On a recent expedition to Island Peak with a group of injured veterans, Yamnuska’s Director of Operations, Dave Stark met a lot of very interesting, talented and special people. One of those people was Chhering Dorjee Sherpa an IFMGA guide based out of Kathmandu, Nepal. Chhering was one of the skilled local guides hired to assist with the successful expedition.
As everyone knows, Nepal has some very talented high altitude climbers. Chhering’s warm personality was pretty obvious as well. Several other Canadians on the expedition took a shining to Chhering and in no time he had an invitation to come to Canada……to ski of all things. A member of the expedition invited Chhering to stay at his house in Alberta should he want to come to Canada to develop his Ski Guiding Skills. Dave wrote a letter of support to Canada’s High Commissioner supporting Chhering’s sponsorship to Canada and committed his own time and those of Yamnuska’s guides to assist Chhering’s development.
Nepal is the only member country of the IFMGA that has a Ski exemption for its guides. There isn’t a significant ski industry in Nepal resulting in few opportunities for guides to develop their Ski Guiding Skills. That hasn’t deterred Chhering from developing his Ski Skills and working towards an IFMGA Ski Endorsement and his trip to Canada is another step in achieving this goal. His climbing resume is impressive.
At the age of 17 he started working for high altitude expeditions in Nepal. He summited Mt Everest 7 out of his 8 visits to the mountain. He has stood on top of Cho Oyu and Manasula twice in addition to several 6,000M and 7,000M peaks. Throughout his training he established several first ascents in Nepal and is a Nepali Climbing Instructor. He has been appointed a Nepal Mountaineering Liaison Officer and is an International Federation of Sport Climbing Judge and Route Setter. He’s 24 years old and is an impressive young man.
In addition to Yamnuska, Castle Mountain Ski Resort has had instructors working with Chhering to develop a base level of ski proficiency. Later this month he will attend an AST 1 course and upon completion of that he will complete the CAA Level 1 Ops Course. Today, Chhering is out with two of Yamnuska’s guides and he will continue that training all week. The Chief Instructor for the British Army Training Unit Suffield (BATUS) has also been instrumental in providing resources for Chhering’s development.
We feel privileged to have Chhering in our office, with our guides and our clients. If you are on one of our programs with Chhering or out in the field, be sure to extend a warm welcome to him.
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