Blog
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Celebrating the Open Lead Climbing Competition at Kathmandu Sport Climbing Center, 2024
Musa Masala is so proud to have been a part of the March 9th Open Lead Climbing Championship at Kathmandu Sport Climbing Center. We co-sponsored the event with our friends at Wongchhu Peak Promotion. We did this for a very simple reason: to allow indoor climbers in Nepal to compete and challenge each other to grow the sport and community. This great group is wonderful at inspiring one another and we believe in supporting their dream of being able to one day represent Nepal internationally.
A Puja for our Friends we Lost
In late April of 2022 the Musa Masala team came together to celebrate the incredible lives of our friends who were involved in the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital project who so sadly and too early left this world. They all devoted their lives to helping others and strove to make the world that much better for us all — and they never got to see the finished hospital open.
We planned a puja ceremony to honor their memory and our love for them. It has taken a while but here is the video of the ceremony, filmed with permission of the monks at the Khamding Monastery in Nepal.
Hospital Opening in Nepal! Celebrating Wongchhu Sherpa's Dream
On October 12th, 2022, the dream of the late Wongchhu Sherpa, to provide a hospital for his home village, came true. Musa Masala is excited to share the details of the day with you.
The difficulties the local population had in seeking proper care before the hospital was built became a present day reality when poor weather made getting to the opening ceremony difficult to impossible!
Lots of too-late monsoon rain kept Dr. Luanne Freer, one of the driving forces behind the project, stranded in Lukla, along with the entire Wilderness Medical Society trek team. Pem Dorjee Sherpa of Imperial Expeditions and the Himalayan Yokpu Foundation was also stuck…
Beginners' Climbing Competition in Nepal!
Come on everybody, time to go climbing! The Musa Masala team, along with Wongchhu Peak Promotion and Nirvana Gears, as well as Crimpanzee Adventure Hub, are holding a beginners' climbing competition on October 16th!!
Crimpanzee is an amazing facility and we are so happy to be working with them on this event. This is an awesome opportunity for climbers who have never entered a competition, or who have only entered a couple competitions, to get out there and see what it is like. Brand new climbers can see what it is all about. It's about fun!!
Musa Masala 2021: Our Year in Review
Everyone of us at Musa Masala would like to thank those of you who have helped support our projects in 2021. The challenges of continuing while being healthcare workers during this COVID-19 pandemic has been great. Certainly there are many things we have not been able to do, but what we did accomplish has felt significant.
Ultrasound now at the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital!
Here is a short film of a real journey: members of the Himalayan Yokpu Foundation bringing the new Ultrasound Machine to the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital, traveling by four-wheel drive in rain-soaked road conditions.
Big thanks to Sonam Sherpa, Pasang Sherpa and Phula Sherpa, who delivered this much needed diagnostic tool. Sakar Shrestha filmed this piece in his beautiful style.
Everest: Who Takes the Trash Out?
We are back with a new show! Want to know about who is out there making effort to clean up the park and mountain? Want to know a little history of the cleanup operations over the years? Did you know there have been active clean up efforts going on for awhile on Mt. Everest? Want some firsthand accounts of the situation at the high camps this season?
Hospital News and Happy New Year!
Happy New Year from Musa Masala! The very first thing we would like to do is wish everyone a 2021 that allows us to share and grow in health and happiness while helping others. We feel we are getting off to a good start, finishing 2020 with a great fundraiser. In concert with Dr. Paul Auerbach, we passed our matching mark and raised $5,000 for the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital in a little under a week. Thanks to all who donated and our Musa team who worked to get the word out last minute.
Nepal and COVID-19: Food Distribution with Wongchhu Peak Promotion
Unlike the worsening situation in the United States, Nepal has taken a different approach to COVID-19. The central government put a total lockdown of the country in place on March 24th. Although it resulted in the closing of the spring climbing and trekking season and caused terrible economic damage to the population, Nepal was able, with physical distancing and the wearing of masks, to keep the number of infections down in the country. As of July 26, there are 18,483 confirmed cases, and sadly, 44 deaths.
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.
Ama Dablam: Olga Dobranowski's Solo Summit Success for the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital
All of us at Musa Masala are so excited to announce the successful completion by Olga Dobranowski of climbing Mt Ama Dablam in Nepal, solo and unassisted. After only spending a short time on the summit, Cycole Fani turned the conditions into a whiteout, so Olga stayed at camp 3 overnight then descended to Base Camp the following day in very poor weather conditions. She completed the climb in an astounding seven days, from Base Camp back to Base Camp.
Our Book is Here! Musa Masala: Mountain Girl of the Himalaya
It's here! Now available worldwide, Musa Masala: Mountain Girl of the Himalaya, is available online and at our website. We want to thank the whole group from the Wilderness Medical Society 2016 Mt Everest Base Camp Trek, Wongchhu Peak Promotion and the 2016 crew at Everest ER. This is where it all started and now we are so proud of this beautiful book, illustrated by Julie Ramirez.
We 'd also like to thank Christina at BookBaby, who guided us through this crazy process.
Equal Playing Field: The World's Highest Soccer Game, for Women's Equality and Empowerment
Here is one for you sports fans. Thirty-four women soccer players from twenty-four countries climb the highest mountain in Africa and play a soccer game. Then, as if that’s not enough, they travel to the lowest point on the planet along the Dead Sea in Jordan and do it again. Equal Playing Field, a new film premiering on May 18th in Los Angeles did just that to empower women and highlight the inequality in women’s sport. And to round it out, they set a couple of Guinness World records in the process.
Himalaya Book Preview: Musa Masala Treks to Tengboche
Here we are with a quick wrap-up of the first book events for Musa Masala: Mountain Girl of the Himalaya. We printed some preview copies in Kathmandu and they all sold! We had to print additional copies to cover the orders we received at the preview launch. Read on to see highlights of each of the presentations and some of the fun places the book has already wound up!
Everest Base Camp Manager Georgina Davenport and Her Journey in Medicine and Mountains
We are always excited to get the chance to shine a light on medical providers doing challenging things outdoors. This week we are virtually heading to Spain to talk to Georgina Davenport, a paramedic currently working in EMS and as the office manager for The Benegas Brothers Expeditions, with twin brothers and super climbers Willie and Damien Benegas.
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.
Gyalpo Losar: How Sherpa People Celebrate the Tibetan New Year
Everyone at Musa Masala wishes you all a Happy Losar, the Tibetan New Year. This year, the year of the dog, starts on February 16th. Ang Diku Sherpa has written a great quick overview of Gyalpo Losar, the Sherpa celebration of the New Year. We are also celebrating the upcoming art show and sale at the Wilderness Medical Society’s Winter Conference in Lake Tahoe. On February 24th, Musa Masala will be showcasing amazing artists, writers and photographers who have all donated their work to fundraise for the Wongchu Sherpa Memorial Hospital.
Brigitte Muir: From Summiting Everest to Empowering Women in Nepal
Nepal is among the least developed countries in the world, with nearly 40 percent of the total population living beneath the poverty line. This situation is made more complex by significant gender, caste, ethnic and geographic disparities. However, by improving literacy, we can help families develop a better life.
In a world dwarfed by Chomolungma, Goddess Mother of the Snows, it is the warmth of good people that lights up hearts.x