Category Archives: Mountaineering

Dear Family & Friends, My Everest adventure is nearly at an end! I left base camp as planned yesterday and hurried down the valley, dodging heavily laden yaks and trekkers with bipolar disorder, to the village of Pangpoche – I … Continue reading →

Dear Family & Friends, 3rd time lucky perhaps?     Absolutely no way – I’m spent with zero left in the tank! My second summit attempt ground to a halt just below the Balcony (what is it with that place?) … Continue reading →

Dear Family & Friends, Base camp is melting away….! As soon as the sun hits in the morning, rivers of melt water starts forming around and under our camp. The sound of running water increase during the day and slowly … Continue reading →

Dear Family & Friends, I couldn’t believe it! Kneeling in the snow with my back to the 70km winds I was yelling and swearing (in 2 languages) at my fingers desperately trying to force some warmth into them. It was … Continue reading →

Dear Family & Friends, Some trivia for you… Whenever you organize an expedition to a big peak anywhere in Nepal the law says you must be assigned a Liaison Officer. The role of the L.O, other than being the official … Continue reading →

Dear Family & Friends, I was hoping to be able to share some photos and a story of my successful round trip to the South Col, but unfortunately I didn’t quite make it. After an uncomfortable night in camp 3 … Continue reading →

Dear Family & Friends, As I write this Matt is standing outside the dining tent here at base camp shaving off his beard. That can only mean his decision to return home is final! I know how very difficult and … Continue reading →

Dear Family and Friends, This blog is from Matt. The last blog described our last foray up the hill and mentioned that I strained my Achilles tendon on the Lhotse Face on the way to camp 3. When the injury … Continue reading →

Dear Family & Friends, It took a serious amount of will power to convince our bodies that getting out of an exceedingly warm and comfortable sleeping bag in the middle of the night to haul 25kgs 700 vertical meters from … Continue reading →

Dear Family & Friends, After 3 days of slothfulness at EBC we realised there’s such a thing as too much rest and as we both suffered from medium to severe cases of ‘high altitude lassitude’ we figured it was about … Continue reading →

Dear Family & Friends, Why do today what can be postponed…? Doing ones laundry is nowhere near the ‘Top 5 Things To Do when Resting at BC’ and a social visit to some of our neighbours is usually preferable. The … Continue reading →

Dear Family & Friends, Our 2nd load carry through the Khumbu Icefall on April 15th went well. Knowing the route, when to stop and when to speed up through a particularly dangerous area, like the 50m sprint beneath a huge … Continue reading →

Dear Family & Friends, In the Himalaya it is customary not to set foot on a mountain until you’ve had your Puja ceremony; this usually involves a blessing from a Lama who is seeking safe passage on the mountain for … Continue reading →

Dear Family & Friends, Human beings aren’t really supposed to live above 5000m; the highest village in the Everest National Park to be permanently inhabited is Dingpoche @ around 4300m. This altitude is close to the ceiling for growing crops … Continue reading →

Dear Family & Friends, Immediately across from Everest BC is the formidable looking ‘Khumbu Icefall’. When climbing Everest from the South, the Nepal side, there’s no avoiding the icefall and in many ways it is considered the most dangerous part … Continue reading →

Everest Base Camp at last! We arrived here on the 7th after an easy 2 hours walk from Gorak Shep @ 5140m, the last cluster of lodges before EBC. It was our intention to update the blog from Gorak Shep, … Continue reading →

Dear Family & Friends, We arrived in Dingpoche yesterday morning after a quick 2 and a bit hour’s walk from the village of Pangpoche. Today is a scheduled acclimatisation/rest day and after breakfast we’re heading up the hill behind the … Continue reading →

Dear Family & Friends, So far so good! After a hectic one and a half days in Kathmandu we arrived in Namche yesterday morning after a quick 2 day trek from Lukla. The bulk of our time in Kathmandu was … Continue reading →

Dear Family & Friends, 2 weeks to go….! Matt & Soren

Dear family & friends, For those of you yet to visit Nepal or the Everest National Park we have uploaded a few maps of the area as well as the camps on Everest. Matt & Soren

Dear family & friends, Welcome. This is the official blog/dispatch/news site for our Everest expedition this coming March/April/May.  We will endeavor to keep you up to speed on our progress, but as we  do not have regular access to the … Continue reading →