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1 month has passed since the return to base camp and the end of our expedition. I wish to give thanks to all the friends and family that have supported me in this climb and unique life experience. Thank you to: Jean-Claude and Marie-Helene, my parents, for sponsoring my gear and expedition, it was a […]
We meet for breakfast at 9am. Glenn and Xavier come down and join me for some nice & fresh coffee – a luxury we haven’t had for 3 weeks – some pastries and hot breakfast. The air is cool but just the right temperature. It’s delightful to be clean, rested and enjoying the service and […]
Busy bees packing, the duffles get filled up by all our climbing & mountaineering gear. Glenn, Xav and I are leaving today. Florence is walking back and considering taking a few days trek on the Annapurna circuit crossing thorong-la pass. It’s 830am when we get out of the tent for our last breakfast. The mood […]
Wake up at camp 3, feet still numb and concerned. Planning of the day: all day walk down to base camp. It’s a full day of walking down the mountain, and picking up and carrying all the gear that has been left at various camps. The weather is pristine as usual since the last snow […]
Written by Xavier Perrodon: It is about 5pm the day before summit push and as Ben and I are about to start preparing dinner, Chris enters the tent to give us a heads up on what we’re about to attempt. For almost two weeks I have been unhappy with the very little information we get […]
The time has stopped, each second is pure bliss, the view is breathtaking. But the clouds pass over our heads at incredible speeds and it is not a good sign. I have never seen such fast clouds and so close. I guess its a normal sight at over 7000 meters. Lakpa points at the clouds […]
How to describe the feeling of hearing the alarm go off at midnight? Our minds did not drift very far anyway, our brains know that something special is about to happen and focus is coming right back. No snoozing allowed there is no time for that. It’s straight into gear, we get dressed and look […]
1 year of planning, intense training, triathlon, gym, weight training with my trainer Derek, to be in best possible shape, a charity for raising money for Nepal, great support from friends and family, almost 3 weeks on the mountain and the day has finally arrived. You know the feeling when you have been longing for […]
On this early morning, the clouds float at around 5000 meters. They are far under us at 6000 meter camp 2 and it makes for a beautiful scenery. From our tent (proper altitude tent this time), we can see perfectly Manasulu scrapping the sky at more than 8000 meters as well as Annapurna, made famous […]
I slept fine surprising myself for not feeling the slightest headache at such high altitude. I open the door to the outside world and see beautiful weather, blue skies and sun slowly coming down to our camp 1. The period between 6-7am when we wake up and 8-830am when the sun hits the camp always […]
Breakfast is served at 730am, we are aiming to leave base camp at 8am. We all meet in the mess tent. Xav is pretty much done with his packing, Glenn seems to be as well, I feel a little behind in selecting the gear and what to take, what to leave behind. There is already […]
The pressure is slowly increasing. Today is our second rest day but we all know that tomorrow we start the final push. We have to start packing tonight to make sure all the critical gear is in the bag without carrying too much. 1 item forgotten could compromise the summit push.
Today is a rest day (as well as tomorrow) in order to recover from the past 3 days of very high altitude, and to build red blood cells, it’s a critical step of the acclimatisation and an important milestone of the expedition. I like the way Chris puts it: "your body has taken a hit […]
it’s 9am and we are packing. The usual morning routine (by now you all know it): melt snow, drink hot, eat a freeze-dried porridge or cereal of your choice, freeze your ass when you get out of the 32 degree inner sleeping back to the outside -10 degree world in your undies and t-shirt, get […]
Today is the real deal. We wake up and start the morning routine of melting snow, preparing ’breakfast in a bag’, eating, packing our huge down sleeping bags, stuffing our backpacks, dressing for the weather (sunny but cold). We hit the slope for a 600m / 5 hours ascent. Ice axes are not required for […]
9am start to camp 1. It’s a long day of walking in altitude towards camp 1. I think I make it in 4:58′ a little after Chris and just before Xavier and Glenn who follow around 20 minutes later. We all have our rhythm and pace and it’s important to listen to our body in […]
Today is a very sad day for all our team as we are loosing Patrick. He has been sick for the past couple days and is helicoptered out of base camp to Kathmandu. Patrick has been the coordination leader of our group of four guys, has done an awesome job liaising with Adv Peaks and […]
I want to share with you an inspiring letter from Lorraine. She has followed us from the beginning of this trip, supported our efforts, donated to our charity campaign and been cheering for us all along. Thank you so much for your support Lorraine! — Dear guys, I take this opportunity to congratulate you all […]
Beautiful day out, great dark blue skies. First section down the Moraine is tricky with a rope and icy slope. Then 2 hours to cross the moraine, which is very tricky, slippery and windy path. Patrick leaves us at the end of the moraine, he is feeling sick and has had headaches for the past […]
Puja in the morning, the local Lama comes from Phu village with his assistant. After setting up the offerings around the altar, the lama starts singing the prayers. We are all gathered around, surrounded by 6-7000m mountains. It is surreal. The clouds and sun mix together in an atmosphere far from our own worlds. We […]
4200m – 4885m Morning screw up, after a night snowing the mountains and the village are covered in snow and some of the porters decide to turn around afraid of the risks of Avalanche. Mules need to be loaded more to make up for the extra equipment. Junga (base camp manager) does not inform us […]
Probably the most beautiful trek on this trip so far. Canyons and rock formations towering over us. The start of the path is treacherous with a huge drop to our left overlooking a river and deep canyon. Half way in the trek, we come across a rock fall couloir, we wait patiently until lakpa Sherpa […]
Beautiful trek sun is shining. Mules are packed early morning and one of them seems to enjoy the GoPro. We agree to not stop for lunch and push in since it is only a 4-5 hours trek to the destination. Around lunch time we meet the kitchen team that has stopped to prepare lunch. Prob […]
First day of trekking and all of us and thrilled to be done with the jeep. The view right out of the lodge is stunning. We are humbled by Annapurna II which we will see for the next 2 days. We hit the trail as the Sherpas are sorting out all the gear allocation and […]
Just arrived in koto – 2487m after 10 hours on the road. The road was absolutely crazy, rocks, rivers, steep climbs, cliffs; we were all thrown from one side of the car to the other, but we were rewarded by a breathtaking view of Manaslu (8000m+) and a moonshine just before getting to Koto. We […]
Ready for the 6 hours jeep drive to koto after a night at besisahar. All the expedition gear tents, food has been unloaded from the bus and shifted to a 4×4 truck. The road ahead promises to be rough. Prob one of our last internet connections and last post for a while.
After breakfast and last shopping opportunity, we are packed and check out from Dalai La Hotel. 6 hours drive through Nepal and we arrive in besisahar. We have just picked all our freeze-dried meals for camp 2 & 3. Things are getting real by the minute.
8-10am: I catch up on my work, call my team in HK and Shanghai. 10am: breakfast with the crew 11am: Chris Harling, our expedition guide, turns up with Florence – the last member to join the expedition -. Chris covers the schedule for the coming 3 days, recos: stay ultra hydrated, drink a lot, buy […]
See below the schedule of the Expedition so you can follow us more easily Week Day Date Day Comment Thu 22-Oct 1 Depart Qatar, Netherlands, Hong Kong -> Kathmandu Fri 23-Oct 2 Arrive Kathmandu (1295m) Sat 24-Oct 3 Drive to Besisahar in bus Sun 25-Oct 4 Drive to Koto in jeep Mon 26-Oct 5 Trek […]
Enjoying the lounge and champagne and celebrating our departure. One year in the making and it’s finally time to go. Glenn is on the plane, Xavier has been flying for a while and Pat and I are about to board. Kathmandu here we come!!
The final gear has arrived. -29C black diamond guide gloves, slings for the ice axes and the clever ’tree trunk’ special merino wool underwear delivered with actual birch ’tree seeds’ for users to go and plant a tree anywhere they like, cool concept, love it. This morning last endurance training with tritons triathlon club at […]
Lars was originally part of the team but had to drop out for good reasons with the arrival of a third member of the family, now 3 months old Lis (pictured below with her shoei helmet) Lars and Meri prepared a super nice send off dinner last night in Saikung, I was very touched. We […]
Talking about it for a year and now here we are with 1 week to go. Can’t believe it’s finally time to go. So tonight I have decided to finish packing the base camp bag. I am still waiting for my black diamond gloves to arrive and the slings for the ice axes. How much […]
Tonight, I am actually starting to pack. I have been postponing this moment. Not sure if it’s because I am afraid it will not fit in the bag or because it will get me too excited and won’t be able to wait until 22nd October before heading to Nepal. Anyway, during packing I need to […]
A collection of 2 pictures showing some of the necessary gear for our Nepal expedition, more will follow, these 2 focus on walking & climbing
Gear takes a lot of importance in this type of trip. It can save your life, protect you but also burden you. It’s a mix between: what you really need, what you could need and what you don’t need but will make your life more comfortable. And when you add up all 3 categories you […]
Our Expedition Blog has started: send it to your friends and contacts so they can follow us during our Nepal expedition
We are now exactly 1 month away from the departure for Kathmandu, Nepal and I had planned to start the blog exactly one month before so today is the day! We are in the final preparation moments: – vaccination – packing our gigantic 110 to 150L duffle bags full of crazy mountain gear – checking […]