New and Old Perspectives on the Sherpas and Mt. Everest
On Friday, November 15, Brot Coburn, author of The Vast Unknown, will give a presentation at CU. Coburn will contextualize the first American ascent of Mt. Everest in 1963, the topic of his book, within the Cold War; discuss many of the unique characters involved in the expedition; and speak to how both climbing on Everest and the mountain itself have dramatically changed over the past fifty years. He will also address how climbing has impacted the Khumbu region and Sherpa communities in significant socio-economic and demographic ways, a topic on which Coburn has unique insights, having co-authored Touching My Father's Soul with Jamling Tenzing Norgay (the son of first Everest summiteer, Tenzing Norgay). Understanding the trajectory of how the climbing economy has transformed the Sherpa community is critical to discussing what precipitated the conflict between Sherpas and western climbers on Everest in May 2013, a topic that will also be addressed during Coburn's presentation.
This event will be on Friday, November 15, at 6:00 p.m., in Humanities 150.
This lecture will be followed on Saturday, November 16, by a workshop entitled "Everest: New and Old Perspectives about Mt. Everest and the Sherpas." For more information about this workshop and to download the registration form, please click here.
For more information about this event, please click here.