Sherpa New Year

The American Mountaineering Center is already a world-class center for mountaineering and conservation. It is home to the Colorado Mountain Club, the American Alpine Club, and Outward Bound. It serves as a conference center for numerous events each year, including some of the nation's biggest and most influential conservation forums. The auditorium hosts lectures and movies, speakers and concerts. It is already an amazing place in which to work for those fortunate enough to do so, and a great place to learn and contribute.

But the final punctuation mark on the Center will be the museum. And it will serve to bring in many prestigious events and even greater speakers and movies, and more often. Which brings us to the title of this entry.

When deciding on a venue to host their New Year's celebration, the Sherpa community of Colorado decided upon the AMC because of the ammenities it provided, and also because of the natural connection between Sherpa people and the mountain environment. This past Saturday they celebrated the year of the Fire Pig, and we would like to share a few images from the event. It was a beautiful event and the organizations of the AMC were very proud to play host.

(1) Lhoppon Rechungpa, founding monk of the Buddhist Mipham Shedra of Boulder, began the festivities with a blessing for the New Year. (2) Traditional clothing meets modern technology. (3)(4)(5) Dancing lasted through the night, from traditional dances which told the tale of the Sherpa culture, to modern dances, and most everything in between. (6) At the end of the night, everyone was sad to go.