Rolwaling Links

Sonam Tsering Memorial Page

Under construction, but very interesting. This website commemorates Sonam Tsering of Rolwaling who died on the descent of Everest with the first Nepalese woman to climb the mountain, Sherpani Pasang Lamu. They have a proposal to make a memorial park in Dolakha at the bus station, which is the trailhead to Rolwaling; and they want to promote Beding as the "Village of Mountaineers." There is a page with photographs of 28 Everest summiters from Rolwaling alone! We should be working with Lt. Col. (Retd) Pradeep K. Karki, who is developing this project. [Thanks to Megh Ranjani Rai for pointing out this site, and to Jan Sacherer Turner, who is going to get in touch with the organizers, right Jan?]

Note from Jan: While I understand the Nepalis wishing to honor Sonam Tsering, I think that any monument in Rolwaling at least should be for all the Rolwaling Sherpas who have died climbing. A Rolwaling man I knew named Ngawang Tupcho died in a Kathmandu hospital after being evacuated from Krakauer's expedition and Jangbu was killed on another expedition the following year. These are the only three I know about but probably there are others. One might also wish to consider those who have been permanently maimed such as a Rolwaling Sherpa named Dorjee who lost all the fingers on both hands due to frostbite on an expedition.

Imperial College Expedition to Rolwaling

This sit gives British college students' views of climbing the various trekking peaks in Rolwaling and provides a lot of good information on the logistics of preparing for a trek or an expedition there. It could be useful for understanding what aspects of trekking and climbing there are most attractive to mountaineering tourists. The final report in pdf form has many beautiful pictures and a very entertaining commentary.

Reynolds Geophysical Engineering Co.

John Reynolds is the chief engineer in charge of the Tsho Rolpa remediation project. This web site explains a little bit about his company and the engineering aspects of the Tsho Rolpa project. It also gives a complete bibliography of his publications since John is considered the world's expert in the field. He and I have exchanged research papers in the past and he is very interested in helping the Rolwaling people, having already given money for the school. I am sure he will also be interested in Bridges and may be a very useful contact for microhydro projects. Publications

Interview with Lopsang Jangbu Sherpa

This web site contains a written and audio interview of the Rolwaling Sherpa made famous in John Krakauer's best selling book, Into Thin Air.

Dharmapala Centre - School of Thangka Painting

Sherpa paintings... part of a larger web site on Tibetan religious art which is very informative for people unfamiliar with Tibetan iconography. Note our own painting of the trek to Khumbu and Rolwaling, in a similar style.

An Adventure Below Makalu

Illustrated notes on a visit to the sacred valley of Khembalung.

Note from Jan: This shows pictures of the only other famous beyul in Nepal - Khembalung. I think these will help you see that it will never be a major tourist attraction as Rolwaling has the potential to be.

A Hidden Peace

This is an article by Edwin Birnbaum about his search for Khembalung and really gives the spirit of such places.

Rolwaling Peaks Expedition

Commercial trek, outfitted by Adventure-X.com. We're going to run into these guys... their trek is scheduled for Nov. 7 - Dec. 6, 2001.

Rolwaling Valley Trek

Another commercial trek, run by Footprint Adventures. Photos, map, details.

Jagged Globe

Yet another.