Nawang Gombu

One of the Last Tiger of Snow

I am just back from the funeral of late Nawang Gombu, who was cremated at Darjeeling on Thursday, 28th April 2011.

The body was kept in the house for four days after his death and prayers were held by Lamas as it is the custom in the Sherpa community. The prayers on the second day was conducted by a large group of Lamas who played drums and recited religious prayers. Next day morning a group of 21 ladies from Ghoom recited very sonorous and moving prayers.

The day of the funeral started early and some of the dignitaries came to pay tributes. The Military establishment at Darjeeling was the first to pay tributes. Wreaths were laid on behalf of many organisations and individuals. A special wreath was placed on behalf of the Himalayan Club by the army detachment. The funeral procession started by about 1 pm and after a brief circle reached the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute. The body was carried to a specially prepared funeral pyre. The ladies followed it with a slow chant of Om Mane Padme Hum— the Buddhist Mantra. Col. N Kumar was present to pay tributes in spite his own poor health. He had participated on several major expeditions with Nawang Gombu. To me he was always Gombu ‘daju’ (‘brother’ as Sherpas call him, also as a mark of respect) as I recollected many happy hours spent with him. Gombu had taught mountaineering to almost two generations of Indian mountaineers and there were many amongst them also present. Finally the Police Band gave a salute and played the ‘The Last Post’ followed by ‘The Revilles’.

As the flames leaped towards the sky and lamas chanted prayers, a heavy downpour blessed Mr Gombu — the heaven was welcoming him! The entire family – his son, daughters and grand children were present. It was a farewell to a great mountaineer, a grand family man and a wonderful soul.

Rest In Peace Gombu daju

Harish Kapadia

Nawang Gombu, one of the last Tigers of the Snow, passed away on 24th April 2011 at Darjeeling. He was part of a small group of pioneering Sherpa mountaineers who scaled the Himalaya to bring fame and prestige to their community.

Born in southern Tibet near the famed Rongbuk monastery in Tibet, Gombu was the son of a former Tibetan monk Nawang Gyaltzen and former nun Lhamu Kipa. He remembered the place where he was born simply as Donak, which means “black rock” in Tibetan. It was a place his mother who tended yaks had been visiting.

He briefly attended the Rongbuk monastery as a student but then moved to the village of Khumjung in Solu Khumbu near Everest in Nepal with his parents and sister Doma, where he spent his childhood.

Gombu then followed his uncle Tenzing Norgay to Darjeeling where most of the mountaineering expeditions to the Himalaya were mounted from. He became a high altitude porter before going on to become a climbing member in many subsequent expeditions.

Gombu was the youngest climbing Sherpa on the team that put his uncle Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary on the summit of Everest in 1953. At age of 21 he reached the South Col, carrying heavy load. For this he was awarded the “The Tiger Badge” by the Himalayan Club (1953).

He went on to climb Everest a decade later with American mountaineer Jim Whittaker in 1963. Whittaker was the tallest member of the team and Gombu, the shortest. This climb made history and Gombu was invited to meet President John F. Kennedy at the White House. He then climbed Everest again with the Indian team in 1965, with Captain A.S. Cheema to become the first man to climb the word’s highest mountain twice.

Other mountains that Gombu climbed and pioneered routes on in the 1950s and 1960s included Makalu, Sakang Peak, Saser Kangri, Nanda Devi, Cho Oyu, Kokthang and Rathong .

Gombu was part of the first group of Sherpa mountaineers who along with Tenzing Norgay completed a guide course in Switzerland in 1954. They became the backbone of the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute (H.M.I.), an idea pushed by the late Indian Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. He retired from the H.M.I. as its Director of Field Training after more than 40 years of service during which he taught thousands of Indians basic and advanced climbing skills.

For his climbing and teaching accomplishments, Gombu was award India’s highest honours including the Padma Bhushan (1965), Padma Shri(1964), the Arjuna Award (1967), the Indian Mountaineering Foundation Gold Medal (1966) and the Tenzing

Norgay Lifetime Achievement Award (1986). He also received international acclaim and was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation medal (1953) from Her Majesty, the Hubbard Medal of the National Geographic Society, USA, (1963) and the Olympic Gold Medal, Rome (1967). He also had the honour of putting a Katha, a traditional scarf around the neck of President John F. Kennedy in the White House. He was made the Honorary Member of the Alpine Club, London and the Himalayan Club.

In 1971, at the invitation of his old climbing friend Jim Whittaker, Gombu visited the United States of America to learn what were then the latest techniques in mountaineering, skills he later taught to his fellow instructors and trainees at the
H.M.I. He spent many happy summers with Whittaker and his twin brother Lou Whittaker who ran the Rainier Mountaineering Institute in Paradise, Washington.

Gombu’s passions included gardening,collecting orchids, driftwood, religious icons and mementos from his travels around the world.

His greatest passion was his work as the President of the Sherpa Buddhist Association situated in Toong Soong busty, a Darjeeling neighbourhood where he spent his early years and met his wife Sita Lhamu. This association works for the welfare of the Sherpas, specially those who cannot afford medical treatment. He asked that any contributions made in his name be given to the Buddhist association that is renovating a temple and helps the needy financially.

Gombu died peacefully at his home on 24 April in Darjeeling surrounded by his family after a brief illness. Born in the year of the monkey, he was aged 79.

Gombu is survived by his his wife Sita, his sister Doma, daughters, Rita Marwah, Yangdu Goba, Ongmu Gombu, Ang Doma, son Kursung Phinjo Gombu and nine grandchildren.

Phinjo Gombu
(Son of Nawang Gombu)