It's true. My pack was too heavy, my knees were too fragile, my legs were too weak, and my feet were too delicate. But on a 1000-meter ascent, it's the altitude -- not the fatigue -- which you can't bear. Long before the symptoms of Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS) set in, the thinning of the air around you as you climb is palpable. At 1,000 meters, the oxygen delivery rate is still 88% of that at sea level; by 3,500 meters that has dropped to 60%, and at 5,000 meters each breath is worth just half what you are accustomed to. [View Full Entry]

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I didn't sleep well last night and I definitely had a cold. I couldn't face brekkie (which is very unusual for me) so my guide said that we could stop on route to our next destination, which we did. Today's trekking was no fun at all. I felt sick and had a headache. I really struggled with the trek which was mainly uphill on uneven surfaces winding and bending in different directions. I didn't take any notice of the scenery because I felt awful. My legs and buttocks were aching and I was trying to concentrae on not falling over. We [View Full Entry]

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My lungs are burning, my lips are frozen, my legs are begging me to stop. Four more steps. I stop to gasp for air. At last, there is no where else to go. I'm standing on the summit of Kala Pattar at 5,600m. Prayer flags are flapping furiously in the wind. Finally I muster the energy to lift my head and look around me. There it is... Everest piercing the bright blue sky surrounded by its Himalayan giant neighbours, Lhotse, Nuptse, Pumori, Ama Dablam, and the Khumbu Glacier. I have to concentrate to catch my breath again. I remember how this [View Full Entry]

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{Pictures Added} Haven't had a chance to catch everyone up for a few days now. Since I last left off, I spent a day in kathmandu, enjoying the company of my wonderful guide, Milan, and seeing some really incredible things. So I'll give a brief update on that day, then catch everyone up to where I am now! (Ive been writing in a little notebook so I made sure not to forget anything that caught my attention. FIRST, I have to apologize. The internet connection here is dial up. I would be waiting for at least 3.5 years to be able [View Full Entry]

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While the first half of my trek, Jiri to Namche, was all about the Nepali (mostly Sherpa) people that I met along the way, this second part deals mainly with Nepal’s rockier residents. From Namche Bazaar (3450 m / 11320 ft), I initially headed northeast towards Everest. This is when I saw the dramatic thumb-like Ama Dablam and caught my first glimpse of Everest (since its fleeting apparition in Tibet in 2005) peeking out from behind its daughters Nuptse and Lhotse (photos). I branched North after a few hours to ascend the Gokyo Valley towards Nepal's largest glacier, Ngozumpa, then [View Full Entry]

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After the kayaking we had a day to sort ourselves out in Kathmandu and get ready for the next trek - a two week trip into the Everest (Khumbu) region to climb a peak called Lobuche East. We headed off on the morning of the 3rd to get a flight from Kathmandu to Lukla (you can do a walk to Lukla from a place called Jiri, but it would have taken to long) and what a flight it was. The plane fits maybe 16 people, which isn't the scary bit - its the fact that the runway was obviously built [View Full Entry]

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Prep Day: Day prior to leaving for Everest was a hectic one. Unless weather up at base camp was to be a balmy 30 degrees celcius, I was in need of some new gear. Our guide, Dharma, took Oto and I to a little spot where we got all the necessary gear for the trek. Here's a list of my new kit: [list] *Down Jacket *Polar Fleece *Thermals *Tuque *Gloves *Hiking Boots (which I would soon want to burn) *4 pairs of wool socks *Diamox (altitude sickness pills) *A new inhaler (I used to have terrible asthma & was hospitalized [View Full Entry]

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A typical Himalayan trek always begins with a sketchy flight on a Dornier 238 (Twin Otter) up to the Lukla airport at 9500 feet. The airplane can only fill half the seats with passengers on the way up because the runway is only 400 feet long and is pitched at 30 degrees to stop the plane from drilling into the mountainside at the end of the runway... nail biter! Once firmly on the ground we set off into the mountainside for a 13 day trek up to Base Camp. We will be covering 200km of ground, and ascending to 17500feet. A [View Full Entry]

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Just a short note to let you all know that I had a spectacular trekk into base camp and am now back in Namche... I will follow up with more details tomorrow when I get down to Lukla... Hopefully some of you have done the google earth thing -- because it will give you a better picture of all the places I have been along the trek from Lukla up to Gorek Shep and into base camp... On Sunday nite I wrote in my journal, that "Air of anticipation is high, as everyone making their plans for the push to base [View Full Entry]

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Just thought I'd let you all know that I'm alive, we're all alive, back in Namche having made it to Everest base camp and up Kala Pattar. And we're OK. That is of course to re-define what being 'ok' actually is.... Lips - cracked, chapped and have tendency to bleed when we smile suddenly. Hair - don't ask, not allowed out. Nose - flaking off in pieces Skin - chapped and sore from constant nose blowing hands - have been mysteriously swapped with those if a 90 year old almost overnight... General health - streaming cold and hacking cough which [View Full Entry]

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