It was nice to read a book that finally dove head on into the topic we’ve been touching on every class- the cultural aspect of the Sherpas. I really enjoyed this book, because so much of it came as a surprise. I expected Sherpa life to much different than how it was portrayed. I expected them to generally dislike Westerners, because of some of the mountaineering videos I’ve seen with crisis situations involving Sherpas. Much to my surprise, they really enjoyed their work, and I had been looking at them like another any other dumb Sahib would. At the same time, parts of my unconscious notions of Sherpa life were proved, that I didn’t even know I had. Because of living at high altitudes, with very poor roads, “load carrying” indeed is a huge part of their lives. I had not taken the time to consider how difficult it really was to live at these altitudes. Carrying wood, and especially water, mile after mile certainly conditioned Sherpas to be good porters. Of course I’m talking mostly about the “small” Sherpas, which was a concept I had been completely ignorant of, which in hindsight makes me feel pretty stupid.I had also assumed that Sherpas possessed genetic traits that made them better suited to operate at high altitudes. I think myself, and others included, are tempted at looking at Sherpas as a single group of people, all of equal status and backgrounds. The “Sherpa” I had been thinking of my whole life represented a very small segment of their society. These “small” Sherpas who don’t own land and have been used to carrying loads most of their lives, are the main symbols of Sherpa culture we in the West are used to thinking about.

I’m glad that not all of my previous conceptions were bashed though, such as the “cheerfulness” aspect. I had this mental construction (that now seems very silly), that Sherpa’s experience some of the best parts of life, and this would shape their culture accordingly. I have long admired Buddhism, and the general atmosphere of peace that it is supposed to create. Combined with my love for mountains, I had an underlying assumption that Sherpa life, at its core, was based on the best fundamental building blocks. This notion was of course proved right and wrong, but I was pleased to the extent it was proved right, although not at all for reasons I thought, or to be honest necessarily buy from Ortner. Because they have always been a mercantilist people, even entrepreneurial, this trait has served them in their transactions. It is interesting how this cultural heritage persists up to today, and how it has evolved. Being porters on climbs with Europeans is a perfect example of being entrepreneurial, and indeed the “sardars” used this as a way to elevate their status in society. I had assumed Sherpas worshipped mountains, but was ignorant of how really. It’s interesting that being on the high mountains was religiously stressful for Sherpas, which was something I had not considered. It goes to show the stress of the their jobs, from another level entirely.