One month to go; what's going on...?

Kathmandu is heating up and so does the project planning. Only one month to go and still a lot needs to be arranged! According to the latest schedule, a group of 20 sherpas will head to Lukla at April 25th, to arrive at the BC 6 days later. All load will be dropped directly at the BC by 2 helicopters; one of the so welcome received sponsorships from the Nepali Army. Apart from making the logistics much more easy and transparant (just think of all those Kgs to be transported by porters... and how much dahl and baht that requires ;-) ), it will definately serve as a major project kick off. Imagine those circulating black hawks above the BC releasing material for 5 camps, 25 expedition members and 40 expedition days...
But that's for later; what about these days?

Namgyal and Chakra are still flattening the profile of their tires to reach as many sponsors as possible. Still half of the budget needs to be covered by sponsorships. Different parties have been reached, resulting in many positive responses. So, time to transform these promising reactions into clear Rupees!

Last week the whole sherpa group joined a 3 days rock climbing course. Just as a refreshment, since this expedition will ask for other techniques than 'routine'expeditions (can we still talk about 'routine' though, operating above 8000m???!). Guiding Western folks up and down the mountain demands for other capacities (YES, when there would be a price for patience, climbing sherpas would be nominated for sure!) than performing breath taking acrobatic moves to get every piece of garbage out crevasses, as an example.

Furthermore, material preps have been started. Sponsor T-shirts have been designed, several tailors are running their sewing machines full time to finish in time the required kit bags, down suits, sleeping bags and any other personal stuff that contains stiches. Oxygen supply has been ordered, permits are pending and insurances are covered (thanks to again a valuable sponsor).

Have you always been curious about the logistics behind a professional expedition...? Monitor this blog carefully; a lot will happen in the coming weeks...!