Merry Christmas & Happy, healthy, adventurous and inspiring New Year!

We all like to wish you a Merry Christmas and a very happy, healthy, adventurous and inspiring New Year. We love to see you again in the Himalayas!

Mountain Consult Team

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How dirty is Everest? The Everest Clean up Debate

A debate about dirty mountains is a good thing. And no, Everest is not the only mountain with rubbish in the world, the problem well spread.
 
As the highest mountain in the world, Everest will always get more attention than others.  So Everest is chosen to be cleaned, more than others. Some expeditions just do it to get attention and funding to climb it, others really try to do something good. It’s easy to question all these initiatives, and perhaps, the money spend by climbers to climb a mountain, could be spend more wisely.  But if we raise that question, then everything we do for our own entertainment can be questioned isn’t it? Where do we draw the line then?

I personally don’t think that it’s a good idea to say to climbers: “don’t climb anymore because you destroy the mountain”. I think it’s better to get a dialogue started about how the climbing community could minimize their impact and perhaps, spread awareness about even more important issues and raise money to support local problems.  If a team of Everest climbers is able to get funding for this, then that might be a good thing. Even if personal interest get mixed up. Or does it makes some of us jealous because we spend so much private money on our own expeditions?

Anyway, there are many people trying to do something good. Perhaps the road to perfection is difficult and unclear, but at least there are some people trying to make the world a better place. Let’s not just drop a few firm and populist phrases here, it’s better to start a real dialogue! We all know the famous words of our favorite Asian philosopher: “every journey of a thousand miles, starts with a single step”. Let’s just do that and keep this dialogue going...

More info? See: http://www.muchbetteradventures.com/news/view/168/how-dirty-is-everest-the-everest-clean-up-debate

Armand - Mountain Consult

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Nepal Tourism Year 2011 launched in Paris

Nepal Embassy in Paris and Nepal Tourism Board jointly launched ‘Nepal Tourism Year 2011 (NTY 2011) in Paris on November 15.

On the occasion, the first French man and woman to reach the summit of Mt Everest Pierre Mazeaud and Dr Christian Janin were honoured with Letter of Felicitation from PM Madav Kumar Nepal as well as certificates from Minister of Tourism and Civil aviation Sharat Singh Bhandari conferring them ‘Goodwill Ambassadors of NTY 2011’ honour. Jean Afanasieff, another Everest summiteer from France was also honoured. Sharing their Nepal experience Pierre Mazeau, Dr Jamie and Afanassieff highlighted the tourism attraction of Nepal.

Let's hope there will be some more interesting discounts on trekking and climbing permits!!! Anyway, it's going to be busy year if the political situation stays as stable as it is right now.

Mountain Consult

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Mount Chekigo 6257m in Nepal finally scaled!

A joint team of Nepalese Sherpas and Bangladeshi mountaineers have scaled the technical Chekigo 6257m in Nepal’s eastern Himalayas, the climbers said Monday.

The 10-member team said it summited Mount Chekigo, considered one of the most challenging in mountaineering, on October 18. “Thirteen expeditions from different parts of the world have attempted the peak before us but failed,” Mohit said. “It’s a very tough climb, the most difficult I have experienced because of its deep crevasses and knife ridges.” Chekigo rises 6,257 metres above sea level in the Guri Shanker Himalayan range.

The Nepal Mountaineering Association said some objectives of the joint expedition was to promote Nepal tourism and to encourage Bangladeshi mountaineers and trekkers to visit Nepal. The mountain has been christened Nepal-Bangladesh Friendship Peak!

Mountain Consult

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French summit success on Mera Peak!

Fresh from the press: two French climbers reached the summit of Mera Peak, today 6 November 2011. We're waiting for more news from the team that climbed down to Khare... We hope to establish contact within a few hours again. Congratulations!

Mountain Consult

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Happy Dipawali from Mountain Consult!

Happy Dipawali from Mountain Consult!

What a great night it was, yesterday! It's getting better and better every year. The lights, the music, the people, a great time to be in Nepal!

And if you're not quite familiar with this great festival, here's a small intro:

The Nepali festival Tihar is also known by many names such as Dipawali or Bhai Tika or Laxmi Puja or as a festival of lights. It is a five-days festival, which comes soon after the Dashain Festival, and Tihar is all about worshiping of different animals such as crow, dog, cow, and worshiping of the Hindu Goddess of Fortune or Wealth (Goddess Laxmi), and cooking great meals at home, brothers and sisters shopping for gifts, flying kites, decorating homes and streets, playing cards with friends, resting and relaxing, and finally ending the festival with an exchange of a special temporary mark on forehead (tika in Nepali). The last day of the festival is known as Tika day or popularly known as Bhai Tika day (Bhai in Nepali means Brother). To sum up Tihar festival, Tihar is the festival when sisters wish a long life to their brothers (Bhai)!

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Helicopter Resue Training - Zermatt

Namgyal Sherpa is attending a special helicopter rescue training in Zermatt, Switzerland. Mountain Consult will be able to assist in a difficult helicopter rescues if needed. It's an extra safety measure to our clients and other climbers in the Himalayas. More to come...

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Nepal autumn 2010 starts in green!

Mountains in Nepal are never the same... As the climate changes per year, so do mountains. The monsoon is just finished here, bringing clear and great weather to the country. But it has been raining for months, which is good, especially for nature. The rice fields look so bright right now, I can’t describe it in words. Yes, I have seen it before, but now, in autumn 2010 this green looks fantastic. It’s bright, it’s full, it’s soft, but strong, a beautiful setting for all the beautiful treks in this great country!!! Here's one picture taken on the way to Mera Peak. Have a look yourself!

Press release Everest Cleaning Project 2010

A short summary of 2 months carrying down garbage by our Sherpa team during the Mt Everest clean up expedition last Spring...!

What’s upcoming…?

While most Everest summitters around the Globe are slowly getting back to their 'normal' life again, the organizers of the EEE cleaning expedition are still fulltime occupied with their successful expedition last spring. Coming Friday a press conference is scheduled to share their results, past and coming activities with us all.

In the mean time 60 pictures of the clean up activities have been selected which will be exhibited next month in one of Kathmandu's major art galleries. Apart from that, Nepali artists and 1 French artist have started to blossom their creativity to make something extraordinary of the garbage that was brought back to Kathmandu. Their 'rubbish art'    ;-) will be available to show from coming November. For those who are in Kathmandu this November, come and have a look...! (address details will follow)

Clean up Expedition in Dutch paper

Barely landed in Holland a Dutch newspaper called to write and publish an article about the cleaning expedition Namgyal has organized last spring.

For those who can read Dutch, have a nice read! For those who can't, it also contains some of our pictures ;-) NRCNext_0610

Age limits for climbing Mt Everest

Recent summit attempts of teenagers have caused a lot of debate in the climbing community.  In 2001, sixteen year old Temba Tseri Sherpa (Nepali boy) became the youngest climber to summit Everest, although he lost a few fingers and toes because of frostbite. Last spring (May 2010) the record was taken by Jordan Romero, who ascended World's highest mountain at the age of 13!

As a response to the tendence of taking very young climbers above the Death Zone (plans were already there to bring a 11-year old next spring), the China Tibet Mountaineering Association (CTMA) has issued new regulations since 2 weeks for climbing Mt Everest. As from June 10th (2010), two age limits will be set to climb Everest from the north side: a minimum age of 18, and a max of 60. Exceptions can be made for climbers providing positive medical records but 16 will still be the absolute lowest limit according to CTMA. 

The CTMA's decision was welcomed by the Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA), who already set a minimum age of 16 after Temba's summit push. In Nepal the maximum age to climb Everest is not restricted.

Pro or con? Let us know...

Some remarkable pictures

Garbage well delivered in Kathmandu

Some time has passed, so several updates to give you!
The second team indeed summited May 23rd, while sweeping many Kgs of mainly old rope, tents and oxygen cylinders. In total 1800kg has been brought down to the BC, apart from the 2 dead bodies which were brought to and picked up at camp 2.
Of this pile of garbage, 1000kg of disposable rubbish has been left in Namche where it will be processed. The remaining 800kg has been flown back to Kathmandu last week.

Interesting detail... May 29 the Hillary-Tenzing marathon has been held; all the way from BC to Namche. Several runners did show their valuable support to this clean up expedition by taking a special designed bag with them, loaded with 2 kg of 'our' garbage. Two of our Sherpas (Pasang C and Kurma) even joined these running heroes, showing that they are real athletes... They were actually the only two who had 'ran' from 8848m all the way to Namche ;-) ! So from here, we would like to thank all 'garbage pickers' for their prestige!

The coming weeks art students will make some interesting pieces and creatures of these materials and exhibit the result in a local gallery. We'll keep you updated where you have to go!
Also, 100 pictures of the expedition and rubbish will be shown at an exhibition soon from now. The exact dates and location... you still get it from us.

The Mountain Consult Blog!

This is the official Mountain Consult Blog where you'll find all news, updates, personal blogs and expedition dispatches. Sign up to receive regular updates in your mail, or use the RSS links to follow us! Mountain Consult Team

Namgyal in National Geographic!!!

This month, National Geographic has printed a special edition focusing on water problems seen all over the world. One of Namgyals stunning pictures taken from the summit of Mt Everest (overlooking all main glaciers in the Khumbu and beyond) has been chosen to support the text of one of their articles. The article titled ‘The Big Melt’ points at the fact glaciers in the Himalaya feed Asians greatest rivers, serving as freshwater lifelines for 2 billion of people. However, ice and snow started to decrease rapidly…

Would like to take a glance at the 3 page picture and/or read more…?

National Geographic

Special Issue: Water-Our Thirsty World

P60-63: ‘The Big Melt’

World’s highest dental clinic

In the meantime we went to the 'Highest Dental Clinic of the World', as they call it here. Every equipment is donated, from dental chairs, plastic gloves, to (almost expired) anesthetics. The charming wooden lodge-style clinic almost vanished away 2 months ago due to a huge fire at the neighbor's place, so they had to search for the still usable tools. Everything non-usable stuff in developed countries can be sent to here and you know what...? It's still really good; we are throwing too much away!
Anyway; good and bad news; Armand's problem was so severe that they actually didn't want to do more than providing antibiotics, which means that we will go up again to give it a try.

Since my teeth never give any problem (knock knock on oak wood; or do only the Dutch understand this habit ;-) ?), I didn't insure them, which means that I'm free as a bird where to do my check ups. So why not here?? For the first time in my life I heard enthusiastic Ohhhs and Ahhs, pretty nice ego lift (although it's something so uncontrollable as the hardness of your enamel :-) ) After some scratching, showing their own jaws (...) and my first polish treatment ever we went; me with a real Hollywood smile ;-)

Further spend a (Nepali) fortune on painkillers and several antibiotics to fight the viruses which happily nested in my lungs and nose and let the BC know they can expect us around May 7 or 8 again. We are pretty done with counting the raindrops here and have the feeling that the treatments have booked their first success!

So... next update from the BC!

First steps towards Everest BC

Stuck at the national airport for 30hours, we finally were able to fly to Lukla; the main start of expeditions and trekkings in the Khumbu/Everest region. Starting to feel very unlucky at that time, we now can say that we must have been very happy to actually have been able to fly, finally! All our possible flights were cancelled, some of them while boarding (how demotivating…) because of too much wind, cloudy weather, a nonfunctioning radar system and a broken antenna. Not a good thing if you ask me… ;-) !

 Anyway during a window of less wind, 4 of our team were able to jump into the plane and feel sick for the entire 30min. Gosh, what a wind indeed… Only after landing we could finally uncross our fingers; a terrifying crash of 2 years back at Lukla still fresh in our memory. While writing, I learned that it would have taken another 24h before any other flight would have reached Lukla (this time because of a strike)!

 

Two of our team are staying behind in Lukla to collect the first 1000kg of equipment and materials for the Clean up Expedition (http://extremeeverestexpedition.blogspot.com ), which will be sent somewhere these days from Kathmandu, as well as to  arrange porters or yaks for this horrible load…

Armand and I will already go further up, to get properly acclimatized before reaching the BC in 2 weeks. Not really a good predisposition to be born below sea level when you are interested in these kinds of trips ;-) , although it’s everything but a burden to have to be around here, mandatory! Besides learning to breath again, these weeks will be used to spread the word for the activities of the Climbing for Water Foundation (www.climbingforwater.org / http://climbingforwater.blogspot.com ).

Walking and talking; actually the best publicity!  

Some numbers for this Spring climbing season!

So far, 60 expeditions have applied to climb different mountains in Nepal during this Spring season and 49 of them have already been issued permits.

In total 547 persons (480 men and 67 women) have received permits to attempt 21 peaks above 5647m.

Among them:

224(!) persons will climb Mt Everest (Nepal side),

58 persons Makalu I

49 persons Lhotse

35 persons Annapurna I

23 persons Manaslu

20 persons Dhaulagiri

19 persons Ama Dablam

12 persons Nuptse

- Adopted from the Kathmandu Post, April 8th 2010

First Sherpa team summited!

The first Sherpa team summited Mount Everest yesterday, 22 May 2010. Among the summiters was Namgyal Sherpa, project leader of the clean up expedition, setting his total at 8 times.

The second Sherpa team is heading to the summit today, after which both teams will go up again to retrieve an enormous quanitity of oxygen bottles and old ropes.

More details to come soon!

Bodies & garbage below 8000m

Climbing Mount Everest is a physical and mental game. Even when you’re able to cope with the daily physical challenges of climbing at extreme altitudes, you’re still depending on uncontrollable aspects as ‘weather’. As you might know, the summit of Mount Everest lies within the infamous Jet Stream, which is a constant hurricane wind force of around 118 Miles per hour at 4 - 6 miles above the earth. When the Jet Stream is blowing on Mount Everest’s summit, a long stream of ice crystals forms the characteristic white plume from the tip of the mountain. If you really wish to stand on the summit, you have to choose your moment very carefully, until the monsoon pushes the jet stream away. Lucky for us all, the weather window has existed on Everest with great consistently for many years. The length of this opportunity can vary, though. In some cases the duration is a about 2-4 days while in others years it can last a much preferred two weeks from mid to the end of May.

Now back to the expedition!

Weather forecasts have been predicting the weather window to open, which in fact was true, although it just lasted for two days somewhere around the 10th of May. A few ‘lucky’ or very wise climbers went for the summit and actually succeeded. In the mean time the Sherpas where still preparing camps up to the south col. They also made preparations to bring down some dead bodies. Well, especially this caused some very mixed feelings within expedition outfitters and members in the base camp. As the expedition organizers repeatedly put in the media that they planned to bring down the bodies of famous climbers like Scott Fisher and Rob Hall, even without agreement of the relatives, some people got a bit frustrated and nervous. Tension in base camp! In the end, the Sherpas only made preparations to bring down the Swiss climber Gianni Goltz who died on the mountain in 2009. In the mean time, the Russion climber Serguey Duganov died May, 7 2010 at 7800m during his descent of Lhotse. Again, the Sherpas were requested to bring down this body, which they did after negotiating with the expedition outfitter and the insurance company. As you can guess, it’s a risky and costly operation, which almost made some new victims during the operation. Finally, both bodies where brought down by a team of 8 and 10 Sherpas to camp 2, from where a special Fishtail helicopter is to pickup the bodies and bring them further down. A third body that was found near base camp was identified as a missing Sherpa who died in 2009. His remains have been brought down to Gorak Shep for his delayed funeral.

Besides bringing down the bodies, the team has also decided to collect garbage below 8000m. About 600-800kg has been brought down to display in the base camp. Although this was not the goal of this expedition, it’s just incredible to see how much garbage has been left in the base camp and especially around camp 2. There’s enough garbage for cleaning expeditions for the coming 50 years!!! It’s just a big mess of old ropes, broken tents, tins, ladders, clothes, shoes, old food, wrappings, sun creams, gas cylinders, stoves, pans, human waste, etc, etc. Most of the garbage has been thrown in crevasses to get them out of sight, however, as more snow and ice is melting, the garbage simply appears again, creating a very sad sight of our expedition history.

Then what is happening right now?

Up till now, the weather has just not been good enough to climb to the summit and to bring down the garbage above 8000m. In fact there have been some fierce, short storms, destroying tents in base camp, camp 2 and camp 3, leaving some teams with even more work.

It seems that May 17 might offer a small and difficult opportunity, but it’s likely that most expeditions will wait for a longer window to open from 21th of May up to 26th of May. As a result, so many climbers at the same time may cause problems below and above the Hillary Step. Even more when old ropes have to be cut and brought down. Let’s see what happens...

The love of a (wo)man goes through…

e past 2 weeks Armand and I scheduled a ‘boot camp’; crossing fully packed 3 valleys linked by high passes. The route was beautiful and the result was there: we reached Gorakshep (the last village before Everest Base Camp, EBC) completely fit, strong and hungry (Yes! Good sign on altitude).

Therefore it was quite easy to find our camp April 25^th (at that time not more than 1 kitchen tent, toilet tent and 3 sleeping tents): we just followed our rumbling stomachs (maybe echoed by an avalanche at the background J ) towards the damps of the best dhal bhat in ‘EBC town’. Although lots of expeditions proclaim to have the best cook, I want to claim the title this year…

Our kitchen is like a restaurant, especially since we still were with the 6 of us at that time (in 5 days the team would be extended with 20 more persons; goodbye very luxury!!). There is all kinds of food and hot drinks on order, tasting like in heaven (I suppose…) and volumes that do hurt your stomach. What a transformation after a period where you had to pay Rs1750 (ca 20 euro) for a pot of black coffee! Who did say Rome is expensive?!

Just to give you an impression how our kitchen looks like (internet connections on the way are SOOOOO slow that the window has already expired before you can actually upload some text, let’s not mention pictures…);

The house-shaped tent (with cozy plastic windows) is completely stuffed with boxes of food items (750-1000kg in total), including 300kg of rice, 350L of gas/kerosene, 60kg onions, 60kg of sugar, 2 sqm of eggs and … a tower of canned beer. What?? Yes; ‘to offer to the Gods’. Right… At least they (the Gods/Goddesses) won’t have any occasion to get grumpy to us; it must going to be a jolly scene up there I suppose ;-)

Project Push

On week further since the last update, but project wise suddenly we're much further.
It was badly needed though; several proceedings stopped or were canceled.

There have been negotiations with a TV channel, specifically focused on Everest news, to make an appealing documentary to broadcast the piece to at least 15 countries. Potentially very interesting of course for both parties... However the negotiations finally collapsed on (what's new) money. During the project a lot of parties, organizations, NGOs and individuals were positive after being consulted to sponsor. Some became very inspired and excited to cooperate or even had approached the team themselves to get involved. However, when it comes to payments, it's peoples nature to become less and less enthousiatic, like the exciting thrill is suddenly gone. We've seen and still experience this most of the time and start to get used to it. Nothing is final, up to the first paisas, unfortunately!

The coming 72hours will be very important for the breakthrough of this Clean up Expedition Project.
The project have been waiting for a very long time to get support from the Ministery of Tourism; a major prerequisit for the main sponsors to secure their support. Quite a struggle! Although always to be expected, it still surprising how much urge for power and individual visibility is involved, even in these kind of charity programs (or maybe better to say especially!). Anyway, although not completely confirmed, the Ministery has agreed to proceed in their support (yes, step by step, little by little; it tests your patience ;-) ).

Anyway, the main sponsors have now agreed to start their first payments these days. Excellent news, since many equipment and services for which deposits were paid, can now be finally collected/arranged and paid off. It enables the team to send the first 1000kg to Lukla already early this week.
At this moment we are waiting with 4 persons to fly to Lukla, to secure the first arrangements. Have been hanging around unsuccessfully at the national airport already the entire day yesterday, and continue hoping, reading, even more reading today. Hope to bring you the next news for a higher altitude!

Also upcoming is the press conference for this Clean up initiative. Already scheduled for weeks before, but now ready for the Big Bang... To be expected Tuesday; stay connected!

Everything packed for Everest!

Just ended our big packing and checking morning.

I'm still puzzled how an empty kitbag can seem so huge, while packing your belongings it seems to become smaller and smaller :-(

 

The sleeping bag which should keep me warm till -49C took already one third of the space! Can't tell you how often I got a reaction these days of people (Nepali as well as Western) who were completely horrified and flabbergasted; they can't even name a single reason why you would go up to stay in this cold voluntary and actually also have to pay money for that...

Also in the bag are ordinary stuff like climbing gear, climbing boots, several down clothes, special socks, 2 mattresses, sunblock factor 80(!), Thermos and covers for that, face mask, 3 pair of gloves, 3 pair of sunglasses for all different purposes (yes... horrible, normally I never wear any!) etcetcetc.

 

I must admit that I also bought myself some luxury items, but I call them 'absolute required luxury' ;-) I'll give you some...

First of all; chocolate! Candy bars, tablets and Nutella as well. About the quantity of this black gold; if I have to count it in monthly Nepali salaries I'm getting a little embarrassed here ;-)

Also a 'must have' is a pair of warm booties to stay warm in the rocky BC and to avoid scratching the expensive and somehow fragile climbing boots completely open before you have even started your climb! My favourites for this cold environment are boots from Canada; people there are so used to live in extreme cold half of the year that I totally rely on their designs and trials!

Next are a few books to fill the acclimatising and rest days in the BC (actually every extra gram which is not reserved for equipment can you see as 'luxury item'), tasty tea (Moroccan mint, yummie) and not to forget some Kenzo perfumed body lotion; the environment is barren enough already :-)

Last but not least, some flyer material for the Climbing for Water Foundation. Didn't check our upcoming activities yet??? Please do at http://www.climbingforwater.org and/or http://climbingforwater.blogspot.com

 

Not sure if the yak who will devotedly transport all my stuff to the BC must be happy or not, but at least it will get a hug from me, as well as a delicious snack (besides grass, what's a Yak's favourite candy...anyone???).

 

CU tomorrow. X

Nepal against China…

Correct, it's all about Mt Everest, laying at the border of Nepal and Tibet. And since Tibet has been 'mastered' by China... at the border of China as well. The discussion is all about the height of this giant, goddess and gold mine as well.

China exclaiming the height of 8844.43m, Nepal the familiair height of 8848m. Now you're probably curious; where does this difference come from? Do they use other kind of measurement euipment, inaccurate or different calibration methods or what???!

Quite simple; China is measuring the rock height, while Nepal is targeting at rock + snow height!

The question remains.... Who is right here...? You tell me...  At least both countries now accepted eachothers measurements and vision. However, they still didn't come to an agreement which height will be adopted by both of them. That will probably take another 10 years, or more ;-) !!!

  - Adopted from the Kathmandu Post, April 8th 2010

A struggle for power and money…

Time goes fast when you’re having fun… and fun it is! It’s just great to see the scene behind the curtains of this project. There’s laughter, shouting, crying, frustration and happiness, but above all, it’s a lot of hard work!

Anyway, let’s give you an update.

As you know, this project is a Nepali initiative. Beside us (reporters), there are no foreigners involved. It’s also a non-commercial project, so beside some very low earnings for hard work and huge risks, this team of Sherpa’s is not earning money from it. Everything is funded by Nepali companies, private money as to say. Beside a free permit from the government (hopefully), no government money is involved. So, basically, this is a project by the people and for the people. And you know what? That’s just not good enough! Oh no! Something very important is missing: politics! Like most projects that create a lot of positive media attention, there must be a struggle or fight (behind screens) about power. Who will be the one who gets the credits… Will it be the Sherpa team itself? The sponsors? The government, or are there more parties involved. To be honest, yes there are, although we hardly know who they are and what they really want. One thing is clear, there are powerful people who use their strength to make things difficult. These people will avoid the spotlights, but will do everything to destroy or to receive credits. Politics, power, money… it’s war, with powerful, but invisible and scared people.

Beside the politicians, there are the parasites. Yep, like always . Let’s have a better look at somebody who has setup a really nice project to inspire children by fulfilling his own dream, climbing the seven summits. It actually works these days… Put the word ‘Children’ in a mission statement and a whole row of rich companies nervously scream to sponsor such a great initiative. Children are great advertising, much better than a green environment or reduction of CO2. We do it for the children! Ok, the point is, that parasites always try to make use of another. They need the other to survive. And when it’s about survival, there are no restrictions, there’s no shame, no values. As long as you get what you want, that’s all that counts. So that’s why this Swiss person, who goes from top to top, used this project to have his permit fee waived, off course without any agreement, approval and acknowledgement. Nice smiling and talking at the front side, cheating at the back side. Parasites are always a pain in the ass…

Ok, enough about the negative side, there’s also positive news: the preparations have almost finished and the first loads of equipment are on its way to base camp. Hopefully the government and sponsors keep their word and deliver what they promised, then everything will be fine. Then another stage will start, the fight at the mountain itself…

Cu later!

Base camp blues…

During our first day we started to prepare the rest of the camp together: hammering ice to create ‘flat’ camp spots, shoveling rock screw, collecting big stones to build tables, ‘sofas’ etcetc. During the night we felt that the flat camp areas could have needed some more perfectionism, feeling like lying on an Auping bed that has been lifted at both extremities simultaneously, or just only in the middle (both not comfortable I can tell you). That mixed with the fact that you7r fundament (glacial ice) is cracking like hell it always takes some nights before you can say “I slept” (leave alone the superstitious ‘well’).

Anyway! We also started to practice to get used to the many ladders we’ll need to cross in the Icefall. Some close contacts with the ‘Icefall Doctors’ (Sherpas preparing the Icefall route) resulted in a private ladder in our camp; a real eye catcher for peasants it seemed.

And further…. Wait…. The consulted Lamas proclaimed that our Puja (the spiritual kick off of an expedition from the BC) had to wait for 9 more days. And without Puja, no Icefall entry… Ohhh gosh, then the days get long, and cold L With a daily window of ca 2h without snow and/or wind you have to get very creative how to spend your day, stay warm and cheerful. Nicknames for each other were soon created, play cards were fully booked and dull books became real page turners. And the strange thing is; you become SO tired, extremely tired! The event of the day was always the arrival of more load; grabbing porters out of the snow to dribnk a cup of tea with and tear the stuff from their backs, curiously like opening your Xmas box of food items.

In no time we could extend our camp with more tents, mountains of personal kitbags of all climbers, more food and… a generator! Powerrrrrrrr!!! We soon discovered that the required petrol was not there yet to run that Ferrari-red engine, as well as no laptop and light bulbs for which that machine was actually bought. It felt like a nice wrapping paper covering an empty present L

Actually, we’ve had some major Cargo challenges due to bad weather. Some loads had therefore be to be walked in from Jiri, another 7 days away, causing supplying delays. Amongst it; oxygen (maybe that’s what the Lamas must have been feeling!).

And then… I became sick…  Not AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness), no diarrhea, no… an ordinary sinusitis (very painful at altitude). And the horribly morbide thing is… also our medicines were still on the way. Since your body doesn’t recuperate well at that altitude (it’s all about prevention; passed station) AND the Puja was still days ahead, Armand and I decided to go down for a few days. To some greenery and bright sun.

Only 2 hours on the way Armand’s jaw decided to join my misery, forcing us to go all the way down to visit a dental clinic (what a couple we make…!).

So, here we are; right back to where we’ve started almost 3 weeks back; watching the planes come in and out! I must admit; it was a little mental crash for me.

Now I try to look it from the bright side; going to treat ourselves with curd, fresh bread, apple pie, coffee and some strong antibiotics we will strengthen our bodies for the coming 3 days to finally walk back and go up again. Fingers crossed it will be the magic recipe… no more time to waste!

The Hierarchy of needs…

Organizing and joining an expedition is like checking off all levels of Maslow's pyramid, although in adverse order...
It clearly all starts with 'self-actualization'; for this specific project with a very clear ambition to 'do good'. To even start thinking of that (in this case; cleaning a mountain), you should feel confident about yourself combined with that activity; climbing Everest. Otherwise forget all that extra effort! So there is the 'Esteem stair'. Then, one starts to think with whom he/she would like to undertake this challenge by creating a team ('Belonging'). The penultimate level (Safety) is getting more close to the basics (resources, unsurances, getting fit, etc) and eventually, on the mountain, it all channels back into physiological needs (do I pee enough?, Can't hardly breath!, I'm hungry!, I need to rest!). So, organizing such an event forces one to stand still and master all those stairs (mostly simultanously).
To make a long story short; this week our 'homes' for the upcoming weeks were secured. Here it works just differently than just simply enter a shop and buy some tents. For many expeditions, tents are made on order instead, or in some cases are purchased 2nd hand.

Some time ago Namgyal heard some rumour related to the last option; a set of 2nd hand high quality tents would be for sale, which was left in Kathmandu by a previous expedition. Last week we've had a look at those tents to check if the quality would be high enough to take these with us and if the model is suitable to household minimum 2 persons including ca 80kg luggage (and that they call; living from a kitbag/suitcase!).
The shop concerned was situated in one of the tiny and crowded streets in Kathmandu's Asan area (local market). Not any tourist would probably pay any attention to these kind of shops and enter one of the huge 'big name shops' (e.g. North Face, Mountain Hardwear) instead, but actually that's a pity. These kind of small shops are completely packed with many interesting gear. You'll find complete downsuits, oxygen masks and cilinders, jackets, many pairs of expedition boots, ice axes and so on, mostly 2nd hand. It's a very exciting environment, especially when you realize all this gear has (probably) already been to the place you are just heading to!

To check the tent properly it should actually be pitched somewhere, isn't it? So, that's exactly what was being done: just in the middle of the dusty market surrounded by all kinds of horning vehicles and shopping people. Not that handy; the tent contained 7 poles of 3 different lengths, so it took some time and a lot of laughter to get a proper dome shaped tent out of these poles and inner tent. Actually I got a real flash back of camping holidays during my youth; always surrounded by fighting couples while pitching their tent ;-) Unfortunately this particular tent unveiled it's previous intensive use by having a huge hole in the inner tent and this wake up call was the start of checking them all very carefully.
In no time 5 (very) eager Sherpas were ready to assist and suddenly started to sort out all outer tents, poles, inner tents, ground sealings; simultanously though.... Thank God there exists something like a marker which enabled me to finally keep the right inner tent combined with the matching outer tent again. Although I could read from their faces (and in a few weeks I might agree on that) why for God's sake it should be that important to use a bag with nr 5 holding actually tent nr 5; if THAT is going to save you high up there...! But you know, we more or less already lost eachother on that pyramid here...

Anyway, the damaged pieces were collected; holes and zippers were immediately stitched and replaced by the neighbour (sewing shop); the pieces were brought back and finally checked by us again. Sometimes this circle made some extra rounds (it's really interesting to bring a tent with a small hole to the sewer and actually get it back with 2 big holes and a broken zipper....!) . As you may imagine, it was quite a logistic party, but finally we (8 dusty faces) made it and bought the whole set of 15 tents.

For sure, after this kind of labour intensive purchase you'll appreciate your 'dome' even more while staying in the camps...!

Additional permit required for every trekker in Nepal

Per April 1st 2010, an additional permit will be required for every trekker who is visiting one of Nepal's trekking and climbing areas. For travellers who book their trek/expedition at an official trekking agency, a surplus of $10 per person will be applicable. The ones who will organize their  trip themselves will be charged $20 per person.

Since Mountain Consult is a registered Nepali agency, we will provide every of our clients with this so called 'TIMS card' (Trekkers Information Management System)

If you like to read more about this card, check the website of TAAN (Trekking Agencies Assocation of Nepal); http://www.taan.org.np/tims_taan.php

Cleaning up Mt Everest; is it any use?

For a long time, climbing expeditions have been leaving (some) used gear (tents, oxygen, wrapping materials, etc) behind on Everest or other mountains. So there are 'cleaning up expeditions' so now and then. Are these expeditions a good idea? What do you think? And what about de dead bodies? Should they be removed, too?

Like you now by now, we're involved in a major clean up expedition of Mt Everest in the next month's. It has been a huge struggle to get the government and the private sector involved. Yes, for financial reasons, but to make the right decisions and policies about this matter. We'll see how it goes, at least it's already a huge experience!

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...!

Mountain Consult supports Everest Cleaning Expedition 2010

Mt Everest, with 8848m, the highest mountain on the planet. A living goddess for different religions and cultures. This beautiful mountain is also known as the highest pile of garbage in the world. Now, let's say that this is a bit exaggerated, but it's true that many international mountaineering expeditions and climbers have left their used and broken gear through the years. We’re talking about tents, oxygen bottles, gas cylinders, wrapping materials, climbing rope, etc. Besides the garbage, several dead bodies still remain at different places on the mountain. The Nepalese people are aware of it, they don't like it and they feel embarrassed. With the tourism year of 2011 ahead, one experienced high altitude Sherpa decided to do something about it…

Namgyal Sherpa, the Nepalese project director, has been leading a project team of highly driven Nepalese professionals to setup this new cleaning expedition. Their goal? To clean up everything above the death zone (8000m). That's easier said than done, in fact, it’s a very difficult undertaking at a very extreme altitude. That's why they called it the Extreme Everest Expedition.

The expedition is planned in April/May/June 2010 and 20 experienced climbing Sherpa's are included. There is only one 'but'... and that's the money. Will they be able to get enough money to finance this national project? Yes, the government and private companies are already involved, but it's still a long way...

We'll be in Kathmandu and on Everest as independant reporters to write about this great Sherpa initiative. Let's see how it goes and let us know what you think!