Education fund for Namgya's children

Last December, my dear friend Namgya Sherpa passed away in Kathmandu after a 2-year battle with cancer. He was, and will always be an inspiration to so many people around the world. Namgya helped me to achieve my wildest dreams and for that, I am forever grateful.

Before Namgya passed away he told me his biggest fear was that his two daughters, Tashi and Yangkeela, would not be able to continue their education. It costs upwards of 2,000 USD per year for his youngest, Yangkeela's education. A cost made significantly more difficult without Namgya's income.

In order to help Namgya's family through this challenging time, I'm planning to do a fund-raising climb on Grouse Mountain.

The goal is to climb the Grouse Grind (800m gain) 10 times in one day, totaling 8,000m gained and taking the gondola down each time.

When I was on Kanchenjunga last spring I watched Sherpas carry incredibly heavy bags through dangerous terrain, at high altitudes, in harsh conditions. Many Sherpas in the mountainous regions of Nepal turn to this risky career in order to afford education for their children and food for their families.

This was how Namgya started his career, and spent many years carrying heavy loads up the world's highest mountains before he started his guiding business - where carrying heavy loads continued!

In solidarity for the Sherpas and the incredible work they do, I'll be carrying a 50lb (22.5kg) bag the whole time during my climb, which I expect will take 16 hours. However, I'll be at low elevation on a well-maintained trail with a gondola - a far cry from the risky conditions the Sherpas work in.

If anyone wishes to join me I'll be on Grouse Mountain on June 3rd or 4th (TBC). I'll post more info beforehand, and updates during the day on Instagram if anyone wants to follow along there: @coastmountaineer.

Please share this around so we can get as much support for Namgya's family as possible, and provide his wonderful children the education they deserve :)

Thank you.

John