WWGS
Today was easily the coldest day so far in Vermont. This morning, at reveille formation, temperatures were in the single digits. People were bitching about how cold it was outside, and how it was so much better last year when we had formation indoors whenever it was cold or even raining.
A number of years ago, I spent six months in Nepal scaling K2. Now THAT was cold. You’re up in the mountains, with blizzard conditions all around you. The air is also a lot thinner up there as well. Although I do have to admit, you wouldn’t even notice with how the wind was blowing. You could barely see a few feet in front of your own face.
It was so cold that we lost one of our Sherpa guides, Giap-Giap. I’ll never forget him. The way he gave us a toothless grin whenever he nade a joke. How he imparted vast amounts of wisdom to myself and the other mountaineers on the expedition. Sometimes I swear, George Lucas must have had Giap-Giap in mind when he created Yoda.
He must have been ancient, but I had never seen anyone in such good shape. I guess mountain climbing will do that to you. He was supposedly the best guide there was in the region, and all he ever asked in return was food and our companionship. I asked him once why he didn it for free. How he could be a very rich man being a mountain guide to rich foreigners who wanted to climb K2. I didn’t completely understand his answer at the time, but from what he said I gathered that it was something spiritual. I thought it was a bunch of malarkey until we reached the summit. And there I understood what Giap-Giap was talking about.
We moved off of the summit and camped below for shelter. We spent the night there, and that night, Giap-Giap left us. We weren’t able to carry him back down with us, so we buried him in some snow and left a marker. Some might say that that’s a horrible thing, but I really think Giap-Giap would have wanted it that way. He would get to spend eternity with the one thing he loved most. On the plus side, he was already halfway to heaven. So if nothing else, he could dawdle about and take his time getting there and still be early.
We didn’t speak much in the days on the way back to the base camp. His passing affected us all rather deeply. I’ll never forget Giap-Giap and the simple wisdom he imparted to me when we spoke. Even to this day, when I find myself needing guidance, I often think to myself, “What would Giap-Giap say?”