![Khamsang Wangdi Sherpa pictured (center of top photo) with two Ladakhi Instructors. [Bottom] Front row, left to right: Pasang Temba, Srikar Amladi, Khamsang Wangdi Sherpa. Back row: unknown. [Photo] Srikar Amladi collection; courtesy The Sherpa Project (both)](https://dev.alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/a71-local-hero-1-930x620.jpg)
Local Hero: Khamsang Wangdi Sherpa
In this Local Hero story that first appeared in Alpinist 71, Deepa Balsavar and Nandini Purandare recount the life of Khamsang Wangdi Sherpa, who was born in Nepal in 1932 and was ahead of his time when he started the Sherpa Guide School in 1966 near Manali in Himachal Pradesh. Balsavar and Purandare write, “A gentle and far-thinking man, Khamsang Wangdi Sherpa remains an unsung hero of mountaineering: a superb climber, teacher, leader and entrepreneur, and a compassionate soul. His story deserves to be told.”