Keeper Of The Mountains (36 page)

A group of Americans, including Richard Salisbury, Ray Huey and Everest pioneer Tom Hornbein, took a more practical approach as they began brainstorming about how Elizabeth's workload could be lightened and how she could begin mentoring a replacement. They understood the problems of obtaining a work visa, the incredible commitment of time and the unlikelihood that a replacement could “hit the ground running.” Elizabeth had grown into her job over five decades, accumulating knowledge and experience and an impressive network of influential and helpful contacts. An equally qualified replacement was unlikely.

Elizabeth outlined the job requirements of her ideal successor: has permission to live in Nepal, either by being a citizen or a foreigner who has additional work that entitles them to an annual visa and provides an adequate income to meet living expenses; has an excellent command of oral and written English; knows something about climbing or is really interested in learning about it quickly; has a means of transportation and a telephone; and is a self-starter and self-reliant. Quite a comprehensive package!

The concerned Americans felt that changes in technology might ease the transition for the continuation of Elizabeth's work. Some information could be gathered electronically rather than through the personal meetings Elizabeth insisted on doing. Perhaps only the unusual or groundbreaking climbs would require the in-depth interviews that Elizabeth routinely conducted. But Elizabeth insisted that face-to-face meetings were important. “I believe it is essential for us to meet someone from an expedition when they come back from their climbs. Body language is important, and if we think that something they tell us is odd or just plain wrong, we can follow up with further questions immediately and check with other teams returning from the
same mountain at the same time.” Back to the drawing board for the Americans.

While the historians reviewed the options and possibilities, Elizabeth reminisced about her recent years in Kathmandu. In 2008 she retired from her post as part-time correspondent for Reuters News Agency, for which she had reported since 1962. Their need for mountaineering news dispatches was no longer there. Then, in 2010, she retired after serving for 20 years as New Zealand's first honorary consul in Nepal.

And of course there were the deaths, the ongoing list of climbers she had known who had died in the mountains they loved. She had reported on all of them, some who were strangers and others who had been her friends: Jean-Christophe Lafaille on Makalu in 2006; Tomaž Humar on Langtang Lirung in 2009; Erhard Loretan in the Alps in 2011; and of course her dear friend Sir Edmund Hillary in January of 2008.

The last time she left Nepal was for Sir Edmund's funeral in New Zealand. As she described it, “His 88-year-old body had worn out and his heart stopped.” The details of his state funeral in Auckland remain clear to Elizabeth, from the dignitaries, diplomats and foreign notables to the three servicemen who were enlisted to carry his many awards on cushions into the church. She described the servicemen posted at each corner of his casket, their guns reversed and heads bowed, standing motionless for 20 minutes at a time before being relieved by another. Flags flew at half-mast throughout the country for New Zealand's “living icon,” a term Hillary had hated. A cartoon in an Auckland daily paper showed the gates to heaven shut with a sign reading “Closed for Bereavement.” The public filed past his coffin at the rate of 475 people an hour, throughout the entire night. All of New Zealand seemed to come to a halt the morning of his funeral. After the service, crowds lined the streets in the drizzle as his cortege proceeded to the crematorium. Most of his ashes were scattered in Auckland's harbour, but a small portion was taken to Kathmandu to be carried to Khumbu's cultural heart, the Buddhist monastery at Thyangboche, by its
rinpoche
, or abbot.

Elizabeth had worked with Hillary since 1965, even before his Himalayan Trust was founded, and she was with him at the signing of the Trust's first agreement with the Nepalese government in 1972. She filled in for him at the Trust when he was away from Kathmandu,
and of course since his death. His impact on her life was huge. “He lived by his very high ethical standards,” she recalled. “He did an immense amount of good for other people and he greatly enjoyed doing it. He loved a good laugh, enjoyed his Scotch and ginger ale and was by no means an aloof person.” In summary, she added, “Hillary was the finest man I ever knew.”

Despite the many personal losses over the years, and the restrictions to her movement, Elizabeth remains committed to her work, although she is beginning to accept that it may be done a little differently in the future. She has guarded and protected her working style fiercely in her years at the helm, and that style has been part of the Hawley mystique. Her strong personality defines her work, but as she ages and the sharp edges of her character soften somewhat, her tolerance for change grows. Of all the many jobs she has done in Nepal, she insists that she is still doing the two she has enjoyed the most: chronicling expeditions in the Nepalese Himalaya and working for Sir Edmund Hillary's Himalayan Trust. But she has some concerns. “Without Sir Ed, the Himalayan Trust is changing,” she explains. It is currently run by a board of four members, who have just written its first constitution and are demanding more written reports about the trust's work in Nepal and generally making it more organized and formal. “But I'm still there, seeing where the money goes,” she said.

If there is one thing that the indomitable Elizabeth Hawley is firm about, it's that Nepal is her home. She has made a life there and she plans to die there. “This has been my home since September 1960, and I am out of touch with the constant changes that have occurred in the U.S., despite the fact that I read the
International Herald Tribune
daily. I would not feel at home anywhere else,” she explained. “Besides,” she says, with a twinkle in her eye, “I don't know how to cook.”

ELIZABETH'S FIRST VEHICLE: A WOODEN THREE-WHEELER.
COURTESY OF THE MICHAEL AND MEG LEONARD COLLECTION

YOUNG ELIZABETH ON THE FAMILY'S VERMONT PROPERTY.
COURTESY OF THE MICHAEL AND MEG LEONARD COLLECTION

ELIZABETH AND HER FRIEND BARBARA ON THE STEPS OF “THE MOST EXPENSIVE HOTEL IN NICE,” THE NEGRESCO, ON A PHOTO POSTCARD ELIZABETH SENT HOME OCTOBER 25, 1950.
COURTESY OF THE MICHAEL AND MEG LEONARD COLLECTION

ELIZABETH ENJOYING A DRINK AND THE SCENERY AT THE BRITISH EMBASSY BUNGALOW, KAKANI, DECEMBER 1975.
COURTESY OF THE MICHAEL AND MEG LEONARD COLLECTION

ELIZABETH ON A TRIP INTO RURAL NEPAL IN 1964 WITH KING MAHENDRA.
COURTESY OF THE ELIZABETH HAWLEY COLLECTION

PORTRAIT OF ELIZABETH AS A YOUNG WOMAN.
COURTESY OF THE MICHAEL AND MEG LEONARD COLLECTION

ELIZABETH CHATTING, AFTER A PARADE, WITH LT. GEN. SURENDRA BAHADUR SHAHA, CHIEF-OF-STAFF OF THE ROYAL NEPAL ARMY. KATHMANDU, OCTOBER 24, 1963.
COURTESY OF THE ELIZABETH HAWLEY COLLECTION

ELIZABETH WITH UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT BHOLA RANA AND POLISH CLIMBER ANDRZEJ ZAWADA.
COURTESY OF THE ELIZABETH HAWLEY COLLECTION