A Linguist’s Paradise

Ashwyn k -

Welcome back, readers. I’m sure you guys are curious about how my hike to Flatiron went and let me say that it honestly wasn’t so bad! We were a group of 6 people so we went a little bit slower than if we had fewer people, but it took us around 6 hours roundtrip, which isn’t all that bad. Overall, I think my training has helped me since I only started to struggle when it came to consistently climbing over large rocks near the end of the trail. In comparison to the quick and small steps of StairMaster, Flatiron had much larger jumps at a slower pace. On my way to Everest base camp, it won’t have as much “rock climbing,” for lack of better words, but it is likely to have some, so I do think this was a good time to test out my skills! 

 

On another note, I mentioned in one of my replies last week that I watched a documentary called Sherpa, but I’d like to explain more about what exactly that documentary was. It was produced in 2015 and reveals the tensions between sherpas and mountaineering companies following a large avalanche in 2014 on Mount Everest (closer to the summit) that killed 16 sherpas. The families of the sherpas fought for better working conditions and better wages as a result, and the movie sheds light on the human cost of Everest expeditions. One thing I noticed very quickly though was that they weren’t speaking Nepali, but some other language that seemed similar to it. Nepal is extremely diverse containing more than 120 languages that can be considered mother languages all within a country barely larger than Oklahoma. After some research–and asking my uncle who climbed EBC in September–most of the Sherpas and porters in the area speak Tamang as their primary language. I was worried that this would cause a language barrier between me and the villagers/porters which would make my process of gathering information harder, but they are also fluent in Nepali and English so that’s very good!

 

With only a month left until I depart for EBC, I’m honestly starting to feel a little nervous. I’m still very excited though, and I can’t wait to share everything with you all!

A cute squirrel at the top of Flatiron, let’s name him Larry.

 

The view from the top of Flatiron.

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    rohit_p
    Hello Ashwyn (nice to meet Larry as well)! It's nice to see you're getting more experience with mountain hikes, and I have to say that the view atop Flatiron is breathtaking. The documentary you mentioned sounds really interesting especially since it highlights more about the region's history and culture than the actual journey for getting to EBC. Specifically about the languages in the area, how fluent are you in Nepali? Do you speak it regularly when you travel overseas? Usually for me, I speak in Telugu with my parents and grandparents, but when in India for example my brain usually mixes up half of the language with English haha.
    March 4, 2025 at 11:39 am - Reply
    jacob_p
    The human cost of climbing Mount Everest is something I never considered until you brought it up, Ashwyn. I'll definitely check that documentary out some time soon because it sounds like it lines up with my interest in worker movements. About training in Flagstaff, you could talk with NAU's track/cross country teams to see what methods they use to adjust to high volume exercise (and maybe even see if you could train with them a few times). By the way, I'd like to know how you are choosing different places to hike/climb. Are you going off recommendations of friends or searching for places to hike on the internet?
    March 5, 2025 at 12:08 am - Reply
    ashwyn_k
    @rohit_p, that's a good question! I speak Nepali with my parents pretty much everyday and with my grandparents all the time, but sometimes I speak in English if I don't know how to say something, haha. Whenever I go to Nepal, I end up speaking it almost 24/7 because it's just a bit easier to communicate that way! There are still a lot of words that I don't know in Nepali, but I always try my best.
    March 5, 2025 at 10:54 am - Reply
    ashwyn_k
    @jacob_p, yeah I can definitely get into contact with NAU's track teams! I won't lie, this past week has been pretty unproductive for me, but I will definitely get to doing that this coming week! Thanks for the recommendation. About where I choose what hikes I do, I asked Mr. Engle near the beginning of the Senior Project process for some recommendations since he hikes fairly often. I also have a friend that likes to go hiking a lot, so I've just been tagging along whenever he goes!
    March 5, 2025 at 10:58 am - Reply
    dina_i
    Ashwyn, that hike sounds like a great test run for your skills in preparation for EBC! I also loved hearing about the documentary and the linguistic diversity in Nepal. I'm sure your language skills will come in handy. Are you planning to learn a few phrases in Tamang before your trip?
    March 5, 2025 at 12:19 pm - Reply
    ashwyn_k
    @dina_i, I would love to learn Tamang and it would be really interesting to see how it compares to Nepali, but sadly I don't know if I will have the time to learn anything. I am already pretty good at Nepali, but not yet perfect so I think I'll just be focusing on that for now.
    March 6, 2025 at 11:42 pm - Reply

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