Let's show a little love for the Yeti


Editor’s Note: This is a post by Bigfoot Evidence contributor Vicki W.

It seems that North America's Bigfoot and the swamps of the south's smelly cousin known as the skunk ape are getting all the attention these days, but what about the Yeti? Seems Mr. Abominable Snowman only gets a fortuitous nod at Chrismas time. You know, when he tangles with Rudolph and Yukon Cornelius. I confess I still get the warm fuzzies when the resurrected and reformed Bumble puts the star on the Christmas tree. After all, who can resist that toothy grin and the endearing eye twinkle. So let's shine a little light on the Himalayan boss of the mountain.

Amid the Himalayan mountain tops lurks a mysterious legendary creature that villagers from Nepal call the Yeti. It is described as a large, hair-covered ape-like creature that walks on two legs like a man. We've all heard that before. But this animal is not spoken about with a skeptical tone among the Sherpa people, the natives of Nepal, rather the Sherpas accept the Yeti as a known animal in the same manner as the common yak of the region. They view it with respect and consider relics taken from the carcass of a Yeti to be a sacred object, in fact the Pangbouche monastery have long claimed to hold a few such relics. Studies done on a Yeti scalp proved to be from an antelope, and the recent recovery of a lost finger bone taken from an alleged Yeti hand was ruled to be of human origin. Still, the conclusions of Western science are insignificant to the monks of Pangbouche as well as the Sherpas.

The age old beliefs about the Yeti within the people of Nepal date back centuries, but the rest of us became clued in as explorers brought back information from exploring the Himalayan mountain ranges.There are reports dating back to 1832, and footprints seen in 1899, but the west began to learn more about the legend in the 20th century. In a report from Greek photographer N.A. Tombazi in 1925, during a British led geological expedition, someone pointed out a figure moving through the lower slopes at a level of around 15,000 feet. It was approximately 1000 feet away.

"Unquestionably, the figure in outline was exactly like a human being, walking upright and stopping occasionally to uproot or pull at some dwarf rhododendron bushes," said Tombazi, "It showed up dark against the snow and, as far as I could make out wore no clothes."

The creature disappeared before Tombazi could take a photograph and was not seen again. The group was descending, though, and the photographer went out of his way to see the ground where he had spotted the creature. Tombazi found footprints in the snow.

'They were similar in shape to those of a man, but only six to seven inches long by four inches wide at the broadest part of the foot. The marks of five distinct toes and the instep were perfectly clear, but the trace of the heel was indistinct..."

There were 15 prints to be found. Each was one and one half to two feet apart. Then Tombazi lost the trail in thick brush. When the locals were asked to name the beast he'd seen they told him it was a 'Kanchenjunga demon.' Tombazi didn't think he'd seen a demon, but he couldn't figure out what the creature was either. Perhaps he'd seen a wandering Buddhist or Hindu ascetic or hermit. As the years went by though and other Yeti stories surfaced, Tombazi began to wonder if he'd seen one too."

In 1938, Captain d'Auvergue, the curator of the Victoria Memorial in Calcutta, India, claims that a most benevolent Yeti rescued him from near death of exposure. The 9 foot giant nursed him back to health and then sent him on his way. Then again, hypothermia is known to cause delusions and hallucinations, so....just sayin'.


Other accounts, however, don't paint the Yeti as quite the gentle giant. Sherpa farm girl Lhapka Dhoma met up with a much grumpier individual while herding livestock in 1974. She says that what first caught her attention was a whistle. Thinking it was her brother, she was stunned to see a dark colored Yeti who picked her up and tossed her into a stream. She says it then killed three of the yak by twisting the horns and breaking their necks. It loped away with a strange, twisting motion.

Much more common than accounts of attacks or even sightings is the finding of tracks believed to belong to the elusive beast.

"Some of the best tracks ever seen were found and photographed by British mountaineers Eric Shipton and Micheal Ward in 1951. They found them on the southwestern slopes of the Menlung Glacier, which lies between Tibet and Nepal, at an altitude of 20,000 feet. Each print was thirteen inches wide and some eighteen inches long. The tracks seemed fresh and Shipton and Ward followed the trail for a mile before it disappeared in hard ice.

Some scientists that viewed the photographs could not identify the tracks as from any known creature. Others, though, felt it was probably the trail of a languar monkey or red bear. They noted the tracks in snow, melted by the sun, can change shape and grow larger. Even so, the bear/monkey theory seems unlikely as both of these animals normally move on all four feet. The tracks were clearly that of a biped.

Shipton's and Ward's reputations argue against a hoax on their part and the remoteness and height of the trail's location argues against them being hoaxed.

Shipton's footprints were not the first or last discovered by climbers among the Himalayas. Even Sir Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay, on their record ascent to the top of Mount Everest, in 1953, found giant foot prints on the way up."

Several expeditions were led in hopes of proving the existence of the Yeti.

"The London Daily Mail sent an expedition in 1954. American oil men Tom Slick and F. Kirk Johnson financed trips in 1957, 58, and 59. Probably the most well-known expedition went in 1960.

Sir Edmund Hillary, the same man that had first climbed Everest in 1953, lead the 1960 trip in association with Desmond Doig. The expedition was sponsored by the World Book Encyclopedia and was well outfitted with trip-wire cameras, as well as timelapse and infrared photography. Despite a ten-month stay the group failed to find any convincing evidence of the existence of the Yeti. The artifacts they examined, two skins and a scalp, turned out to belong to two blue bears and a serow goat.

At the time Hillary and Doig wrote off the Yeti as legend. Later, though, Doig decided that the expedition had been too big and clumsy. They didn't see a Yeti, he agreed, but nor did they observe such animals like the snow leopard which was known to exist."

In recent years, History Channel's "Monster Quest" funded an expedition using advanced technology but failed to turn up conclusive proof. Josh Gates of Syfy's "Destination Truth" traveled to Bhutan and found and cast what may be the foot impression of the animal. The latest expedition was a Russian led journey to Siberia which Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum, an Associate Professor of Anatomy and Anthropology at Idaho State University, also participated in along with well known Russian scientist Igor Burtsev. Despite preliminary reports indicating that evidence was found that assured proof of the Yeti's existence, nothing conclusive was found.

And so the Yeti remains a mystery as does Bigfoot and the Skunk Ape. Perhaps the enigmatic dilemma about the existence of the cryptid trio will never be resolved, and then again, maybe technology will finally catch up to all of them, or even just one. Which one would you pick?

Unsolved Mysteries segment on the Yeti:

Comments

  1. "The Bumble Snowmonster of the North" is not a Yeti. At the time (1964) even the North American Bigfoot was called "America's Abominable Snowman" and the Bumble corresponds to what Loren Coleman calls the Marked Hominid, the one that lives in Northern regions and is frequently albino or marked with lighter-coloured patches.

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    1. Wow... thanks, Dale. I'll never be able to watch Rudolph again without the "marked hominid" factoid sticking in my brain.

      Somehow, hearing Yukon Cornelius say, "Marked hominids bounce!!!" just doesn't have the same ring to it.

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  2. Like old yellow top: http://www.bigfootencounters.com/creatures/yellow_top.htm and http://www.newanimal.org/oldyellowtop.htm

    The "Russian Yeti" is also called "Russian Bigfoot" but does not meet the description of either. http://cryptozoo.monstrous.com/the_almasty.htm
    They are thought to be Neanderthals. But it seems what is in Siberia might be the same thing as what we have in Alaska, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and California (Sasquatch). Likewise, we have Almasty/Almas sightings here in the U.S. as well.


    What is in Siberia could also be Chinese Yeren that moved North and again entirely different description from the other three. Yeren are mostly red, look more like orangutans as opposed to gorillas and are most likely a better candidate for being Gigantopithecus blacki than Sasquatch is.

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  3. Okay that came out funny.. should have looked:"Like Old Yellow Top" for Marked Hominid.

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  4. Some good info here I had no idea that Sir Edmund Hillary went back to that part of the world just to search for the Yeti.

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  5. The Yeti is also nowhere near as tall as everyone suggests. Perhaps the height of Tom Cruise, at best.

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    1. Again with the height issue...is this some kind of lobbying-group?

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    2. It ain't easy faking something that's over 7' tall.

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    3. Its because the PGF height has been determined as human size so they have to make all the other evidence "fit". If bigfooters would just drop the pgf forget it and accept we do not have footage of what this creature looks like we may have more chance finding it. It was a great hoax of its time but come on guys just look at the film its a guy in a suit!

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    4. A short Bigfoot or Yeti is more plausible.

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    5. And now a Hollywood reference to go with this constant conditioning for us to accept the new economy size. Somebody is about to recycle some fun-fur from the back lots.

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    6. Do not feed the trolls. They are short and lonely and just want to find playmates as small in height as they are small in brain.

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    7. "Its because the PGF height has been determined as human size so they have to make all the other evidence "fit". If bigfooters would just drop the pgf forget it and accept we do not have footage of what this creature looks like we may have more chance finding it. It was a great hoax of its time but come on guys just look at the film its a guy in a suit!"

      I am not even going to address the suit issue which just a stupid theory in it's self. But as for the size, "Determined" by who? If the standard lens was used, the thing is 4ft tall. If the only alternative to the camera Patterson had was used, the thing was 7ft9in. Either way, NEITHER is normal human size.

      It's one thing for you trolls to come on here in hopes of pissing people off.. But the ones like you who used "It has been determined", or "It is a well known fact." or "Science has proven". Need to start labeling sources or STFU

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    8. Two posts whining about trolls just took up the same space as five amusing troll remarks. And I'm pretty sure we're all able to distinguish the 'cited factual' from the 'vague maybe' without you being our boss. So you STFU or I'm calling Jack.

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    9. Its funny when bigfooters try to defend their holy grail of the pgf. They get so upset when someone calls it out for what it clearly is. Its almost shameless to defend it, kinda like creationists defending the Noah flood story and other such nonsense.

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    10. Nothing to do with PGF and nothing amusing about the troll posts.(which are most likely all you) You guys come on here with anonymous names and blurt your view as if it was fact. And you do not even bother to back up your claims. My problem with this is when someone comes on with a genuine interest on the subject and read the crap you write and might actually believe you.. Yes you know jack alright lol.

      "AnonymousApr 17, 2012 04:53 PM
      Its funny when bigfooters try to defend their holy grail of the pgf. They get so upset when someone calls it out for what it clearly is. Its almost shameless to defend it, kinda like creationists defending the Noah flood story and other such nonsense."

      "What it clearly is"? lol If it was so "clear" there would be no ongoing debate to this day.

      And now you attempt to bring religion into this? You going to sink any lower? Instead of hiding behind an Anom. Why not take 10 seconds and create an account? Maybe your trolling would have more value if you show you at least have one testicle.

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    11. I'm cool with a short Bigfoot or a short Yeti: they're both fascinating regardless of how tall they are.

      I've read the same trends, and the eyewitness reports do seem to lean toward a shorter, more lightly built Squatch.

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  6. Just got off the phone with... you guessed it Jack Bindernagel. I brought up the topic of the Yeti and he told me what an old Tibetin monk once told him. The Yeti are greedy creatures who care about three things 1 money 2 money and 3 wealth. Apparently all the Yeti picked up and went to Alaska and the Yukon during the gold rush. They were very successful and now live in luxurious homes in the deepest part of British Columbia.

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    1. Could you please get me Jack's phone number? He owes me a lot of money for beer.

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    2. He calls me and its always from a private number. I asked him why one time and he mentioned you by name. He said "Anon may believe I owe him money but the keg was already half empty".

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    3. Good God, if this is true it's amazing.

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  7. Yeah, that sounds like Jack.

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  8. LMAO...I'd love to see every that posted on this topic in the same room together.

    So, with this short bigfoot nonsense, you mean to tell me that people get terrified of a 4 foot tall chimp and report that it was 10 feet tall? Seriously? lol

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    1. Did you see where that Chimp ripped that woman's face off ? Hell, I'd be terrified of chimps too !~

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