Locals near a system of caves in north central Nepal have reportedly seen pages of manuscripts fluttering in the wind. What does this have to do with climbers, you might ask? Until recently, the caves were inaccessible due to their location, on a cliff wall, 700 feet up.
National Geographic was interested in these manuscripts, but in order to reach them, they needed to bring in some experts. They brought in Peter Athans (a seven-time summiter of Mt. Everest) and climber Renan Ozturk to make this expedition happen.
The two climbers had to contend with the dangerous crumbling rock face–at one point it took them 14 hours to climb 328 feet. Athans says this was “the first time in my career that I got to use climbing techniques for something other than mountaineering.”
However, their hard work paid off, and when they reached the caves they found over 8,000 folios from the 15th century. Athans and Ozturk carefully packaged the manuscripts in backpacks and lowered them down the cliff face so that a group of monks from a nearby monastery could perform the initial cleaning.
Now that they have obtained the relics, the expedition is shifting gears and working towards preserving the delicate cliff face and caves. You can read more about the expedition on National Geographic’s Adventure blog.
-via Sierra Blogging Post
