Touching My Father's Soul: A Sherpa's Journey to the Top of Everest

Just because technological and meteorological advances have benefited later expeditions, newer isn't necessarily better; much wisdom can be gained from studying the mistakes and encounters of previous attempts. Anecdotes and gripping prose shine throughout, like this gem: "That night--and then the following night--we lay in our tents listening to the malevolent roar of wind high on the mountain. The train was still running, the 747 endlessly trying to take off." As a Sherpa and practicing Buddhist, Norgay flavors the book with his culture and its climbing rituals and carefully dissects the differences between the local, deep respect for their mountain--Chomolungma--and the nonnative brashness that has often led to disaster.

Norgay is intent on the accomplishments and experiences of his legendary father, Tenzing Norgay, the Sherpa who first reached the summit with Sir Edmund Hillary in 1953, and commendably shares his most private and human thoughts while retracing his father's greatest path. As Touching My Father's Soul acknowledges, however, no one conquers Everest. You sneak up on it, then get down as quick as you can. --Michael Ferch

Product Description
In a story of Everest unlike any told before, Jamling Tenzing Norgay gives us an insider's view of the Sherpa world. As Climbing Leader of the famed 1996 Everest IMAX expedition led by David Breashears, Jamling Norgay was able to follow in the footsteps of his legendary mountaineer father, Tenzing Norgay, who with Sir Edmund Hillary was the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest, in 1953. Jamling Norgay interweaves the story of his own ascent during the infamous May 1996 Mount Everest disaster with little-known stories from his father's historic climb and the spiritual life of the Sherpas, revealing a fascinating and profound world that few -- even many who have made it to the top -- have ever seen.

The other books only mentioned them in passing and in terms of what the Sherpas did for the expedition. Jamling Tenzig Norgay, the author, experiences this attitude. After the disaster, he and his team stay at Base Camp. He wrote, "The other Sherpas were hanging out in a depressed funk. Some of them hadn't gotten so much as a thank-you from the guided clients whom they assisted down the mountain, often after exceptional struggle. The clients simply disappeared, some without saying goodbye. We notice this kind of behavior."

Norgay was skeptical about Buddhism at the beginning of the climb- but gradually came to believe in it. He requests and receives divinations from llamas- and uses their information as part of his decision-making. The book provides fascinating beginner's information that is accessible to someone like me who is just learning about Buddhism. He describes spirituality in a practical matter.

For example, he says, "in the icefall, as in the mountains, we hope we have been imbued with enough tsin-lap to handle any situation. Tsin-lap is roughly translated as "blessing", but it really means the mental ability and strength to allow our minds to be changed in the direction of complete awareness. When we pray to the wisdom deities, to the Buddhas, we pray for tsin-lap." He talks about the fact that he and the other Sherpas who carry loads for the team hike over each trail numerous times. This improves their athletic ability and knowledge of the mountain.

Norgay, spent over a decade in the United States and was also deeply familiar the clients who were paying to climb the mountains who were mostly from industrialized countries. The author does not idealize the Sherpas. He describes the positive parts of their culture, but also tells the reader that the main reason they are on the mountain is as a profession. It is to earn money. He explains that many of the Sherpas risked their lives for their clients during the disaster. But some expected a large award to be posted on the radio. It is not clear whether they might have saved the lives of their guide had an award been offered. Wong Chu, the sirdar responsible for logistics, kept a stick in the kitchen and "would whack miscreant Sherpas on the butt when they acted up. `You came here to do work.' he would say loudly."

Norgay is the son of Tenzing Norgay Sherpa who accompanied Edmund Hillary on the first successful attempt of the summit of Mount Everest. His story is interwoven with his father's story. And by the end of the book, you can see that the son had climbed two mountains- a real one and the metaphorical on that each of us must climb to integrate our past with our present and future.