Words by Jennifer Mashuga

Photos by Lance Trumbull and the Everest Peace Project

Several years ago, Lance Trumbull had a unique idea while exploring India. What if a group of people from all different origins and beliefs climbed Mount Everest together, to promote global understanding among different cultures and religions?

A practicing Buddhist, Trumbull’s vision could be looked at as a natural progression based on his passions and pursuits in his life. He was a comparative Religious Studies major while a student at Berkeley. He also has had a lifelong interest in mountains, a catalyst in his moving to Kathmandu.

By the time Trumbull had started planning the Everest Peace Project he had already traveled everywhere from China to Russia climbing mountains. In 2005, he was the leader of the Kilimanjaro Climb for Peace, which, like Everest, had the goal and purpose of promoting cultural and spiritual understanding.

While getting support financially proved difficult for Trumbull, praise for the Everest Peace Project has been overwhelming. The Dalai Lama, one of Trumbull’s heroes, proclaimed that “The Everest Peace Project’s film Everest: A Climb for Peace, is a tremendous achievement...Not only does it document a spectacular climb of the world’s tallest mountain, but it also shows how the project brought together people from different faiths and cultures, who worked successfully as a team to accomplish their goal.”

Adolph Ogi, the Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Sport for Development and Peace, summed up the Everest Peace Project by saying: “What better example for the deeply inter-dependent human community than a rope of mountaineers from various faiths and origins able to rely on each other and to reach the top of the world."

Jennifer Mashuga: How has the making of the documentary gone?

Lance Trumbull: I’m extremely happy with the way the documentary has come together. In some ways I expanded my original vision, by also going to the Middle East to film our three main climbers climbing together in Wadi Rum, Jordan. I think that the footage that was shot there really sets this documentary apart from any other Everest film out there. Filmed in 7 different countries, it is not just an Everest film, but a documentary about peace, war, and the human spirit.

Do the three climbers, Yifrah and Yaniv from Israel and Bushnaq - originally from Palistine - still keep in touch?

They now have met in Jordan three times, and they hope to continue to meet at least once or twice a year to climb. But it is difficult because they live in different countries. Except for email it is impossible for them to stay in contact for they are not allowed to call each other. Arab countries cannot call people in Israel, and Ali [Bushnaq] currently lives in a country that Dudu [Yifrah] and Micha [Yaniv] cannot call. And so things are complicated and difficult in the Middle East. During the climb they grew close and now they consider themselves life long friends. They do have plans to climb other big mountains together in the near future. Read More...