The Happiness Quotient
by Thom Dharma Pollard
Thom Dharma Pollard hosts inspirational, intimate and unfiltered Stories That Inspire with guests and drawing from his own adventures around the world. The Happiness Quotient: connected, engaged, passionate people who inspire us.
Episodes
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Where is the Outrage? Himlung Avalanche & Commercial Mountaineering’s Darkest Dilemma After 16 Are Buried
On September 27th, a catastrophic avalanche slammed into base camp on 7126 meter Himlung Hamal at 3:00 in the morning. 16 people - all of them mountain workers - were buried under 4 meters of snow. 15 of the bodies have been recovered. One is still there under the snow. As of right now…
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Nepal Avalanche Tragedy: Himlung Himal Base Camp Buried Under Snow (27 Sept) + 16 Dead or Missing
An avalanche has buried the base camp of Himlung Himal in Nepal. We examine the latest reports from this unfolding disaster. On September 27, 2026, severe reports emerged regarding a massive slide that struck the base camp of Himlung Himal. Teams were actively preparing for guided expeditions to...
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ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: How to Avert a Junk Show on the World's Eighth Highest Mountain, Manaslu
Today on Manaslu, climbing isn't just an expedition—it’s an active conveyor belt. Nearly a thousand people are on the mountain right this second, creating thousands of pounds of waste while operators collect royalties. But this is not a eulogy for the mountain. It’s a blueprint. **THANK YOU TO…
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THE INTERVIEW "My Guide Left Me to Die": How Russian Climber Survived Makalu Despite His Allegation that His Guide Wanted Him to Die
Surgery complete. Six of Konstantin Smirnov's fingers are gone. He believes the man whose job was to bring him down Makalu left him to die in the death zone. Today, for the first time, he tells the whole story — and he is not asking for your sympathy. **THANK YOU TO OUR HIGH ALTITUDE SPONSORS**:...
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NEPAL FLOODS: The Mountains Are Coming Apart. And No One Is Safe.
On August 26th, the Himalaya came apart. The disaster began high along the Lende Khola near the Nepal Tibet border, then poured south into the Trishuli River system heading downstream toward the lower valleys of central Nepal. A wall of water and debris. Communities were destroyed. Roads and...
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They Want to Rename Annapurna to 'Nimsdai Annapurna'? NOPE! And The Recent Floods and Chaos in China and Nepal
After the Broad Peak avalanche that took ten lives, the municipality where Nirmal Purja was born proposed renaming Annapurna I in his honor, to Nimsdai Annapurna. In this video I trace the epic of the mountain itself — the 1950 French first ascent and the cost it took from Maurice Herzog — and…
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Nims Purja, the Broad Peak Avalanche & Tragedy, and the Questions No One Wants to Ask
There’s a scene in 14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible that tells me almost everything I need to know about the Broad Peak disaster. Ten climbers died on July 30th—but the avalanche is only part of the story. This video asks the harder question: why were they there at all? **THANK YOU TO OUR HIGH...
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Murder Mystery on Makalu? Konstantin Smrinov Was Left For Dead, Now He's Fighting Back In Court
"So these uh fingers, they are dead and you know they they sound like stone, like a piece of bone." Listeners might want to check out the video version of this podcast episode, found here: https://youtu.be/xBW_6ZNYI8M The fascination with the abandonment on Makalu has resonated profoundly. It may...
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The Cost of the Summit: Kristin Harila's Records and Reality from Everest to Everest
In 2023, the Norwegian climber rewrote the record books by summiting all fourteen 8,000-meter peaks in just 92 days, alongside her close friend and climbing partner, Tenjen Lama Sherpa. It was one of the most remarkable achievements in the history of high-altitude mountaineering. Beyond the...
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Green Boots Finally Identified on Mount Everest. Why Bringing Him Home May Be Impossible and a Bad Idea.
For nearly 30 years, the climber long referred to as "Green Boots" has remained one of Mount Everest's most haunting and recognizable landmarks. Now, after DNA testing, the Government of India says the climber has finally been identified, and an extraordinary recovery mission is being considered....
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Everest’s Dirty Secret: The Brutal Reality of Hillary Dawa Sherpa’s Abandonment and The Everest Industry No One Wants You to Know About
The investigation into the abandonment of Hillary Dawa Sherpa reveals systemic corruption within Everest’s commercial climbing industry. Evidence of oxygen fraud, staffing failures, and criminal negligence is examined in light of current investigations. **THANK YOU TO OUR HIGH ALTITUDE…
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Everest's Deadly Betrayal: The Truth Behind Hillary Dawa Sherpa's Disappearance on Mount Everest and What it Reveals about the Industry of Everest
In this re-cap of the miraculous survival of Hillary Dawa Sherpa on Everest after he was left and presumed deceased, Everest climber Chris Thrall, who last saw Hillary Dawa at the Yellow Band at night, shares the circumstances that took place that night. This is an investigation into the silence,...
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A Sherpa Went Missing on Everest. Nobody Lifted a Finger. He Crawled Into Base Camp.
NEWS CLIP: "A Nepali Sherpa has been found alive after nearly a week without food or water." The world proclaimed a miracle on Everest after Hillary Dawa Sherpa crawled into Base Camp after disappearing seven days earlier. Some of us immediately began asking questions about the reality of the...
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Everest 2026 Slams Shut in Race to the Top. Hillary and Tenzing's Lasting Legacy | What Comes Next?
On May 29, 1953, the first everest summit was achieved by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, marking a pivotal moment in world history. This video draws fascinating parallels between this incredible climbing feat and other historic human firsts. We explore these history facts to showcase…
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600+ Summits. 2 Fatalities. Reality Strikes On The Way Down STAY TUNED FOR MAJOR UPDATES | Everest 2026
On May 20, 2026, Mount Everest saw 278 summits in a single day — the busiest 24 hours in the mountain's history. From Kami Rita’s 32nd summit to Kenton Cool’s 20th, the records were falling fast. But the numbers don’t tell the whole story. We follow Polish ski mountaineer Bartek Ziemski as he...
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SUMMITS SOON: Everest's Perfect Storm: Extreme Conditions as Summit Push Begins
Everest 2026 is a pressure cooker. The route to the summit opened May 13th. And the weather window slammed shut the same day. Wind chills of negative 68 degrees Celsius. A jet stream parked directly on the summit. And 492 permitted climbers — plus their support staff — all staring at the same...
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Ominous Warnings and Record Crowds on Everest: Is Disaster Looming? + Duck Rescue Update and an Everest Wedding
The 2026 Mount Everest season has officially become a "pressure cooker." With a record 492 permits issued—amounting to over $7.3 million in fees alone—the South Side is bracing for unprecedented overcrowding. Following the deadliest year on record in 2023, experts are sounding the alarm: can the...
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Everest Has First Deadly Week: Avalanche Rescue, Fatality, and Geopolitical Drama with Drones and US Special Envoy Visiting Base Camp
Five forty-five this morning. A serac let go. And this is what it looked like. The tourism Times reported that a large serac broke off and a chunk of ice approximately 20 meters below it collapsed onto the path where climbers were moving up the mountain, striking members of a passing group. If…
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2026 Everest’s First Rescue! The Duck Without a Permit and a Full Update on the Dangerous Khumbu Icefall and the Icefall Doctors of Everest
In a truly unexpected turn of events at Everest Base Camp, a lost Eurasian Wigeon, affectionately named Pemba Tshering, found itself in a life-threatening situation after being blown off course from its home in the Gokyo Lakes. This remarkable animal rescue highlights the fragility of wildlife in...
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Body Discovered in the Khumbu | Everest says NO (For Now), The Khumbu Icefall Has Stopped the Icefall Doctors Cold
A body* was discovered in the Khumbu Icefall this week at the base of Mount Everest, just as the 2026 climbing season is struggling to begin. This discovery comes as over 3,000 people are gathered at Everest Base Camp, waiting to ascend the icefall. This tragic event adds to the ongoing…
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Everest 2026 Icefall Update | Social Media Is Ruining Mount Everest
In this video we recount a tragic climbing incident in China's Sichuan province, where a hiker's selfie accident led to an accidental death after unhooking his safety rope. We also explore the story of the "bikini climber" GiGi Wu, highlighting how some seemingly innocent actions can go wrong in...
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Everest Put Him on Oxygen Before He Climbed a Single Meter | 2026 Everest Season Begins (Horribly)
"I'm not doing too good at Everest Base Camp, " says a reclining Ryan Mitchell behind an oxygen mask covering his face. Ryan Mitchell is on oxygen at Base Camp with an SPO2 of 35. And the Icefall Doctors have stopped cold in their tracks. A serac the size of a building is blocking the only route…
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Can Anyone Save Everest? 2026 Is The Biggest Test Yet
I want to start with a number: 31,797 kilograms. That is the amount of human waste that was removed from Mount Everest in the spring of 2025. One season. One mountain. Can anyone save Everest? That question has never felt more urgent than right now. With the Tibet side closed, record numbers of...
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Lighting Mount Everest From Space Is Now Possible | Plus AI Weather Forecasts, Drones and More
Everest is changing—faster than most people realize. For decades, the mountain has been quietly “dialed in.” Better forecasting, supplemental oxygen, fixed ropes, and accumulated experience have made it safer—even as more people attempt it than ever before. Now, a new wave of technology is...
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The Quiet Badassery of Andrew Ushakov's Historic Four Day Ascent of Everest From New York
From New York to the top of the world in just three days, twenty-three hours, and seven minutes. That’s not a myth. That’s Andrew Ushakov. An American who quietly, stealthily went about his goal to climb Everest in a matter of days and has shocked the world with his historic ascent.…
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Art Lives Here: What’s Missing in This Beautiful Mountain Town? (Nothing) | w/Jonathan Sarty
In this awesome episode, we speak with musician and radio host Jonathan Sarty, the creative force behind the Cold River Radio Show — a live variety show bringing music, literature, and storytelling to life in a remote mountain tourist town where culture can feel hard to come by. We talk about the...
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The Howling Void - Making Fantasy a Reality & The Narcissist's Hostile Takeover of Other People
In this episode: Prof. Sam Vaknin explains narcissism as a disruption in early childhood self-formation, leading to a lack of boundaries, empathy, and a false self. He describes narcissists as having an "empty schizoid core" that feeds on others to maintain a fantasy of grandiosity. Vaknin...
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The Everest-sized Problem of Social Media and Narcissism w/Professor Sam Vaknin | Social Media are Engines of Negative Emotions
A vast number of those under the age of 35 spend between six and eight hours a day using computer simulated games, essentially in a world far from reality. And, what's worse, the vast and expanding realm of social media are designed to bring out and leverage the worst in their users, all negative...
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The Fight Within: No Oxygen on Everest - ENOUGH, Climbing Toward a True Self on Mount Everest w/Melissa Arnot Reid
She woke in the dead of night, unsure if she’d succeed, fail… or die. Because the last person to attempt what she was doing did die. Melissa Arnot would be walking right past one of Everest’s most infamous bodies—Sleeping Beauty on her sixth, but most perilous climb, of Mount Everest. She was...
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A Sick (Covid) Content Creator Speaks: This Message Will CHANGE YOU & OUR Future Depends On It
What a world it would be if we encouraged just one human being once each day, what a world it would be, if we followed the core spirit of our being. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Here are a few ways you can help support us: Patreon for access to exclusive content:...
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Possibly My FAVORITE Interview EVER: Troubador & Musician Seth Walker - Life On the Road Devoted to His Muse
Nothing says life on the road and all that comes along with than the life of a touring musician. It’s not Leer jets and posh hotels, sold out auditoriums. The music you hear pouring out of small bars and music houses, cafes come from people like you and me, passionate, driven, inspired…..they…
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George Mallory 2.0: Everest’s Most Obsessed Climber—Jost Kobusch’s Impossible Mission (FULL INTERVIEW!)
Alone on Everest*. No Oxygen. No Support. No Limits....IN WINTER! Jost Kobusch is redefining the boundaries of human endurance. In the dead of winter, with temperatures plunging to -40°F and winds howling through Everest’s infamous West Ridge, he set out on a nearly impossible mission: to climb...
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GUT WRENCHING: If They Only Knew This Was Their LAST Climb Together | Tragedy on Everest, K2 & Manaslu
Love. Adventure. Tragedy. Some couples chase dreams together, but for these three, their love stories ended high in the mountains—where eternity and ice became their final resting place. In this special video, we explore three heartbreaking mountaineering love stories: 💔 Francys & Sergei…
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Why More Sherpas than EVER are DYING on Everest in Recent Years
The cost of climbing Everest just went up—A LOT! But, at what cost? Nepal has raised permit fees to $15,000 per climber, yet none of that money is going toward improving Sherpa safety. In this video, we expose how Everest has become a business where money talks, and ethics disappear. Featuring an...
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They Knew It All Along: New Evidence Supports Irvine’s 'Removal' from Everest in 1975 by a Chinese Team
For 100 years the fate of Sandy Irvine has been shrouded in speculation and mystery, even mis-direction. Now, new evidence is emerging that could re-write what we thought we knew. In this episode, we’ll update you on the groundbreaking DNA testing currently underway, share what we know about the...
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Contemplating Kindness in a Brutally Cold World - White Mountains, Mount Field
Well, we packed too lightly for such a chilly hike. But, we nabbed a 4000-footer before high-tailing back to the warmth of a smaller peak that offered us a sunny vantage point. Today, the topic of Metta, or Lovingkindness. Come along on our lovely hike in the White Mountains. Send us Fan Mail...
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Sandy Irvine's Family STUNNED by Discovery of His Remains on Everest after 100 Years with Biographer Julie Summers
Just imagine the surprise and shock you would get if when your telephone rings one morning and it's a call from Kathmandu, Nepal and on the end is a world famous mountaineer, that his team has found the partial remains of your long lost great uncle, who disappeared 100 years ago. That happened to...
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BREAKING NEWS: SANDY IRVINE'S Remains Have Been DISCOVERED! With Historian Jochen Hemmleb
BREAKING NEWS: SOME OF THE REMAINS OF legendary mountaineer Sandy Irvine have been discovered on the Rongbuk Glacier of Mount Everest in Tibet by a National Geographic team that had been endeavoring to do a ski descent of the Hornbein Couloir. World's foremost authority on all things Mystery of...
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STRANGEST Things About Mount Everest (NOT what you expect) | Eight Huge Myths Debunked
Mount Everest—legendary, dangerous, and shrouded in myths. But how much of what you've heard is actually true? Are climbers really lining up like rush hour traffic at 29,000 feet? Is the mountain littered with bodies and trash? Let's peel back the layers of Everest’s most shocking myths and...
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Everest's Haunting MYSTERY: Did GEORGE MALLORY Contact Psychic Medium Geraldine Cummins After Disappearing on Mount Everest in 1924?
Under the glow of séance candles a psychic medium sits trancelike at a table, in front of her is a blank notebook. She begins to write the words of a spirit claiming to be George Mallory - the mountaineer who disappeared with his partner Sandy Irvine high upon the north face of Everest only…
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When The Strong Fall: The 1996 Everest Disaster - CONCLUSION
They say that gong to the summit is only halfway. And nowhere was that more true than on May 10, 1996 on Mount Everest. On that day Everest became the stage for one of the most harrowing disasters in mountaineering history. Eight climbers perished in a brutal storm, and as the world tried to make...
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SPECIAL SEGMENT | Shhh! Members Only Episode (for FREE!): How to Inflict Change by Pushing the Boundaries
Today we hiked two lovely mountains in the Sandwich Wilderness of the White Mountains in New Hampshire....each offered limited views at the summit. MOST IMPORTANTLY, the hike revealed some insights on personal transformation and how one might bring that about. Here is the video about our try at...
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STORM Over Everest | The 1996 Disaster - What Happened and Who is To Blame?
Famed mountain climber and guide Rob Hall once said that if you’re stuck near the summit of Mount Everest you might as well be on the moon. Little did he know that his words would one day come true. This is PART 1 of a two part series on the 1996 Everest disaster that claimed eight lives on May…
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Decoding Scott Fischer's Role in the 1996 Everest Tragedy
Scott Fischer's fateful act may have been the clouded ambition that led him to say they were building a yellow brick road to the top of Mount Everest, and days later he was consumed by the very mountain that had propelled him into the world spotlight as one of the strongest mountaineering guides…
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Climbers Fall From Mount Everest and Disappear Because Of Overcrowding
Years ago Mount Everest was considered a mountaineer’s mountain, where a climber need only worry most about avalanches, hidden crevasses and the potential to succumb to Altitude Mountain Sickness. But now, something far more hazardous and life-threatening exists on the world’s highest peak. Mount...
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SPECIAL REPORT | Predator Hiding In Plain Sight: Prosecuted and Sent to Prison for Life
All that glitters is not gold: How Did This Climber Get Away with So Much for So Long?* In the world of mountaineering and climbing, where the peaks are high and the challenges even higher, there's an unspoken reverence for those who defy gravity and push the limits of human endurance. But what...
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NEWS FLASH: Nimsdai's Troubles HEAT UP & the Mount Everest 2024 Season Recap | Records, Tragedies & Troubled Future
The 2024 Everest climbing season may go down in history for its extraordinary mix of achievements, controversies, and tragedies. From record-breaking summits and political tensions, lives lost, ignored rules, near misses and disturbing allegations of sexual misconduct allegations on Nimsdai. The...
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Boukreev Versus Everest: Anatoli Boukreev - Hero or Villain? Mount Everest's 1996 Tragedy
May 10, 1996: near the summit of Mount Everest a storm of unimaginable ferocity strikes, claiming the lives of eight climbers and leaving others stranded in a fight for survival. This is the story of one of the most controversial and tragic days in mountaineering history. Among the chaos and...
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People Are Dying to Reach 'Into The Wild' Bus 142, Chris McCandless' Escape from Reality and Death by Starvation in Alaska
The cult-like mystique of Bus 142 and the story of Chris McCandless is a magnet for millions around the world. In the heart of the mysterious Alaskan wilderness, where nature's beauty and brutality coexist, there once stood a relic, an accidental shrine—a dilapidated bus that had become a symbol…
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Climbing Mount Everest at 19 Years of Age - Influencer Ryan Mitchell's Path to the Top
He’s 19 years old. His name is Ryan Mitchell. He had a dream that started a year and a half ago. He saved some money that he made from his 2 million subscriber YouTube channel. He went to Mount Everest. And, now he has a summit of Everest under his belt. He went from picking vegetables on a farm…
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About this show
Thom Dharma Pollard hosts inspirational, intimate and unfiltered Stories That Inspire with guests and drawing from his own adventures around the world. The Happiness Quotient: connected, engaged, passionate people who inspire us.
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Thom Dharma Pollard
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