Sherpas
 The Sherpa are an ethnic group who live in the high mountain region of the eastern Himalayas. Because they live at such high elevations in the mountains, they are particularly well-suited for climbing and mountaineering, with resilience to high altitudes and remarkable endurance. The word “sherpa” with a lower case “s” is also used to refer to anyone - ethnic Sherpa or not - serving as a guide or porter for mountain-climbing expeditions.
Historically, the Sherpa are farmers who migrated from eastern Tibet to Nepal. They still follow their traditions of herding yaks and growing what few crops that can withstand the extreme conditions, typically potatoes, barley, wheat and buckwheat. Sherpas also live in India. In the days of the early Everest expeditions of the 1920s, Nepal was off-limits to Westerners. So, many Sherpas would travel to Darjeeling, where it became the custom for British climbers to hire them. By mid-century, Nepal was opening up to outsiders, making it easier for climbers to hire Sherpas locally.
The Sherpa take great pride in their mountaineering heritage, and their experience and expertise in mountaineering is well-documented. The most famous Sherpa is Tenzing Norgay, who accompanied Edmund Hillary as the first to reach the summit of Everest in 1953. In May of 2004, a Sherpa named Pemba Dorjie set the record for the fastest summit of Everest with a total time of 8 hours and 10 minutes. And in May of 2006, Appa Sherpa climbed Everest for the 16th time, breaking his own record for most successful ascents.
The Sherpas are traditionally farmers and traders, herding yaks and cultivating their high altitude fields of potatoes, barley, wheat, and buckwheat. Sherpas speak their own language, which in many ways resembles a dialect of Tibetan. Interestingly, the names of Sherpa men often reflect the day of the week on which they were born:
| Sunday |
Ngi`ma |
| Monday |
Dawa |
| Tuesday |
Mingma |
| Wednesday |
Lhakpa |
| Thursday |
Phurba |
| Friday |
Pasang |
| Saturday |
Pemba |
| |
