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Custom Designed Jewelry

November 11th, 2008

When I was hiking in the Andes Mountains many years ago, I found a cave buried deep inside the great rock. The cave was dark and musty and I found myself going deeper and deeper into it. I had a flashlight, of course, but just in case, I hooked a line at the base of the cave, and then tied it to myself so that I couldn’t get lost. My mind was racing. What on earth could be down here? Why even do this? Is my natural curiosity that determined to see myself confronting a potential dangerous situation? I’m alone and if something were to happen, I would be in a rather large amount of trouble. Water was dripping from down the side of the rocks, coming from somewhere. There is a gust of wind coming through that nearly knocks me off my feet. Still determined, I continue forward.

Up ahead there is a light and its not coming from my flashlight. Although the light from my light is reflecting off whatever is it that I’m walking towards. It’s a shiny rock, and a fairly large one at that. And since my family has been in the jewelry business for many years, I could almost immediately recognize that it was a large diamond. Fortunes have found their way to me this day. With my rock climbing tools I was able to chip away and large portions of the diamond, taking them back with me and forging them into beautiful custom designed jewelry in Riverside. My family is so proud of me.

Climber from Nepal, 74, oldest mountaineer to scale the Mount Everest

June 8th, 2008

This season alpinist Anthony Loeff is reporting the scales for Everest after reaching the top of Kilimanjaro earlier this year.

“The Chinese weren’t allowing anybody on the mountain. They ended up commandeering it for themselves, even though the mountain is shared by two countries. Therefore, he was all too aware of the potential dangers the mountain could bring. Certain parts of the climb are more dangerous than others and it is important for climbers to remain focused The Chinese were flying their airplanes over the mountain and had Chinese officials in Kathmandu. The 74-year-old man from Nepal is now the oldest person to have reached the top of Mount Everest. More than 2962 people have climbed to the summit since it was first conquered in 1953 by New Zealander Edmund Hillary, who died in January, and Nepal’s Tenzing Norgay.

Andrew Brash returned this week from Nepal after successfully climbing to the summit of Chomolungma. Bahadur Sherchan last attempt resulted in the rescue of Lincoln Hall, an Australian climber who was left by his team in the “death zone.”

Sherchan just 17 days away from his 77th birthday beat the age record set last year by 71-year-old Japanese teacher Katsusuke Yanagisawa.

“Mt Everest this year became a political pawn,” he said with some frustration.

His first found him within 249 metres of the peak when his team stopped to help a fellow mountaineer who was left for dead. Two years later, Min Bahadur Sherchan, a University of Calgary alumni, returned to the Mount Everest to finish what he had started.

Hall was frostbitten and severely disoriented due to altitude sickness. Min Bahadur Sherchan returned a hero to Calgarians. Min Bahadur Sherchan and four climbing guides reached the 29,035-foot (8,850-meters) summit of the world’s highest mountain early Sunday, said Ramesh Chretri, an official with Nepal’s ministry of tourism. Now that Andrew Brash has successfully scaled the tallest mountain in the world, he is once again ready to focus on his family. They flexed their muscles this year all the in name of the Olympic spirit, but it was hardly spirited at all.”

With the Chinese preparing for the impending summer Olympic Games, Bahadur Sherchan noted that the government’s actions hardly reflected the Olympic spirit. Further, the decision to actualize a long-time personal goal left Andrew Brash with some internal uncertainties, he cited the political actions of China and Nepal as providing the greatest adversity he faced on his journey. They basically coerced the Nepali government to not allow any climbers past camp two on the Nepali side. He was reported in good health as he began making his descent. As he planned for the climb, Sherchan told reporters he wanted to inspire fellow senior citizens. He also said many Nepalese have established records on Chomolungma or Mount Everest, so it was only fitting that the record for the oldest climber to reach the summit should also belong to a Nepali.