Trek Photos

Hi Folks – here is a selection of my favourite photos from the trip.

Kathmandu:

Mountain scenery:

On the trail: 

Everest Base Camp and Khumbu Glacier:

Mt Everest:

 

Kala Patthar:

Everest team – now on youtube

*Newsflash*

There is now a short video of our expedition available on youtube, thanks to the creative skills of my team mate Jonathan Hare. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K38F9hwgfkM.

Note: No yaks or sherpas were harmed during the creation of this footage. It’s a bit wobbly in parts so make sure you view it sitting down…

Everest team in action

Here is a photo of the Everest team,  having just arrived back in Kathmandu (and before grabbing our scrubbing brushes). Not bad after 14 days of camping! The lads were all very impressed with their facial hair.

 

Nepal Trip Highlights

I have spent some time collating my photos from the trip today, and it has been great to get a sense of all the amazing things that I have experienced over the past few weeks! Memorable aspects of the trip include:

– The warm Nepali welcome: both in Kathmandu and in the mountains, you encounter huge smiles and “Namaste” (hello) all the way. We saw the most adorable little children playing along the trails. Also had a few team mascots in the form of friendly dogs who joined us on our walks, helped eat our lunch and slept by the tents each night.

– Stunning scenery: from the snow-covered pine forests near Lukla, the dramatic rapids of the Dudh Kosi (Milk River) that we crossed at various stages, the towering mountain peaks that leave you breathless and the contrasting lunar-like ice and rock landscape from the Khumbu glacier and Everest Base camp.  On clear nights the sky was filled with an amazing display of stars.

– Our trek crew: the lead sherpas (Sirdars), guides and porters who kept us supplied with a never-ending supply of hot Nepali tea, looked after our tents and kit and encouraged us along the way. Trek leaders Chris and Rachel also kept everyone organised and managed to make the daily 6am wake-up calls seem bearable…

– Spiritual experience: the colourful buddhist temples, monasteries and monuments that we encountered on the trail, along with the soothing tones of the large bells that the yaks and zho’s wear around their neck as they trundle along the trails, laden down with bags and various bits of kit.

– Sense of humour: vital to survive such a trip. Our team maintained a constant stream of yak and yeti-related banter, from the wee hours of the frosty mornings as we emerged from tents, when hauling ourselves up never-ending mountain trails and as we huddled up to keep warm in draughty tea houses in the evenings.

– Temperature extremes: on the coldest nights, we measured -15 degrees inside our tents before going to sleep. So we estimate that the temps went towards the projected -20 degrees during our trek. After the early days of bad weather, the mornings tended to be clear and sunny (still sub-zero!) yet at midday the clouds would roll in dramatically across the valley and we would experience major wind chill. As we ascended back towards Namche the sun came out and everyone was peeling off layers back to shorts and t-shirts.

This kind of trip does brings its challenges, and I would be remiss not to mention some that are forever burned into my memory:

– Chapati, chapati, potato, cabbage, chapati, potato: enough said! After 14 days of trek diet, everyone found their trousers were getting loose and started fantasising about English pub meals (food is the new porn)

– Dirt and dust: it was fairly impossible to stay clean. The cold mornings made it hard to contemplate the bowls of water that our sherpas gave us in the morning. Thermals became a second skin, taking them off seemed an unbearable idea when you are standing outside in sub-zero temperatures at 6am! However, the boys enjoyed the challenge of seeing who could grow the most facial hair over the two weeks. My hair stayed permanently hidden under a hat. 

– The cold: already mentioned above… I was treated for hypothermia on our acclimatisation walk near Dingboche, thankfully an emergency blanket and two burly warm hikers got me back from being rather blue! I have never experienced anything like it. One morning I dropped a berocca vitamin tablet into my water, which fizzed for about 5 seconds and then froze solid in the cup. My socks froze solid, such that I emerged from my tent holding them like horizontal blocks that you could clap together. Amazing stuff.

Despite these extremes, it was the most incredible experience and we emerged feeling that we had really met the challenges of our trip. It gives you a really strong sense of achievement to work through it and it is difficult to describe the adrenaline hit that you get breathing in the crisp mountain air as you reach the summit and drink in the views around you. Time to plan my next trip! It is too hard to imagine sitting still for long…

I will post some photos and video footage soon – ciao for now.

Back in Blighty

Hello everyone,

The last few days have gone by in a huge blur, but I’m now back in London having travelled safely from Lukla through to Kathmandu and on to the UK. Fortunately our return flights from Lukla passed without incident and we were able to make it back to the Summit Hotel in Kathmandu for some serious scrubbing clean and lots of eating!

I am really excited to have achieved my goal and successfully trekked to Everest Base Camp and reached the summit of Kala Patthar. Both days were long, extremely cold and involved a lot of physical and mental toughness to reach, but also to be able to get back to camp in one piece. On our trail to EBC we witnessed a number of rock falls and avalanches along the Kumbhu glacier, a stark reminder of just how fragile and dynamic the landscape around us really is. The team also passed the Everest Memorial, where a set of cairns (rock scultpures) have been left for each of the people who have lost their lives attempting to summit Everest.

On a more cheerful note – The Accenture team have managed to raise a total of over £125,000 for Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO). This is an amazing effort and I would like to say thank you to everyone who supported my trek and the various fundraising events beforehand. Here is a pic of me reaching EBC:

View from the summit

Hello again, the team are back in Namche Bazaar so I was able to find a place to add a quick post. Wow, where to start?

Firstly, everyone on the trip is thankfully well and in good shape after a gruelling 10 day journey above 3000m. The majority of the team and I made a successful ascent to Everest Base Camp as planned. A tough journey to and from EBC, with freezing cold temps and lungs tight from the altitude (wheeze, puff etc).

No rest for the wicked – on the subsequent day we were up at 4.45am ready to ascend Kala Patthar. It was -10 degrees as we scaled the steep mountain from Gorak Shep (5143m) to the summit of KP (5545m). What an amazing feeling! The view of Mount Everest from there was quite eerie, shrouded in a cloud that looked like a halo as the sun rose behind it. We were frozen so quickly finished snapping away and then headed back to camp to start our 8 hour descent back to Periche.

So that’s all for now – so much to tell but I’ll attempt it later with a slightly faster connection (*whirrrr*). I can say without a doubt that this is the toughest physical and mental challenge that I have ever attempted, but it feels great to be the other side of it now. Camping at Monjo tonight then flying out of Lukla in 2 days.

Kate

🙂

Snow @ Namche Bazaar

Greetings from Namche Bazaar – it feels like an age since I last wrote. Found a cute little internet cafe so thought would send a catch-up message. All is well, but the trip has been far from dull!

All good adventures start with a change of plan… after leaving our Kathmandu hotel early (up at 4.30am), we headed to the airport for our plane to Lukla village. They piled our group and assorted bags, tents, food supplies onto two little planes. I was on the first and we zoomed off a few hours later. Arrived with the forewarned 90 degree swoop and dive – eeeek. Unfortunately the second group, who were bused to the tarmac just after us, didn’t appear. We got word a few hours later that they had emergency landed in another location due to bad weather and would be delayed. To cut the story short, after several hours hanging out in Lukla waiting, they didn’t appear. The flights stop at 2pm so eventually we conceded defeat and settled there for the night. Unfortunately the split of bags was arbitrary so half the group had someone else’s kit bag to survive off for our night of camping.

The weather gods were on our side eventually, and the second half of the group (and our food!) arrived the next day at about 10:30am. Quick cup of sugary Nepali tea and then off for a 4 hour gentle walk to the village of Phakding, where we camped for the night.

Our next destination was slightly tougher – left camp just after 7.30am and walked a full day up to Namche Bazaar. This involved a steep ascent from 2800m to 3400m, which everyone found quite tough. The weather set in at lunch and it rained, then at 3000m turned to snow. At this point the jaw-dropping mountain landscape was picture perfect, with lovely droplets of ice and snow crystalising on the tree tops.

Today’s walk was an aclimatisation trip so we did a 4 hour circular route from Namche up to 3880m (highest I have ever been) and now back to the village to sleep the night.

A few observations before signing out:

– the porters and sherpas are gentle and incredible people. These guys leap nimbly along precipitous mountain paths carrying crates, bags and potato sacks weighing up to 50 kgs.

– it is damn cold, and much sooner than expected. we were told shorts and trek vests for the first week. This morning I woke up and my damp socks had frozen in my tent like a stiff plank. My tent was covered in icicles inside and out – brrrr. A cold local dog crawled into Orla and Nini’s tent at some point during the night!

– The last couple of days involved clambering along some fairly hair-raising high bridges as we have crossed various rivers, accompanied by a herd of zo’s (cross between cow and yak… BIG horns). I am quickly learning not to look down.

ciao for now,

Kate x

Kathmandu delights

Hello everyone – just checking in briefly from Kathmandu, where I am currently staying at The Summit Hotel. We managed to make it in one piece after a fairly long journey flying with a 4 hour stopover via Doha. Everyone’s kit turned up at the other end also, a major bonus given the state of Heathrow’s baggage handling!

On our first day in Nepal we visited a local school just out of Kathmandu that is supported by volunteer teachers working for VSO. The children were absolutely charming, many are from extremely impoverished families whose parents are migrants working in the brick works over winter (which are rice fields in summer). It is great to see in a tangible way how VSO has made a positive impact.

In the afternoon, we visited the famous Patan Durbar Square, which is a series and shrines. Really fascinating, as long as you can see through the swarm of vendors who received us gleefully (chess set or silk bag, anyone?). All is well – we set off tomorrow, can’t wait.

K. 

Heading for the Airport…

All packed and about to head to the airport. My kit bag is firmly shut, I managed to get down to 16 kg in the end. This will be fine until I get to Kathmandu, where I will leave behind some clothes and gifts that I’m taking to the school that we visit there. In consultation with others on my trip, I’m not the only one in this position! I am down to bare essentials on our kit list so there isn’t much option at this stage…

The flood of emails, texts and phone calls from people wishing me well this week has been extremely thoughtful and a great “lift” mentally as I get ready to embark on my trip. Thanks folks! 

I am also extremely excited that I have reached my fundraising target of £5000 for VSO’s work in Nepal, which is what the journey is all about – raising awareness and providing much needed financial support. So I would like to say a huge THANK YOU to all of the people who have generously contributed to the fundraising overall. My just giving site is:

http://www.justgiving.com/Kate_EverestChallenge

Will check in when I can – ciao for now!

Kate.

Kit list review

Passport – check. Walking boots – check. Iodine tablets – check (bleurgh)…

I’m in the final stages of preparation for my Everest trip. In looking at the neat piles arranged over the weekend, I’m just not quite sure how the official trek kit list is going to match up to our 12kg baggage allowance on the flight from Katmandu to Lukla. Hmmmm… will get you back to you shortly on that.

The weather’s looking interesting also? Here’s the 5 day forecast for Kathmandu: