Lama Geshe was the highest ranking lama in the Khumbu region, famous for the blessings he gave Everest climbers. Alan Arnette

If you climbed Mt. Everest in the last several decades, you know about this kind, gentle soul who became the famous blesser of climbers in the Sherpa village of Pangboche, a popular stop on the walk to Everest Base Camp.

Lama Geshe studied as a young boy in Tibet, eventually earning the highest academic achievement among monks, a Buddhist doctorate. During the Chinese occupation in the 1950s, he fled Tibet and eventually returned to his boyhood home in the Khumbu Valley.

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As the highest ranking lama in the area, he is widely respected among Sherpa and the steady flow of climbers who pass through his humble home that looks out at Ama Dablam.

"Lama Geshe was loved and revered by all the climbing community for the blessings he gave prior to a climb," Melissa Arnot Reid told SNEWS. She has been the recipient of his blessings 15 times over the last decade. "Anyone who sat with him will remember him most for his warm laugh and direct way of speaking (and the vigorous head bumps). He will be missed by many."

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Lama Geshe passed away yesterday. He was 87 years old.

The climbing community lost another beloved legend recently.

You can read more about this extraordinary man here.