Give a Day to Lakpa Thundu.
Earlier this winter, on 28th November, the climbing Sherpa Lakpa Thundu Sherpa died on Ama Dablam when he was struck by ice blocks released by a 5.4 magnitude earthquake. Thundu was part of a 13 person team of UK climbers.
I’ve never met Thundu but from what I’ve heard from my friend Ingo, he was a humble man who despite his mind-blowing climbing achievements (9 times on Everest; climbing Annapurna and many others of the highest and most dangerous summits) was unbelievably unpretentious and easy going.
It is hard for most of us to imagine the kind of people the Sherpa are. They come from simple upbringings and dedicate their lives to supporting others in achieving their dreams. And of course, the likelihood of an accident is very high when you spend a significant part of your life climbing the highest and most dangerous summits on earth.
Lakpa left behind him a wife and two boys, ages 8 and 14. Life for them will not be easy after his death. There have already been many fundraising initiatives in his memory, and Ingo from Troll Expeditions decided to join in and pay tribute to his friend Lakpa by donating to his family.
“Give a Day” happened on 24th December 2106, when we took around 60 people on a glacier tour with Troll Expeditions. All profits from this tour went to Lakpa’s family. All in all, we managed to raise 250.000ISK.
Many of us, especially those working in the ‘adventure business,' know someone close who has died in a tragic accident. It comes with the territory, we all know what we are getting ourselves into, and even if we don’t take unnecessary risks, an accident is always possible. And there are of course the families for whom the loss of a loved one can also be made even more painful by the consequent loss of support and income. We can only hope that the donations will be of some help to Lakpa’s family in this difficult time.
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