Mark Cocker

Finally, the Sherpas are heroes of their own story

Once paid a pittance as porters, they are now mountaineering superstars, breaking records not only for Everest summits but on all seven continents

Kami Rita Sherpa at the Mt Everest base camp last year, before reaching the summit for the 25th time. [Getty Images] 
issue 10 September 2022

John Keay has for many years been a key historian and prolific contributor to the romance attaching to the highest mountains on Earth. His latest book is described as a summation of that lifetime’s contribution, offering an overview of the Himālaya – the Sanskrit version (‘Abode of Snow’) that Keay bids us use – both as a physical place and as a realm of intellectual inquiry.

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