by Tenzing Norgay (with James Ramsey Ullman) serving as a primary source and Ed Douglas’s
Tenzing: Hero of Everest
serving as our main secondary source.

64
Sherpa®
diaperbag
These are all real products, and the Sherpa trademark signs are part of the product names as advertised.

65
red-blood-cell count
One of the best overviews of the research on this topic is C. M. Beall, “Adaptations to Altitude: A Current Assessment,”
Annual Review of Anthropology
30 (2001), pp. 423–46.

65
populations well adapted to altitude
In extreme altitudes, Sherpas’ bodies will ramp up red-blood-cell production, but not nearly as much as the bodies of other populations do.

65
dominant genetic trait
Researchers have yet to identify the location of this gene, and the Sherpa red blood cells affected by this gene have yet to be compared with red blood cells in other populations.

66
oldest Sherpa clans
See Michael Oppitz, “Myths and Facts: Reconsidering Some Data Concerning the Clan History of the Sherpa,”
Kailash
2 (1974), pp. 121–31. When Oppitz wrote the clan history, he used the term
Khamba
throughout. At the time of his paper’s publication, he was unaware of the linguistic distinction between
Khampa
, meaning someone from Kham in eastern Tibet, and
Khamba
, meaning a poor, landless wanderer. The latter can be a derogatory term.

66
as much as 30 percent
Interview and correspondence with Sacherer, October 2010.

66
naming system
The naming system varies among villages and families. The version here is based on the system in Rolwaling.

67
roughly twenty clans
The number of clans that are Sherpa is disputed. This number reflects an inclusive definition of the ethnicity. By the narrowest definition, there are only four clans plus a handful of subclans.

68
one of four types of Bhotias
See Ed Douglas,
Tenzing: Hero of Everest
(Washington, DC: National Geographic, 2003), p. 6. The four Bhotia ethnic groups are Sikkimese, Sherpas, Drukpas, and Tibetans.

68
the
Mayflower
Sacherer provided this analogy.

68
Good faith
Communication with Sacherer based on an unpublished manuscript, “The Sherpas of Nepal: Using Anthropology to Reconstruct History.”

69
bloodthirsty barbarians
Zuckerman interview with Professor Hildegard Diemberger, University of Cambridge, 2010. Buddhists are not vegetarian, per se. No sin attaches to consuming the flesh of an animal that has died of natural causes. Slaughter, however, is a sin. And, as sin goes, there are varying degrees. Diemberger emphasizes the distinction between slaughter for consumption and sacrificial slaughter. Tibetan Buddhists, including Sherpas, do eat meat of slaughtered animals for essential nutrition, although they feel guilty about it and try to avoid direct responsibility by nudging the animal off a cliff or buying their steak from a Muslim butcher. Slaughter for consumption can be justified from the Buddhist perspective because it provides nourishment for the body, fueling it to perform good deeds. But Sherpas draw the line at sacrificial slaughter, which they regard as a gratuitous waste of life.

69
“stab you in the back”
See Douglas,
Tenzing: Hero of Everest
, p. 11.

70
Tsechu, a pilgrimage site
The name of the birthplace of Tenzing Norgay has been subject to half a century of translation error.
Tshe-chu
, which means “long-life water” in Tibetan, is a well-known pilgrimage site in the Kharta region. In some biographies of Tenzing Norgay, Tshe-chu was replaced by the word
Cha-chu
, which means “hot mineral springs” in Tibetan. See Ed Webster,
Snow in the Kingdom
(Eldorado Springs, CO: Mountain Imagery, 2000).

71
recruitment hub
In the 1930s, Everest was attempted from the north side in Tibet, and the expeditions were exclusively British. Britain had a choke hold on Everest permits thanks to its influence with the Tibetan government.

71
“never get a job”
Tenzing Norgay (with James Ramsey Ullman),
Tiger of the Snows
(New York: Putnam, 1955), p. 30.

72
compensate Sherpas preferentially
See Douglas,
Tenzing: Hero of Everest
, p. 12.

72
“his attractive grin”
See Eric Shipton,
That Untravelled World
(London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1969), p. 97.

73
any mortal
Tenzing had also come very close to the summit in 1952 with Swiss partner Raymond Lambert. The duo had reached 28,215 feet, just 813 feet shy of the summit.

73
“single cramponed foot”
Jamling Tenzing Norgay and Broughton Coburn,
Touching My Father’s Soul
(Harper San Francisco, 2001), p. 93. Other books give slightly different versions of this incident.

74
“like a giant fish”
John Hunt,
The Ascent of Everest
(London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1953), p. 209.

74
“A few more whacks”
Edmund Hillary,
High Adventure: The True Story of the First Ascent of Everest
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003, anniversary edition), p. 226.

74
“under her wings”
We used the version that appeared in the
New York Times
. Tenzing’s choice of metaphor also belies his origins. His biographer, Ed Douglas, learned that “hen” is the local name for Everest in the Kharta region.

74
Union Jack
Tenzing held up four flags strung in the following order: the United Nations, the United Kingdom, Nepal, and India. The Union Jack is the most visible in the photograph. Tenzing’s face was obscured by the oxygen mask. Ed Douglas wrote that this anonymity allowed every nation to project its dreams onto this iconic image.

74
“on television”
See Tenzing Norgay,
Tiger of the Snows
, p. 272.

75
press conference.
This version of the press conference is from Jamling Tenzing Norgay’s recollection of how his father, Tenzing, described it. Contemporary British sources describe Hunt’s press conference less critically. Hunt’s comments were based, in part, on Hillary’s account of having to drag Tenzing up the Hillary Step. No known transcripts exist.

75
“it doesn’t matter”
Hillary did eventually say that he was first on the summit, but he waited to do so until after Tenzing’s death.

76
“draw their knives”
See Douglas,
Tenzing: Hero of Everest
, p. 11. James Ramsey Ullman’s notes for
Tiger of the Snows
are in the Princeton University Library. Although anthropologists sometimes use the term
Bhotia
to mean a larger grouping of which Sherpas and Tibetans are part, Tenzing is using the term
Bhotia
interchangeably with Tibetan.

5: INSHA’ALLAH

Both authors visited Shimshal in April 2009, and Padoan traveled with Shaheen Baig through northern Pakistan in June 2009. The authors interviewed Shaheen’s wife, Khanda, his children, his parents, his close friend Qudrat Ali, his climbing partner Simone Moro, and his employer, Nazir Sabir, as well as the families of Karim and Jehan. The folklore of the region is from stories locals told Zuckerman and Padoan, supplemented with academic studies and Pam Henson’s
Shimshal
(Obisan Press, 2006) and
The Women of Shimshal
(Shimshal Publishing, 2010). Many of the details relating to the Baltit Fort are based on the authors’ visit to it and interviews with Soukat Hayat of the Baltit Heritage Trust. For descriptions of Younghusband’s exploits, we relied on his own accounts in
Wonders of the Himalaya
(John Murray, 1924) and
The Heart of a Continent
(John Murray, 1896), as well as Peter Hopkirk’s
The Great Game
(John Murray, 1990). We supplemented the research with Patrick French’s biography
Younghusband: The Last Imperial Adventurer
(HarperCollins UK, 2004), and
Where Three Empires Meet
(Longmans, Green, 1918) by contemporary historian E. F. Knight. Knight was present during the siege of Hunza as a reporter for British newspapers. Some of the details about the Mir are also from R. C. F. Schomberg, who wrote
Between the Oxus and the Indus
(Lahore: al-Biruni, 1935) and befriended Safdar Ali in exile. For the campaign to defeat the Mir, we also drew from Algernon Durand’s
The Making of the Frontier
(London: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1899). The quotes and details, such as the Mir’s conversations with Younghusband, appear in several of these accounts and are based largely on Younghusband’s own writings. The physical descriptions are from photographs and the contemporary accounts. For the details of the porter selection process, we interviewed Haji Baig, the only living high-altitude porter of the 1953 Nanga Parbat expedition, and we visited the Durbar below the Baltit Fort where the selection took place. The Mir’s ceremonial coat is on display at the Darbar Hunza Hotel. As mentioned above, Padoan climbed with Karim on Broad Peak in 2004, so some of the observations about him are from their interactions. The descriptions of Karim’s interactions with his family and his departure for K2 are based on interviews with his wife, Parveen, and his father, Shadi.

79
a strange creature
For further reading, see Michel Peissel,
The Ants’ Gold
(New York: HarperCollins, 1984), in which the author sets out to solve this mystery posed by Herodotus. The legend of the gold-digging ants was popular with Alexander and his troops.

79
“bigger than foxes”
Herodotus,
The Histories
, 3.102–5.

79
marmots
Marlise Simons, “Himalayas Offer Clue to Legend of Gold-Digging ‘Ants,’ ”
New York Times
, November 25, 1996.

79
“the Bride”
Iftikhar Haider Malik,
The History of Pakistan
(Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008).

81
had to be secured
For further reading, see Peter Hopkirk,
The Great Game
(London: John Murray, 1990).

81
considered marriage “coercive”
For more details, see Patrick French,
Younghusband: The Last Great Imperial Adventurer
(HarperCollins UK, 2004), p. 283.

82
“bullets and stones whizzing”
Francis Younghusband,
The Heart of a Continent
(London: John Murray, 1896), p. 228.

83
vodka and brandy
See Francis Younghusband,
Wonders of the Himalaya
(London: John Murray, 1924), p. 183.

83
“hereditary failings”
E. F. Knight,
Where Three Empires Meet
(London: Longmans, Green, 1918), p. 350. Knight portrayed Safdar Ali in harsh terms, but the Mir eventually found his apologist. Colonel R. C. F. Schomberg, who befriended Safdar Ali during his exile in Yarkand, claims that at least one instance of fratricide (the killing of a fourth brother in Shimshal) was “self-defense.” Schomberg could find no excuse, however, for the other killings. See R. C. F. Schomberg,
Between the Oxus and the Indus
(Lahore: al-Biruni, 1935), p. 153.

83
“redeeming feature”
Algernon Durand,
The Making of a Frontier
(London: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1899), p. 230.

83
“paying blackmail”
Younghusband,
Wonders of the Himalaya
, p. 199.

84
“soap for his wives”
Younghusband,
Wonders of the Himalaya
, p. 201.

84
“poor creature”
Younghusband,
Wonders of the Himalaya
, p. 202.

84
on a platter
Knight,
Where Three Empires Meet
, p. 361.