Born in Denver, Colorado at the foot of the Rockies, Linda’s love affair with mountains began as a young child. An adventure traveler to 35 countries on six continents, she first discovered the wonderful Nepalese people in 1986. Working with a group of Sherpas, she was a founder of the first hut-to-hut system in Nepal and helped establish 18 lodges in the Solo-Khumbu region. She began organizing and leading treks to the Everest Base Camp two years later. With a BA in literature and a Masters in Library Science, she combined her love of books, other cultures, and research skills to pen the first fiction written about Sherpas. High in the Himalayas during the worst storm in memory, she was appalled by world press coverage of the many foreigners who died but no mention of the Sherpas who also perished. She returned home to write their story.

Books by Linda LeBlanc

Beyond the Summit

by Linda LeBlanc

Beyond the Summit is unique in being the first work to dramatize the lives of the Sherpa tribe of Mount Everest in fiction. Set in the Everest region in 1968 four years after Sir Edmund Hillary built a landing strip at Lukla, the story shows the impact of tourism on a culture still living in the Middle Ages. Young Dorje wants what the foreigners bring while his father resents their intrusion in the realm of the gods. Details of Sherpa culture and Buddhist religion are interwoven in a Himalayan romance and high adventure. The story has something for everyone: a love affair between an American journalist and Sherpa guide, an expedition from the porter’s point of view, Tibetan refugees, conflict between generations as the modern world challenges centuries of tradition.