Epilogue & Photos

Hello again everyone, 

So it's now been two weeks back in London and I am starting to get used to life in civilization again. As a number of you have asked for some more photographic evidence, attached a link to a photo album and a few short video clips of the ascent up the mountain.

A selection of photos and some short and shaky clips:
https://picasaweb.google.com/107220258637154808454/EverestSlideshow03?authuser=0&feat=directlink

I have also attached some fantastic aerial footage from a helicopter flight up from Base Camp that gives you an overview of the magnitude of the mountain scenery. It goes up to its max altitude at the foot of the Lhotse Face (about 6700m). 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCaZmxiwXhQ&feature=player_embedded 

And finally, summit day video footage made by someone who had extra energy (and better weather...) to get out a video camera and add music to it. Luckily my summit time wasn't nearly as crowded as we were only four to enjoy this unforgettable moment.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxuCfDRpUXA&feature=fvwp&NR=1

Thank you again for all your messages of support and your generous donations to support the Sherpa community of Nepal. 

All the best,

Jan

The Summit And Back!

So from Monday morning on the summit of Everest to Thursday afternoon in London I have now have had a chance to add some more thoughts to the last incredibly eventful days not hampered by trying to find satellite connections from borrowed handsets while freezing my fingers off trying to text and call Kim to keep you all updated.

Our tackle of the summit started last Wednesday (8 May) with a 6h trek up to Camp 2 (at 6400m) which had now become an almost routine 3:30am wake-up call to head up the icefall and then along the Western Cwm towards Camp 2. Now writing - from the comfort and safety of my home – I feel brave enough to tell you all how amazed I was (and continue to be) about how much the icefall changed during our few weeks there. The number of ladders spanning ice chasms (… or in mountaineering speak: “slots”) literally doubled as the original path became increasingly ‘stretched’ and a number of areas that looked precarious on our first few walks/ climbs through the ice fall have crumbled.  It is – quite literally – an ice fall.

After an uneventful recovery day at Camp 2 on Thursday (9 May) we decided to move up to Camp 3 (7150m) on early Friday (10 May) to be in a position to summit on Saturday night from the South Col/ Camp 4 (at 7950m). As this was (hopefully..) the final move up this mountain we spent a significant amount of time focusing on the packing - really only looking to pack what’s absolutely needed as every ounce adds to the strain of carrying. So food was limited to about 3,000 kcal including some Pringles, tuna and a cake, the toothbrush stayed back and day- and nightwear turned very similar. One heads upwards already all wrapped up in a down-suit which can turn into a heattrap once the sun rises over the Lhotse face at 8am so another early start was in order.

The climb up to Camp 3 represented the last stage without supplemental oxygen (at least for me…) and as I have a tendency to struggle more with extra weight on my back it represented one of the biggest struggles of the whole expedition to make my way from Camp 2 to the bottom of the Lhotse Face (3:30h versus 2h without the weight and after another week of acclimatization) with uncountable stops to catch my breath.  The further 3:30h with the steeper incline of the Face eventually were reduced to a snail’s pace of hard to imagine intervals of five deep breadths for every step. The agonizing finish to the day was that the tents of Camp 3 stretch over 200m vertically. As the other three were ahead I didn’t know in what tents they were resting. I was met by the kindness of a fellow mountaineer I had talked to previously on the trail who offered me tea and a cup of noodles at his tent before I heard my name from above as one of our team members came down to help with the final steps up to our resting place for the night.

Camp 3 is literally carved into the Lhotse Face with tedious work (performed by the Sherpas) in digging a platform wedge to allow room to set up tents. We were three to a tent, which leaves virtually no room for anything else. Venturing outside without the spiked crampons strapped under your boots isn’t a great idea as a slip would be a one-time blunder.

Luckily Camp 3 is the transition point where supplemental oxygen is added into the mix. As the benefits of extra oxygen inversely scale with the body weight I (as one of the lighter members of the team) gained significantly. The next day towards the South Col (7950m) I felt much better and steadily proceeded up the end of the Lhotse Face before the path veers left across the “Yellow Rock Band”, then further across and eventually steeply upwards and across the “Geneva Spur”.

The original weather forecast had us expecting a spike in wind in the afternoon (of Saturday 10 May) which would die down later in the evening to allow us to immediately proceed with a summit bid that very night, departing around 9pm. Alas, as often before, the forecast was quite wrong (but this is not entirely unusual in England either…though the potential consequences are not quite as severe).

As we neared camp on the South Col,  the so-called windy ‘spike’ turned into a storm with heavy snow and 60-70km/h winds. Our Sherpas only just managed to set-up one tent which Mel, Adam and I dove into while others found shelter in other peoples’ tents. Our tent was initially filled with inches of snow and we dared not take off our down-suits all night for fear that the tent walls might rip and leave us exposed. At one point we felt the wind grip under tent and lift all three of us up with it only being tethered by the ropes to the ground. I amazingly managed to catch some sleep huddled in my sleeping bag with earplugs tight but the others weren’t so lucky. Unsurprisingly, the decision to try for the summit was postponed...

Sunday (12 May) the winds kept pounding for the course of the day but we still decided to go for the summit even though conditions were only marginally better with expected temperatures of - 40*C/F and winds of up to 40 km/h.

We started during the early afternoon to make sure that our gear was ready for the cold night out, including two layers of gloves, triple-layered boots with electric boot warmers, water bottles to be held inside the down-suit and so on.

Finally, at about 9:30pm we set off for the final day (hopefully!) of our quest. The path kicks-off upwards the “Triangular Face” which starts icy with a gradually increasing incline all the way up to the Balcony (at 8400m) which I reached at 1:30am in the midst of heavy winds and snow drifts. Despite feeling well initially, I suddenly felt all loss of power and found a rocky ledge for shelter only to realize later that my oxygen had run out of which luckily my Sherpa Padauer was carrying a spare bottle. Apparently, his approach is not to replace an oxygen bottle pre-emptively but to have the climber use the last ‘drops’ and I wasn’t going anywhere fast without the re-supply anyway.

New tank strapped on and lapping up the new free flow of oxygen, the path continued along the “Balcony” towards the South Summit (8700m). The snowdrifts had started to accumulate to the extent where each step sinks in the snow and the ropes where occasionally buried in the snow requiring Padauer to venture ahead to search for the continuation of the trail (by now, luckily, it was light).

As we headed up the steep flank of the South Summit I witnessed one of the most spectacular sights nature has to offer. As if seen from space I saw a crescent of light emerge above a curved horizon. Initially in a light blue and then increasingly white until the sun emerged casting Everest’s shadow (see photo). It’s a sight I will cherish forever!

The final steps were somewhat daunting and are kindly referred to as the ‘Gap’: a snowy ridge between the South and Main Summits with 2000m drop-offs on either side, made placing each foot in front of the other with each step a very tense endeavour requiring a lot of care. While a rope is secured on either end, it is not a pleasant thought to be left dangling. The ridge is capped off by the “Hillary Step” which I found fairly unexciting relative to all the talk about it. It’s basically 8m of rocks which can be scrambled up in a minute.

Finally… after 8 hours, around 6am on Monday May 13 we reached the summit of Everest. A platform of 20m by 10m adorned by some prayer flags and unobstructed views stretching from Tibet in the North and the remainder of Nepal in the South. I was lucky to only be there with three other people but it was incredibly cold and windy so I did not have much of a desire to “stick around”. I had elaborate plans to take videos and call Kim (apparently China Mobile reception) but all good intentions fell by the wayside to protect from frostbite. A fellow climber took off his goggles for his summit photo and couldn’t open one of his eyes for three days thanks to the immediate frost bite the brief direct exposure caused.

In total we only lingered up there for about 20 minutes before beginning the trek back down. With lots of stumbling we managed our way down by around 10am. All ambitions of continuing further down to the restful Camp 2 were dropped and we just took shelter in our tents. As I had already finished all my food rations there was absolutely no food left until the next morning.  Whilst one generally loses one’s appetite at altitude, the lack of energy is not much fun.

Tuesday (14 May) down to Camp 2 within 5 hours and then Wednesday (15 May) morning down to Base Camp. Yearning for civilization we organized a chopper pick-up to Kathmandu for early afternoon. With Kim’s support I managed to change (and upgrade…) my flight to London that very night getting me back to London by lunch time today.

I want to first of all I want to express my thanks to our Sherpa team without which I would have had no chance to summit Everest. Secondly, I would like to thank all of you for all your participation and support. In total we have raised over $6,000 to give back to the local community. Thank you for your generosity.

It’s been an incredible few weeks with unforgettable experiences. Thank you again for all for your overwhelming support!

It was of course meant to read:

"Well, George, we knocked that bastard off" (which is what Hillary said when they came down from summit 60 years ago)....knew I should have check but far too excited at time of writing..

To be sure: no buggers, bastards or anybody else has been "knocked off" anywhere or any thing and certainly not by Jan (one certainly does not want to spread rumours in a year where there have been fisticuffs on the mountain)!! 

But to the point: we have another update. Jan has made it to Camp 2 today (at 6400m) and is in relative comfort plus there is a cook there permanently so he will get some real food and unlimited snacks (though for the real treats he'll still have to come HOME) and most importantly, a good solid rest before embarking on the final challenging bit tomorrow  morning: descending through the ice fall to base camp. Frankly I am pleased, as you don't want to be doing the ice fall when you are really really tired.

He's well but obv still exhausted. And happy. 

He knocked that bugger off!

Hello all - Kim again. 

Just got news from Jan: he summitted, he's back at the South Col at 8000m, exhausted and will stay there overnight and go down (to basecamp) tomorrow. Exhausted, happy. 

As I was typing this he called and reiterated: all good, exhausted ...and wants to come HOME. 

That will make any wife cry, right???

Still camp 4

Kim again. 

Just took a call from Jan, who is still at Camp 4. It was too windy last night, so they decided to wait. If the wind calms down they will leave tonight at 9:30 PM local time. He was on good form and is feeling strong. 

Update from camp 3 (just shy of 7,200m)

Via Kim.. 

I took a call from Jan around 2:30 PM on Friday via satellite phone and he was up at Camp 3 which is about 2/3 up the sheer ice wall which is the Lhotse face. He was exhausted but in really good spirits and even rather chirpy! Not a single health niggle (not even a headache at this altitude is truly amazing and means that he will probably sleep well tonight), but tired ....which I thought was a-ok...this is, after all, E.v.e.r.e.s.t and he'd been going up up up for 7 hours.

The plan is to head further up at 6 AM on Saturday morning to Camp 4/ South Col which lies just above 8000m and from where he will be on oxygen. He is expecting to be at Camp 4 no later than 11 AM - noon and will then rest for the afternoon/ early evening and get in some calories (at this altitude proper cooking is a bit over the top - the effort expended in heating water and organising a noodle soup is hardly worth it if you can get far more valuable calories by just scoffing a whole cake which is what they will most likely do...). Some strong winds are expected in the afternoon, but to the extent the wind calms down the plan is still to leave for the summit (a "mere" 848m up from there) around 9pm and aim to arrive on the roof of the world between 4am and 6am on Sunday morning (= 11pm-1am London time). 

The reason they walk through the night is because generally in the mountains the weather is more stable early in the morning. It also allows them more time to get back (to Camp 4 and energy levels permitting even Camp 2) during day light, but main reason is for weather stability. 

So please keep him in your thoughts, send some good weather vibes and appreciate your warm warm beds (it is about -40*c up there at the moment and they are 3 to a tent...) as he embarks on the final push of this incredible adventure.  

It's time

Frustratingly, the weather forecast has been completely wrong for the past two days. Instead of ferocious winds there apparently has been hardly breeze up top (at Camp 3). It now looks very likely that the path to the summit will be fixed by the Sherpas on the 9th and 10th May and four of our group have been selected to try to summit just behind them around 12th/13th May.

To be in position we are now moving back up to Camp 2 tomorrow (hopefully the last 3:30 AM wake-up call...), have a rest day at Camp 2 on Thursday, then move to Camp 3 on Friday, and to Camp 4/ the South Col on Saturday, where we hope to arrive by lunchtime. The push to the summit would then be overnight from Saturday night to Sunday morning.

A typical summit day begins around 9 PM with eight or so hours walking to the summit to then have all day to return to Camp 4/ South Col which typically takes 4-5 hours.

Then again, the weather it might change its mind again and we could linger for a few days at Camp 2 or come back down to Base Camp. That's the way it is in the mountains. A lot of "ready... set....wait"...

Hopefully however, this is indeed the final push...

Preparation done now for the final push..

May 2nd to 5th

We headed up for the final part of the preparation to touch Camp 3 last Thursday with the now familiar 3:30 wake-up call to be ready to head into the icefall at 4:30. While its cold and dark it's almost become a familiar path over the past weeks. Despite the perceived constant effort to the previous climbs we made it ip to Camp 1 just under 4 hours and after a short break continued on to Camp 2. With the extra weight it was a struggle to keep the pace to surmount the total 1100m up from Base Camp all the way to Camp 2 so a rest day was needed thereafter.

The first night up at 6400m was incredibly windy and the tent walls were flapping loudly. Lay awake considering if tents can fly away while being inside. Have seen empty tents take to the skies on Aconcagua. Luckily the winds calmed down the next day for some recovery time before we head up higher on Saturday.

The next stage was somewhat daunting to head up higher than i have every been before. We first continued the familiar path to the foot of the Lhotse face but after a short break prepared to continue on. The Lhotse face rises more than a 1000 meters from 6800m to the South Col at 8000m. Its about a 45 degree angle and rather than being a smooth snow slope its actually an uneven surface consisting more of pure ice than snow. There are two fixed lines on which one jumars (a device that slides upwards on the rope but locks downwards) one step at a time. At this angle the effort for each step required three deep breadths of recovery. After two hours we reached our destination of a small ledge carved into the snow at 7100m. Once stationary, felt good and admired the incredible view down the Western Cwm all the way to Camp 1 (see photo). The path down was incredibly quick with one hour versus the four in total up. One clips into the rope and then 'arm-wraps' the fixed line to create enough friction to slow ones descent.

In the evening our debates centred around the weather outlook. We had hoped to stay up at Camp 2 to go directly for the summit but unfortunately the forecast calls for very highwinds as the jetstream moves down over the next few days so we decided to head down on a Sunday to wait for the right weather window. Most of the teams have taken down all of their tents in Camp 3 and 2 as Henry rightly remarks it only takes minutes to take down but hours to search for them on the Nuptse Wall....

Its now a Monday and i walked down to Gorak Shep again for some good internet connectivity and for some phone calls without freezing ones hands off. Everyone is watching the weather. Its gotten a lot colder today and the wind has picked up. Hoping its a temporary spike and that we can head up again on Wednesday. Technically the first possible summit day is now the 12th considering that we need to be in position at the South Col but until them the summit needs to fixed with ropes (they need to good summit days for themselves), our supplies need to be at the Col (about a third is already up), and the weather needs to good (winds below 30 knots).

So that s it for today. Hopefully i can get some further messages down so that Kim can update the blog. Fingers crossed for the final push to the summit.

Some photos up to C1

Some photos to give you a better impression of the journey up the icefall. Three pictures of the ice fall and the last is the view up the Western Cwm towards the Lhotse face with the snow being blown off the summit of Everest on the left. The jetstream still doing its work and making it too inhospitable to summit. Hopefully that will change soon

And up to the Lhotse Face

April 27/28/29

On Saturday we started our second 'rotation' on the mountain with the aim of reaching the bottom of the Lhotse Face at 6700m. As every foray into the icefall it starts with a very early wake-up call at 3:30 in the morning. Some teams even start at 2am to avoid the hard to imagine sweltering heat in the icefall once the sun hits around 8ish and as well as the risky combination of walking through ice cubes in the heat.

While the exertion of the ascent felt comparable to our last trek to C1 when we checked our watches we were up in 4hs instead of the 5:15 it took us last time. Clearly a sign that more time at altitude helps as well as knowing the track (even though the track seems to changing day by day...).

Unfortunately this time the day didnt stop here but we were going on to Camp 2 so another 400m of altitude gain up the Cwm. The mountains being the mountains the weather didnt stay sunny but clouds started rolling in and the wind picked up so that it was soon hard to make out the person ahead of you as the snow drift blocked sight and covered the 'crunchy' trail of a few days ago in a layer of powder snow making it twice as hard to progress. Exhausted we reached C2 which is located on the left side of the Cwm directly under the rocky face of Everest about three-quarters up.

The next morning was a short day pushing the boundaries further of our altitude gain. A hike towards the foot of the Lhotse Face. 300m altitude gain over a gentle snow slope up to 6700m. While that sounds like a stroll at this altitude there's 40% of the sea level oxygen available so one soon reverts to counting the steps until a mini break is required. I settled on 30 steps with 15 breaths recovery stops. Sure the ratio will reverse pretty soon..

If the photos made it through: the first shows you the view from Camp2 towards the towering Lhotse face which starts from 6700m and extends all the way to the summit of Lhotse at 8500m; the second is a close up showing that the angle actually isnt near vertical but closer to 45 degrees. The route heads up on the smooth bit on the left towards Camp3 (about a third up c7300m) and then swings left to cross the Yellow Band (the thin horizontal rock strip) and then upwards behind the Geneva Spur (the rocky outcrop on the left) towards the South Col.

A word on the 'fighting' on Everest that made it to the global press. Despite having been at Camp2 on the day we werent directly aware of the hostilities between Uli Steck and Simone Moro and a group of Sherpas. Hard to imagine the Sherps showing any aggression but there was significant tension on the Lhotse face were rock fall caused lots of injuries last year. Uli and Co were climbing above the rope fixing and (apparently) ice came down and injured the sherpas. Typically the slope is left solely to the sherps for the time of the fix. The police wants to the see the sherps in Namche but all parties met in Base Camp yesterday avoid that by to signing a 'peace agreement'. unsurprisingly they couldnt agree the wording. Some drama on the mountain which will likely have no impact on our endeavours.

Yesterday we went down directly to EBC for some recovery time. The weather is still holding up so the ropes should still be fixed up the Col by tomorrow (May 1st) and we will likely head up again on Thursday to 'touch' Camp 3. If the weather is supportive we will stay up at Camp 2 to wait for the winds to clear to make an attempt at the summit end of next week. Fingers crossed

Finally ..

April 24/25/26


We left around 4am on Wednesday with a crystal clear sky towards C1. As the it becomes light the icefall is at the same time intimidating as it is beautiful. After about 45min a rope starts guiding once through the iceblocks. Given that we had a couple of days of bad weather there were lots of people with the same timetable and thus we were slower through some sections than we would have liked.

After about 5h we caught a glimpse of the Western Cwm, the valley between Nuptse and the Western Ridge with the colossal Lhotse face at the end of it. Once the sun hit us it turns from cold to sizzling and the layers come off.

In Camp this meant that our sleeping bags were spread out on top of the tents as insulation instead of inside for warmth. But as we know with the weather it changes and soon enough early afternoon we were huddled inside again as it started snowing again and the wind picked up. So the day was spent munching cookies, tuna, and pate. Not the best combination but a good calorie to weight ratio. I cut a book in three pieces to save weight and was caught in wanting to continue the read but the remaining pages were still at base camp.

The next day we headed up to C2 which is a comparatively easy 2h hike up the valley with only 400m of altitude gain. We lngered for about an hour before beginning our descent all the way to base camp.

Today was a day in base camp catching up on developments on the mountain. The medium term weather forecast is very good so the camps and ropes to the SouthCol are expected to be up by May 1st. We are heading up again tomorrow (Saturday) and will go directly to C2 which will take us probably 7h plus a stop at C1. Starting out even earlier this time to beat the heat. Then Sunday to the foot of the Lhotse face (even though just heard that some more ladders are needed...) and then back on Monday.

The day of the Puja ..

April 23

We woke to a crystal blue sky after days of snowfall. Its incredible how quickly it can get hot once the sun comes in. An opportunity not to be missed to dry out everything by spreading it over the tent.

Today is the long awaited day of the Puja, the blessing by a Lama of the team and their gear. Only after a Puja do the Sherpas feel comfortable sleeping on the mountain. Its a ceremony hard to understand from a Western perspective. There is plenty of chanting, drums, throwing of rice, sweets that the kitchen probably spent the night preparing and rum and beer for the group. At the end of the ceremony a large flagstaff was hoisted with lines of prayer flags stretching to all directions of camp. Something I will have to google once the internet becomes readily available again.

Am now sitting in our common mezz tent and three yaks have just arrived bringing with them supplies for the next days. After their loads have just been taken from them they are now being fed which is apparently the only way to trick them to go so high up the valley beyond any greenery to consume.

In case the picture makes it through the green bags hold the oxygen bottles for most of the teams on Everest. Each bottle at 200bar and 3kg allows to add 2L of supplemental oxygen per minute for up to eight hours. Getting a teach in this afternoon but it will be some days before they will be needed.

The clouds have rolled in again this afternoon (and the temperature massively dropped...) bringing light snow back to the camp. However the forecast looks ok so our plan is to leave camp tomorrow at 5am to head up the hill and stay a night at Camp 1. Fingers crossed that the weather holds up so that we can start moving beyond the 5700m...

Up to Camp 1 but ...

April 22

... The wrong one. It continued to snow heavily overnight so Everest's Camp 1 was out of the questions. 10 Sherpas got stuck at Camp 2 and it took them nine hours to get back to Base Camp breaking trail through thigh high new snow. The snow now needs to consolidate and a trail put back in for us to head up.

Instead we decided to head up the other side of the valley to Camp 1 of Pumori. Half way back from Base Camp to Gorak Shep and then upwards. Not really a trail but more balancing from boulder to boulder with increasing steepness until we reached the magical 5700m which we have now touched three times and hope to push past soon. After lingering for a bit and checking emails (the camp has line of sight of the mobile tower in Gorak Shep) we headed back down for the afternoon in camp.

Today the final participants arrived Bill Krauss and Hermant. Bill has climbed Everest a lot and was last up in 2007 with 20kg of camera gear to take 360 degree high resolution images for the upcoming film on Mallory (believe its called Into The Silence). He apprently raced up to the summit to make sure that no other climbers made their way into the image. Hermant is an Indian entrepreneur who had already tried Everest last year.

Tomorrow is Puja day the Buddist blessing of the team and gear after which the sherps are comfortable to sleep on the mountain. Hopefully after that the weather will also allow us to move up one camp.

The plan for the next few days ...

April 21

Having trekked down Gorak Shep to find a connection have found you a good overview map to walk you through the next few days. The acclimatisation seems to have kicked in as it was only 1:23h (i like my stats..) versus 2:15 last time up with little altitude difference. Met Paul in the lodge who is joining our group today (did Everest last year, sponsored to do Lhotse this year..) and he had it down to 49 minutes to get small doses of civilisation. Nice to be able to sit on a bench in a warm room. One of the nice side effects of these trips is that one appreciates the simple things in life a lot more. Lets see how long it lasts after the end of the trip.

For the next two weeks we are planning three trips to get accustomed to the mountain. An overnight trip to Camp1 possibly with a touch of Camp2 (hopefully tomorrow if the snow stays away), a 3-4 day trip to Camp 2 with a walk towards the lower end of the Lhotse Face, and a third trip with a touch of Camp 3. Many teams sleep at Camp 3 but given that most people don't mange to sleep at that altitude anyway, Henry's view is that it costs more energy then the benefit it delivers.

Once all of that has worked out, the team is ready for a push to the summit once the weather window is there. Typically there are a couple of windows in the course of May. In past years, the whole team has been up by May 5th but more typical is mid May. The final push from Base Camp to Base Camp is a seven day turnaround; move to C2 ( hopefully one is able to skip C1 by then), C3, up to the South Col/C4, spend a day a there, summit day which typically kicks off at 11pm, stay at C4 after the return, and then move back down to BC. Then the question becomes of repeating Kim's hike (an amazing 60k over two days...) or the quick chopper option...

Move to Camp 1 (almost...)

April 20/21

First of all a word on the lack of posting the past week. The remoteness sinks in when you are spending hours in getting a data connection. Have now become a half expert of BGAN Inmarsat modems which costs $10 a MB (but refuse to connect to an iPad...), have ventured to the highest hill in base camp and left the phone/ blackberry out in the cold for a few hours to find a signal ( worked once ..), and taken the phone up the icefall (found a good signal 2 hours in but not a place where you wanted to linger..). So today its the next option, a walk back towards Gorak Shep where the last mobile tower is located.

Yesterday / Saturday we embarked at 5am to head towards Camp 1 through the icefall. Despite the expectation that Everest is a mountain where one doesn't have to carry much we had fairly heavy packs (maybe 15kg) with food, sleeping gear, and some of the warmer layers that will stay higher up. While we progressed well the weather turned cloudy, indicating upcoming snow, in the first few hours. Two of the five turned around after two hours, while three of us continued with our Sherpa Padauer. The flurries turned into heavy snow so after two further hours we also turned around. Seemed the whole mountain was being evacuated as dozens of sherpa stormed past us from their work in setting up camps higher up. The risk of heavy snow is that the icefall becomes impassable as the trail disappears and being stuck in Camp 1 with limited food isnt a great idea. So back to Base Camp with the disappointment of having carried gear up a fair bit and taken it down again.

The rest of the day spent recovering. Not much energy left after six hours of effort closing in on 6000m. The day would have been equivalent to other mountain's summit days. Likely also rest on Sunday and then depending on the weather have another try on Monday. The mountain is still in control of the schedule.

First foray into the icefall

April 18

Thursday offered the first eagerly anticipated climb above base camp. We left base camp at 5am to spend a couple of hours in the icefall. It is hard to describe the magnitude of the icefall which stretches upwards 800 meters from 5300m to Camp 1. It represents the edge of the glacier of the Western Cwm and is comprised of iceblocks the size of multi story houses. The scenery is quite magical with valleys and towers in either brilliant white or fluorescent icy blues. While the icefalls shifts the current route on the left edge where it 'flows' much slower has become a fairly safe place.

About 2hs up we encountered the first ladders which either span gaps in the ice blocks or steeper sections. At times several ladders are tied together to extend the c2m stretches. Quite daunting to cross but they have guide ropes on either side which fellow climbers hold tight on one end to stabilise the traverse. Luckily my shoe size has the spikes of the crampons neatly lock in between rungs and sometimes allow for quick lock downwards.

We reached 5750m thus stretching beyond the highest peaks in Australia, Antarctica and Europe before heading downwards again. While progressing back towards camp we were passed my numerous sherpas but also two very fast Westerners: Uli Steck and Simone. Uli is the Usain Bolt of climbing having scaled the Eiger Northface in under 3 hours. Unclear of what challenge he is up to this year after having scaled Everest last year.

Off to camp and a recovery day. Planning to head up to Camp1 on Saturday for a night at 6100m. Slowly working ourself up the mountain...

Practice time

April 17

Wednesday was spent at the lower end of the icefall practicing techniques using crampon (the spikey things under the boots..), a jumar (a device that attaches to a fixed rope and grips in one direction but can be easily pushed upwards) and figure of eight (several techniques to descend a fixed rope using something as simple as an arm wrap to using a figuring of eight metal device to create friction with the rope.

All went well and the experience on other mountains quickly came back. We saw some other teams also practicing. Unfortunately a girl broke her arm on training day who was choppered out early the next morning.

Everest Base Camp / home for the next couple of weeks

April 16

After a fairly leisurely start (departure at the very civilised time of 8:30), we walked fairly flattish but through lots and lots of rocks to EBC. Spectacular scenery on our right as the route is along the khumbu glacier (culminating in the well known Khumbu Ice Fall which is the first real challenge when scaling Everest), with obviously the mountains growing up and up and up some more from there. Base Camp was visible from very early on and we even reached the entrance ("welcome to everest base camp", meaning "trekkers please do not go any further") after a mere 1hr 30 of walking but to get to our camp within base camp took another 30 mins...and we are not even furthest along - base camp very stretched out.

As we walk in we pass the well know expedition groups such as Himalayan Experience, International Mountain Guides, Adventure Consultants and Jagged Globe. Our camp is situated about in the middle of the camp off to the back. The whole camp is situated on layers of rocks covering the extension of the glacier. As the glacier moves, at night you hear the ice cracking below. There is a spacious mezz tent, a kitchen for cooked food three times a day and each of us has their own tent. The climate is shifting by the minute. During the day it can reach a comfortable 10 degrees but once the sun disappears for a moment it chills and at night drops to minus 10-15C.

Tomorrow Tuesday is a rest day at Base Camp.

Something for the weekend...? (Different kind of weekend!)

April 13/14

It's Sunday evening, we are sat close to a fireplace, there is music (!!!) playing and oh...we're at 5140m and plan is to wander (more or less leisurely) into EBC tomorrow. And how was your weekend?

Yep, we got "wasted", slept in patches, probably didn't eat as healthily as we should have (Kim has eaten more potato chips these last 2 days than in her entire life before this holiday!) and drank A LOT of tea. Oh yes, and we did a spot or two of walking.

The initial plan had been to walk to Lobuche (universally known as and agreed by pretty much anybody you ask as a hole) via the stunning Cho La pass (also good for acclimatisation as would have taken us to 5500m) but alas, Kim here developed a big fat headache and a not-so-nice hollow feeling in her tummy...all classic symptoms of high altitude "issues" so it was decided to walk down (back to dengboche) and around (if Kim perks up; if not she's going home). But Kim didn't want to go home....

So i made damn sure i perked up (black tea has never been so deliscious) and we made it up again same day back to 4900m and a place called Dhogla (or something like that) with me being back on top form (shew! Who did i hear say Diomox..?)... After a relaxing afternoon in very (!) dusty Dhogla (or something like that) we focussed on a lot of up up up today. Henry went ahead yesterday afternoon already but trusty and terrific Hermanta (the guardian angel) took great care of us (and my backpack which i am embarrassed to say he carried up the first 200m straight up hill this morning).

Next stop: the hole (we mean, Lobuche) where we stopped for tea in a lovely sun room which got remarkably hot. Unfortunately our thermos tea flask fell apart when i poured the second cup (the bottom literally fell out and a bunch of glass shards into the cup... So no more lemon tea hydration for us.... And at now getting close to $7 per medium pot hot water is like gold dust (it's the heating cost that we are paying for now).

So a bit less tea than expected later we were off again to the next stop: Gorak Shep. According to the map a gentle incline for about 2 hrs. Hmmm....not quite. The map did not show the rocks, big chunky rocks and the undulating up up up and ...down...and up again...and down. Even the yaks were not happy but the scenery after one particular undulation was truly spectacular: base camp visible waaaay back there and the glacier to our right was a mixture of ice covered in dust with pools and tunnels and "sticky up bits" coming out from underneath the dust. Spectacular...in a slightly dirty dusty way...and obviously lots ofnexcitement about the base camp sighting.

Gorak Shep...when we finally reached it... Was charming (but anything would have been at this stage; though we'd "only" trekked for 4:15 hrs it was pretty tough going and nobody (not even Jan) pushed for the additional 2 1/2-3 hr jaunt to base camp. Why ruin such a good way to start the week....

Now back in our relatively luxurious room (it has a window and more or less proper ceiling) it's a whole lot colder than in the dining room (even after the fire went out) and we are likely both sleeping in our down jackets in our down sleeping bags tonight. How i love my feathers (not very responsible thing for a veggie to say) but boy oh boy, how i love them (as well as the cashmere sleeping socks that jenni gave me for my birthday back in 2011 - If i didn't say it then Jen, THANKS!!!

Tomorrow Jan will write about us meeting our first semi celebrity (Wim) from Belgium who is part of Henry's group and will, after his planned ascent of Lhotse be the most 8000m peaked summitteer hailing from Belgium (anybody remember the economist cover back in 2007 "what's the point of Belgium?".... Here we have one! Wim is larger than life fantastic but Jan will tell you all about that....tomorrow.

Communication ... (Friday)

As you might have noticed and hard to imagine we were outside any cell phone range or internet cafes to keep you all updated. And not for lack of trying. Having carried up the iPad to the summit of Chhukhung Ri at 5550m. Had a good phone connection but no data to update the blog...

The view from the summit (...of Chhukhung Ri) was nothing but spectacular. Starting in the East with Island Peak with its black summit triangle with the massive Makalu in the background, turning South is the a massive wall of ice where RR Martin must have gotten the idea for the 'Wall' in Game of Thrones (we are oh by the way hurting on the inside that we are missing season 3 but i guess this is worth it....) followed by the north ridge of AmaDablam (on the right of the picture). Turning North is the Nuptse ridge leading up to the South face of Lhotse. One of the most stunning viewpoints on the planet.

Back down again and a relaxed evening around the stove. Tomorrow its around the mountain down to Dingboche und up to Dhugla.

A little vignette: Henry has a lot of fun about our reliance on/ calibration with the map and a stark example was upon coming down from chhukhung ri - since i had done a traverse and gone up something else after that traverse, according to The Map, i had also done Chhukhung itself...so we asked the sherpa "did i do chhukhung ri today?"- "yes" - "did i do chhukhung itself?" -"yes"- "did i do both?"- "no.". Hm.

***

That was Jan's day. Kimchen here got a bad bad headache halfway up that mountain and decided to stay put with Henry. We hung out there for an hour (our stunning view was Jan going up up up with Hermanta (who has been our guardian angel since Lukla and has been absolutely fantastic)) and then headed back down to the lodge...where I realised that Jan had the only key to our room. So i sat. With tea and down jacket. Remarkably quite happy to chill and snooze and hope that the next day would be better. Jan got back a couple of hours later.... Exhausted but delighted and really really comfortable with the altitude so the stars remain perfectly aligned for our little mountain rat.

No more trees ....

Disclaimer: we are now hovering generally above tree line and around 4500m. Anything that we say (or say we have done) may be disputed or retold (differently) entirely at our discretion once back at sea level. We take no responsibility for our spelling, moods, accuracy... or really anything whatsoever.

***

Chhukhung. A steady walk above the tree line got us to Chhukhung by yesterday afternoon. Hot water is now something to pay for (a big bowl for washing face, hands, feet, other....). On the one hand makes one yearn for the luxury of namche, on the other we are now moving into serious remoteness....trekkers becoming fewer and generally it just feels further away.

That having been said, Panorama Lodge is charming, the loos are clean (so far on the entire trip it there have only been 2 disgusting holes ...which is quite an improvement from 4 yrs ago and probably a quantum leap of the 80s when my mum and brother were here) and the apple pie we had as a dessert last night was the best of all so far and was even more delicious than the fried mars bar thingy the night before. Calorie restriction is not really "the thing" here, and yet, the weight drops off plus we will likely get into the loss of appetite altitude phase soon.

Today a fairly easy day, up to Chhukhung Ri (which is at same altitude as ebc) and then down again to chill. It's beautifully bright and sunny but temperatures at night are now well below freezing outside (it was 0*c in our room this morning).

We will be taking down jackets and are also wearing fetching long johns so that we are more or less comfortable up therebfor the hour henry would like us to be there. We have also packed some delicious choc chip cookies. Glamping. Yes yes...

No more trees ....

Disclaimer: we are now hovering generally above tree line and around 4500m. Anything that we say (or say we have done) may be disputed or retold (differently) entirely at our discretion once back at sea level. We take no responsibility for our spelling, moods, accuracy... or really anything whatsoever.

***

Chhukhung. A steady walk above the tree line got us to Chhukhung by yesterday afternoon. Hot water is now something to pay for (a big bowl for washing face, hands, feet, other....). On the one hand makes one yearn for the luxury of namche, on the other we are now moving into serious remoteness....trekkers becoming fewer and generally it just feels further away.

That having been said, Panorama Lodge is charming, the loos are clean (so far on the entire trip it there have only been 2 disgusting holes ...which is quite an improvement from 4 yrs ago and probably a quantum leap of the 80s when my mum and brother were here) and the apple pie we had as a dessert last night was the best of all so far and was even more delicious than the fried mars bar thingy the night before. Calorie restriction is not really "the thing" here, and yet, the weight drops off plus we will likely get into the loss of appetite altitude phase soon.

Today a fairly easy day, up to Chhukhung Ri (which is at same altitude as ebc) and then down again to chill. It's beautifully bright and sunny but temperatures at night are now well below freezing outside (it was 0*c in our room this morning).

We will be taking down jackets and are also wearing fetching long johns so that we are more or less comfortable up therebfor the hour henry would like us to be there. We have also packed some delicious choc chip cookies. Glamping. Yes yes...

Visting AmaDablam ( almost...)

We arrived last night in Pangboche and appears we are running a day ahead of 'schedule' having walked through Tengboche for the final 90 minute stretch. Pangboche is Henry's base of operations as his Sirdar (or lead Sherpa) lives here with his family. We also met our team mate Leo who previously rowed across the Atlantic solo in 100 days. No shortage of perseverance for this adventure.

In the morning we visited Lama Geishi who is the town's spiritual leader. He gave us a blessing for the mountain along with a card to carry at the top of our backpacks to the summit. His walls were filled with summit photos of climbers showing the card.

The afternoon was dedicated to acclimatisation with a day trek towards Ama Dablam base camp at 4600m. The mountain must be one of the most beautiful out there with a colossal peak. The name means mother's necklace in Nepali which stems from the look of the glacier snow field which ends abruptly in the 'dablam' or "nose" (as Kim likes to call it...though she has been made to understand (not by me) that "the nose" in climbing speak is "the nose of el cap" in yosemite ...ya ya yah she says...and then points to the nose) where occasionally huge chunks of ice break off to come thundering down the mountain. Unfortunately half way to camp the weather turned, the wind picked up and the first snow flakes started falling. Given this excursion was extra credit we turned around at 4300m to enjoy some RaRa noodles back at our lodge.

Tomorrow it's off to head to Chhukhung (4730m) from where we will climb Chhukung Ri the day after (check out the map in the first blog if you are getting lost...). At 5550m it will be great for our acclimatization as at that altitude there is only about half as much oxygen available compared to sea level. While still little is know about the exact process of getting used to altitude everyone does agree on 'climb high & sleep low'. Most Everest teams go direct to base camp stepping up the altitude a day at the time. Apparently the team that did the BBC series Doctors On Everest will be at EBC so we will be looking for some more insights... Watch this space.

Namche and up..and up...and down...and up and up

Today was a good day for e.a.t.i.n.g. So it's a good thing we did quite a bit of that. Because it was also a thorough walking day. Our longest so far at 6 hours.

But first a word or two (or 200 but who's splitting hairs here) on Namche: we had splurged on a luxury room which meant en suite bathroom ("completely unnecessary" said she initially but man was it nice to have) ....and they did not lie, there was 24 hrs hot (piping hot!) water and our very own flushing loo. And all that at $20 PLUS (Jan's non plus ultra) two (!!) power supply thingies in the room so limitless charging of various devices. Plus the room genuinely was charming. Aman it was not but beats your average holiday inn any day (the view alone made sure about that!).

Namche itself is also easy to like especially if you're into the outdoors as it is one big adventure shop with all the brands for sale. It now also boasts an Irish pub, the liquid bar (free wifi from 5pm) and as Jan already mentioned, some really decent coffee. Most people stay here 2 nights "to acclimatise" but frankly, I reckon with that much entertainment and relative luxury going for it (and everybody knowing it's going to get tougher from here) it is indeed a last little bit of revelling in comfort before it's off ...and mostly up.

Up up up beyond Namche is the relatively famous Everest View Hotel - accessible by aeroplane (plus they have oxygen for those that need some given it sits at 3900m) or helicopter....or foot of course but the foot folk aren't really the target customer. Because, you see, if you are a trekker or climber or (dreaded) "traveller" you are very unlikely to shell out some $180++per night. However, they do allow us foot folk onto the terrace (it is frowned upon not to order something though) which has spectacular views of Ama Dablam and yes, as the name suggests, the Big E.

After our obligatory pot of tea and a million photos later, we went a bit down (one is always a bit wistful on days like these when going down because you k n o w that any down has to go up up and further up) into Kumjung where Sir Edmund Hillary founded a school as well as hospital ...he is still very revered here and the number of silk "shawls" around his statue attest to that.

From Kumjung the wistfulness came right back as we went way down for about an hour and half to Phunki Thenga (yes, for real) for a big hearty lunch by the river (aargh.... Al the way down to the river) only to go up up up again after lunch to Tengboche where there is a world famous (though admittedly slightly disappointing) Buddhist monastery. It burnt down in the eighties as the newly installed electrics sparks and resulting smoke in the year of the rat were seen as a sign for more chanting as opposed to the run for the water bucket. It was closed initially but they opened it for us to take a look but unfortunately no chanting of ceremony to be entranced by though it was notable that one of the monks who we chatted to briefly was wearing an Arcetrix fleece......in the exactly appropriate purple.

As it was getting cold and misty - fast - and Tengboche is not the most charming of places we decided to continue on (no cake break!) to Pangboche, where we were to meet Henry and settle in for two days. We did have a giggle on passing "Rivendell Lodge"......

Whilst today was long and lots of up and downhill, we are feeling remarkably good (no headache in sight) and pretty strong. All those marathons, duathlons, triathlons, ultras earlier this year and last but not least sleeping in that oxygen deprivation tent in the run up to this trip must have been good for something: we soldiered steadily past quite a few groups and preferred moving on rather than taking breaks and getting cold. Henry mentioned that even our guide Hermanta said something about "fast" and "walking" ... Which hopefully doesn't really mean "those crazy Germans"!

Educational snippets on Tengboche, Hillary's work here and other to follow but since the luxury was left behind in Namche I need to get these hands into some gloves and sleeping bag ...and read my thrilling page turner (thanks for that, Jane!).

Tomorrow: acclimatisation hike up to Ama Dablam base camp. Yesssss!

And up to Namche

So clearly Kim has taken to blogging like a fish to water so to provide a teaser of blogging style post week two here goes.

Today was a short hike up 600 meters to Namche which at 3480m is the first test of acclimatisation which I think we both passed as feeling great and enjoying the stunning scenery. Along the path we had our first view of Everest in the distance along the valley. The summit has its characteristic long comets tail of snow being swept off by the jet stream doing its work. Clearly today would not be a good summit day. In May ahead of the monsoon arriving the winds push up the jet stream for a few days of less wind allowing for summit bids.

We arrived in Namche and were greeted by rows of quaint stone houses arranged in a horseshoe looking down the valley. Namche sits at the cross-roads for trekkers who either head up the Khumbu or towards the Gokyo Lakes and potentially further up to Cho-Oyo base camp. It is also the transition point where loads get swapped from speedy donkeys to the slow and sturdy yaks. The town hosts the worlds highest Illy cafe where we enjoyed a cappuccino with a brownie and met a New Zealand couple who had just completed a month of trekking. Exchanged views on Ranulph Fiennes' aborted quest to cross Antartica in the winter as he spent a year(!!) in Antartica extending the New Zealand research station.

On the streets I bumped into Vern Tejas who guided my trip to Vinson four years ago and is again leading the Alpine Ascents team up Everest this year. His speciality is 'solo-first-winter-ascents' and had taught us on how to build a snow cave complete with cooking corner within 20 minutes. Hope that won't be necessary this time. He holds the record of completing the Seven Summits within 134 days and has done the round an incredible 9 times! I will be very happy if I can complete one round within 9 years... Vern is on his way down again to pick up the second team: "Arabs With Altitude" who are filming an Everest documentary. Sure we will see more of them when they reach EBC.

Tomorrow it's a 730 start to head up to see the Hillary School and on to the rebuilt Tengboche monastery.

First steps to base camp (EBC from now on)

We left KTM by 7:40am and flew into white light. No no, we were not concerned in the least when the pilot assembled and attached his hand held GPS to the front windscreen. At some point there was distinct circling (seriously, holding pattern before landing....) but luckily only one mini-round and within 3 mins the houses (now more visible) levelled with the windows and rum-di-dum our arrival on 300m long landing strip at Lukla (it's up hill too so that helps....we guess) and all done.

Met by another of Henry's helpers Hermanta, who will be our guide to EBC. By now we'd been up for at least 5 hours so first things first: off to Paradise Lodge (no Jan, the famous Lukla German bakery is for treats when coming back here). Porters, reorganisation of luggage, food and a bit of watching the goings ons (stunning blue skies and warm enough to sit outside so of course we did) for a while before it was off for real. Since Paradise Lodge is a regular of Henry's the lady was aware and dispatched Jan with a blessing, tied some red string around his neck and gave us some special pepper-like herbs for good luck and sharing with her. Then off off and up up, past the new "Everest coffee company" coffee shop right next to Lukla Starbucks. Yes yes, the Irish pub past post expedition partying is still there and pleased to say McDonald's has not made it here yet....close enough though: Yak Donald's. Someone definitely has a sense of humour.

For those that were on the World Expeditions trip 4 yrs ago with Kim: man has there been development! I would not go so far as to say the path is now tarred but definitely "paved" in lots and lots of places and the villages have all had face lifts. As have the loos.

One could almost liken it to a little Switzerland, Asian style (and costing about 1/1000th!). Unbelievably special and a lot emptier than we had anticipated. Sure, from time to time one comes across mega groups of 10-30 hikers but they are far less than we had expected. Some noteworthy characters we chatted to (the cast of characters through a day walking in the same direction is roughly the same and you pass and repast each other at lunch and/or tea brakes or those suspension bridges (we'll post photos - those with vertigo, pls grab the screen now)):

(1) the Dutchies: we first chatted with them at KTM airport and saw them three more times before lunch by which time we had found out: one week only, one of them works for TUI and the flight was free. Plan is to hike to Tengboche and rush back...can almost not imagine that in just a week's time they will be back in the office. Yes, "the office" - any office is and feels a million miles away... They were so unbelievably impressed that "she is going to EBC" that we rather didn't elaborate on Jan's plan...

(2) the Indian border guards - we first became aware of them back in Lukla as they all had the same uniform (not border guard-esque in the least.... Think more 1980s Adidas tracksuits...but nevertheless, clearly sponsored and once we had caught up to them at one of the bridges, transpired they are doing Everest as well, are sponsored by the Indian government (and yes, they WILL be heroes when they come home),

(3) an elderly English gentleman who is meeting his son in Namche after his son's expedition up "one of these mountains"....a bit puzzled was he, that the roads weren't more level. Walking sticks, "heavens, no" (I'm not that old, you know!) - we don't think he's a regular but the magic that surrounds - at this stage a mixture of the lovely villages, blooming rhododendrons, prayer flags, prayer wheels and the backdrop of mountains reaching up up and further up.

We arrived In a little village just above Monjo around 3:15 for settling down. The guesthouse is fine and I suspect is in fact run by the 100 year old 4 foot high lady who nodded and smiled and beckoned us into the dining room for a big pot of Nepali tea and chill time. Such was the chill time that we moved seamlessly into our sleeping bags for a pre-dinner snooze and are back here again now, expecting lights out any moment... It's 9:20pm, we can hear a stream outside and nothing else. Happy.....so very very happy!

Tomorrow it's 3 hours mostly up up up to Namche.

(2)

Arrival Kathmandu

We had a couple of hours stopover in Doha (about the most exciting thing at that airport is the costa coffee) and whilst the flight to Doha was only so so full, the one to Katmandu was jam packed. 90% men of which 85% were Nepali and had clearly not flown much to ever (queuing a challenge, lots of fiddling with seat belts, locking of loos etc but thankfully no phones on speaker so snoozing was a real option, gratefully taken). Obviously most of them working on construction projects in Qatar likely for an absolute pittance and now en route home to deliver the dosh to the wife and do it all again. Gives a lot of perspective...

Once in KTM we were met by "our man" Rajan, sorted with local SIM card, taken to hotel (the really charming Varja on the other side to the Thamel area. Whilst the raddisson from previous trips had been functional and.."fine" it was corporate-y and devoid of any charm, which the Varja has heaps of. Thanks Henry for that tip.

A word on Henry. Around 55, Scottish and Jan's expedition leader. He's been doing (read "running") Everest base camp for all expeditions for 23 years. He supplies all the oxygen for all expeditions, was in London recently to buy 10km of rope (rope colour on the mountain this year is black) and some 50 (!!) ladders and collect various duffel bags from members of his expedition which will (hopefully!) meet us on arrival at base camp (including one for Jan containing the high altitude essentials as well as spare toothpaste, sun screen, body rocket fuel (= electrolyte powder) and lots and lots of down layers (extra sleeping bag, down trousers, down booties etc)). The 50 ladders will double as bridges over the crevasses at the khumbu ice fall. Henry is also known apparently as "mother Hen" and is already en route to base camp where we will connect with him. He'll spend the entire April and May at base camp and control operations from there. He's also so marvellously connected in KTM and for the flights to Lukla "his dude" here this morning sorted us in no time for flight tickets (and tea!) so we're up and ready to go. And have been since 5:30am local time (hotel pick up was at 4:30.... did we hear mutterings of glamping...?).

Except that Lukla airport is closed and will not open for a bit. Apparently our flight should be leaving around 7:30 (instead of the planned 6:15 which is frankly nothing compared to the delays we are used to from heathrow...!)

The buzz is fantastic: it being prime trekking season we are certainly not the only "fat westerners" here and quite a few trekking and climbing teams are readily identifiable. Lots of brand new gear and wonderfully dust free. In particular there is one group where most of the men are already wearing their heavy duty summit shoes (not heavy duty enough for Everest though so we don't expect to see them again at base camp and beyond... Likely something like Ama Dablam (6868m which we will pass en route and maybe have an acclimatisation hike to its base camp (yes yes yes there will be photos)).

Now time for "the week" (great cover of George Osbore as a bum on a park bench with tag line re broke Britain). Fingers crossed we'll be on a little jetter in 45 mins.

Just heard though cloud cover in Lukla too thick so now looking more like 9am departure. Still comparable to heathrow waiting times....

Let the blogging begin...

So far we have only taken our first steps to the plane but its a start nonetheless. Now the question is did mentioning at the check-in counter 'embarking to climb Everest' get us an upgrade on Qatar....?

Overview Map Of Our 10 Day Trek to Base Camp

A good reference map of the first part of the trip. Getting to Base Camp. Kim and I will land fly into Lukla from Kathmandu early on Sunday 6th of April and start our 10 day walk from 2,800m up to the 5,400m of Everest Base Camp.