by Liz Daube
Staff Writer
For attorney Charles Sorenson, a simple, sightseeing vacation – say, to the Eiffel Tower or the Sistine Chapel – wasn’t thrilling enough for his 30th wedding anniversary. He opted to take his wife, Pam, to the Himalayan Mountains in Nepal – a trip that required six months of physical training, six flights and 12 days of climbing to reach the 18,000 feet and below-freezing temperatures of Mt. Everest’s base camp. Fun?
“Some might say it’s not a romantic trip,” said Sorenson, a partner at Coker, Schickel, Sorenson & Daniel. “But nothing precious is purchased cheaply ... I don’t think they (easy vacations) as are special as this kind of deal. You’re observing, but you’re not participating.”
Sorenson and his wife traveled with a small group of Americans led by three climbing guides, Buddhist sherpas who, between them, have scaled Everest’s summit 29 times. The extreme altitudes of Everest can create serious physical ailments for travellers: 50 percent less oyxgen is available in the air 17,000 feet above sea level, leaving unaccustomed climbers extremely short of breath, and a rapid ascent can cause lethal pulmonary edema.
“You have to go up and down,” said Sorenson. The group hiked about six hours a day and then camped in a valley at night. He said everyone kept medications to keep altitude sickness at bay. Symptoms the couple experienced included uncontrollable crying, headache, dizziness, anxiety and lost appetite.
“If you didn’t know what was going on it would be incredibly dangerous,” said Sorenson. In the middle of the night, he heard another climber in a nearby tent panting and telling the lead sherpa that he couldn’t catch his breath. With time, Sorenson said, the body eventually adjusts – but in the meantime it can be scary.
Still fun?
“I saw a place in the world that few people see,” he said. “It’s like another world. You could be on another planet.”
Sorenson said his pictures can’t capture the feeling of being surrounded by breathtaking views or the “amazing, wonderful, warm people” who guided the group. The culture immersion was a unique part of this trip, he said: Other mountains he’s climbed, such as Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa, were not inhabited.
The Sherpa people have made the mountains their home, though. Sorenson said they lead simple, hardworking lives. Each house is two-storied, with the bottom floor a barn for the yaks and the top floor a one-room living, cooking and sleeping area. Besides a kind demeanor – Sorenson said small children were quick to smile and say, “Namaste,” which translates to “The spirit in me salutes the spirit in you” – the Sherpas are physically resilient because of the high altitude environment.
“They’re studied by doctors and groups around the world,” said Sorenson. “Lakpa (the lead Sherpa guide) literally could have run up the mountain. We (Americans) were just these pitiful physical specimens trying to make it up.”
Sorenson said it takes about two weeks to recover from the climbing and extreme jet lag, but the experience was worth the trouble. He and his wife bonded over the “shared adventure” and came away with a deep appreciation of a culture they’d never have known otherwise.
“Americans in particular can have so much and be so unhappy,” he said. “These people have so little and are so happy. That was very refreshing to me.”
photo courtesy of Charles Sorenson