Sherpa: more than just a guide

On April 18 the Mt. Everest avalanche took 16 Sherpa lives; 13 bodies were found and three are still missing.

The next morning’s news included no names, no ages, no backgrounds, no stories. It simply referred to them as the Sherpa people.

Sherpa is an ethnicity. Their ancestors immigrated from eastern Tibet hundreds of years ago. The name Sherpa means “people from the east.” They are well-known for their mountaineering skills and tolerance to high altitudes. When Mt. Everest opened up to explorers they took the opportunity to make

Courtesy: Magnus Manske

money as guides.

With many difficulties Sherpa people already face while living in a third-world country such as Nepal, guiding tourists and climbers on Mt. Everest does not make their lives any easier.

They make a living with this job, but they do more than that. Not only the physical work, but the trust and family-like relationships they build with climbers.

“They work with us, alongside us, and for us. They are just some of the nicest people I’ve ever met in my life. I got to know a lot of them pretty well, and they became family members,” said Ben Jones, a senior guide from Alpine Ascents, in a documentary called “Everest Avalanche Tragedy” on the Discovery Channel.

Foreign climbers don’t often meet their Sherpa guides until they arrive at the base camp. Everest Base camp is 5,364 meters (17,598 feet) above sea level. According to Discovery, this base camp is higher than any mountain in Europe, but the camp is only two-thirds of the way to the peak. Due to the fact that the base camp is built on a glacier the ice constantly shifts. This requires the Sherpa people to rebuild the base camp every year.

On top of rocky glaciers, the Sherpas shovel away pointy rocks to flatten the space needed to set up tents and lay out equipment.

Once building is complete, the base camp looks like a miniature facility. The Sherpa guides continue working their magic, bonding and making people feel like home by brewing hot tea and cooking traditional food. Before climbing the highest mountain on Earth, the Sherpas take time to have the Puja ceremony.

The Rongphu Monastery, with Mt. Everest in the background
Courtesy: Csearl

A Puja ceremony is performed to ask the mountain gods for permission and blessings. The Sherpa people believe the mountain gods reside in the mountain and no one should step onto the mountain
before pursuing them.

The goal of the expedition on April 18 was to make sure Joby Ogwyn reached Everest’s highest peak before flying down in his wingsuit. However, to climb higher, they first have to pass the Khumbu Icefall.

Khumbu Icefall is another glacier-structured area at the bottom of the mountain. Above this area ice is more stable, but at Khumbu ice is constantly moving. The Sherpas who climb up first to this area are called the icefall doctors. Their job is to find the route and set the ladders and ropes. Due to the glacier’s instability they have to redo this every year. Other Sherpas who set up and maintain camps along the upper route carry heavy gear on their backs. They climb through the Khumbu Icefall at least 20 times before they notify the foreign climbers the route is ready.

Every year Sherpas die during such expeditions. This year 32 Sherpas from Joby’s expedition were on the mountain when the avalanche hit. Only half of them survived. It’s unfortunate that the Sherpas have to make their living doing this dangerous job, and even more unfortunate,their stories are neglected
in mainstream medias.

Foreign climbers pay more than $100,000 for expeditions to summit Everest but climbing Sherpas make only $5,000 a year. Other Sherpas who occupy non-climbing positions make even less.

“Without them, men like me will never be able to get up there,” Joby Ogwyn noted in the same
Discovery Channel documentary.

History chronicles the exploits of Edmund Hillary, Jim Whittaker, Willi Unsoeld and Tom Hornbein and other mountaineers, but the heroic deeds of the Sherpas and their names are nowhere to be seen.

To help the Sherpa community:

Donation site: www.sherpafund.bigcartel.com

Sherpa Education Fund: www.sherpaedfund.org

For more info: www.facebook.com/pages/2014-Mount-Everest-avalanche/268151980025149#

From passion to inspiration, Diana Wheat is living her dream at LBCC

After teaching in Colorado for seven years, a family decision was made to move to Oregon. Diana Wheat has been teaching biology at LBCC for 10 years.

Wheat grew up in a rural area in Kansas. Her family was affected during the farming crisis three decades ago. Some of her teachers were not comfortable enough to teach evolution, and going to college wasn't required to develop a career.

Living in a community stifled by scientific opportunities, nothing in her past pointed towards a career as a biologist, but one class and a brief discussion of a female scientist was enough to enlighten her. Today, Wheat still reveres Rachel Carson.

“I won’t say that I was following her footsteps, but I was very influenced by her writings,” said Wheat.

Wheat is the department chair and a biology faculty member at Linn-Benton Community College.

“I loved the land, but it’s nothing like the Northwest. This is such a diverse area compared to where I lived,” Wheat joked.

Wheat enjoys spending time outside every day and being surrounded by nature. This helped her to build the connection with the natural world.

Where she grew up, people didn't generally accept theories such as evolution and natural selection. Not many teachers talked about them at school during her growing up years because a few people got into trouble for teaching evolution.

However, teachers' reluctance and avoiding the subject made Wheat more curious. “I wanted to know what’s the controversy about. I wanted to understand more about the different perspectives.”

The more questions she asked, the more she realized the disconnection between people around her and nature. Studying about change became fascinating to Wheat. This initiation led her interests to issue-based biology studies.

Wheat could not help but dig deeper to see the science behind the scenes. She still believes it’s important to understand what’s really happening under the surface.

As a teacher, Wheat taught classes that were issue-based, and students loved learning that way.

“Because it’s almost like philosophy and ethical influence rather than just hard science,” she said.

Not every class affords opportunities for Wheat to teach that way.When she can, she engages students with issues along with scientific facts.

"I thought her class was difficult but I know she designed it to prepare me better for the future," said student Daniel Elliott.

She tries in her teaching approach to gather students’ attention with a phenomenon and let students ask for more.

“It’s not always important to tell people what to think, rather, it’s to give them a question so they learn how to think. That’s my mission of being a teacher,” said Wheat.

Wheat earned her bachelor’s degree in biology. The curriculum emphasized systematic and ecology. She worked for a museum but soon she realized the museum work was too quiet and not enough excitement for a young biologist. The insufficient funding was also part of the reason why she couldn't continue the job.

Wheat went back to school and earned her master’s degree in environmental science and specifically in eco-toxicology, the study of how toxins and poisons affect the environment. 

“It was part of a brand new master's degree program at the University of Kansas. I was one of the five people who applied for the program that year,” said Wheat. her interest included eco-toxicology or 

She was not afraid to step into the new genre.

Reflecting back to the age of 13, Wheat learned about Rachel Carson, who wrote the book “Silent Spring” and warned the world that the way humans poison the environment will result a future with no birds but a silent spring.

Following a similar path, Wheat wanted to be like Carson, a female scientist that can make a difference with what she believes.

Wheat was proud to receive her first job offer within the first year after graduation. She started working at a water quality laboratory as a microbiologist.

“It was not a glamorous job,” Wheat laughed, “It was a job to have a salary.”

The company was not happy about a research result she obtained about zebra mussels. They are now known as an invasive species from the Black Sea. Wheat warned the company that not a single chemical they were making could kill the zebra mussels, but the company thought she was wrong.

In the early '90s, it spread out in the country, and upset many ecosystems. Zebra mussels were then proved to be an invasive species that had high resistance.

After working in the company for one and half years, the company cut the lab and reduced Wheat's job. 

“Eventually, fate held my hands because it was a good beginning for my next journey,” Wheat said. 

With the money she saved, she decided to make the most out of the worst.

She went to Africa and explored like a real scientist.

It was not easy to travel in a place like Africa at the time, especially as a single woman. Wheat chose to go to Kenya because it was one of the safer countries. However, when she thought she could do something bigger on that continent, KWS (Kenyans Wildlife Services) stopped hiring. The director of KWS was Richard Leakey, the son of the famous scientist Louis Leakey. Because of a plane accident, Richard Leakey was sent back to a U.K. hospital. Wheat already had two interviews for the program, but no decisions could be made without the director.

Life didn't close all the doors. When the program manager noticed Wheat had museum work background, he suggested Wheat an opportunity to work at the NMK (National Museum of Kenya).

“Because of working for the NMK, I was put on to work on a project about biodiversity. It was a perfect project,” said Wheat.

The project was sponsored by the United Nations. So Wheat became a paid intern for $40 per month,
Roughly the same amount paid to Kenyan scientists at the time.

She wasn't a rich scientist, but the money was enough for her to safari to other areas in Africa.

The year in Africa taught Wheat not only biodiversity, but also valuable life lessons. Wheat decided to be a teacher to share her knowledge and experiences. She spent two years to complete her teaching certificate, and found her first teaching job at Littleton High School followed by the University of Colorado in Denver. 

“There were hardships and disappointments, but I kept going forward and never turned my back to biology. I hope through education, I can be a source of inspiration.”

Additional Info:

Instructor website: http://cf.linnbenton.edu/mathsci/bio/wheatd/web.cfm?pgID=2118
Office: WOH 207
Phone: 541-917-4772