by Mason

For the past couple of weeks, I have been really interested in the 14 eight thousand meter peaks.  As we walked up the Rolwaling Valley I was asking my parents to quiz me on their names.  So when we walking into a tea house and this man that we later learned was Dawa Singh Sherpa was dressed in a full expedition suit, I had some questions!

Dawa, now in his mid-fifties, has live in the Rolwaling Valley for his entire life.  He was born in a small village called Na at 14,000 feet.  His father had three wives and Dawa is the youngest of nine kids.  Dawa never went to school and instead herded yak and sheep.  More than 60 of the 300 people living in Rolwaling Valley have summited Everest, so Dawa had a lot to live up to!  

Since his herding days, Dawa has climbed 12 of the 14 8,000 meter peaks, each multiple times.  His sister, on the other hand, summited all 14, being the first Nepali woman to do so.  Sadly his family has not only known success.  Dawa was climbing Everest with one of his brothers, when his brother got caught in an avalanche and died.  After that Dawa kept climbing, but when the 2015 earthquake struck and he was on Everest, he knew his luck had run out.  He’s now back in the Rolwaling working on projects to help the valley.