Climbing ethics presently limits itself to matters of sportsmanship and technique. But being a better mountaineer demands somewhat more than this.
Thousands of mountaineers from all over the world come
The more you try to understand poverty in the Himalaya, the more confusing it gets. How does one gauge poorness? Is it material deprivation or is it a state of
Himalayan exoticism has turned out to be an economic commodity, and not just for those who live here. All kinds of Western (the term including Japanese) professionals continue to make
"The wildest dreams of Kew," wrote Rudyard Kipling in one celebrated verse, "are the facts of Katmandu." But how could he have known? Certainly, Kipling never
The village of Chopta marks the beginning of the back-breaking trek up to the temple of Tungnath in the Garhwal Himalaya. At a wayside shop, a pilgrim bargains with the
Eating conventions are in a state of flux as Himalayan communities open up to outside influence. While the most dramatic transformations are in the urban middle-class diet, changes in rural eating habits and nutrition are potentially more hazardous.
Mining in the Himalaya has never been easy. The staggering costs of digging underneath the world's loftiest mountains involve risks. And like mountaineers, only the most intrepid entrepreneurs
In April, scientists in the United States found that the depletion of ozone gas in the world's atmosphere was at least three times more serious than had been
