Blog
Here you’ll find our blog posts, listed by main category. To receive posts by email as they appear, sign up for updates on the homepage!
Mountain Doctor: Brendan Milliner with the Himalayan Rescue Association at the Pheriche Clinic, Nepal
As the spring climbing and trekking season begins again in the Himalaya, we are excited to introduce you to Musa friend, Dr. Brendan Milliner. Brendan was at the Himalayan Rescue Association’s aid post in Pheriche this past fall season.Thanks, Brendan, for showing us around and giving us some insight into the kinds of patients you treat and the experience of working high in the mountains! If you go to any of the altitude lectures this season at an HRA post, be sure to get your Musa Masala Altitude Tips card free! It's a great time to be in Nepal. Jam Jam!!
Our Promo on the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital Premieres
It was Nepal Night at the Wilderness Medical Society’s winter conference in Park City, Utah. The team that put it together, Jenevieve Suzanne Kincaid, Paul Queior and Tony Islas, did an amazing job.
Tony was up on stage introducing the speakers and told stories about how he became involved with Wilderness Medicine, his friendship with Wongchhu Sherpa and his commitment to the hospital. Fellow speakers, Luanne Freer, Eric Johnson and Paul Auerbach passionately spoke of how Wongchhu influenced their lives and the importance of doing good works.
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!
Nepal: Inspiration for a New Beginning
Well, we are back from an amazing and incredibly productive visit to Nepal. Our preview of Musa Masala: Mountain Girl of the Himalaya, was absolutely incredible and the progress at the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital is inspiring. We want to step away from that for a moment to share an awesome post by our new friend, Nora Livingstone. Nora heard about Musa through our Kickstarter campaign and she is truly imbued with the Musa spirit! Please read on and enjoy this remarkable story about Nora’s time in Nepal and the founding of her Animal Experience International. Thanks Nora!
Musa Masala on Nepal National Television NTV News Live!
We have so much to share with everyone. Our Musa westside team just reconnected with Musa Kathmandu and we had an amazing time! The book launch preview for Musa Masala: Mountain Girl of the Himalaya was a resounding success. We will do separate posts on our additional previews in Namche Bazaar and Tengboche and Khamding. First off is Mike Ji’s interview on NTV Live, on Nepal National Television’s Live News Tonight. The one-on-one conversation features the telling of Musa as well as the background behind the book and the funding of the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital.
Our Musa Masala Kickstarter is LIVE!
Today we started our Kickstarter campaign for Musa Masala: Mountain Girl of the Himalaya!
Our reason for the Kickstarter is simple: to raise the funds needed to create our book and bring it to the public. Costs for the magic it takes to print and promote a book of this nature are considerable and once they are met through the Kickstarter, all proceeds will go directly to the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital Fund. In other words, we need to raise this money to make that support happen.
Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital Update
Let’s take a look at the progress on the Wongchhu Sherpa Memorial Hospital! We will do a bigger update when we return from Nepal at the end of November.
We have some great photos to share that show the progress on the construction of the Wongcchu Sherpa Memorial Hospital! Lakpa Sherpa, Director of the Himalayan Yokpu Foundation, the non-profit organization coordinating the project, recently returned from the site and sent us this update.
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.
Trekking in the Rolwaling Valley, Nepal
Last spring I explored another beautiful part of Nepal, Rolwaling Valley. My one-week trek was stunning, culturally rich and surprisingly tranquil. Here is the lowdown.
Rolwaling is a valley that lies just west of the Khumbu (Everest) region. I took a 14-hour bus ride into the bustling Singati (950m), where I met my guide, Gomba. (We were delayed due to road construction and a bus breakdown; otherwise it should probably take around 10 hours.)
Children Trekking: A Record-Setting Trek to Everest Base Camp
On October 18th, 2017, the JGI group of schools, with JanJay Adventures, reached Everest Base Camp with the largest contingent of students from India to date. The ages of the students ranged from seven to 16 years old. It was an enormous undertaking for the students, the parents, the teachers and the guides from Peak Promotion Nepal who made it happen. Ang Diku Sherpa was one of the guides and her story of working with the group is inspiring. She made sure each student had their Musa Masala altitude tips card to help them learn about safe mountain travel and the danger of altitude illness in the Himalayas
Musa in Ireland
In September I had the privilege of speaking about Musa Masala, the Wongchu Sherpa Memorial Hospital and the Suri Primary School Project at the Nepal Conference Ireland. I was delighted to tell the Ambassador and other esteemed guests about the projects I am involved in. A massive thank you to Shakya Deepesh and everyone on the Nepal Ireland committee for giving me this platform to speak at and attend some fantastic events this year.
Trekking in Nepal: A Gentleman's Guide on What to Bring
The Good Trekker welcomes one of the great trekkers, Brendan Barrett, to Musa Masala. Brendan was on the WMS fundraising trek via Pikey Peak to the site of the Wongchu Sherpa Memorial Hospital in November, 2016. For an example of Brendan's fearless trekking style, he introduced himself as a medical malpractice lawyer to his fellow Trekkers, most of whom were doctors! He made few friends but quite an impression. We have been waiting eagerly for this post and we hope you like it. It's full of important information, priceless hygenine tips and his own unique view of the world. Sit back and have a good read before packing those bags.
Benefits of Volunteering in Nepal: A Personal Experience — Part 2
We are so happy to welcome Mike Demas back to Musa Masala with part two of his amazing adventure with All Hands Volunteers. Mike's story of building the new school by hand alongside fellow volunteers and the village craftsmen is so inspiring. He shows just what you can accomplish when you step outside of your comfort zone and walk into a new world.
We are firm believers in the power of small, significant projects that a local community wants and will benefit from. Sometimes a little help can help help a community for generations.
Bees, Bamboo and Marigolds: Global Race 4 Good
Linda Cruse, the author of Marmalade and Machine Guns: One Woman's Quest to Help Disaster-Stricken Communities Back On their Feet, has created an amazing platform for change in the world. Global Race 4 Good is a brilliant mesh of young energy and good business sense. Linda has goes into communities in need, lives with them and then asks and studies to find the key to make each individual community thrive. It's no wonder Sir Richard Branson said, “Linda makes the impossible possible."
Rebuilding Suri Primary School after Nepal's 2015 Earthquake
Binod Shakya shares his experience in working on reconstruction of Suri Primary School. Binod is a freelance tour guide who became a translator and volunteer in different parts of rural Nepal after the devastating earthquake hit the country in the spring of 2015.
Gosaikunda Lake Trek: A Short and Sweet Getaway
One of our hopes at Musa Masala is to help introduce people to the fun of trekking in Nepal. not only is this a beautiful country with many different environments to travel through, but culturally, Nepal is a wonder for exposing trekkers to the many different religions, tribes and cultural groups throughout the country. Lakpa Sherpa, along with Musa writer Ang Diku Sherpa and our friends Nwang Phuri Sherpa and Binu Rumdali Rai, took a quick break from their busy lives in Kathmandu to enjoy the trek around Gosaikunda Lake in Langtang National Park. Here is Lakpa's post on their short and sweet trek.
The Nepal Relief Fund: Part I
One of our hopes at Musa Masala is to help introduce people to the fun of trekking in Nepal. not only is this a beautiful country with many different environments to travel through, but culturally, Nepal is a wonder for exposing trekkers to the many different religions, tribes and cultural groups throughout the country. Lakpa Sherpa, along with Musa writer Ang Diku Sherpa and our friends Nwang Phuri Sherpa and Binu Rumdali Rai, took a quick break from their busy lives in Kathmandu to enjoy the trek around Gosaikunda Lake in Langtang National Park. Here is Lakpa's post on their short and sweet trek.