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Published: March 14th 2008
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Icy Peaks
wouldn't fancy my chances climbing this fella If you mention Nepal, most people immediately think of Mount Everest. The world’s highest mountain, and a mountain which has claimed many lives. Hundreds of people head to Nepal each year to climb it’s dangerous summit. But Everest is not going to be in Nepal forever. Scientists take precise GPS readings each year, and the mountain is moving North, slowly but surely, at a rate of 6cm per year. It already straddles the borders of Tibet and Nepal, but by the end of the next Millenium it may have left Nepal entirely. How ridiculous. A mountain on the move. Why is it moving? In search of better lifestyle? To see more of the world? Let’s hope Mount Snowdon doesn’t get ideas and starts moving towards London. It’s hard enough to park a car in London, never mind a mountain.
During the early part of the twentieth century, reaching the top of Everest was the dream and ambition of climbers all around the globe. A huge number of expeditions were mounted in the 1920’s and 1930’s, but none were successful. Some tried to reach the summit through sheer ogranisation and brute force, such as the 1924 expedition which used a team
Ingenious Crops
This isn't rice, but clearly whatever they are growing here can withstand the cold of a Nepalese winter of 350 porters. They fell short of the summit by a mere 300 metres. Others tried to reach the summit with an attitude somewhere between brave and foolhardy, such Maurice Wilson who tried to reach the summit in a SOLO attempt in 1934. His plan was to crash-land his plane half way up the mountain, and then reach the summit from there. He made the landing successfully, and hence cut out half the climb. But he had no actual climbing experience, and was found frozen to death wearing only a light sweater. The attempts continued, but it wasn’t until 1953 when the summit was reached by New Zealander Edmund Hilary and Sherpa Tensing.
One impressive climb of Everest was by an Extreme Ironing Team. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Extreme Ironing, it involves taking an iron and ironing board to extreme conditions and then ironing a shirt. I have seen photos of people ironing whilst free-fall parachuting, and photos of people ironing with scuba gear at a depth of 25 metres. The official description of this sport is that it “combines the thrill of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt”. You
Cold Winter Nights
It was bloody cold at night. The sherpas kindly gathered some wood for us can see more details here - www.extremeironing.com. The team managed to iron a shirt on Everest at a height of 5500 metres! I once wanted to try extreme ironing, and was about to take an ironing board to the top of a ski slope in Andorra. I was stopped by my friend Lou who said “lose that board and I’ll lose my deposit on this chalet!" A friend of mine, Lloyd, also had a novel use for an ironing board while we were staying in a hotel for a stag party. He tried to surf down the stairs on it. Unfortunately he did it with the leg-side down, and the whole thing assembled itself halfway down and he went flying.
Anyway, back to Mount Everest. I didn’t climb it. I didn’t even try. To do you so you need a fat wallet, an army of Sherpas, an imperviousness to cold and a screw loose. I didn’t even see Everest! I was planning a flyover in a plane, but the conditions were too cloudy. Instead I bought a postcard, and then set out on a four-day Annapurna trek. The Annapurnas are a magnificent mountain range which dominate the heart of
6am Sunrise
we woke to stunning views of the Annapurnas Nepal. Each peak has it’s own distinct and imaginative name, such as “Annapurna One”, “Annapurna Two” and “Annapurna South”. Although we were trekking for four days, the actual trek was easy, and I was slightly disappointed by this. But we passed through some spectacular scenery. It was also a “village trek”, because this part of the Annapurnas was scattered with small villages, teahouses and lodges. We never went above 2,000 metres, but it was still bloody cold!
Wandering through the mountains and through villages gave a nice insight into rural Nepalese life. The Nepalese people are amongst the poorest people on Earth, but they are happy. Their living standards are very basic, but they seem to be a proud and content people. As we walked through the villages, we saw people ploughing fields with buffalo, walking with herds of goats, and gathering firewood. There were chickens running around, and kids in grubby clothes smiling at us and wanting their photos taken.
There were plenty of lodges throughout the mountains, presumably for the tourist masses who trek during peak seasons. The names were not very imaginative. Names like "Everest Inn", "Sherpa Lodge" and "Excellent View Inn". To be fair,
the Bridge of Peril
we crossed a number of ravines using these rope bridges Excellent View Inn did have an excellent view. Another one called "Nice View Lodge" was simply underselling itself. At one of the lodges we stayed at, we played cricket in the late afternoon. We found a large pile of firewood, and started “auditioning” for bats, trying each in turn until we found one with a good shape and right weight for the swing. I found some strips of sponge and tied them round with wire to make a splinter-proof handle. We then wedged some sticks between stones to make a stump and it was game on! Home-made cricket! The local lads gathered and watched with fascination. We asked them to play, and they were really excited. After half an hour of play, a local man brought a machete down and whittled a plank to make a perfect cricket bat, right down to the handle. He sharpened the cricket stumps and stuck them in the ground instead of wedging them between stones. As you can imagine, the amount of flat space on a mountain is fairly limited. So any hard slogs had us scampering down the slopes and rice terraces to retrieve the ball!
On the trek I had lots
wrapped up warm
local kiddie braves the elements, and looks distinctly unimpressed by my photo taking of time to think. With less than three weeks until my travels were over, I was very excited about getting home. I was thinking about all the things I had missed. Family and friends. The feeling of soft carpet under bare feet. Relaxing on the sofa watching trashy TV with a glass of wine. Not re-packing my backpack every few days. I was also fantasizing about all the food I would eat when I got home. In fact, I already have seven meals planned for when I get back. The schedule is as follows:
1. SAT AFTERNOON - Justine is picking me up from the airport at midday. On the way home, I’ll be visiting the local chippy for Fish, Chips and Mushy Peas.
2. SAT NIGHT - After an afternoon of beers with my mates, we’ll be visiting Tooting’s finest Indian Restaurant for a curry (Chicken Dhansak, plain rice, peshwari naan with a side portion of Sag Paneer)
3. SUN MORNING - A sausage sandwich on fluffy white bread, with brown HP sauce
4. SUN AFTERNOON - A proper Sunday Roast Dinner with all the trimmings
5. SUN EVENING - Still full from lunch, I will be nibbling
taking a break
this young girl was carrying a fairly large basket of wood on some cheese and biscuits whilst drinking the finest wine known to humanity
6. MON MORNING - Crunchy Nut Cornflakes with FRESH milk (all the milk in Asia tastes like week old cats milk)
7. MON NIGHT - Fillet steak (Medium rare), with chunky chips. Possibly with a peppercorn sauce, I haven’t decided yet.
The observant amongst you will notice that there is a blatant gap in my eating schedule: Monday Lunchtime. Current candidates for this slot include cheese on toast, beans on toast, or maybe Heinz Cream of Tomato Soup, with toast. Or maybe just toast.
So, I had completed the four day hike. As I said, it was fairly easy. There is a famous hike around the whole of the Annapurnas called the "Annapurna Circuit", which takes about 17 days. I was originally going to do this trail, but then I thought, hmmmm. SEVENTEEN days? A fantastic hike, or pure madness? Four days is the most I have ever hiked. Seventeen days was quite a frightening prospect. That isn't the type of hike where you can decide after the tenth day that you've had enough. You are committed to finish. However, I do regret not making
about to descend
after reaching the valley floor, we go straight back up again! If you click on this photo to enlarge, you can see the path we will take up the other side a longer walk. perhaps I should have tested my thighs on an 8-day walk? Oh well, maybe next time. The Annapurnas are truly stunning, and I will certainly be coming back
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Mountain Man
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Deadliness of Everest
Mt Fuji has claimed more lives than Everest - it's a popular place for Japanese people to commit suicide. And if you consider the ratio of the number of deaths to the number of successful ascents, Everest barely gets in the Top 10.