Me, Pose? Everests greatest conqueror is a surly drunk who wants a helicopter ride before going for a photo shoot.It was 48 hours since I had landed in Kathmandu, and I was desperate. Ang Rita Sherpa, the man who had climbed Everest the most number of times, was elusive, living up to his appellation: "Snow Leopard". He was somewhere in Kathmandu's underbelly (I had sent him messages through other Sherpas, but they mysteriously never returned) and probably knew I was looking for him. The whispers in the streets said he hated journalists, and a few he had spoken to had come back with bloody noses. All very unsettling.I wearily made my way to meet Dawa Norbu Sherpa, head of the Nepal Mountaineering Foundation. The owner of Asian Airlines (a rattle trap MI-18 Russian helicopter was its entire fleet), he had helped me with what now seemed like a demented idea: to photograph two of the greatest known mountaineers - Apa Sherpa was the other - in Solu Khumbu, the Sherpa heartland. With twinkling eyes Dawa listened as I told him about scouring the smoke-filled backroom bars of Kathmandu for the Snow Leopard.It wasn't any secret: Ang Rita on flat land was an unashamed alcoholic. "Bring out some bait, my friend," Dawa told me. What he meant was, pay for his helicopter ticket to Solu Khumbu and back. Ang Rita was building a tea shop up there near his village and would love spending a few weeks at his home. I agreed.That very afternoon he took the bait. There, in Dawa's office, sat the man. I told him all about my noble attempt to bring glory to the Sherpas. He burped, put out his palm and said: "Ticket." Early next morning, after another sleepless night, wondering if he would show up, I shook his hand at the airport - and nearly fainted. He had brought with him about 40 kg of construction material for the shop. I had visions of paying another small fortune. But Dawa was apparently used to him. Through that one hour flight, he even spoke a few monosyllables.Once we were there, Dawa had instructed his son, the pilot, to wait half an hour for me. The next flight, depending on the weather, could be a month away. You could not discount the possibility that Ang Rita would simply walk away to his village, ignoring the photo shoot. "Be firm with him," Dawa had told me. Easy for him to say that. Suddenly, it all fell together. Apa Sherpa, his main rival, was there, prim and proper, waiting as the other great mountaineer for the shoot. As I shook his hand, I could see Ang Rita watching us. The spirit of competition broke through the waves of inebriation. He posed. The Snow Leopard was tamed.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Sep 4, 2012--- ENDS ---
