Sherpa – The Memoir of Ang Tharkay

Ang Tharkay was the sirdar for Maurice Herzog’s Annapurna expedition in
1950—the first 8000-meter peak to be climbed. Tharkay was a key member of the
1951 reconnaissance of Everest—which led to the successful 1953 ascent.

The autobiography of Ang Tharkay, who was born in 1908 and became one of the
most renowned Sherpas of early Himalayan exploration, has long been a
collector’s item in the original French-language edition but it has never been
available in English until now.

In Sherpa, Tharkay describes his experiences traveling with Eric Shipton and
H.W. Tilman and as the sirdar (head Sherpa) on Maurice Herzog’s 1950 ascent of
Annapurna. Few such Sherpa accounts have been written, and fewer still from
these early Himalayan expeditions. Opening with a brief account of Tharkay’s
childhood and background, Sherpa then immerses readers in expeditions on
Everest, Nanga Parbat, and, of course, Annapurna. Tharkay reveals some of the
politics within the Sherpa support teams: petty arguments and shared struggles
that went unnoticed or at least unrecorded by those who hired them. Tharkay’s
admiration of his employers is leavened with his recognition of their
shortcomings, but his affection for the climbers who employed him, and theirs
for him, radiates throughout the story.

Sherpa includes an original foreword by Tashi Sherpa, founder of Sherpa
Adventure Gear and the nephew of Ang Tharkay. He remembers how he and his
young cousins worshipped “Agu” (Uncle) as a respected mountaineer and hero, a
warm and safe presence for the family.