by Ian | Sep 3, 2013 | Nepal 2013
Tuesday the 3rd,
All packed and weighed ready for our flight to
Lukla this morning, an early start for us all, getting up at 5am for breakfast at 5:30 and Asian Trekking to pick us up at 6!
Asian trekking picked us up fine loaded up kit and prepared for a bumpy journey to the airport. We arrived at the domestic terminal at Kathmandu airport shaken but in one piece. We carried on through check-in with our bags and barrels checked in with time to spare. We then sat down and waited for our flight.
After some time the man from Asian Trekking came over looking rather worried and informed us the flight was delayed due to bad weather and we had to be patient. After a long near 6 hour wait the man from Asian Trekking returned and told us the flight was cancelled due to the bad weather in Lukla.
He then consoled us by telling us our flight should leave the next morning without hassle.
The afternoon was spent discovering the city more, with some patrols heading off to the “Garden of Dreams” the, “Presidential Palace” – of which is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays – and the rest of the city.
All in good spirits and looking forward to the rest of the trip!
Now praying for good weather!!!!!
Written by:
Stephen
Louis
Sam
And Stu, kinda…
by Ian | Sep 2, 2013 | Nepal 2013
Sunday the 1st of September.
The evening after our last entry we headed out for dinner at a lovely place called “Big Belly”. After our delightful meal out our free time was well spent exploring the city in the evening. Upon arrival back to the hotel most of us headed up to the roof to fullly encapsulate the city from above, this was well timed as we were then able to see the lightning from above, giving an extra light to this magical city.
Monday the 2nd of September.
An early start for us this morning as our first excursion was planned to Boudhanath temple closer to the airport, a short drive away. This was one of the 7 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Kathmandu and one of the biggest Buddhist temples in the world. It was an amazing place to be able to see, hundreds of prayer flags were spread from the top of the temple to all four corners of its base. Our guide from Asian Trekking taught us about the 5 colours, green represents the purification, yellow representing the soil, blue representing the sky , white representing water and red fire. Also, prayer wheels representing each reincarnation of the Buddha, linden the outside of the temple and the surrounding area.
Later we got a chance in the temple to light candles and pray to bring us good fortune. The lighting of the candles lead to a Puja ceremony, where monks chanted and blessed us with handmade friendship necklaces, for good luck on our trek.
For lunch we traveled from the hotel to “New Orleans”, a restaurant of which was fabulous! The decor was amazing, with plants and patterned woods everywhere. some people had the largest burger you can imagine and the kebabs were lovely too.
In the afternoon we needed to pack our bags…again…this time for the connecting flights to Lukla on an even smaller plane. We will need to get an early flight, so we will need to be up for 5:45am for a 7:30am flight. Our holdall this time needed to be much smaller with a weight limit of 10kg and our hand-luggage being 5kg. Not much at all, and easy to say that we all struggled and took a lot of time.
Tonight we are going to “K2-Too” steakhouse, it will be our last night in Kathmandu so we are going to make the most of the good food! We are all very excited about getting into the Khumbu valley and starting our long trek to Everest base camp and to our community project in Khumjung.
Watch this space for our next blog update!
The Lhotse Patrol
Louis Bown
Will Graham
Stuart Burton
Charlotte Ellis
by Ian | Sep 1, 2013 | Nepal 2013
Friday 30th/Saturday 31st August- We left on Friday evening, after waiting for hours at the airport. Finally we boarded the plane to Deli. Some lucky people managed to get some sleep on this eight hour flight. We waited even longer at Deli, playing cards and watching the planes take off. From the aeroplane we could see rain forest covered mountains and some of the overflowed rivers from the monsoon. The buildings were amazing, all spread out among the green valley. People were so tired by this time, we wanted to go straight to bed.
The team landed in Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal. We grabbed our bags and were greeted by Asian Trekking and their minibuses. They helped us move our bags and welcomed us all with flower garlans.
The bus was bumpy to say the least and the streets were manic! Pedestrians, bikes and cars were all dodging each other around the stalls and pot holes. There are telephone wires, literally everywhere and animals along the streets. We were all shocked at how different the city was, compared to what we are used to. The women’s clothing was beautiful and all the doors are really low!
At the hotel we had a de-brief, unpacked our bags and met on the balcony before dinner. The restaurant was a five minute walk through the busy streets of Kathmandu. The restaurant, “Fire and Ice” was really nice, the lights and atmosphere was amazing. We all had pizza, which was yummy, then, BED.
Sunday 1st September- Woke up at 08:15, had a mixed breakfast theme and set off pretty much straight away to the Asian Trekking HQ. They gave us some details and hiking tips before being introduced to the climbing walls next door. This was really fun, there were tall walls and a bouldering wall. Then we split into patrols for lunch and the rest of the day. We all had a free day to explore the main city. Everest patrol had a really nice lunch, burgers at a small cafe where the man taught us some Nepalese. Later we all met up and shared our stories that we had about the city (including some bike hiring!)
Written by the Everest patrol- Andy, Clare and Ellis 🙂
by Ian | Aug 30, 2013 | Nepal 2013
We arrived at West Wellow for 7:00pm for our leaving presentation. The final kit weigh in meant everyone was under the required 15kg…just! After a little bit of mingling, the excitement started to build, with our parents seated in time for an impromptu presentation. Explaining to them what we’ve been up to for the last 18 months, sharing the stories and comic snippets. Chris then gave us the final itinerary for the weeks ahead. The weather holds for a final group photo outside; a last time our parents get to see us clean and tidy before six weeks without showering and coming back smelling! There are lots of hugs and kisses as we say an emotional goodbye to our parents and loved ones.
‘So excited to be finally leaving’ Josh 15, Romsey Explorer
’18 months prep for this moment, can’t wait!’ Steve. 17.5 also, Romsey Explorer
‘Looking forward to the next 6 weeks with an awesome team’ Sam. 18, TNT Network
‘Still can’t believe I’ve actually got this far! Nepal here we come!’ Rosemary. 20, 3rd Hayling.
Parents are gone, the halls all packed away. Time for CHOCOLATE!!!!!!
by Ian | Apr 13, 2013 | Nepal 2013, News
Following on from last week’s sponsorship update, the Nepal Team have yet more exciting news to announce! We are delighted to announce that headwear company Buff have agreed to help to support our expedition, with the team being issued with a set of Original Buff and one set of Polar Buff’s.
Part of the deal will see the team join Team BUFF UK, the company’s hub for sponsored athletes, providing regular updates on their progress throughout the rest of the training and the expedition itself.
Additionally, we will be producing our very own video, demonstrating how we wear our Buffs, which may be used for future promotional campaigns. You never know, next time you’re enjoying some Quality Shopping Hours (QSH) you might just be spot the Nepal Team in your nearest gear shop!!!
Once again thanks go out to Rosemary Harrison, whose hard work has helped land another great sponsor to support the expedition.
by Ian | Apr 3, 2013 | Nepal 2013, News
As is tradition in HSX, Easter can me only one thing… Three days of fun in the Lakes District!
The Nepal 2013 team decided to take this opportunity to join HSX out on the Fells to brush up on their navagation skills, practice some unexcepted winter mountaineering and ultimately a spot of team bonding!
Friday 29th March – Day 1
We arrived at Great Tower at 1 in the morning after a fairly uneventful, but very long, journey. Luckily for us we had an awesome mixed tape to listen to. Straight off to bed so we were fresh for an early start.
In the morning we split into our three patrols, kitted up in the winter boots and adjusted our crampons (just incase). The aim was for the Nepal team was to lead both in navigation and looking after the group.
We set off from the car park to summit Little Man, taking note of tick features and reading contours the whole way. We had to practice kicking in steps, a technique we learned in the Cairngorms, as there was lots of snow under foot. We summited Little Man, all 865m of it, and then dropped into the saddle as was very windy on top. After fighting with the group shelter we were finally settled inside to put on more layers and have a bite to eat (where some of us got a bit too excited and ate all of our lunch!)
We then headed up Skiddaw where the view from the top was beautiful, but flipping freezing, so we did not stay for very long. On the way down we met up with the other patrols and walked out as a team as we had heard that Lhotse’s route was full of unconsolidated snowdrift up to your waist!!!
We then headed into Keswick for a well earned hot chocolate and for some quality shopping time.
After a de-brief of the day it was announced Bloc had kindly sent us all a pair of sunglasses each, que a fight for the mirror to admire ourselves. And the news did not stop there. It has now been confirmed that we are one of the seven finalists for the Light my Fire adventure blog. This not only means that we get to write on their website we get to have lots of their great kit which will be a great help for our expedition.
After a bit of free time we headed over to the slab to practice our bouldering. This was a great challenge to practice our skills of transferring our weight on steep rocky inclines.
After a delicious dinner (we love the cooks) we started to prepare for the next day out on the mountains.
Saturday 30th March – Day 2
We started the day at Hartsop. We then walked up Pastino Beck Valley whilst practising some micronavigation. The conditions started off with some thin snowfall as we walked. As we passed Raven Crag the clouds started to come down the valley. Having stopped briefly for a snack, we started our ascent from Threshthwaite Cove to Threshthwaite Mouth. The snow was powdery and unconsolidated, which made the ascent more challenging.
As we reached the saddle we felt the wind begin to bite. From the saddle we could see our next destination, Thornthwaite Crag, enveloped in cloud. As we climbed towards the top we chased away the cloud, leaving clear view as we arrived on the summit. At the top we paused for a lunch break and rewarded ourselves with Ribena.
After Lunch we started making our way to the trip point on High Street at 828m above sea level. Up on the plateau walking through the snow was similar to Russian roulette, with some steps on solid snow and the next disappointing, up to your knees or higher in snow. Crossing the plateau we met up with the Nupste team who were taking the same route as us, but in the other direction.On a descent from the trip point on the way towards The Knott, Joe, our leader was demonstrating how to run downhill through the snow when his foot got caught and he faceplanted with …ummm… elegance! After we finished laughing with him we continued our way up to the summit of The Knott (739m).
We then began our descent through thick snow, doing a few ice axe arrests halfway down… which is much faster than walking and loads more fun. We found that Haveswater lake was frozen and it took a large rock to break through. Then we continued down the rest of the valley to arrive back at the car park.
That night we were treated to a lovely dinner followed up with delicious gateau.
Sunday 31st March – Day 3
We woke at 7am HSX time, had breakfast and prepared for the day ahead. The advance group left earlier to set up the climbs at Bowderstone Crag in Borrowdale. On arrival, we played the bean warm up game (involving throwing many interesting shapes representing ‘chilli beans’ and ‘jelly beans’ etc.). This was highly entertaining and limbered us up nicely for the climbs.
We rotated between the three climbs and all had a go at the quarry abseil round the corner. The abseil itself was around 30m in height and going over the edge was quite scary for most. There was also a mini cave at the bottom where we couldn’t place our feet against the cliff so had to abseil freely.
After our amazing morning we all went to the Bowderstone; finding out that the reason why they built stairs up to the top was due to tourists frequently getting stuck on the top and having to phone mountain rescue! This was an eye opener for a lot of us because we didn’t realise how much upper body strength was needed for bouldering. We also discovered a place underneath the rock where you could link hands with someone on the other side; much to the amazement of the tourists…
After our quest, we returned to our kingdom for a mighty banquet of Spaghetti Bolognese! Later in the evening Smudge taught us how to use the Petrol stoves and we learnt that they are highly effective and work well at altitude. Everybody finished the day by packing their bags for the return journey and got into bed ready for a day of travel the next morning back to the South Coast.
