The Team

Mike HamillMike Hamill, Founder and President

Mike has led over 100 major expeditions on all seven continents including 18 to 8,000m peaks in the Himalayas. He has climbed all of the famed “Seven Summits” at least 5 times and is a 5 time Everest summiteer. His love for the mountain environment and adventure continues to compel his to travel the globe and connect with unique and amazing local communities. Mike’s connection to communities in the mountain regions and the outdoor industry workers have had a lasting impact on his life and drives him to serve the people that have given him so much warmth, hard work and inspiration. He spends the majority of the year working and living with these local communities.

Louis CarstensLouis Carstens, Vice President and Board Member

Louis Castens is an accomplished high-altitude mountaineer who has climbed the Seven Summits as well as three Himalayan mountains higher than 8000m: Everest, Cho Oyu, and Manaslu. His ascent of Manaslu, the 8th highest peak in the world at 8163m, was a South African first. When he summited Mt. Everest on 23 May 2010, he became only the 293rd climber in the world to complete the Seven Summits. Professionally Louis is an internationally experienced business strategist, psychologist, and a management consultant; he is also a part-time leadership academic at a leading South African university. As a leadership development consultant he organizes and leads high-performance teams to the summit of Kilimanjaro. He holds five degrees, including two Masters and a PhD.

Ang Jangbu SherpaAng Jangbu Sherpa, Director of Nepal Programs and Board Member

Jangbu is a partner and director of the premier trekking and climbing agency we use in Nepal. Jangbu grew up in the village of Phortse where he attended the Hillary school until the age of 18. In 1981 he moved to Pokhara and lived there for seven years and trained under the legendary Colonel Jimmy Roberts, the founder of Nepal’s first trekking company and the trekking industry in the Nepal Himalaya. He then moved to Kathmandu and started a trekking and climbing agency with two other partners in the spring of 1993. Jangbu is married and has two children. He has been on dozens of expeditions, including summiting Everest on the 1990 American Everest Expedition. Ang Jangbu has worked with Eric Simonson on every IMG Himalayan program since 1991 and is a very popular leader. He and his staff put together one of the very best Sherpa teams for IMG. Additionally, Jangbu has climbed Europe’s Mt. Blanc and most of the 14,000-foot peaks in Colorado, and has served as assistant instructor for Colorado Outward Bound. Jangbu has also been a leader for the IMG Kilimanjaro program.

Jane LeeJane Lee, Board Member

Jane is a veteran climber, expedition leader, and a passionate adventurer, originally from Singapore. She led the Singaporean Women’s team on their successful ascent of Mt. Everest and was the first Southeast Asian woman to complete the Seven Summits. Jane is an alumnus of NUS in Singapore and the Yale School of Management and is currently working for McKinsey, a consultancy, in Singapore.

Efung (Stefen) ChowEfung (Stefen) Chow, Board Member

Stefen Chow is a landscape and portrait photographer based in Beijing. He has experience in mechanical engineering and high altitude mountaineering. He has photographed in the Himalayas, the biggest industrial sites and sit down portraits of billionaires and dissident artists.

Stefen won a second prize for portraiture at the World Press Photo (2013). He has exhibited internationally, including Museum of Modern Art, Tblisi, Georgia (2013), a solo show at Three Shadows Gallery, Beijing (2012). His works have also been exhibited at The International Center of Photography in New York, Galerie Huit in Arles, and the Singapore Art Museum.

Stefen does long term projects with a social conscience. Stefen is the co-founder of ‘The Poverty Line’, a global visual project that contextualizes poverty. The project was referenced by the World Bank and was presented at TED. He has been named by Nikon as one of Asia’s top photographers.

 

Board of Advisers

The Tiger of the Snows Board of Advisers brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and passion to our goal of providing educational opportunities for outdoor tourism industry workers and their families. They are seasoned professionals that are highly regarded in their fields and whom all have in depth experience with the outdoor tourism industry. They are invaluable for their insight and direction to the projects that the Tiger of the Snows Foundation pursues.

  • Jangbu Sherpa
  • Tashi Lama Sherpa
  • Louis Carstensz
  • Jane Lee
  • Efung Chow

 

Partners

Tiger of the Snows Fund partners with these organizations to ensure that the money you donate is efficiently spent where it is most needed. Our partners have solid reputations for offering and facilitating education.:

  • The Little Sherpa Fund
  • Khumbu Climbing School
  • Himalyan Foundation
  • Schools in Kathmandu
  • To Return
  • Sentinel Outdoor Institute (WFA training for porters and guides)