CHO OYU 2006 ~ EVEREST 2004

Friendship Beyond Borders Expeditions

A Team of International Friends Helping Amputees Change the World

Expedition Heroes ~
Extraordinary people who helped and inspired our team this year

Shaun Flinn and Guy Jacquier, AMB

Tireless Fundraisers, Expedition Advocates, and Marathoners

Mark Peterson, Vice-Mayor of Concord, California; Mountaineer and Fundraiser Extraordinaire

Heard about Nawang Sherpa and our expedition, understood our story, and wanted to help. Drew in tremendous support from unexpected sponsors, and is our first choice for any future expeditions. Thank you Mark! You and your brother are our heroes.

Sara Butz, Public Relations Consultant

Sara provided crucial help for our expedition by donating public relations and media assistance, putting us in touch with Anita Kovacs, and constantly brainstorming with us on ideas to find sponsors and press attention for the team. Thank you Sara!

Mr. Dorjee, Liaison Officer for the Tibet Mountaineering Association and his assistant Tenzing

Help at Cho Oyu and in Tingri ~ Arranged for our travel from Cho Oyu to Tingri and back, all of our yak support, expedition logistics, return of our Nepali members back to the Nepalese border, return of our US members back to Lhasa

Mr. Dorjee (in blue jacket) and his assistant Tenzing (in black jacket) proved their amazing abilities to monitor and help all the expeditions get their members and equipment safely up to the Advanced Base Camps of the high peaks in their region: Mount Everest, Cho Oyu, and Shishapangma.

They also provide crucial help to the local Tibetan community by creating a fair, safe, regulated, and supportive system to spread the seasonal (spring and fall) employment opportunities among the local Tibetan people. Yak herders, porters, tea lodge operators, and other workers/helpers depend on this vital source of income from the hard work they provide for the hundreds of climbers and trekkers who visit this region each year.

Mr. Dorjee is an extremely competent professional who is doing an exceptional job under very harsh conditions for the TMA and visiting climbers from around the world. He also demonstrates great personal concern for all people--the many international visitors, the local Tibetans, and his very helpful and talented staff. He is constantly vigilant of possible acclimatization problems with new arrivals at camp, including the drivers of vehicles dropping off people and equipment. We all owe him many thanks for a job well done!

Tahir, Travel Consultant and Language Expert, China

Help at the Beijing Airport negotiating to get our expedition equipment to Lhasa

Tom and Pete met Tahir during their 2003 climb of Mustagh Ata in the western China province of Xinjiang. His amazing language skills--Chinese, English, French, Russian, Urdu, and many of the ethnic languages spoken in China--allowed them to eaily communicate with the many interesting ethnic groups they encountered during their trip. This added a huge amount of value to their enjoyment of that first visit to China.

When Tahir learned of our plans to pass through Beijing in early April, he took off some time from his language studies in eastern China and took a train to visit us in Beijing with his friend Sultan when we entered China in April. We had dinner together the night we arrived, then the next morning Tahir accompanied us to the Beijing Airport.

He helped us communicate effectively with the Air China staff, and avoid having to pay hundreds of dollars of unnecessary extra baggage charges to get our expedition equipment on the flight to Lhasa. Thank you so much, Tahir!

Tahir is a very smart and honest young man whose family is of the Turkic Uighur ethnic group from the Silk Road region of China's western Xinjiang Province. Tahir has an extremely bright future as China continues to attract more tourists from around the world. We can heartily recommend Tahir for anyone who would like to put together a climbing or trekking expedition in China.

Anita Kovacs and the AMB Corporate Communications Team

Talented Designer and Producers of our internationally popular Expedition Patch and Logo

Mr. Duo, Official of the Tibet Mountaineering Association, Lhasa

Arranged for our invitation to climb in China, Tibetan travel permits, ground travel, city tours, camping equipment and logistics

Paulo and Helena Coelho of São Paulo, Brazil

We were very inspired by this couple, who value superb climbing style over "the summit at any price". Having already climbed Cho Oyu without supplemental oxygen, Paulo and his wife are attempting Mount Everest this year without the support of an expedition.

Tom and I met this amazing couple at the Everest View Lodge where virtually all the expeditions for that region spend a few nights to acclimatize before heading off to the high peaks. Paulo is a professor and nuclear engineer in São Paulo who has also worked at the Oak Ridge Labs in Tennessee in the eastern US. They would prefer to try to climb Everest in their own low-key style than with an army of helpers and facilitators. Their purist mountaineering style and attitude about what really constitutes success contrasted sharply with many of the other people. They are delightful, intelligent people, and we wish them safe climbing and all best wishes for success. You can read more about Paulo and Helena and their climbing plans on the excellent MountEverest.net website.

George Probst of Neuchâtel, Switzerland

We were inspired by this retired Swiss postal carrier and global cyclist who has not let age get in the way of world-class achievments

George is another amazing, totally unexpected kind of person we met at the Everest View Lodge in Tingri. He stopped there one night enroute to the Nepalese border. He had started this trip (one of many global cycling trips he has accomplished) in Australia and had pedalled up through Southeast Asia and across China. From Nepal he plans to turn right and make his way back to Europe via the Middle East and Africa. Being a retired postal carrier, George has decades of experience being harassed by dogs, and was particularly wary of the large and potentially menacing stray dog population in Tingri. Troublesome dogs seemed to be the only aspect of his remarkable journey that gave him any real concern though. The idea of pedalling across Saudi Arabia in the heat of summer gave him no pause, but those pesky dogs...now that's a concern. We wish George safe passage through all dog zones he may pass, and big celebrations when he's back in the Jura Mountains of eastern Switzerland again. Bon voyage, George!

The People of AMB

We are continually inspired by the many ways they have helped Tom, Nawang Sherpa, and our team. Thanks to all of them for their support and best wishes!