Close followers of mountaineering know the Himalayan Database and Ms. Elizabeth Hawley. Who you may not know is Billi Bierling who worked with Ms. Hawley since 2004 and continues her work today along with a small team in Kathmandu and the US.
Billi, born in the Bavarian Alpine resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, is a well-traveled journalist working primarily for Swiss Humanitarian Aid as a communications expert. She also writes mountaineering articles for German and English-speaking magazines, translates or writes books and leads mountain treks and expeditions in Nepal and around the world. And she climbs mountains, big mountains including Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Manaslu (fore summit) and Broad Peak – the latter three she summited without the help of supplemental oxygen.
Billi recently published a book, a memoir, I Have a Bike in Kathmandu.
This in-depth podcast introduces us to Billi, her background in humanitarian work, her book and some of her climbs before discussing the changes we are seeing in the ever-commercialized world of mountaineering, especially in Nepal. Finally, we wrap up discussing the future of the Himalayan Database.
Grab a beverage or take a walk and please enjoy meeting Billi Bierling.
Here’s the video podcast version of the Billi Bierling Interview:
The Podcast on alanarnette.com
You can listen to #everest2022 podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Anchor, and more. Just search for “alan arnette” on your favorite podcast platform.
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