LIFE AMONG THE SHERPAS

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28269, 6 May 1957, Page 13

LIFE AMONG THE SHERPAS

N.Z. Climber’s Book Well Received

•Tn Highest Nepal,” Mr Norman Hardie’s book on the Sherpas, with whom he lived and worked as deputy-leader of the successful British expedition to 28,150 ft Kanchenjunga, has been published in Britain, and favourably reviewed by “The Times,’’ the publishers have advised. The Christchurch mountaineer, who was joined by his wife in the Sherpa village of Khumjung, wrote the book in his spare time on his return home. “I worked at it, off and on, for about 10 months,” he said. The “Manchester Guardian,” in a leading article, said: “No-one has given such a full, sympathetic, and illuminating account of Sherpa life as Mr Hardie.’’ “The Sherpas,” says the article, “have made such a name for themselves in Himalayan climbing that one is apt to forget that

they are not professional mountaineers: they are, like the Swiss guides of the golden age in the Alps, small farmers who climb as a sideline.” Mr Hardie spent four or five months in Sherpa company, mainly at Khumjung, where he was joined, after the ascent in May, 1955, by his wife. The book was written mainly from the detailed diaries kept by himself and his wife. About half the illustrations are from photographs taken by his wife, and she did much of the editing. Mrs Hardie is a teacher at Rangi-ruru School. “Much of the work was done by my wife, particularly the editing,” said Mr Hardie. “I’ve only got four adjectives.”

According to the “Manchester Guardian,” “His book is a narrative of events, not systematic anthropology; but it gives a vivid impression of this small, vigorous, and primitive community.”