The Tibetan people thrive in some of the toughest climates in the world, but during their festivals smiles are always on their faces. During our time in Tibet, we stumbled across a Mount Kalish festival that foreigners seldom see. The Tibetans had set up camp for three days to have dancing competitions, horse races and to enjoy each other’s company. We saw Chinese and Tibetans mixing socially and laughing together.
The greatest of all the events were the sprint races. Tibetans who had been training for months ran sprints at elevations of 15,000 feet. The runners collapsed as they crossed the finish line, and then took a little while to regain consciousness. Their strength to thrive in such climates and at such altitudes is one of the many things outsiders could learn from the Tibetans.
My name is Heather Ericson and I am a senior at Homer High School. I have visited Nepal five times since I was 4 years old. One of my goals in life is to teach others about mysterious Asia. For my senior project I created from my world travel experiences a slide show for the community. It will be shown at 6 p.m. Friday at the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center. It will be an hour-long program on “Tibet and the Roof of the World.” The pictures are from trips I have taken to Tibet. There also will be pictures of Northwest China on the plateau and the Khumbu region in Nepal (Everest Base Camp). I will present many different stories of my travels with the slide show. I look forward to seeing you as I share my experiences.
The sun flowed from the top of the mountains, and I knew the tough climb had been worth it. Even though it was only 50 percent oxygen level and as cold as midnight, my mind had never been so clear. This must be the way Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary had felt in 1953, when they first reached the summit of Everest.
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