Part Three: For centuries the Sherpa people of Nepal have held fear of a monster - a huge creature that is at least eight feet tall, covered in hair, strong enough to kill a yak with a single blow and said to make blood-curdling cries at night.
This is the Yeti.
This is the Yeti.
'Mountain Man'
(Did you miss part one and two? Begin reading here: Bigfoot, the Yeti and other Cryptid Wildmen)
Drawing of a Yeti. Home to a number of the highest mountain peaks in our world, including Mount Everest, the Himalayan mountain range crosses into and through five countries, including India, China and Pakistan. Made up of hundreds of mountains, lakes, glaciers and valleys, it is a place shrouded in natural beauty. Several sites are found within the area that are of spiritual importance to several religions, and a wide variety of unique flora and fauna species are found here.
It is here that for centuries the Sherpa people of Nepal have lived in fear of a monster, a huge creature that is said to be similar to the Bigfoot seen by many in North America. The creature is said to be at least eight feet tall, covered in grey or dark-coloured hair and said to make blood-curdling cries at night, usually right before livestock are found dead. The beast is said to be capable of killing yaks with a single blow, and even hunt local villagers. It is enmeshed in the local mythology and traditions, with the creature appearing in many stories of a "wildman" that was revered as a God, appearing in many Tibetan tapestries found in monasteries in Asia.
It is called the Yeti.
Translated it means "mountain man".
It is here that for centuries the Sherpa people of Nepal have lived in fear of a monster, a huge creature that is said to be similar to the Bigfoot seen by many in North America. The creature is said to be at least eight feet tall, covered in grey or dark-coloured hair and said to make blood-curdling cries at night, usually right before livestock are found dead. The beast is said to be capable of killing yaks with a single blow, and even hunt local villagers. It is enmeshed in the local mythology and traditions, with the creature appearing in many stories of a "wildman" that was revered as a God, appearing in many Tibetan tapestries found in monasteries in Asia.
It is called the Yeti.
Translated it means "mountain man".
One of the footprints found in 1951. The creature came to be called "The Abominable Snowman" by Westerners in 1921, after a reporter, writing an article about explorers attempting to be the first to scale the north face of Mount Everest, mis-translated a Sherpa word and coined the phrase in the description of a "snowman" said to have made tracks found by the expedition team. This crew was certainly not the first, and wouldn't be the last, to find evidence of a strange entity trekking through the area, as over the last 150 years a great number of people have reported seeing the creature, as well as making casts and taking photos of footprints spanning miles through the snowy terrain. It has even been reported that hair samples from the monster have been recovered.
Western interest in the possibility of a bi-pedal hominid roaming the mountain range grew when in 1951, mountaineer Eric Shipton, while on his fifth expedition on Mount Everest, photographed tracks of prints at 20,000 ft above sea level, estimated to be twelve inches long by five inches wide, spanning a couple of miles or so. These photographs are in some eyes the most compelling evidence to support the existence of Yeti, and have in the years since been the subject of heavy debate in the scientific community. Some believe the tracks were made by a known animal, such as a mountain ape or a bear, and were distorted by the melting ice and snow.
Western interest in the possibility of a bi-pedal hominid roaming the mountain range grew when in 1951, mountaineer Eric Shipton, while on his fifth expedition on Mount Everest, photographed tracks of prints at 20,000 ft above sea level, estimated to be twelve inches long by five inches wide, spanning a couple of miles or so. These photographs are in some eyes the most compelling evidence to support the existence of Yeti, and have in the years since been the subject of heavy debate in the scientific community. Some believe the tracks were made by a known animal, such as a mountain ape or a bear, and were distorted by the melting ice and snow.
Yeti Scalp held in the Khumjung Monastery. In March 1954 stories began circulating that expedition teams in Nepal had acquired hair samples from a Yeti scalp hidden in a monastery, however it is claimed that it was identified as hair coming from a antelope like creature common to the region. A Yeti hand, faeces and bones are said to have also been found on expeditions, all being tested with inconclusive results.
Scientists consider the Yeti to be nothing more than a legend, and maintain there is little hard evidence to support its existence. Sightings of the creature are put down to mis-identification with the Tibetan Blue Bear or mountain gorillas, and some purported Yeti hairs recovered have been proven to have a 100% DNA match with a sample taken from a jawbone found in Norway of an ancient species of polar bear, suggesting that the Yeti is indeed a bear, perhaps a rare species. However, many Western eyewitnesses and Sherpa natives maintain that they know the difference between what they are seeing and bears.
The Yeti is considered by many to be a more dangerous version of hominid, with many Sherpa women claiming to have been attacked or had their hair pulled by the creature, however in many more recent accounts the beast is said to flee in terror at the sight of humans, with it being seen jumping over crevasses to get away!
What are your thoughts on the Yeti?
Tibetan myth?
Or could a monster be hiding in the remote region of the Himalayas?
Scientists consider the Yeti to be nothing more than a legend, and maintain there is little hard evidence to support its existence. Sightings of the creature are put down to mis-identification with the Tibetan Blue Bear or mountain gorillas, and some purported Yeti hairs recovered have been proven to have a 100% DNA match with a sample taken from a jawbone found in Norway of an ancient species of polar bear, suggesting that the Yeti is indeed a bear, perhaps a rare species. However, many Western eyewitnesses and Sherpa natives maintain that they know the difference between what they are seeing and bears.
The Yeti is considered by many to be a more dangerous version of hominid, with many Sherpa women claiming to have been attacked or had their hair pulled by the creature, however in many more recent accounts the beast is said to flee in terror at the sight of humans, with it being seen jumping over crevasses to get away!
What are your thoughts on the Yeti?
Tibetan myth?
Or could a monster be hiding in the remote region of the Himalayas?
Please post your comments below!
Matty Sweeney has written many articles for The Paranormal Guide and has a interest in all things mysterious and macabre. Many of his articles explore unsolved mysteries, cryptozoology and UFOlogy.
Matty resides in the Riverland, South Australia, a place with a few mysteries of its own...
You can find more about Matty and his research at 'Marvels and the Macabre with Matty'
Matty resides in the Riverland, South Australia, a place with a few mysteries of its own...
You can find more about Matty and his research at 'Marvels and the Macabre with Matty'
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