The Ascent Toward Heights Never Traveled Alone

Sir Edmund Hillary & Tenzing Norgay, 1953 (colorized)

The story goes that within 24 hours of the biggest day in his life, Sir Edmund Hillary should have died. At the time, Sir Edmund was one of the most experienced climbers in his field and at the peak of his prowess. His undeniable passion and drive found him on the literal precipice of something great. That day he was descending an icefall, a naturally occurring waterfall of ice, 20,000 feet up, returning to camp, when he encountered a crevasse not easily passable. From his position he was able to spot a chunk of ice below him, which he intended to use as a pseudo-extension that would see him across. Confidently, he leapt down to it and promptly it gave way. Hillary has described the ensuing event like an elevator ride down a tube of ice. With the floor of the crevasse rushing up to meet him, he was due to be “smashed to smithereens” without intervention. However, on cue, the support rope attached by his Sherpa guide came taut and he smacked into the wall of ice; bruised and worse for wear... but alive.

Like Sir Edmund Hillary, it's natural that we too find ourselves with passions. Things that drive us, things that inspire us and things that make us want to be better; and as such we want to be better at them. We become enthusiasts. Whether it's the diligent honing of a skill, studying and researching for knowledge, or good old fashioned trial and error experience, every part plays a role on the pathway to our goals. As the pull down the rabbithole becomes stronger and traversing the traveled roads is no longer able to satiate one's appetite, a fork in the road presents itself. One path leads back down the mountain; back to the familiar and comfortable places that drew you in to begin with. The other path, however, an uncharted journey to the summit. And while a person's passions are their own, and countless hours can be spent in solitary pursuit of one's ambitions, unknown icefalls, crevasses, and sheer cliffs are not meant to be crossed alone – sometimes you need a guide.

When looking at the landscape of content aimed at guiding, advising, and educating enthusiasts, finding ones that resonate can be a challenge. The thought of seeking guidance can come naturally, and - because of this - guides come in many shapes and sizes. For automotive enthusiasts especially, there is no shortage. Whether it be a show, an article, or a YouTube video, in the advent of the internet age, guidance can be found high and low. The trade off to this, however, is that - due to the increased quantity - the quality of that guidance can also be high and low. What this means is that the critical air surrounding guidance for our passions isn’t finding a guide but rather finding the guide that's right for you.

To better illustrate this point, our journey takes us to a place in Asia not normally associated with car enthusiasts but that may bear more commonalities than it would seem at first blush – particularly in our passions and how we set about achieving them. Far from the crowded urban landscape of Tokyo, high in the clouds on the borders of India and China is the sovereign country of Nepal, and there's one place in Nepal that rises above all others – Everest.

Standing at 29,000 feet, Everest is the highest mountain on Earth. Its legend is known far and wide, and as a result, it became a target to be conquered. Records of expeditions date back to the 1920's, with swaths of trained, experienced, and devoted mountaineers arriving with the singular purpose of reaching its summit. Many tried; many failed. However, one thing was common among all the expeditions, and that was the inclusion of guides. The reason for this is that, despite acumen and ability, the further you go down the rabbithole of a passion, the more specialized the information needs to become. Climbing one mountain does not guarantee success on another, and when the summit in question is the highest on Earth, the guides required were of a very short list – the Sherpas of Nepal.

The word “Sherpa” literally means “East People,'' and by now has become a byword for exceptional merit and experience. The secret is in the name East People - these are the literal people of the land. They grew up tending its fields, settling its valleys, and climbing its mountains. In short, Everest is their home, and knowing it was not only second nature but key to their own survival. So when Sir Edmund Hillary and his expedition arrived in Nepal in 1953, he knew he needed a Sherpa – though it wouldn't be until the day before the climb to the summit that he realized just how much.

Of all the Sherpas who have accompanied expeditions throughout history, there is perhaps none more famous than the man who partnered Hillary, Tenzing Norgay. A born and raised Sherpa, Tenzing got his first taste of Everest as a porter at the age of twenty. But it wouldn't be until 1947 when he made his first attempt to summit. It was becoming obvious that his desire to reach the peak was beginning to crescendo itself, as this was technically an illegal expedition not sanctioned by the Nepal government. The attempt at the summit, rather predictably, failed but Tenzing is on record as saying that he had agreed to go regardless, as “the pull of Everest was far stronger than any force on Earth.” As a result, by the time he joined up with the summit party in 1953, he was a man as determined as Hillary to make it to the mountain top.

This distinction is important to note, as it highlights that a guide does not always have to take the form of a teacher or conventional how-to text that only functions to inform. Guides can, and arguably should, have skin in the game themselves. The day before they reached the summit, Hillary plummeted down a crevasse that could have put an end to all of his aspirations, but he is quoted as saying that in spite of his dire situation, with death rushing up to meet him, his thought was that the rope would go taut, because he had confidence that Tenzing wouldn't fail. If Hillary had failed, Tenzing would have failed as well. Instead, Tenzing Norgay saved Sir Edmund Hillary's life that day, and the next they went down in history. It was Hillary's passions that brought him up that mountain but it was his guide who made sure he made it to the top.

Poorman’s Guide, © Carboy 1988

So you find yourself back at that fork in the road. Your interest for cars and the world around them has outgrown the generic introductions to the scene and the choice is there: stay in the comfortable pastures of your passion, or choose to make the climb. If the answer is the latter, who's guiding you? To start answering that, it's important to realize we're not always going to have the opportunity to have a bond as dynamic as Sir Edmund and Tenzing, but not every guided effort requires something of that magnitude. The key is to break down what's fundamentally at play in their example: a man driven by his passions and a guide in tune with those passions enough himself to aid in finding a solution.

With that in mind, when seeking guidance in your endeavor, look carefully at where the guidance is coming from: Are your values similarly aligned? There are almost as many schools of thought as there are wheel choices and turbo trims, but what's important is to consider, not necessarily if they follow the same exact school as you, but rather whether you're following someone who appreciates the idea of those schools as much as you do. What is the motivation surrounding the guide? It won't always be as convenient as aligning yourself with someone whose goals are directly tethered to yours, however, it is possible to find someone whose motivations are pointed squarely at similar targets. Put simply, if you're relying on someone who has skin in the game, then you can have confidence knowing that there's something riding on the quality of their guidance. And most importantly, what puts them in a place to offer the guidance? It can be argued that Tenzing was born to conquer Everest and his commitment to that goal is well-documented, and while it might be unreasonable to expect that level in everyone you align yourself with, the base consideration of following someone whose commitment is well-documented is not. In short, give as much attention to who you let guide your passions as you do to pursuing them. Hillary couldn’t use a travel agent to get him to the top of Everest, he needed a Sherpa. Though your mountain may look different, you can’t count on formulaic car reviews or exposés on already established conventions to help in your quest to push beyond, into the unknown areas of the automotive medium. You’re looking for a Tenzing; A guide - hands dirty, inspired and entrenched; committed to pushing boundaries, offering new perspectives and constantly challenging the status quo with the goal of doing something not done before - an Automotive Sherpa.

If we look to approach our passions in a similar vein to scaling Everest, then be sure that, like the climb, we'll find the pathways are rarely mapped and well-lit. Choosing who you let guide you up your mountaintop will be the difference. But when you choose with intent, you can have confidence tackling the bottomless chasms of your passions, knowing that if you fall, that rope is going to come taut. After all, the next day could see you at the summit.

Peter Yacovacci

for The Curb Cut