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Jim Whittaker, in 1963 first American on Everest, REI first employee, and promoter of life in the outdoors. He climbed A 14,000 peak with Robert Kennedy that is known by the name Kennedy, and ran RFK's campaign for president. A picture of him with John Glenn and Don Walsh in the BBC. He died at the age of 97 in Washington State with aview from his home of the Olympic mountains. He describes the climg on Everest and his life in his memoir Life on the Edge. He returned to Everest in 1983 with son Leif who trains athletes in climbing and outdoors. When he climbed Everest he says Gombu his Sherpa guide was the shortest and he was the tallest. He reflects on life and humility in the face of Nature and God's presence around us- "You learn, when you climb a difficult mountain, you leave your ego behind and learn that you're just a little micro-speck in this life. You learn your weaknesses and have a little broader perspective." A lot of us can learn from the lives of Americans like Jim Whittaker.   ...

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A rare story from NYT that brings together Nepalese farmers and Japanese importers of a rare wood bark for banknote paper. Only 40% of Japan's banking transactions are elctronic, most are using banknotes or cash. Bank notes are made of wood bark called mitsumata in traditional ways. As Japanese farmers grow less of this bark it was sourced from mountains in the eastern part of Nepal. See how Pasang Sherpa is trained by Japanese from importer Kanpou in Japan to grow this bark which is shipped in large containers weighing tons to Japanese ports from Kolkata.

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Michael Serpa braves the New England winters to train for summer bike rides in the Pyrenees mountains of France and Spain. In addition to physical and mental benefits there are friendships outside his work. He also does full body workouts in the gym to stay fit for the summer.

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Nimsdal Purja leads a team of Nepalese climbers to the top of K2 the world's second largest mountain. Purja's equipment and supplies were blown away January 12 on the mountain. Yet the team put together a second effort  and successfully reached the top.

Purja first learned to climb at age 29. He is now at 38 years a climber with the unique achievement of climbing all the world's mountains 5 miles long. K2 was the toughest because unlike Mt. Everest it has no flat sections, a pyramid that goes straight up. Unlike Sherpa climbers Purja was born in the lowlands of Nepal, born in a Gurkha family and settled in Hampshire, England.

For Nepal this is a singular achievement as Tenzing aspired to climb K2 after making it to the top of Everest in 1953 with Edmund Hillary.