THE SHERPA AND THE SNOWMAN Charles Stonor the "Snowman" exist an ape DOESlike creature dwelling in the unexplored fastnesses of the Himalayas or is he only a myth ? Here the author describes a quest which began in the foothills of Nepal and led to the lower slopes of Everest. After five months of wandering in the vast alpine stretches on the roof of the world he and his companions had to return without any demon strative proof, but with enough indirect evidence to convince them that the jeti is no myth and that one day he will be found to be of a a very remarkable man-like ape type thought to have died out thousands of years before the dawn of history. " Apart from the search for the snowman," the narrative investigates every aspect of life in this the highest habitable region of the earth's surface, the flora and fauna of the little-known alpine zone below the snow line, the unexpected birds and beasts to be met with in the Great Himalayan Range, the little Buddhist communities perched high up among the crags, and above all the Sherpas themselves that stalwart people chiefly known to us so far for their gallant assistance in climbing expeditions their yak-herding, their happy family life, and the wav they cope with the bleak austerity of their lot. The book is lavishly illustrated with the author's own photographs. THE SHERPA AND THE SNOWMAN "When the first signs of spring appear the Sherpas move out to their grazing grounds, camping for the night among the rocks THE SHERPA AND THE SNOWMAN By CHARLES STONOR With a Foreword by BRIGADIER SIR JOHN HUNT, C.B.E., D.S.O. LONDON HOLLIS & CARTER Made and printed in Great Britain by William Clowes and Sons, Limited, London and Beccles, for Hollis and Carter Limited 25 Ashley Place, London, S.W.I First published ip.55 To Sherman and Jeanne Foreword am glad to have the opportunity to add my testimony to this Ibook about Sherpas and Snowmen, because I believe in them both, though in different ways. In four expeditions and many wanderings through the Himalayas over a period of more than twenty years, I have had Sherpas as my companions. I have seen them enduring even grinning under dire duress in a blizzard, on steep and hazardous ground, gasping for breath at high alti tude. I have also seen them relaxed in the bosom of their families, and lit up by the spirit ofcelebration. My feeling about the Sherpa folk is best expressed by saying that there is no one whom I would sooner have with me in a tough spot, there is no one with whom I have felt more at home than those fine companions of mine Tensing : Angtharkay : Pasang Dawa Lama : Pasang Kikuli : Dawa Thondup : Palden : Da Tenzing : Da Namgyal : Ang Nyima and many others. They are the salt of the earth. And I believe in the Yeti. I have seen his tracks, heard his yelping call, listened to first-hand experiences of reputable local people, similar to those which you will read about in this book. Indeed, why should he not exist? I said as much to Ralph Izzard of the Daily Mail, when I was travelling by air towards Kathmandu and Everest in 1953. I further said that I thought it high time that a scientific expedition took the field with the specific mission of throwing more light on the subject. It is possible that this chance remark may have had something to do with the setting up of the expedition of which Mr. Stonor was a member. That they did not sight a Yeti is scarcely surprising. That evidence will be produced sooner or later, sufficient to convince the doubters, is beyond doubt. John Hunt Camberley 19th February 1955 vii Contents Chapter Page Foreword vii i. A Himalayan Mystery i 2. The Great Valley of Nepal and its Cities 14 3. On the Road to the Snow Mountains 27 4. Still on the Road to the Snow Mountains 47 5. The Sherpas and News of the Yeti 59 6. A Yeti Reconnaissance 75 7. A Visit to Thami 89 8. Thyangboche, another Yeti Hunt, and the Pangboche " " Scalp 103 9. The Sherpa New Year 132 10. The Expedition Arrives 140 11. Two Disappointments 160 12. Rhododendrons, Glaciers, and a Hermit 176 13. The Festival of Gondah 196 Index 207 List of Illustrations i. A Sherpa camp on the way to the spring grazing ground Frontispiece 2. The centre of Patan facing page 4 3. Mahakala, God of Destruction 5 4. The memorial figure to Prince Bhupatindra in the city of Bhatgaon 20 5. Irrigated terraces in the mountains ofNepal 21 6. Self-contained steadings typical of the country above Kathmandu 36 7. Junbesi, the centre of the Solu country 37 8. A grave-faced child abbot 52 9. Our camp in typical Yeti country between pages 52-53 10. One of the man-like footprints found at fourteen thousand feet 52-53 11. The twin peaks of Kantega facing page 53 12. Thami, with Gondah Monastery perched above it 68 13. Sherpa women sitting in the sun to prepare their wool 69 14. The Monastery of Gondah 84 15. A Sherpa yak-herd milks his flock 85 16. Thyangboche Monastery 100 List of Illustrations A 17. group ofSherpa women Between pages 100-101 18. Celebrations at Losahrr, the Sherpa New Year 100-101 Phorche 19. Village facing page 101 20. The yak-herding people of Phorche village 116 2 1 . Prior Nawang ofThyangboche, and Mrs Gyalchen 117 22. A man of Kumjhung Village 132 23. PhorchenDa 133 24. A shepherd ofPhorche drives his flock home 148 25. Sherpas storing potatoes in deep pits betweenpages 148-149 26. Rhododendron campylocarpum 148-149 27. Rhododendron falconeri against the background of the birch forests facing page 149 28. The frozen lakes of the Hongu Glacier 164 29. Amadablam: the most proudly aloof of mountains 165 30. Makhalu from the Barun Pass 180 3 1 . The Hermit of Dingboche 181 32. Beer being served at the May festival of Gondah Monastery 196 33. Merry-making at Gondah 197 34. The Abbot ofGondah receives the people's offerings 204 35. Some of the faithful who attended the festival between pages 204-205 36. The monks of Gondah usher in the festival with music 204-205 3 7. The monks ofGondah dance to the accompaniment of trumpets facing page 208 Acknowledgements A bove all, and in equal measure, my thanks are due to the /^enterprise and generosity of the Daily Mail, who made our expedition possible, and to the Sherpa people as a whole, whose good-neighbourliness kept it going in the field. In terms of personalities, I am equally grateful in the same sense to Mr. Leonard Curtis, Foreign Editor of the Daily Mail, whose un stinted support and encouragement from London kept up our morale through many a difficult patch, and to my Sherpa sirdar, Gyakhen of Namche, whose honest, hard work was of greater value than he would either realise or admit. Direct help and moral support were given by many in Kath- mandu: especially The Hon. The Prime Minister, H.E. The Indian Ambassador, H.E. General Kayser Sham Sher Jung Bahadur Rana, and Mr. David Hay-Neave ofthe British Embassy. We had a staunch and unbiased friend in the late Professor Wood Jones, F.R.S., F.R.C.S. Since my return to England I have had much good advice and practical help from Dr. Osman Hill (Prosector to the Zoological Society of London) and from the Rev. Gervase Mathew, O.P. Among my fellow members of the "Daily Mail Himalayan Expedition" I am particularly indebted to Mr. Ralph Izzard. Thanks are also due to the Daily Mail for permission to use the photographs I took during the expedition, and to quote from Ralph Izzard's Dispatches. C. S. CHAPTER 1 A Himalayan Mystery E should be dull dogs indeed were the subject of mountains w to strike no chord of interest or arouse in us no feelings of enthusiasm. All the great natural wonders of the world's surface cast, each in its own way, a magnetic spell of attraction over mankind, throwing out their own individual challenges to come to grips with the elements of which they are made : challenges which have proved overwhelming for all sorts and conditions of men, who have found it ever imperative to meet them in the working out of their appointed destinies. Some peoples have groped their way to wrest a living from the great forests, or found an outlet for their spirit of adventure by seeking out their teeming wild life. Others have won a livelihood, or found satisfaction, in battling with the glare and parchedness of the deserts; others by exploiting the resources of the oceans, and fighting through the fury of the elements to chart their furthest boundaries. But of all the series ofnatural phenomena that have dared us to brave their dangers and explore their secrets, surely the greatest spell-binders have been the mighty ranges of mountains, which throw out a two-fold challenge, either to obtain a permanent foothold and carve out a niche among them, or to come to grips with them by the more fleeting way ofyielding to the lure of the unknown and indulging the spirit of adventure for its own sake alone. The aesthetic appeal of their natural beauty, the limitless variation of their scenery, the unending contrasts of conditions, from hot, steamy valleys and forested slopes, leading up to the incomparable grandeur of the snow-capped peaks all these have struck a responsive chord in men of every race.