Many people in the Sea to Sky corridor know the unique disappointment that comes from a failed adventure.
Weather, poor choices, injury, or a packing error can all turn a coveted goal into a trip home.
But Michael Schauch鈥檚 failed attempt to climb an unknown Himalayan peak back in 2012 proves that sometimes life has other plans for you.
鈥淚t took me several days to get over it,鈥� the Squamish resident recalls. 鈥淚 went through this whole Jekyll-and-Hyde thing in my head. 鈥榃hy am I being shut down here?鈥欌��
While Schauch had planned to climb the mystery mountain that first captured his attention in a photograph, he and his wife Chantal had travelled to Nepal with a handful of artist friends for another reason, too.
Back then, Nar Phu, otherwise known as 鈥淭he Lost Valley,鈥� had only recently opened up to visitors and Schauch realized that it wouldn鈥檛 be long before it changed.
Before that inevitable transformation, he thought it would be compelling to document the valley with his wife and a handful of other creatives.聽
鈥淲e thought, 鈥榃hy don鈥檛 we go in with a different lens and observe and learn and capture a moment in time,鈥欌�� Schauch says. 鈥淲e brought a photographer, a nature artist, musician, and Chantal and I were going to do filming. That was the inception point.鈥�
The mountain he wanted to climb was a secondary goal.
When the group finally arrived in Nepal and Schauch set out for his climb, however, things started to fall apart.
鈥淥ne thing after the next started unravelling,鈥� he recalls. 鈥淚 was caught in a snowstorm at 17,000 ft., the mule with my climbing gear ran off and I was forced to hunker down in this little village called Phu.鈥�
That鈥檚 when he started connecting with the locals鈥攁nd his life would never be the same.
鈥淸We were] spending days in their homes and we鈥檇 join them for meals with 20 people crammed into a stone house,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 speak each other鈥檚 language, but we鈥檇 often speak with the eyes and go back to more basic ways of communicating.鈥�
The village was intensely remote, but, above all, it seemed they valued education. Education meant a better life for children.
鈥淚 was getting all this information because I didn鈥檛 climb the mountain,鈥� Schauch says. 鈥淲e ended up going to another village where we learned there was this little school.鈥�
When they arrived they met a young girl named Karma who was teaching English numbers to a group of about 17 kids.
鈥淲e thought, 鈥楾his is very interesting. I felt this strong draw to this girl,鈥欌�� he says.
The little girl seemingly took interest in Schauch and his wife too; in particular, she wanted to learn English from them. The couple wound up meeting with Karma鈥檚 family, including her sister Pemba.
鈥淭hat was the beginning of our connection and the start of our familial connection,鈥� Schauch says.
Since that trip, the couple has gone back every year to visit the family and in 2018, the sisters came on exchange to Squamish.
鈥淭hey said one of the most amazing things for them was seeing the ocean,鈥� Schauch says. 鈥淕rowing up around landlocked, vertical terrain, just this flat horizon of water was mind blowing to them 鈥� They played instruments, skied, tried luge, all these things鈥攕tuff they would鈥檝e had no exposure to there. They also brought a lot of their culture here.鈥�
Throughout this time, Schauch had been keeping a detailed journal of the remarkable journey with its unexpected outcome, but it wasn鈥檛 until 2016 that he considered turning it into a book with some encouragement from Chantal.
While he enjoyed both creative writing and math in high school, after a bad mark on a story assignment, he focused on the latter talent.
鈥淚 decided to go into business instead,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e loved this idea of creative writing, but it wasn鈥檛 until 2016鈥攁nd this whole journey鈥攖hat I came back to it.鈥�
It took about two years to finish A Story of Karma: Finding Love and Truth in the Lost Valley of the Himalaya, but the book officially came out on Tuesday, Sept. 29 via Rocky Mountain Books.
To celebrate, Schauch will be signing copies at Armchair Books in Whistler on Saturday, Oct. 3 from 1 to 3 p.m.
鈥淚 got this great gift of meeting Karma, which I wouldn鈥檛 have otherwise had [if I had climbed the mountain],鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 funny how things turn out.鈥�
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