Sad News from Nepal

Started today with tragic news from Nepal. Our friend Lakpa Thundu Sherpa lost his life guiding on Ama Dablam when a 5.4 earthquake stuck as the team was pushing for the summit. The earthquake triggered an avalanche and Thundu was struck in the head with falling ice.

Jennifer and I spent the better part of April 2015 with Thundu trekking in the Khumbu Valley and climbing a couple of peaks. His skill in the mountains earned our implicit trust very quickly and his kindness and thougtfulness left a permanent impression. I'm proud that he called me his friend and I the same. Since our time together in 2015, we've kept in touch via with regular Facebook direct messages, where he'd always start by asking, "Jennifer/John how are you?". Sometimes we'd chat a bit about goings on in our lives. Other times, we did little more than exchange these basic pleasantries or recent photos, but we were always touched by his consistent outreach that let us know we were in his thoughts.
After learning of his passing this morning, I turned on my PC and this was my desktop background from my rotating set of photos. Thundu on the left and me in the center wearing the jacket that Thundu borrowed for me from a friend in his home village of Pangboche.

Summit of Lobuche East - Thundu on left

Thundu, you were a special person who made the world a better place. Whenever Jennifer and I talked about returning to Nepal, teaming up with you for some more adventures always came up. We will miss you, my friend.
If you would like to help (no amount is too small) Thundu's wife and two young sons in Kathmandu, you can by donating to the Juniper Fund. Their program provides relief funds to his family for five years after this accident as well as vocational training and business grants to widows to get them back on their feet. The Juniper Fund works on the ground with these families.

Place the name "Lakpa Thundu Sherpa" in the reference field of the donation page to indicate your donation is directed to this accident and family.

Thundu, Bandi and the boys, Sajan (14) and Dorji (8)

Use the link below or use donate button on the Juniper Fund's Facebook page.

http://www.thejuniperfund.org/donate/
https://www.facebook.com/thejuniperfund/
- Thank you -

Nolan's 14 Charitable Cause

Nolan's Charitable Cause Opportunity

I will be donating $15 for each peak that I summit to the Colorado 14ers Initiative.
The Colorado Fourteeners Initiative is a non-profit organization whose mission is to protect and preserve the natural integrity of Colorado's fourteen thousand foot peaks through active stewardship and public education.

If you'd also like to support the effort with a donation for each peak I successfully summit on my Nolan's 14 attempt (even $1 or $2 a peak, would be helpful to maintain these beautiful natural environments) please dontate thru their website link.

Thank you for considering this.

A Bighorn 100 Thank You

I'm not sure how to begin other than saying THANK YOU. Thank you all who took the time and energy to share a part, no matter how brief, or if you followed all of Jennifer's posts leading up to, during and following our experience getting me through to the finish line in the Bighorn 100. If you peeked in any time on Saturday, you know I had some struggles for many hours and miles. I needed help. I was emotional and as close to broken as I've ever been. Sitting in the aid station at mile 66 at 6am on Saturday with a medic tending to my feet and Jennifer tending to everything else, she kept telling me how many of you were following, cheering me on, and sending love and energy.

When I finally left the aid station after 45 minutes of care and THE BEST Egg McMuffin (no Canadian bacon please) I’ve EVER had, I had a 1000' climb in front of me. That's actually good news for me, as climbing is my strength on good days and on this day with my high ankle sprain making descending very painful and slow, it gave me some relatively pain free time to collect myself, put my situation in some type of perspective and focus on what I needed to keep moving forward. It was then that I felt the power from all of your support that convinced my logical mind, as well as the spiritual part of me, that there was no doubt I was going to finish this thing. Logically, I knew I was not going to give up, short of some serious medical condition. I know you’re all kind and care for me and would not want to put a burden on me, but in some way, I'd be letting you down if I just quit because of pain and frustration that my goal time was not going to happen. Spiritually, at that moment, pushing up that hill, I opened up somehow to receive your energy, maybe for the first time. Maybe that only happens when you need it most. Dunno, but I accepted it.

So, when the trail leveled out a bit, I started trotting along again and soon, I was able to open up my stride for the first time in many miles and started putting down a handful of miles at the best pace I'd been able to manage since the previous day. Soon enough the trail forced me to slow down and pain got worse, but it was a great confidence-builder and was a significant time in my race experience. And I thank you for being there with me!

I've a lot still to process about this experience and will be sharing my full experience in a subsequent post in the coming week or so.

A couple final thoughts...I love sharing my experiences, but have also found that I have mixed feelings when sharing them. They are big things, I know, but they are almost purely selfish endeavors. I always like when some good for someone else can come out of it in any form. This go-round, my sister-in-law, Amanda, took care of that by starting a small family text communication asking for estimates of my finishing time and with each guess, a pledge to donate any amount to the charity of my choice. I’m very happy to report that over $400 has been pledged to www.thejuniperfund.org as a result of this! Thanks A!

And finally, one image that I’ll always remember is at the very start of the race, I noticed one male runner with one word written in block letters on the back of each calf – “FUCK” & “CANCER”. My pain was a pittance.

Juniper Fund Update - One Year Later

April 25, marked the one-year anniversary of the first devastating earthquake in Nepal that we were so fotunate to miss by a matter of days.

For those of you who supported our fundraising through The Juniper Fund in support of three Sherpa famlies who lost their fathers/husbands at Everest Basecamp, we thought you would be interested in this update from the organization about some new initiatives they are incorporating into their support and rehabilitation services.

Once again, thank you for your support of our efforts to help the people of Nepal who were affected by the natural disaster last year and please keep The Juniper Fund in your thoughts when considering where to contribute future charitable donations. There is still a lot of work to be done.

Sincerely,
Jennifer & John

Thank You!

A huge THANKS to all of you who donated to support The Juniper Fund! Together we all raised $3,205 which will support the wives & children of three Sherpa men killed in the earthquake at Everest Basecamp.

I ran the San Juan Solstice race yesterday. As expected, it was a challenge. I ran 50 miles & 13,000 feet ascent in 13:07 finishing 93 out of 250.

Namaste.

Link to original post

Almost there!

Thanks to generous friends and family we’re at 80% of my fundraising goal for The Juniper Fund. Thanks to everyone who has donated, it is much appreciated, and every bit will help the families.

Tenzing was killed in the earthquake at Everest Base Camp. This is his wife and 2 boys. One of the three families your donation will help support, both for day-to-day living expenses and for the cost of schooling for his children.

 

For details on how you can help, go HERE.

Namaste,

John

Halfway to Fundraising Goal!

Woo hoo! We just passed the halfway mark of my fundraising goal for The Juniper Fund. Thanks to everyone who has donated, it is much appreciated, and every bit will help the families.

This is Kumar's family. One of the three families your donation will help support, both for day-to-day living expenses and for the cost of education for the children.

For details on how you can help, go to here.

Help Me Fundraise For Nepal

On June 27^th I’ll race the San Juan Solstice 50 mile run. It’s set in the spectacular San Juan mountains in SW Colorado and has 13,000’ of elevation gain (and loss). The entire route is 9,000’ and higher, with about 15 miles above 12,000’. 

If you’d like to sponsor my efforts, please donate to the TheJuniperFund.org. Please make sure to write “Trek8848” in the “In Honor Of” box to ensure donations go to the correct families. You can also put "John Danese" in the Fundraising Support field.

80% of all funds will go to aid the families of three of the men (Pasang Temba, Kumar and Tenzing) who died in the first avalanche at Everest basecamp. Pasang Temba leaves behind 3 children, Kumar leaves behind 4 children, and Tenzing leaves behind 2 children. The funds will provide living expenses for the families for 5 years, and it will provide monies for all their children to complete schooling. The remaining 20% will go to the fund at large, which primarily supports the families of local workers involved in climbing and expedition support in the high mountains of Nepal who have been killed or injured in the course of their work. They have little, if any, safety net. Every little bit can help. 

On the left are Mingma (Tenzing's wife) and their 2 children. On the right is Kumar's brother.

Since this race isn’t an official fundraiser, it’s very open to however you’d like to donate. A flat amount. An amount per mile completed. An amount per 1,000 feet of elevation gain. Or any format that you can think of! Funds can be donated online today. Or pledged for and donated after my race. 

I’d like to keep a running tally of donations to date, so if you are comfortable with it, please leave a comment on this post (either anonymously or not) with your donation amount.

 

I hope you have fun following along with my race in June, and a sincere Thank You to all who are able to donate.

Please feel free to share this with anyone looking for a trustworthy way to support this cause. 

Namaste,

John

Update on Donations

Here is a way to give funds directly to families of three men killed in the Nepal earthquake. Below is an update from our guide Rob who has setup an option within The Juniper Fund to direct funds to the families of the three members of his team (Tenzing, Kumar, Pasang Temba) killed at Everest Basecamp.

"The photo above crystalises my thoughts about what has happened here, and how we - all of us - can make some positive difference to the lives of those less fortunate than us.

The 3 figures on the left are Mingma - Tenzing Bote's wife - and their 2 children. On the right is Kumar Rai's brother. The legacy of Tenzing and Kumar (& Pasang Temba) cannot be forgotten.

Of course, our 3 families over here are just the tip of the iceberg with respect to all of the destruction and loss after the earthquake, but at least we can make a genuinely positive impact on their lives.

I have looked at all of the charitable options available, and save forming a new charity, by far and away, 'The Juniper Fund is our best option for getting money to the 3 families - as well as helping the overall mission statement of the charity.

For every donation we make, 80% will be diverted directly to the families of Pasang Temba, Kumar and Tenzing. The remaining 20% will go to the fund at large, which will also indirectly benefit them. The Funds' quest is to pay each of the involved families (those of deceased Sherpas and staff killed during climbing expeditions in the Himalayas) $3000/year for 5 consecutive years.

Obviously, our aim is to ensure that even the youngest of the children in our affected families are schooled for the entirety of their education - maybe a 13 year commitment for Kumar's youngest - but we need to start somewhere and have a safe way of getting the money to them. The Charity's founders, Dave Morton and Melissa Arnott are trusted friends and independent (thankfully) of the horrific misuse of aid that the Nepali government simply cannot be trusted to deal with.

You can donate on the website with a secure online payment. They will provide you with a charitable receipt (to claim against tax). The website is:

www.thejuniperfund.org

To ensure that your donation goes to the right place, when the option of 'in honor of' comes up, please write: Trek8848. This will ensure the 80% ring- fence for Pasang Temba, Kumar and Tenzing's families. We think it is important that 20% goes to the fund at large, and hope that you agree."

Nepal Earthquake

We have had so many people reach out to us in the past few days. Thank you all for your kind thoughts and words. We arrived home last Thursday and were devastated to hear of the earthquake early Saturday morning. Having just left Nepal 3 days earlier, in many ways, we could feel we were still there. Our thoughts immediately went to all the places we visited, the people we met, the new friends we made. Our thoughts and hearts are very much in Nepal.

All of the areas we were in Nepal (Kathmandu, Khumbu valley) have been affected. We've seen a lot of coverage of Kathmandu and Everest, but have not heard/read any info on all the small villages in the Khumbu between Lukla and Everest basecamp. Given their location, we tend to believe there has been devastation there as well, but communication in such small villages is always a challenge. We have received news that our friends on Everest are okay and just today have been helicoptered down from Camp 1 to Base Camp. We are so grateful to learn of their safety. Unfortunately, we also learned that 3 of their Sherpas lost their lives at Base Camp.

We can easily imagine the devastation in the streets of Kathmandu, having just been there in the last week. We have seen photos of places we visited completely destroyed. It feels very helpless to be here unable to lend a hand. So much devastation in a place with such extreme poverty. We wish we were there (safely) to lend a hand to the people of Nepal, but we think the best we can do right now is to lend financial support. Several folks have asked for suggestions on where to donate. We’ve listed a few below, but this is by no means comprehensive, there are a lot of good organizations who will do great work over there.

AmeriCares: http://americares.org

CARE: http://www.care.org
Juniper Fund: http://www.thejuniperfund.org/

Oxfam: http://www.oxfamamerica.org/

We'll leave you with a few photos of the smiling, beautiful, strong, kind people of Nepal. 

Namaste