The Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation
Posted on 06/20/08 4:29 PM| by Kraig
The Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation, based in Bozeman Montana, site for this year’s Primal Quest Expedition Adventure Race presented by SPOT, celebrates the life of one of the greatest mountaineers of his generation, while continuing his efforts to better the lives of indigenous people living in some of the most remote regions of the world.
The ALCF has several humanitarian projects, including the Magic Yeti Library located in Khumjung, a small village in Nepal. The library has been so successful in promoting literacy and encouraging the children of the village to read, that three more libraries will open in other villages soon. The ALCF has also contributed to putting a new roof on the Chhulemu Primary School in Chhulemu Village in the Solu Khumbu region of the tiny Himalayan country. Babu Chirri Sherpa, who perished on Everest back in May of 2000, had intended to build new schools in that region, and the ALCF plans to continue working toward that dream.
Perhaps the most visible of the ALCF projects is the Khumbu Climbing School. Hosted in Phortse, Nepal, the Khumbu Climbing School is designed to be a hands-on, vocational trade school, that focuses on teaching the technical skills of climbing and mountaineering to the men and women of Nepal who make their living working in the high alpine regions of that country. The school offers instruction for beginner, intermediate, and advanced climbers alike, with top Sherpa guides joining western mountaineers in providing the students with invaluable training that they simply won’t get anywhere else.
Launched in 2003, the KCS has recently completed it’s fifth successful year of service. Many of the students of the school have gone on to work on Everest, Annapurna, and any number of other Himalayan peaks. The skills they learn while at the KCS include technical rock and ice climbing, rope management, and high altitude mountaineering, allowing them them to climb more safely then ever before. The students also receive instruction in mountain rescue techniques, wilderness first aid, environmental responsibility, and English language skills. As a result of this excellent and unique combination of training, students from the Khumbu Climbing School are amongst the most sought after climbing guides in the Himalaya.
The Sherpa people are at the heart of any Himalayan expedition. They tend to be the ones fixing lines on the mountain and establishing high camps that the other mountaineers will use when they make their summit bids. As a result of this, the Sherpas also tend to take the brunt of the casualties as well. The Khumbu Climbing School is hoping to change that by instilling technical skills into the students that they would never have had an opportunity to learn before. This not only makes it safer for the Sherpas, but for the clients they are guiding as well.
Alex Lowe was a mountaineer of exceptional ability, who put up first ascents on mountains in Pakistan, Alaska, and Antarctica, amongst others. Alex topped out on Everest, K2, the Matterhorn, and many other notable peaks. But what really set him apart was his indomitable spirit for adventure and his deep connection with the people he met on his expeditions. The ALCF was founded with that same spirit and the hope to continue Alex’s work towards providing sustainable community-based humanitarian programs that can directly improve the lives of the people living in the mountains that he loved so dearly. The lasting legacy of this great mountaineer is that, through the foundation that bears his name, the Nepali people continue to see their lives changed in very direct and positive ways.
You can learn much more about Alex, his wife Jennifer, and their incredible relationship with each other and their friend Conrad Anker in Jennifer’s new book Forget Me Not – A Memoir available for purchase directly from the ALCF website.
Primal Quest salutes the ALCF for all the incredible work they do.
