Category Archives: Mountain Climbing

Explore Tibet Team Introduces Saga Dawa Festival to Travelers

Posted by on April 11, 2012 1 comment

Explore Tibet Team Introduces Saga Dawa Festival to Travelers











Devoted Tibetan Pilgrims Prostrating in front of Jokhang temple

(PRWEB) April 10, 2012

Explore Tibet Team, a professional Tibet travel agency based in Lhala, introduces Saga Dawa Festival to travelers and says:” Saga Dawa Holy Festival Offers Unique Opportunities for Visitors in Tibet. Travelers should know something about Saga Dawa Holy Festival, which is an important part of Tibetan culture.”

Below is the detail of Saga Dawa Festival from Explore Tibet Team:

Saga Dawa honors the birth, enlightenment, and death of Buddha. It falls on the full moon of the fourth month of the Tibetan lunar calendar, and it is one of the most important festivals for Buddhists all over the world. This year the festival will take place on June 4th, coinciding with the best time of the year for Tibet trekking. Visitors to Tibet will have ample opportunity to take in the sights of this unique celebration during the Tibet tour.

Buddhists believe that the karmic merit of prayer and good deeds is multiplied during Saga Dawa. Pilgrims from all over South Asia, Southeast Asia, and China will journey to holy sites in Tibet this June, they will perform rites such as prostration, circumambulation of holy sites and stupas, abstaining from eating meat, giving alms to the poor, and praying and spinning prayer wheels.

The center of Saga Dawa religious activity in Lhasa is the Jokhang Temple, located in the heart of Lhasa. It houses the Jowo Rinpoche, a statue that is the most ancient and revered relic in Tibet. A series of streets and a square around the Jokhang Temple form the Barkhor circuit, a popular tourist destination and circumambulation route for pilgrims. Many visitors will also venture to Drepung Monastery, located a few kilometers outside the city at the foot of Mt. Gephel. Pilgrims climb the mountain to burn juniper incense. The night of the festival city residents will light thousands of butter lamps under the full moon. These lamps symbolize the wisdom of Buddhist teachings illuminating darkness and ignorance.

Thousands of pilgrims will make the journey to remote and beautiful Mt. Kailash in southwest Tibet. The most dedicated pilgrims will circumambulate the mountain in one day on a 52 kilometer trail over uneven terrain, some even performing full body prostrations for the entire route. On the day of the festival pilgrims will gather at the towering Tarboche flagpole, located just south of Kailash, where they will take down the old prayer flags, affix new ones, and re-erect the pole. It is an auspicious sign for the prosperity of Tibet if the pole stands perfectly straight.

For visitors to Tibet during Saga Dawa, there is ample opportunity to visit ancient holy sites and participate in activities that reflect the unique religion and culture of the Tibetan people.





















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Synnott Mountain Guides Expands Winter Climbing Courses to Include Mixed Climbing 101

Posted by on August 12, 2011 1 comment

Synnott Mountain Guides Expands Winter Climbing Courses to Include Mixed Climbing 101













Mixed Climbing at Trollville


Jackson, NH (Vocus) November 21, 2009

New Hampshire climbing guides, Synnott Mountain Guides, has expanded its winter climbing courses to include Mixed Climbing 101, the first of what will become a complete curriculum of mixed climbing instruction.    Synnott Mountain Guides is owned by Mark Synnott, an accomplished climber with first ascents across the major mountain ranges of the world. He is the perennial Mixed Climbing instructor at the Mt. Washington Valley Ice Fest each February and established many of the mixed routes in the area. “Mixed climbing has always been part of our Advanced Ice Climbing course, but there is an increased demand for mixed climbing instruction today”, stated Mark Synnott.    Popular mixed climbing routes and destinations in the Mt. Washington Valley include Trollville, the Ice Mill and Eagle Cliff as well as Pinnacle and Damnation Buttress on Mt. Washington.

Other popular winter climbing courses include the Presidential Traverse, the quintessential multi-day mountaineering objective in the east, which typically takes three days going up and over each of the mountains in New Hampshire’s Presidential Range. At a minimum this winter mountaineering trek covers 21 miles and the peaks of Mt. Madison, Mt. Adams, Mt. Jefferson, Mt. Clay, Mt. Washington, Mt. Monroe, Mt. Eisenhower and Mt. Pierce. The winter Presidential Traverse is an excellent preparatory climb for training for Mt. Rainier or Denali in Alaska.

The most popular climbing course is the Intro to Mountaineering course where participants learn the basics of mountaineering, including crampon and ice axe and winter camping. The course culminates in an ascent of Mt. Washington, home of the World’s Worst Weather, with the highest recorded surface wind speed of 231 MPH.

Mark Synnott has taken on adventure in places like Patagonia , Pakistan , Nepal , India, China, Tibet, the Alaska Range, the Amazon, West Africa and Pitcairn Island in the South Pacific. When he’s not in the mountains, Mark works with The North Face research, design and development teams and he lectures frequently on his life of adventure. He’s also a successful freelance photojournalist and a senior contributing editor at Climbing Magazine. His articles and photos have appeared in many publications in the U.S. and abroad, including National Geographic Adventure, Men’s Journal, Outside, Skiing and New York Magazine. Mark Synnott is also the author of Baffin Island – Climbing, Trekking & Skiing, a Baffin Island guidebook illustrated with stunning photos and detailed maps.

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