Saturday, April 26, 2008

Mila


Mila (Super Mila)
40
Naranyasthan, Nepal (Kabre Polangchock, near Kathmandu)

Mila is the first member of his caste and Region to summit Everest, which he did with Willie last year.

He is our lead cook down at Everest Base Camp and has been working in the mountains since 1992. He started as a porter, and then worked his way up to trekking cook with Malla Trek, where he traveled with them on various expeditions. His favorite treks were to Annapurna, Everest Base Camp and Manasalu. In 1999, he joined Mountain Madness as a cook, eventually working his way up to where he is now- Head Cook.

Mila first saw work in the mountains as a hobby, and after a while, he liked to cook, so he wanted to change his specialty to cooking. In order to change professions, he took special classes at the National Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management in Soltimod, Nepal. From there, he began working in the kitchen of trekking companies as they traveled through the countryside. Some of his favorite meals to cook are Italian, sometimes Dalbat, Chinese, Indian, and fusion foods.

When Mila reached the summit of Mt. Everest, he was very excited and thought that it was fairly easy, thanks to being in great shape. After he summited Everest, he was invited to join the 16 Social Societies of Nepal and there was a large ceremony in Kathmandu with lots of medals and certificates- a very special honor where Mila was the first of his caste and Region again to be invited into this special Fraternity.

Before he summited Mt. Everest, he summited Co Oyu with Chris Boskoff in 2006.

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