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Draper » As a young boy growing up in the Himalayan Highlands of Nepal, Apa Sherpa heard only of Mount Everest.
"Everybody was always talking about Everest, Everest, Everest,'' Apa remembers. "I thought, 'If I can make it up just once.' "
The young man's dream became a reality not just once, but 19 times. Apa, who lives in Draper and holds the world record for the most summits of the world's tallest mountain, is returning to his homeland for a historic 20th attempt.
This time the American lifestyle may have made it more difficult for him to reach the summit.
"I have become spoiled in America," said Apa, who has lived in Utah since 2006 and departs today for Nepal. "Too much work, too much pizza and too much driving."
Apa's hometown in Thame has no roads or cars. Trips are done on foot.
After living with his business partner for years, Apa and his family recently became the proud owners of their first home in America. It is located very close to a grocery store, but Apa admits he has adopted perhaps too much of the American lifestyle.
"I live within a couple of hundred yards and I am still driving there," Apa said. "It is sad."
Apa, who turned 50 in January, has never done any kind of training for his previous summits of Everest. But after No. 19 last spring, the thought that he had better start crossed his mind.
"My muscles were not like they were before. I was a little sore and I thought I better do some things to be in better shape," he said. "But I got too busy working and other things."
Apa will once again be climbing with the Eco Everest Expedition through Asian Trekking and will serve as the climbing leader. It'll take about a month of preparation before Apa's group is ready to attempt a summit, which typically takes place in May.
Initially, Apa climbed Everest to provide for his family, but he gave up guiding clients to the top of the world in 2008 and has since dedicated his climbs and the attention gained from them for various causes.
In 2008 he climbed to raise the awareness of the role Sherpa people have played in getting foreigners up Everest, promoting better education for the children of Nepal and the impacts of climate change on the Himalayan Highlands.
"I have no reason to go for the record, but because I have done it many times, it gives me a chance to talk to a lot of people about important things," Apa said. "That is why I still go."
Understanding why he puts himself at such risk is something Apa's wife, Yangjin, has a hard time understanding.
"I have heard him say this is the last time before. He is old and I am worried about him all the time," Yangjin said with a hearty laugh, poking a joke at her out-of-shape husband. "I don't sleep while he is gone."
But Yangjin readily acknowledges that it is the mountain she dreads so that has helped provide an education and lifestyle for their three children that could not have happened if they had remained yak herders and potato farmers in Thame.
Is No. 20, and Apa says he never counts a summit until he has made it all the way back down to base camp, the end?
"I cannot answer that right now," he said. "My only thought is to do my best to make it to the top this time. After that, maybe I will decide."
But it seems more likely than ever that if Apa breaks his own record once again, it will be the last time. And perhaps then Yangjin can get some sleep.
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