Blog
Here you’ll find our blog posts, listed by main category. To receive posts by email as they appear, sign up for updates here!
- Animals and Nature
- Art and books
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- COVID-19
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- Climbing clinic
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- Comedy
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- Earthquakes
- Expert Interviews
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- Hospital
- Mount Everest
- Musa Masala
- Musa Newsletter
- Nepal
- News stories
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- Our friends
- Outdoor Medicine
- Scholarships
- Search and Rescue
- Sherpa culture
- Sherpas
- Specialized Cards
- The Good Trekker
- Tributes
- Wongchu Sherpa
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Nutrition at High Altitude: Ariadna Lucero
Please welcome Ariadna Lucero, who we met through our friends at Extreme Medicine, the medical providers at Mt Aconcagua. Ariadna’s interest in the gastrointestinal issues of people living at higher altitudes or with difficult water supply systems links in with our patient population at the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital, so we were excited to talk to her about her nutrition research. We’re honored she did this interview with us and hope to work together in the future as she is doing such important work.
Everest ER interview! HRA doc Nishant Joshi Njo with Lama Dai
Here’s a double header video for you! Two stars of the mountain. One, Rajesh Lama, known as Lama Dai, walked from his home in Kathmandu up to the summit of Mt Everest. The other, Dr. Nishant Joshi Njo, is one of the doctors this season at Everest ER, the medical clinic at Everest Base Camp run by the Himalayan Rescue Association. On his way to the top of the world, Lama Dai strolled into the medical tent and sat down to talk about the purpose of Everest ER, the history of the HRA and you know, the weather, and whatever you talk about at 18,000 ft.
Search and Rescue Dogs: Interview with Jana Thompson
Welcome to another Musa Masala presentation on Search and Rescue. This post will focus on a fascinating and exciting area of working with dogs to help find lost persons or body recovery. We are fortunate that Musa’s own Maighdlin Anderson is a member of the Allegheny Mountain Rescue Group and she introduced me to Jana Thompson, a dog handler with AMRG.
I bet you are going to learn something here. Jana has taken the time to give us a pretty cool overview about these super special dogs, and their handlers! Including how heavy their training schedule is as they prepare to deploy at a moment's notice.
We will bring you more stories on search dogs and we will expand into different areas where dogs are making a difference in SAR and in medicine.
Special thanks to Jana and everyone at the Allegheny Mountain Rescue Group, including volunteers who are ready to do what needs to get done. Jam Jam!!
Let's Clean Up Nepal: Interview with Raj Shrestha
We are back with our friend, Raj Shrestha. Raj is a busy man! Today we are going to focus on his Save the Mountains Project. Cleaning trash off the mountains is part of Raj's passion. You may remember him as one of the experts in our Who Takes the Trash Out? show. These kinds of projects raise awareness for visitors and the people of Nepal. Here is our interview with Raj.
Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital Visit: An Interview with Dr. Marlena Strandir
I have to say this is one of my favorite posts ever. It covers so much of what Musa Masala has been working towards and cares about - a complete and open hospital to provide care in an area where people had few options available, and the people who do it. The ones providing the care and who really make the hospital happen.
How did this magical post come about, you may ask? Well, through the awesome efforts of Dr. Eric Johnson and the hard work of the Himalayan Yokpu Foundation. Dr. Marlena Strandir and her husband, Jason, visited the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital Tapting this past October. They arrived for the opening ceremonies of the hospital with the team from the Wilderness Medical Society. They stayed on for two weeks to work with Dr. Gurung and the staff. You could not find two better people to fit right into the pace of the hospital.
AdventureWomen: Interview with Heather Heverling
Are you looking for a fun adventure and want to travel exclusively with women who share your passion for new and exciting destinations? Well Adventure Women May just be what you are looking for. We had an awesome time talking to Heather Heverling, the President of AdventureWomen, a Travel + Leisure Magazine 2022 World's Best Tour Operator selectee. With over 50 trips to more than 65 countries, they have something for you. In fact, we're excited for AdventureWomen's trek to Everest Base Camp, coming up April 15-30! We highly recommend this incredible opportunity to get out there with the best. Thanks, Heather, for taking the time to talk with us. Jam Jam!!
The Pacific Crest Trail - here comes Kristen Pilarcik!
Stretching from Mexico to Canada, the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail is 2,653 miles from border to border. In elevation it goes from 43m(140ft) to 4,009m(13,153ft). It was designated a National Scenic Trail in 1968. It literally goes from the desert to the mountains, a challenging change of climate and a totally immersive view of the beauty of this land. Passing through California, Oregon and Washington States, thru hikers come from around the world to trek the PCT.
The Adventures of an Expedition Doctor: Q&A with Dr. In-Hei Hahn
Dr. In-Hei Hahn is a world traveler, emergency physician, toxicologist and an outdoor enthusiast. She has practiced medicine on many continents in all kinds of environments and situations. She has provided medical care in The Gobi Desert (in China and Mongolia), Transylvania, the Atacama Desert in Chile and many other adventurous and resource-limited places. We are excited to share with you an interview about her work with the American Museum of Natural History (New York), her adventures in Mongolia and what keeps her going.
Mount Everest's First Summit Wedding! An Interview with Pem Dorjee Sherpa
May is traditionally the ideal weather window month on Mt Everest—a short period when getting to the top is not impeded by jet streams or monsoon season. This year, COVID-19 has closed the mountain for climbing on the Nepali side, and only a select group of Chinese climbers are going from Tibet. We here at Musa Masala thought this would be a great time to talk with our friend Pem Dorjee Sherpa. Pem is instrumental for so many quality changes to his home village of Chyangba in Nepal. He is on the Board of Directors for the Himalayan Yokpu Foundation, which is constructing the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital. We will talk about that, but for now, let’s get the lowdown on how he and his wife, Moni, were married on the summit of Mt Everest on May 30th, 2005!
In the Shadows of Everest: Gaëtan LaMarre and the Khumbu Climbing Center
Gaëtan Lamarre is a documentary filmmaker from Canada. We at Musa Masala were lucky to get to interview him as he took his short film about the Khumbu Climbing Center, In the Shadows of Everest, around to film festivals. This film is just stunning. It captures the beauty of the Khumbu region and the village of Phortse in such detail. The story of how the center came about is fascinating. There is so much good stuff here. Read on then please watch the film at the link below and make a donation to the Alex Lowe Foundation. Enjoy!
Musa Masala at Everest Base Camp: The Everest ER Interview
Once again the Musa team visited Everest ER, the medical tent run by the Himalayan Rescue Association to treat climbers, porters, guides and staff at Mt. Everest Base Camp.
The following video features an interview that Lakpa Sherpa and Dr. Jennifer Konopka did with Dr. Suvash Dawadi and Dr. Subarna Adhikari while they worked at the clinic during the 2018 climbing season. A great footnote is that this was the first year two Nepali doctors worked together at Base Camp. They were joined by Dr. Brenton Systermans from Australia.
"Call it Karma" with Geoff Browne in Tibet
In the spirit of true adventure travel, Musa is happy to bring you Geoff Browne, filmmaker and photographer. We interviewed Geoff about his ‘drop it all and go style’ that led to his acclaimed documentary, Call it Karma, a story about a Tibetan monk’s journey to save his monastery. We included the links to the trailer as well as the film at the end of the interview. Thanks, Geoff, for taking the time to chat with us and for sharing this great story. We also look forward to hearing more about your project in Nigeria.Tell us about the film 'Call it Karma." How did it come about?
Mount Everest World Record Holder Lhakpa Sherpa: An Interview
Alan Blassberg, director of the documentary "Goddess of the Sky" talks to us about his challenges in making a movie with Lhakpa Sherpa about her life and climbing. After his interview, read on for a Q&A with Lhakpa herself.Having just returned from her successful 9th ascent of Mt. Everest, Lhakpa discusses with us a new desire to be known in Nepal, where she was born. Big things are on the horizon as she looks to change from the Tibetian side and climb on the south side in Nepal next year.
An Artist and Physician's Volunteer Work in Nepal
After Musa Sarah Frances McClure put word out about our fundraiser art show for the Wongchu Sherpa Memorial Hospital, we were fortunate to get a response from Sapana Adhikari, offering to donate a piece. Her painting of a Nepali woman was so moving, it sold immediately. We've since gotten to know Sapana a bit more and wanted to share her story with all of you. She's doing amazing work in Nepal, in addition to her work as an emergency room doctor.
The Help Nepal Appeal: An Interview with Jody Dontje
On April 25th 2015 Nepal was hit by a catastrophic earthquake from which it is still recovering. We at Musa Masala want to take a moment to think of everyone effected by the earthquake and its aftermath. The work continues and we send our admiration to the strong and beautiful people of Nepal. Your courage is an inspiration to all of us.Speaking of inspiration, The Help Nepal Appeal creator, Jody Dontje, is a true inspiration and a role model for people young and old. She started her project after the quake and has been a energy source, lighting others up everywhere she goes since. She stepped up when she saw a need that she could fulfill.
An Interview with Chhiri Sherpa
Hi friends! Watch this awesome short on the Weatherport tent that was donated to Everest ER this season. It's narrated by Dr. Natasha Burley, one of three doctors who staffed the tent this 2016 season. Dr. Burley is an anesthesiologist from Scotland, a fine voiceover artist and an up-and-coming star in the high altitude football circuit. Beautiful filming gives a great feel for the environment at Mount Everest basecamp!
