Meeting a High Flier : Wendy Smith

High Flier Wendy Smith

Wendy Smith captured the headlines last fall, when she became the first skydiver to take the highest free fall during Everest Skydive 2008. A very talented photographer and an experienced skydiver, Wendy, this year, is on the team of Everest Skydive 2009. The event is scheduled to take place this Autumn.

She was here in Nepal, recently to plan for the upcoming ESD 2009. EH had the opportunity to ask her a few questions after her return from Pokhara. The interview was conducted on 23rd March at Explore Himalaya, Kathmandu.

Q. How was Pokhara?
WS: Very nice.

Q. What activities did you indulge in while you were there?
WS: We flew up to Pokhara and the first thing we did was we met the guide. Then we started doing the trek to Dhampus. We arrived in the afternoon, just in time because a big storm came. We stayed the evening in Dhampus and I did some small walks around this area. We stayed there the evening and we climbed a little bit higher to see the sunset and it was a little bit cloudy and bit grey after the storm and very, very cold. The next morning we woke up at 5:30 and we went up, almost another 500m to see the sunrise coming on the mountains and it was clear. We could see all of the peaks facing Pokhara. It was very beautiful. Then we trekked 3 hrs back down to the village, on the other side of Dhampus, to take a shuttle back down to Pokhara. When we came back to Pokhara we went to check for some locations possible for parachuting drop zones, places that could be made suitable for landing on parachute. It was nice to see such an active paragliding club up there, very nice and just to see the general layout of the town and the people and the sports available. Pokhara is really calm and it’s very beautiful. Very nice place, and very clean, there’s no pollution!

Q. How did you get into skydiving?
WS: When I was seventeen years old, I did my first skydive in New Zealand. I always loved flying since I was a little girl on the farm. I grew up on a farm in New Zealand. I used to go flying with the agricultural pilots, when they were fertilizing the crops in their helicopters.

Q. Where exactly in New Zealand?
WS: Up in the mountains, in the middle of the North Island, in sheep and cattle country. I grew up with the nature, the big nature and learning to be in the aircraft and above the land was wonderful for me .When I was seventeen, I had the chance to train to do my first round parachute jump. I tried it and I loved it.

Q. How many jumps have you made?
WS: I have made nearly 18,000 jumps so far.

Q. Do you think that is the highest number of jumps made by a woman skydiver?
WS: I probably may have the highest number of jumps. Maybe, I think there is one another American woman skydiver who has that many jumps. But she does accuracy, which means she doesn’t free fall a lot. Most of my jumps are high free fall.

Q. Can you tell us about your Everest Skydive 2008 experience?
WS: It was exhilarating. It was so overwhelming, so stunning! But there were so many things to take care of, the equipment, the oxygen, cameras, cold, and aircraft. It was very, very technically interesting and I was very pleased at the technical influence. Our equipment was wonderful, our pilots were wonderful, the air to ground and ground to air crew. I mean this is so important. This is just not one thing but everything that made the event successful
.
Q. You are now in the team of ESD 2009.How do you think this event will turn out to be like?
WS: I think from 2008 we have opened a lot of people’s eyes in the world about what we achieved and now they know we have actually achieved it safely. Now more and more people are gonna try it. Not only will they be able to achieve an amazing skydive but they will also learn so much about this amazing area. It’s a very humbling environment.

Q. Other then skydiving and photography, what are your other interests?
WS: I love all sports. I love water sports, skiing, I love animals and horse riding. I have been riding horses since I was three or four years old. I used to ride my horse to school. I love trekking and climbing in the mountains. Yeah, I love being outdoors, but I really love climbing and mountains and the nature.

Q. How would you like to be known as, a photographer or a skydiver?
WS: Well I am both. I am unusual because I am an aerial cinematographer and one of the only women in the world who shoots films and collects cinematography for such a wide collection of disciplines and sports.

Valerie Parkinson: “Always wanted to have a go at Everest!”

Valerie Parkinson, the Asia Base Manager and Trek Leader of Exodus Travels UK, became the first British woman climber to summit Manaslu(8,163m), the eighth tallest peak in the world, without supplementary oxygen last fall. This April, she is all set for an expedition to the highest peak Everest. She is climbing with Altitude Junkies & Project Himalaya Everest team, led by Phil Crampton. Explore Himalaya is handling the logistics for the team.
Just back in Kathmandu after spending two months in UK, Explore Himalaya caught up with Valerie (on 19th March 2009) to talk about her latest venture and her passion for adventure.

Q. How was your last expedition to Manaslu?
Valerie: It was very good, though a bit hard. It’s hard to climb without supplementary oxygen. But it was fantastic when we finally reached the top. Somebody asked me when I got back, what I saw from the summit and I couldn’t remember. I was just happy to reach the top!
Q. After Manaslu, why did you choose Everest?
Valerie: Because I have always wanted to have a go at Everest. I have done trekking peaks up to 6400m before but Manaslu was my first 8000m peak and maybe if this is the last time I am going to try an 8000m peak than it has to be Everest.
Q. How are you preparing yourself for the big climb?
Valerie: By going trekking. I went trekking between Christmas and New Year. I spent three weeks doing the Annapurna Circuit and Anna Base Camp treks, and really enjoyed it.
On 26th of March I am flying to Lukla with a Sherpa. I am doing two weeks trekking over the high passes of Renzo La and Cho La, and I will be meeting the group at Lobuche on the 6th of April.
Q. We see very few female trekking or expedition leaders. You say you have been working as a trekking leader for 25 years. What made you choose this unconventional career?
Valerie: I would say the mountains of Asia and its people. I have been doing this for 25 years .I have been leading treks. I love being with the groups. I started this 25 years ago, I loved it and I carry on doing it.
Q. On your adventures, do you feel you are being treated differently for being a woman?
Valerie: In Muslim countries like Pakistan and Morocco, yes. But in India and Nepal, they treat you kindly then they treat men. And especially the Nepalese people, they would do more if you are a woman. If you are in a group and face problems, the Nepalese would do the most to help you. I think it’s better being a woman leader than a man leader in Nepal.
In the last expedition I was the only woman in the team and I got special treatment. At meal times especially, I was given special treats!
Q. How supportive is your family?
Valerie: My father is 79 and mother is 76, and they live in Wiltshire. My father has been to Nepal thrice and he wishes he could do my job. My mother, of course worries when she reads the horror stories. But they know I love what I do and they are supportive. They know I love my job and Nepal.

Alpine Style Climbing

Alpine style refers to mountaineering in a self-sufficient manner. It entails carrying all of one’s food, shelter, equipment etc. as one climbs, as opposed to expedition style mountaineering which involves setting up a fixed line of stocked camps on the mountain which can be accessed at one’s leisure. In addition alpine style means the refusal of fixed ropes, high altitude porters and the use of supplementary oxygen.

Alpine style is considered by many mountaineers to be the purest form of mountaineering. It was Hermann Buhl’s idea to demonstrate Alpine style in the Karakoram at the successful Austrian Broad Peak expedition in 1957, in pure Alpine style. Reinhold Messner,further popularised this style, when he and Peter Habeler climbed Gasherbrum I without oxygen equipment in 1975.

The benefits of alpine style are that, generally, much less time is spent on the route, reducing objective dangers such as avalanches or blizzards. While the problems encountered in this style of climbing are related to lack of support. There are no fixed ropes to retreat down in case of emergency, or a lower camp to return to. However, alpine style often is cheaper and faster for those on a budget.

Trekking in the shadow of Lower Everest

One of the most beautiful areas and one still largely off the tourist route is that of Peekye mountain (4070m), a very special mountain in that it is considered the protector of Golla region. Golla is a small Sherpa village of about 40 houses scattered over the slope of Peekye at an altitude of 3060m, and dominated by a range of snow-capped mountains: Gaurishankar, Karylung, Numbur and Katanga. The religious life of this village is very vibrant thanks to its four small monasteries, all belonging to the Nyingmapa school of Tibetan Buddhism.
The months of March and April are a wonderful time to visit the area. The forests then show off their rhododendrons, magnolias, wild orchids and edelweiss. At this time of year too, a great Sherpa festival takes place: the Dumje, for which, different families take turns each year in bearing the cost of the celebrations. This is a good opportunity to see the monks dancing sacred dances (cham) in the monastery courtyards and to enjoy the famous Sherpa hospitality. For those who like deep blue skies, snow and the mountain climate, autumn and winter are the best seasons to come. At the end of October or beginning of November(according to the Lunar calendar), a great festival takes place in Chiwong monastery in which the monks perform the sacred dance festival of Mani Rimdu over a period of several days. Each season of the year has its own beauty- its open feel –to make worthwhile a trip to this area.

Nepalese Women Climbers to Conquer the 7 Summits

A group of 10 Nepalese women mountaineers, who had successfully scaled Mt. Everest in 2008, is all set to conquer the seven summits, the highest mountains of the seven continents. The female mountaineers announced their plans at a press conference held in Kathmandu on 7th March 2009. Their mission would begin in August this year and they would climb the highest mountains of all seven continents within two to three years.

The group includes Shushmita Maskey, Shaili Basnet, Nimdoma Sherpa, Maya Gurung, Poojan Acharya, Usha Bista, Asha Kumari Singh, Nawang Futi Sherpa, Chunu Shrestha and Pema Diki Sherpa.Their ages range from 18 to 31 years. The climbers come from six different ethnic communities.

So far only one Nepalese climber, Lhakparita Sherpa, has scaled the seven summits. The seven summits are: Mount Aconcagua (6962 m) in South America, Mount McKinley (6194 m) in North America, Mount Kilimanjaro (5895 m) in Africa, Mount Elbrus (5642 m) in Europe, Mount Vinson Massif (4897m) in Antarctica, Mount Kosciusko (2228 m) in Australia and Mount Carstenz Pyramid (4884 m) in ‘Oceania’.

Imja Tsho Action Event 2009

Fagu Purnima - Holi Festival

Narayanhiti Palace Museum

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