The world lost a legend yesterday with the passing of Kancha Sherpa, the last living member of the 1953 British Mount Everest Expedition and, along with Jim Whittaker, the only living members of the 1963 American Mount Everest Expedition. I didn't know Kancha well, but was fortunate to spend a couple days with him in […]

September 10, 2006, Diraphuk Gompa on the Kailash Kora, Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Gentle murmurings, soft, subtle, almost lost, camouflaged by a Himalayan breeze and squawks from goraks (Tibetan ravens). I sat and watched, quietly, trying not to disturb, not to invade their sacred space. The mother and daughter prostrated repeatedly - standing, then kneeling, then […]

September 25, 2000 - Near Pethang Ringmo, Tibet Note: I began writing this post a couple days ago while, interestingly, waiting out a storm in the Colorado high country above Fairplay. I didn’t know then that there were many trekkers stuck in the Kangshung Valley. I wish them well, and safe returns, and also send […]

Years ago, I was wandering with Pete McBride through trash piles on the outskirts of Rishikesh, India. We were filming the final bits of our film Holy (un)Holy River, and had come to the local dump to document the effluvia seeping from it into the nearby, sacred Ganges River. We knew what to expect: a […]