Ever since I started talking with Pema Dorje Sherpa during this past summer I’ve been intrigued by the Sherpa customs and I was anxious to one day be the recipient of my own “kata”, which is a length of yellow silk (about 5 or 6 feet long) draped around the shoulders of an esteemed guest. It’s a nice tradition and it’s a humble way of showing admiration and respect. I remember seeing a photo of Sir Edmund Hillary heaped over by katas and flower, thinking how absurd but that they really loved him. That reminds me of the tradition in Hawaii to drape strands of blissfully fragrant plumerias on revered dignitaries and hokey mainland tourists. That reminds me, I must have landed at the Honolulu airport at least ten times and I never got lei’d. So I was due for a little traditional acknowledgment from some culture in the world. Pema described how many of the Sherpa traditions came to the land centuries ago with the Tibetan emigrants, probably packed atop dzos. A significant part of the traditions and customs originate in the deeply devout Buddhist faith of their forefathers from the northern plateau.

Richard is glad he brought his boys along on his trek in the Himalayas. You could say it was all for the benefit of his two oldest teenage sons to see some of the outside world and to gain a little character through adverse conditions. He’s also proud that stuck through the cold in Lobuche and his son John made it with us to Kala Patthar (still scanning the record books to see if John can claim any renown for his age). However, Richard didn’t push them to do anything daring, and he became downright concerned and conservative when the conditions got a little bit rougher. Remember, one of the boys in the group, 12 year old Tashi, started to develop some serious altitude symptoms and he needed to back down to Pheriche quickly. Matthew, also 12, had some trouble, but who could blame him since the camp at Lobuche was the pinnacle of our discomfort. So we’ve wondered if it is even sensible to schlep youngsters along like that at all. Sure, it is good to pull the kids away from their Xbox and “Full House” to present them with some real challenges, but is it a bad idea to expose them to the risks of high elevations at all?