Books

I wrote a book in 2011 called The Song of Chomolungma. The summary goes like this: A Seattle photojournalist takes the journey of a lifetime along the famous Everest Highway. Author Erika Klimecky joins a group of musicians led by world class mountaineer, climbing guide and humanitarian AC Sherpa, to raise awareness about the environmental issues affecting people in the Everest region of Nepal. Her encounters led to unexpected struggles and triumphs, new friendships and a deeper understanding not only about this little-known part of the world, but also her own life.

Books are sold out as of this update, but you can read an excerpt.

I have continued the stories on my blog about the book production, a few stories that didn’t make it into the book and subsequent photojournalism work. I also showcase my photography and art on Instagram.

Take a look at the book cover. The photo is not Mt Everest, but it’s one of my favorite Himalayan peaks and of course, there’s a story behind it (it’s in the book). The title refers to the Sherpa name for Mt Everest – Chomolungma is the Goddess Mother for the Sherpa people, those who live in the shadow of the world’s highest mountain. I deliberated over the title quite a bit. As you probably guessed, there is a story about that, too. So I put it on the blog.

I have published other books, including:

The Photography of James Elias Cribbs, (link available soon) also,

The Poetry of Karen Sykes, a posthumous collection of her best poetry, and some memorial writing by her closest friends. Karen was a long-time writer of the Trail of the Week for the Seattle P-I, and wrote two trail guide books. She was lost on Mt Rainier in 2014.

I have also written an adventure novella which may never see the light of day, because I found that I much prefer non-fiction.

I have several other small publications of outdoor adventures which include photography and exploration.

My current writing project involves capturing adventure stories that all revolve around a particular cultural subject.

Thanks for your interest.

-Erika